Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

When I started reading this book for my review, I had already read it once before and loved it. But like test corrections, telling jokes and pie, it somehow was better the second time around. I’m a big fan of Sarah J. Maas (who isn’t?) and like all of her high-fantasy feminist novels, A Court of Thorns and Roses doesn’t disappoint.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin--one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.

First, Feyre. What can I say? She’s fantastic. At the beginning of the book she’s a huntress who would do anything to protect the family she both loves and resents for leaving their survival on her shoulders. As the book progresses, she loses none of that loyalty but learns to move beyond the bitterness and explore who she really is. Feyre is fascinating, intelligent and at times, hilarious given Sarah J. Maas’s fae-given gift to write snarky dialogue. Her mutual attraction with Tamlin brings out many of both her own and the fae’s best personality traits, and, in time, develops into a fierce and fiery mutual love. So, if you like courageous heroines with a talent for wisecracking, Feyre’s for you.

The second thing I found amazing not just in this book but all of Sarah J. Maas’s novels in general was the world-building. In her writing, she gives us a window into the Spring Court of the Fae world. You can practically see the flowers blooming within the faerie lands and smell the fresh scent of springtime rain (both of which are a nice break considering the current climate in New York). Sarah J. Maas makes the faerie land of Prythian both real and intimately appealing to the reader in a way that show her ability to, if almost by faerie magic, whisk worlds of fantasy right out of thin air.

So in conclusion- read A Court of Thorns and Roses. Not only is it a beautiful book (and, incidentally part of a completed trilogy) but you’ll get to fangirl all over Sarah J. Maas at TBF on May 20th!
Happy Reading,
Kate