22 May, 2015

REVIEW: COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Source: ARC / Paperback
Pages: 353

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SYNOPSIS: A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

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 grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!


HANNAHCASSIE'S REVIEW
I have heard so many amazing things about Sarah J. Maas books and yet I have not known of her up till a few months ago. Therefore, ACOTAR was my first book I read from this incredible author. Now I know about Throne of Glass series, I already own the first book and I will have it as candy on my summer holidays!


As Ben from Paper Towns said: YESSSSS YESSSSS YESSSSS!

I could not believe it was my first ARC ever and it was the first ARC of this blog too! Such an amazing book to start! Thank you Sarah J. Maas for writing this epic story! I cannot believe I have to wait an entire year for the next book in this series!

THE WORLD: It was very very different from what I am used to. I have read many books about vampires both Twilight style and Anne Rice, I have also read books about witches and werewolves but fairies...all I know of fairies to be honest, was from True Blood series. Therefore, it was no surprise when I got glamoured into this new to me and magical world of fairy courts, deadly beasts and magic. I could just see the garden...the big dinner hall...it was just magical. And I must admit, even the spot place was Spring Court I would just absolutely love to live in Autumn Court...I am in love with Autumn!

CHARACTERS: Oh we have rather a few in this book. The main character of course was Fayre...I advise you to read the name pronunciations provided in the back of the book. I saw it only after finishing the book. Therefore, the instead of pronouncing Feyre [Fey-ruh] I actually all the time pronounced it [Fey-ree], I guess that's why it was strange for me to have human Feyree in the world of fairies, hence both pronunciations hehehe! Anyways, when it comes to Feyre I just do not know. I liked her very much but she did not appeal to me as much as I would have liked to.
I have seen many many people being in love with Tamlin and unfortunatly I am not among them. I surely like him, he is so kind...but I do not find it in my heart to love him. Just do not. 
Who I absolutely loved, on the other hand, was Lucien! OMG! He was so so funny, I can just see him grinning. There was something about him that I just instantly felt in love with! Therefore, Lucien is definitely my favorite character in this book!
Now Rhysand...hoooooot! I do not know why or how or just well any of it but ahsbrhtj....OMG! I cannot wait for the next book! I want it now now now!

LOVE: For once there are no love traingles! The love is pure and hot! The scenes when the lovers "share" the bed... 


PLUS: As I already mentioned I have not read any of fairy books before. Now, I bow to you Sarah J. Maas because I want more and more of fairies. I was always a fan of dark world aka vampires and werewolves and similar but you know what? Fayries are daaaaark. Yes, oh yes they are! 

OVERALL: It really killed me not being able to read this book in one day. I have to write my thesis now and well... let's just say I am rather behind thanks to this book. But no worries I have no deadline other than just want to get it over with and have a veryyy veryyyy awesome summer with other Sarah J. Maas books because I'm telling you, she is AWESOME WRITER! 






LAURA'S REVIEW
UPDATE 28/04/2016: I have changed my mind. I don't consider the series to be promising nor good anymore. I'd like to consider ACOTAR as a standalone from now on. Why? You can read here (spoilers from ACOMAF as well)

WARNING: Might contain mild spoilers. No big ones I swear.

I had heard such great things of this book. It was everywhere! Tumblr, Goodreads, Review blogs... my friend and partner in crime HannahCassie praised it and recommended it. When she says you should read it, it means you really should.


THE WORLD: In ACOTAR the world is a magical one where humans and faes coexist together called Prythian. The book is set in a land divided in different "courts" owned by the different High Faes and where humans only have a small fraction of the island. The courts are divided as follows: Spring Court, Summer Court, Autumn Court, Winter Court, Day Court and Night Court. Humans live in the remaining land separated by a wall and nobody dares to cross to the Fae lands because rumor has it you will most likely be killed. Here is a map:


Also, can we talk about that curse? and how Feyre didn't solve the riddle until the last minute even though the answer was as simple as ABC?

CHARACTERS: The main character is Feyre, a human girl living in a tiny village just across the wall. She lives with her father and two sisters and they're rather poor, hence she goes to the forest to hunt and bring home some meat they can't afford to buy. On one of this hunts she kills a "wolf" (nope, a fae) and shortly after a "beast" (guess what? a High Fae!) comes to her house and tells her she has to go live with him in Spring Court because she killed her friend and there is a rule about a human killing a fae. This beast has a name, Tamlin, High Fae and Lord of the Spring Court. He's so cute and awkward at times... anyway, his best friend Lucien is a sassy red-haired fae who lives with Tamlin and serves as his second hand. Those are the main characters but then we also have Rhysand, who everyone loves but I think he's creepy and sure interesting but eerie nonetheless, and then we have Amarantha the evil evil wannabe queen of all Prythian. I hated her, I think everyone did.

LOVE: No love triangles! Hallelujah! Although I smell something fishy and Sarah could totally pull out a triangle out of nowhere. I really really hope she doesn't do that in the upcoming book, A Court of Mist and Fury.

PLUS: I loved the world and the Faes and their magic! I also liked the curse part and how dark the book gets during the trials. More pluses? The characters! I loved some and hated others but I thought all of them were interesting and quite 3D. For a first book of a series they were very well developed.

MINUS: How wasn't she able to guess the answer to that riddle? I will never understand. There were no minuses overall... the minus I can think of may or may not happen in the next book so I'll wait and see.

OVERALL: 4 stars. A very enjoyable YA book, very fast-paced and easy to read with dark faeries, a curse, magic, an evil villain with no chill, quite complex characters... it had it all!


What do you guys think about A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES?