A Court of Thorns and Roses Review

Distiller: Hikari Loftus
Rating: 4/5 Stars





A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
Bloomsbury USA Childrens (May 5, 2015)
432 pages




I really enjoyed this Beauty and the Beast retelling! I loved how many elements of the real fairytale that Sarah J. Maas incorporated subtly throughout the entire story! I love seeing how authors manipulate and create their own story with the fairytale as the foundation.

 
Ninteen-year old Feyre is barely scratching out a living for her family. Ever since her father lost their fortune, she’s been the one doing the hunting and eeking out their living, while her sisters stand by ready to pounce on whatever money Feyre manages to bring in. 

While hunting one day, Feyre has a stroke of luck when both a wolf and a doe wander into her hunting path and she takes them both. That night a giant, horrible beast rips their hovel apart demanding retribution for the life of the wolf she took. 

A life for a life. 

Feyre finds herself dragged into the fairy lands she so hates and fears. But her time with the Fae gives her a new understanding, and she finds that her intense hate is turning into something else. But that’s not all. On top of that, a strange and awful blight is taking over the Fae, and it will soon spread to the mortal world if Feyre doesn’t do something to stop it. 

I was talking to Kelly from Delicious Reads at our Station Eleven themed book club and book discussion about this book, and she noted that many people think this book is a YA read, when really it’s a New Adult. Thought I would bring that up, since I do get many questions about whether a certain book is appropriate for younger ages. This one has a couple steamy scenes with minor details in it that indicate it’s NA genre. (While Young Adult generally implies sex, and Adult can go into detail, New Adult includes sex scenes that are a middle ground between YA and Adult)

I really enjoyed this read! I loved the world building and so many of the great characters. I would say that one of the only things that bothered me was that the Fae in this story said things like, "Shit, that was ballsy, Feyre" and I kept thinking, "Um, no... Fae do not talk like that. Ha. Especially since there were so many other "old world" scenes and conversations. 

I also really loved how wrapped up this story was. I know this is a trilogy, but this one closed beautifully, almost like a stand alone. That alone was satisfying. Because of how few strings she left hanging, I am super curious to know where she takes this story (I have a few theories!) and know that I’ll be in this series until the end.