I actually finished reading Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses a little over a week ago, but due to some unforeseen circumstances (namely a break-up and temporary relocation while I wait for my own apartment), I haven’t had a chance to get around to talking about it until now. Before I delve into my thoughts regarding this book, I’d like to explain why I picked it up. This year, I’m taking part in Pop Sugar’s 2017 Reading Challenge, which challenges readers to expand into other genres and books that they normally would not read. Because A Court of Thorns and Roses falls into young adult/new adult and has heavy romance tones to it, were it not for the challenge or its stellar reviews, I probably never would have picked it up.
That said, A Court of Thorns and Roses follows the trials and tribulations of young Feyre (pronounced Fay-ruh) as she is taken across the wall that separates the humans and faerie folk as punishment for having killed a faerie. ‘Lo and behold, things aren’t always what they appear and soon, Feyre finds herself at the center of Prythian (the faerie world) politics. For the most part, A Court of Thorns and Roses is your typical forces of good versus the forces of evil sort of book. The evil queen wants to destroy all of humanity and rule the faeries. To achieve this, she has no qualms about torturing faefolk and humans alike to find out information that might negatively affect her goals. When she curses Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court, and his courtiers, its up to Feyre to help free them and, by proxy, save humanity and help mend the extremely strained relationship between her kind and the faeries.
Though Feyre is somewhat flawed, in as much as her only major flaw being the simple fact she is illiterate and not as educated as her sisters, I found most of the characters in A Court of Thorns and Roses to be rather bland. While they harbor haughty attitudes for the most part, physically, with the exception of Lucien and Feyre’s father, they all seem to be exceptionally attractive. I did enjoy Feyre’s fiery personality and the nearly palpable tension that exists between her and Lucien, but the way in which Feyre and Tamlin interact is a bit too predictable for my tastes. Then again I prefer romance to be the sub-plot in books that I read and the major conflict as the main plot.
After reading the book, I understand that the romance aspect of it is a necessity – I just don’t care for it all that much. In fact, I had a hard time pushing myself to read the book up until the last quarter of it, because that is where all the action takes place. Amarantha is perhaps one of my favorite villains, if only because of the twisted way in which her mind words and the way in which she will stop at nothing to have what she wants; she is a goal-oriented, powerful woman that I would hate to cross in real life.
I’ve already put myself on the waiting list for the next book in the series, A Court of Mist and Fury, if only to see what happens after the unexpected events that closed the final chapter of A Court of Thorns and Roses.
[yasr_multiset setid=0]
