A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

 

For my last read of the month, I was in the mood for a romance. That meant that it was the perfect time to start on one of the series in my Finally in 2022 Challenge: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Maas is one of those young adult authors with both a massive fan base and a ton of people that dislike her with just as much devotion. My past experience with her writing put me somewhere in the middle. I read the first Throne of Glass book back in 2016 and felt quite mixed about it. It was okay, but certainly not a favorite. This series, however, I had much higher hopes for. I knew it was a Beauty and the Beast-inspired story, and that's one of my favorite tropes. I settled in hoping for a romance-filled drama and I wasn't disappointed.

The plot of the novel follows a nineteen-year-old woman named Feyre who lives with her father and sisters in a small town right across the border from Faerie territory. The Fae are a deadly, powerful people, and Feyre, along with the rest of the human population, gives them a wide berth. They stay on their side of the wall and the Faeries stay on theirs...most of the time. Occasionally some magical creatures manage to slip through and wreak a little havoc. Unfortunately for Feyre, this is what happens as the story begins. On a hunting trip to the forest, she accidentally kills a Fae wolf. As punishment for this crime, a monstrous beast from the Fae realm appears and takes her back to his lands as his prisoner.

Feyre soon discovers that the beast who whisked her away is actually a Fae named Tamlin, a high lord of the realm and ruler of the Spring Court. His estate is vast, beautiful, and locked into a perpetual spring. When not in his beast form, Tamlin is quite handsome, and Feyre is surprised to find that he treats her more like an honored guest than a prisoner when she arrives in his lands. A romantic spark quickly ignites between the pair of them, and as the days pass they start to grow closer and closer. A lot is going on under the surface in the faerie realm, and Feyre soon learns that the reason she was taken was not so much a punishment for the wolf she accidentally slayed as it was a last ditch attempt to break a decades-long curse threatening the Fae world. Before long, she is drawn into the thick of the conflict and ends up doing things she never thought she'd do to save Tamlin and the rest of the Fae world she has come to consider as her new home.

This book is the very definition of "guilty pleasure read" and I loved it. There was action, drama, secrets, and romance all throughout its pages. The pacing was excellent, and the characters were well-developed. Both Tamlin and Feyre were built with strengths, weaknesses, and emotions that felt genuine. They were an easy couple to root for, and I enjoyed watching their romance develop. I thought that the more passionate scenes between them were very well-written too. Maas definitely doesn't hold back in this area - the steamier parts were surprisingly detailed for a young adult series. I was kind of impressed. In general though, the story flowed smoothly and was definitely a page-turner. I found myself really looking forward to picking it up each day to read. 

Now, of course, this novel was clearly not high literature, and I can see why it doesn't appeal to every reader out there. It happened to line up with my interests extremely well though, so I ended up being a fan. I don't have a whole lot of other comments to make on it, but it was a good time. I enjoyed it a lot more than I did Throne of Glass, and I'm excited to move forward with the series and see what comes next for Feyre.  

Challenge Tally

Finally in 2022 - Series Edition: 4/28

Total Books Read in 2022: 12