A Court of Thorns and Roses (Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

by Sarah J. Maas

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

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!

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

• ISBN10: 1619634449
• ISBN13: 9781619634442
• Publish Date: 3 December 2015 (first published 5 May 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Imprint: Bloomsbury YA
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

I’ve decided to reread the ACOTAR series. It’s been four years, and after rereading Throne of Glass and reading Crescent City finally, I miss the ACOTAR characters. I’m so glad I found Sarah J. Maas’s books when I did back when I was working. She’s one author who can suck me into any story she writes. I’ve read all of her books in either one day or less than five days. It all depends on if my family and schedule allow me.

Storyline/My Thoughts: A long time ago, humans were slaves to the High Fae until a war broke out, and humans won their freedom and gained land to live on due to a wall that separated them from the High Fae. Immediately, the book starts with the main character Feyre out in the woods to hunt a deer for her family. She ends up having to kill a wolf that was about to kill the deer she wanted for her family. She knows what the wolf truly is, but it was either let him eat the deer, and her family starves, or kill the wolf, who is a Fae. Humans don’t like the Fae, so she doesn’t like them either. A beast-like creature comes to find her, and he demands payment for killing the wolf who was his friend. She dies or comes with him back to his home, where the Fae dwells.

Feyre decides to go with him, and the whole time she’s over at Spring Court, she is worried sick about her family. Feyre realizes while with the High Fae that something strange has happened to them. The blight is plagued their world, and Feyre is determined to find out if there is a cure for it. She doesn’t realize that the blight is not something you want to mess with, especially when the High Fae at Spring Court is scared it’s coming to get them again.

What I loved most about this book was how strong-willed Feyre was in the book. She was not afraid to stand her ground, especially against Tamlin. Feyre goes through different emotions with Tamlin because, at first, he’s scary, but then he starts changing to protective over her. Feyre falls for Tamlin, which I found Tamlin a little over the top at times, but he grew on me. (Although, in the case of Sarah with her female MC’s first love interest, let’s just say it never works out.)

The best part of the story comes toward the end of the book when Feyre finds out what the blight is. Let’s say the ending has a lot of action, bloodshed, and sadness. Out of all the characters, though, one character that stood out to me in the book was Rhysand. He was fascinating and evil at the same time. He’s that morally grey character you love to hate. At least, that is what I found him to be, in my opinion. I don’t want to go into too much detail about his character because I’ll give away his best/worst qualities. He was great, though.

The first book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series is addicting to read due to the storyline and characters. Sarah J. Maas did another fantastic job. I’ve read this book three times, and I play on rereading it as many times as possible.

I give this book five stars and look forward to rereading the rest of the series. Sarah J. Maas has become a favorite author of mine since her books always manage to keep me out of a reading slump.

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the ACOTAR series and I highly recommend reading in order.

Steam/Spice: ⭐️ ⭐️

Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you are a fan of New Adult Fantasy books, this book is for you. You’ll enjoy this series if you’ve read Sarah J. Maas’s other series, Throne of Glass and Crescent City.

[Renee]

This review will contain spoilers. 

I did not mind the writing style as much, since I do not pay enough attention to it while reading. If I don’t like unimportant parts, my mind just skips over it. 

I did mind the romanticized rape and saying that Rhysand was not to blame at all since he only paraded her around as his sex slave such that Tamlin would kill their tormentor. As if Tamlin wouldn’t already hate her anyway for all she did to him. I also refuse to see how Tamlin would hate Amaratha (if I recall correctly) more after Rhysand’s abuse of Tamlin’s girlfriend. It is all on Rhysand. 

Also, there is no storyline. Everything related to the curse is way too specific, the villain is very one-dimensional, and the trials that they come up with make no sense at all. It feels as if the plot is entirely motivated by Sarah J. Maas thinking about where she can put more sexual moments into the book.

However, I will be continuing with the series since I own the books and I want to know when everyone is going to hate Tamlin so much and begins to care for Rhysand. Also, the parts that have consentual sexual tension are ok and I want to see what happens to Lucien. I actually like his character and the more complex family dynamics and hope we see more of that it the next books. 

[vagasker]

This was my second (or third according to Goodreads although I do not remember that) re-read and I still think it is a 3.5/4 star book. It still very much feels like a YA book but just with a slightly sexy twist. It could have been 5 stars if only I cared about the main characters. Instead Lucien and Nesta are my boos.

