A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – A book review

Synopsis | Characters | Plot | Writing | World Building | Overall Rating

Haven’t read A Court of Thorns and Roses and need to read someone else’s opinion first? Or maybe you have read it and just want to know how others felt about it? Well good news. Here’s a A Court of Thorns and Roses review just for you, bestie <3

 

 

Synopsis

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is the story of Feyre Archeron – young, lower-class huntress fighting to feed her family and care for them. One cold, winter day, Feyre is hunting deer in the forest when she encounters a wolf. She’s hesitant to kill it, but does it nonetheless and discovers it was a faerie. Shortly after she arrives back at her family home, a High Fae beast – Tamlin – declares that Feyre is being summoned to Prythian, the faerie lands, for her murder of the wolf.

Tamlin takes her to his manor, where she lives as a pampered guest. She is given the opportunity to explore his lands, and discovers that Prythian is more beautiful and ethereal than she could have ever imagined. She learns of the complexities of the politics in Prythian and the looming threat of an entity called the Blight. As she adjusts to life at the manor, she begins to feel drawn to Tamlin, despite his cryptic and protective nature. 

As she fights against the Blight to protect the ones she cares for, she learns that it may take more strength and determination than she thought. Feyre must use her every instinct her human body has to overcome the dark and dangerous forces that lurk across the lands of Prythian.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is a riveting, complex, and enticing story of sacrifice, self-discovery, and magic that will have you enchanted from beginning to end.

 

 

Buy the book here

 

Characters – 10/10

Feyre Archeron is easily the most complex, thorough characters I’ve ever read about. Throughout the book, she experiences new things that alter her perspective, and we, as readers, see the internal and external turmoil that she endures because of it.  She is a wonderfully caring and compassionate person, but she also recognizes the moments when she needs to fight for herself and for those she cares for. She has that edge that she needs to be courageous despite the horrifying, mystical life changes she faces throughout.

Although A Court of Thorns and Roses focuses on Feyre’s side of the story, there are multitudes of other characters that make the book as fantastic as it is. In the beginning of the book, we get a really good look into Feyre’s relationship with her sisters Nesta and Elain.

Nesta is the short-tempered, often arrogant one that argues with Feyre over nearly every move she makes, although she contributes near nothing to the family’s survival while Feyre provides some of the most needed elements including food and hides for clothing.

Elain is an innocent, kindhearted girl who does her best to stand up for Feyre when Nesta is rude to her, but still contributes close to nothing compared to her.

After she crosses over into Prythian, we get a glimpse into the luxurious, politically-amplified lives of Tamlin (who took her across the wall) and Lucien (Tamlin’s emissary). At first, Feyre hates them both and has no desire whatsoever to live among them. But throughout the story, we see her slowly become fond of them both.

Tamlin is a mysterious, shy, protective High Lord faerie who does his best to shield Feyre from the darkness of the Blight. He distracts her with things she loves and beautiful landscapes, despite the many political issues he is sent to solve on the borders of his land.

Lucien is a sarcastic, caring, and loyal soul to the point of loyalty that will hurt those he cares for. Throughout the story, his interactions with Feyre give us a look into his willingness to go out of his way to protect her, but he also stands by Tamlin’s side through quite literally any choice he makes. And not all of Tamlin’s choices are favorable ones.

 

 

Finally, we have the dark, cryptic characters that Feyre interacts with Under the Mountain. Rhysand and Amarantha.

Rhysand is a cunning, rude, yet somewhat considerate High Lord faerie who tests Feyre’s patience, but also does what he can to protect her from the dangers and evils that lurk under the mountain.

Amarantha is an evil, revengeful, relentless queen that has established her ground as a leader under the mountain. She rules all kinds of horrifying creatures and faeries, and does everything she can to try and kill Feyre. Although she could easily do so, she toys with Feyre and makes her perform all kinds of useless, dangerous tasks to test her.

There are so many more characters throughout this book that you will come to love and to hate. Just be prepared for your opinions of them to shift throughout the story.

Plot – 9/10

The plot of A Court of Thorns and Roses is one of the best I’ve ever read (I’m going to say “the best I’ve ever read” a lot. It’s true!). Somehow, Sarah J. Maas is able to keep readers engaged and knowledgeable about the ins and outs of this story with little to no struggle. The plot kept me tied to the book for hours on end and each chapter ended with some piece of internal or external dialogue that made me want to keep reading.

In this book, readers can find stories of romance, violence, betrayal, fascination, and the balance between good and evil. I won’t give away too much, since I want you to pick it up and enjoy it, but just know that the plot is phenomenal and extremely enticing.

Writing – 8/10

The writing in this book is really, really good. As someone who sometimes struggles to imagine things thoroughly, I can often get frustrated when reading from authors who don’t do a good job of describing everything. If there’s one thing that Maas can do, she can provide the most detailed and glorious description of a scenario, landscape, a person’s personality, you name it.

One thing that I didn’t love, out of personal preference, was the overuse of characters stuttering in dialogue and repetition of words or ideas. For example, when characters stutter, you’re reading something like “I-I don’t think this is a good idea…” countless times throughout the story. On the same coin, Maas utilizes a technique that repeats words or ideas to emphasize that a character is having internal turmoil or feeling freaked out by something. Like “It’s really dark… It’s really dark…”

Although these techniques are effective to give the reader insight into the character’s feelings, I think they may have been just a tad overused in A Court of Thorns and Roses.

 

 

World Building – 9/10

One notable thing about this story that is admirable is that Maas uses her world building skills to really give you insight into the lives and experiences of each and every dweller within their lands. You get the perspective of humans, common faeries, High Fae, High Lords, and even some insight into the lives of the bone-chilling creatures that lurk on their lands.

Throughout the story we learn about past wars, conflict between different realms and courts, the royal families of the High Lords and what they did to protect their kind, and SO much more. Not only is it fascinating how Maas can create a world that is so detailed and full of fantastical, magical elements, but she has a knack for creating complex backstories for each character, each land, each magical ability, etc.

You can truly use this book as an escape from reality because the descriptions bring you into a whole new world.

Overall Rating – 9/10

I’ve already talked about all of the reasons I think this book is phenomenal, but I’ll just say it again – this book is PHENOMENAL. Although it’s one of the lower-rated books of the series, it offers a world that is so thorough, so well-built, and so magical. If I could, I would exist in this world, I would find a handsome faerie boyfriend and I’d live happily ever after. LOL.

Be sure to check out my goodreads for ratings on other books I’ve read. Also, I’ll be posting a review on A Court of Mist and Fury in the near future so be on the lookout for that!

 

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