A Court of Thorns and Roses // Book Review

I finished reading A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas quite a while ago now... I have been putting off writing this review in so long because I honestly don't know how to transform my feelings for this book into words. But, today is the day. I shall write this review. Wish me luck.

Here is my review:

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Format: Paperback

Pages: 416

Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc in May 2015

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, New Adult

Goodreads page here.

'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.'

A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in the trilogy, written by Sarah. J. Maas. You've probably seen it in most shops and noticed how popular it is online already, a lot of my bookworm friends have read this book and loved it. So, I was really excited to pick it up.

This book is a fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I love fairytale retellings so I knew this book would be for me!

I love the cover of this book. I'm presuming that the girl on the cover is Feyre (the main character). The cover is really bold and eye-catching so you can't miss it!

“Don't feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.”  

This book is based in a world full of not only humans, but faeries, bad faeries. Feyre, the main character, is poor. She has to kill animals to keep her family alive. One day, she came across a wolf and was pleased that she finally found a larger animal to feed to her family. Little did she know, the death of this wolf would come back to haunt her.

“We need hope, or else we cannot endure.”  

This is when Tamlin comes in. Tamlin is a faerie, a very powerful faerie. A faerie that captures Feyre. Feyre has been brought up to believe that faeries are deadly creatures, but is that true?

The faeries live on the other side of the forbidden wall, a barrier that only mad people cross. The humans and faeries have never got along. Whilst Feyre and her family are sat in their tiny house, they receive a shocking visit from a massive monster threatening to either kidnap Feyre or kill them all. Feyre, being the selfless person that she is, chose to save three lives and join the monster in the faerie world, forever.

“I love you," I said, and stabbed him.”  

That's not where the story ends though, this book is full of suspense, action, romance and magic. It's unpredictable. When a secret plan doesn't work, a whole load of trouble is created and the unimaginable happens. Let's just say, it's pretty crazy.

“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”  

Feyre is the main human character, she is full of courage and bravery. Not only is she a strong character, she is also very selfless and is always giving what she can to her family. She lives with her father and her two sisters, Elain and Nesta. I found Feyre a really interesting character, I felt like in some ways she was quite like Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, they are both independent, caring characters that do whatever they can to help others.

Tamlin is a faerie. He is powerful, monstrous and handsome. He is the monster that captures Feyre, it is his enchanted kingdom that Feyre has to spend the rest of her days in. He's one of my favourite characters, although at times he can be rude and quite scary, he always comes back down to earth and he is a very loving person.

“I came to claim the one I love.”  

Lucien is also a faerie, he is Tamlin's closest friend and lives with him in Tamlin's kingdom. He too is full of power, however he isn't always so lucky and he has visible scars to prove that. They're a constant reminder of what he lost to one of his worst enemies. Lucien is also another one of my favourite characters, although to begin with he is a pretty unkind, arrogant person he becomes such a great character, he would make a brilliant friend.

Rhysand is another faerie. Tamlin and Lucien dislike him, a lot. He has the ability to read and take over people's minds, which he uses to control, hurt and kill others. When he entered the story, I couldn't help but hate him. Which confused me, because all over social media I've read about how much other fans loved him. As the story goes on, I did slowly learn to like him, but I'm still not a fan!

I really, really, really enjoyed this book and I'm itching to start the next one, however I'm trying to make the books last! I struggled to not read this book in one sitting, I tried so hard to make it last a few days because it is such an amazing book! This is the first book that I've read by Sarah J. Maas, she has now become one of my favourite authors. Her writing is addictive.

This book is so unpredictable, there are so many twists and turns that were very unexpected. I was always kept on the edge of my seat. I know I say this a lot, but I reckon this book is probably one of my favourites this year and that is quite the statement to make!

“I love you," he whispered, and kissed my brow. "Thorns and all.”  

I gave this book a very strong five out of five stars, which I rarely ever do! That just shows how special this book really is!

Please, just go and read it.

                   Cinder by Marissa Meyer - This Savage Song by V. E. Schwab

Have you read ACOTAR?

Have you read any of Sarah J. Maas' other books?

What's your favourite fantasy novel?