Book review: A Court of Thorn and Roses (Book 1)

A Court of Thorn and Roses offers a glimpse into the Fae world when a human must pay an awful price. Read our review of the book.

Faeries are popular characters for fantasy books. They come with basic rules: they’re always beautiful, sexual, rude, exotic and forbidden.

A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J. Maas plays off a number of those characteristics — really all of them — putting Feyre right smack in the middle of Prythian, the Faery homeland. Feyre doesn’t want to go but agrees to a mercy deal when she’s she that violated the treaty between humans and the faeries by killing a Fae. She’s devastated because even though she is the youngest of three sisters, she has has been the one has taken care of the family.

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As a huge fan of The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, I wanted to pick up this series next. It’s similar but not the same. Yes, there are Faeries and they’re super cranky, but the storylines and journeys are very different. Despite living in a new world filled with mystery, beauty, and danger, Feyre seems to get on pretty nicely. I had a distinct feeling of The Beauty and the Beast while reading this book. Here was a woman who traded her life for one in an enchanted land and surrounded by creatures living under an evil curse.

This time though the curse had to do with animal masks being stuck to their faces. The fae weren’t able to remove them, now going close to 50 years.

It sounds weird but it worked. Not all fae are good either. The lands are surrounded by evil entities who would harm Feyre and those inside the castle where she now lives. Her captor — although he claims he is not — is Tamlin, a high fae that rules the Spring Court. He’s strong, dreamy, and has a sense of humor when needed. He also has a sense of what is right and wrong.

Feyre and Tamlin don’t hit it off immediately but they don’t dislike each other either. Through their daily interactions, they manage to enjoy each other’s company, talk about life and friends, and trust each other.

However, as the Fae world gets increasingly more dangerous, Tamlin sends her back home for her protection but not before confessing his love for her. Though she feels it, Feyre doesn’t reciprocate.

Once she is home in the human world, she realized that she needs to go back if not for anything else but to help the person she loves.

Here is where the book takes a more fantastical turn and almost reads like another story placed with The Beauty and the Beast storyline. Feyre discovers Tamlin has been captured, what the curse is, and attempts to rescue him. She encounters cruelty, compassion and more mysteries that pull her deeper into the Fae world.

A Court of Thorn and Roses is a solid book. Maas has a great way with words that keeps the flow moving even when going between slow- and quick-paced scenes. Feyre is also not perfect, which I always find compelling in a “hero” character.

She resents her family, wants to quit at times and has killed for what she sees as the greater good. It’s heartbreaking but in the few moments we had, we see Feyre suffering with taking precious lives.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

I really enjoyed A Court of Thorn and Roses. I thought the love story happened too quickly and needed more time to percolate. And even saying that the time spent in Prythian was actually slow moving and there seemed to take too much time for something to happen. I was hoping for more action that didn’t come until later.

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