[Rach Wood]

This retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast (mashed with an older, lesser-known folktale from the British Isles) is not surprising for those who know the classic, but it innovates with the creation of a new world of fairytales and nightmares.

What pleased me most was the presentation of the main character, her life to the present moment and the enmity relationship with the magical beings of Prythian, as well as the conclusion of the story, which is sufficiently satisfactory for this book to live for itself (it's a good enough read, if you don't have the energy to read the rest of the series). Unfortunately, the chapters in between bothered me, especially because of one particular male character, which I found absolutely uninteresting. At no time did I hope he would stay with Feyre.

The pacing felt jolting at times, and I felt the storyline had assets that seemed unnecessary to the higher plot. When things turned around and everything made sense, I felt hooked, but the knots could have been tied earlier. And I actually think I will love the book more if I take the time to reread it. Apart from her questionable love interests, I like Feyre, mainly because her personal issues make her relatable and interesting, and she’s really fearless every time it matters. Another one of my favorites is Lucien, who only grew more on me. Then there’s the fact that a lot of things were set up for the sequels that have me very intrigued, including more of the manipulative and mysterious Rhysand.

I loved this so much. I think I'm realizing that I love fantasy books more than I thought. I admit that it started off a bit slow and I didn't understand everything that was going on. It didn't grab me immediately but I was enjoying it. Somewhere around the 30% mark it began to move faster and by the 40% mark I could not put it down. This has the Beauty and The Beast vibes for sure I think it's considered a retelling of sorts. I already have the second book in this series from the library but this time in audio (23 hours!) I cannot wait to dive in.

[kerrydarkeyes]

The first half had me, I found Feyre convincing as a protagonist, her motivation was believable for me, and although knowing the story was reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast made the curse less suspenseful, I was still curious to see where it all led.

It dropped from a four-star to a three-star for me starting with the Rite, and Feyre’s disregard of the Very Important Rule not to leave the house, which felt inexplicable after all the smart choices she’d made up until then. And when Rhysand showed up, oh-ho, who’s this, a toxic love interest, methinks?

[herseriallife]

A Court of Thorns and Roses is one of my favorite book series. It is brilliantly written by Sarah J Maas, my favorite author. I am re-reading in anticipation for the release of A Court Of Silver Flames, a sort of spinoff series digging further on Nesta and Cassian story from the ACOTAR series. It's been such a pleasure to rediscovering the series with audiobook. If you love fantasy series and haven't already, read the ACOTAR series!

[kymmiejournals]

I love it! Im surprised I love Rhys better than Tamlin in this book. They’re both wicked but Rhys is more mysterious. There are only a handful of major characters introduced here, with a few minor characters who helped build the mortal world of Feyre. No major cliffhanger, so you’ll do fine if you want a HEA ending, but know that there are still stories yet to uncover and why Rhys suddenly stumbled when she stared at Feyre, that alone will make you want to read the next book. The riddles and the plot twist all makes sense and I suggest you to keep reading when you tire of the “Beauty and the Beast” retelling because it’s not(?) Funny thing is, this book seem like a subtle retelling of “Cinderella” (where Feyre is bullied by her 2 sisters in the first few chapters), “Beauty and the Beast” (when Feyre was captured by a shape-shifting High Lord Tamlin and fell in love), “Snow White” (Amarantha the villain and her 7 little dwarves or 7 High Lords bound to her because of some black magic)

[kiracanread]

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely requested an arc of this book because of the hype, I don't read or enjoy a lot of fantasy, especially YA fantasy, so I was sceptical about reading this book and kept putting it off, but here we are, I've finally gotten around to it.

A Court of Thorns and Roses has some characters that are likeable and others that really aren't, and I think it gives this story a really good balance between love and hate for the reader and 'Rhysand' is quite a morally grey character, which gives him a lot of depth in this story.

I'm definitely going to have to pick up the next book in the series to see what happens next, I never realised I could get so hooked on a YA fantasy series, but i'm dying to find out what happens with my favourite character.

(I'm not telling you who my favourite character is in case something horrible happens to them and you're all reading this and pitying me)

But overall, I'm incredibly glad that I got the push I needed to read this book, I've never read any Sarah J. Maas prior to this, and hadn't intended to - but now i'm hooked!

[ambiancereads]

You know someone once compared this book to a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and honestly thats what stuck to me when I read it and I think it ruined it for me. If I were to re-read this now that I've read the whole series I know I would love it. It's not a retelling by any means. But I did have a harder time with this one, it felt slow to build. But by the end I enjoyed the plot twists and the characters.