After hearing about this book for quite a while, I finally read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I didn’t know what to expect at first (I just knew that I liked the Throne of Glass series and this was her other series) but I found that I liked it. And I realized that this story was something of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I enjoyed it and I plan on reading the next books in the series at some point.
Feyre is a girl living in the forest, keeping her family from starving. She was a better girl than me, because when her sisters ask for money for things, she gives them more than they deserve. If it were me out there hunting all day, and my ungrateful sisters were asking for money, I’d give them just what they needed, and then I’d tell them to go do something to earn it if they wanted anything more. Even her father is practically useless, although I at least feel bad for him since he had an injury.
One day, while hunting in the woods, she kills a wolf. It’s a ginormous wolf, and she thinks it might be magical, but in her mind, it might be either her or him. This sets off a chain of events that forces her to live in a magical estate over in fae-land. Now she worries for her family (whom she’s afraid might have died without her) but she does have a pretty sweet life otherwise. As a reader, I’m wondering “why?” but it’s explained later in the book.
Despite her rags to riches story, all is not well in the land of the fae. There is a curse that threatens to spill over into the human lands and hurt her family. Feyre must do what she can to save her family… and the fae male that she has grown to… love? You’ll have to read the book to find out more.
What I Liked
A Court of Thorns and Roses has a lot going for it. There’s magic, and I couldn’t help but root for the girl who had been slaving away for her family for so long and finally gets to live a good life. Feyre is a brave and clever girl who is willing to fight for what she wants. The writing was good, as all Sarah J. Maas books are.
What I Found to be ‘Meh’
I can’t say I disliked anything about this books, but there were things I liked less. Although Feyre was clever, strong-willed, and brave, there were some times when she would be extremely unwise. Yes, I can see how she would miss her family and worry about them, but she does some things that are incredibly unwise at the beginning, and part of me wanted to strangle her. Maybe I just couldn’t understand how someone with such a useless family would be so attached to them. She doesn’t listen to counsel at times, even when she should know better.
Conclusion
I definitely plan on reading more books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I decided to get A Court of Mist and Fury on audiobook; the next books in this series are a little longer and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to find time to read the next books in the series otherwise. While SJM might not be an author that I often feel like I have to read the next book now about, I do enjoy her stories and I want to find out what happens next.