Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses

ACOTAR #1

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Published: 5th May 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children

Number of pages: 432

Format: Hardback

Source: Library

Purchase: Amazon, B&N, TBD

From Goodreads:

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

My Review

I know that ACOTAR and Throne of Glass are two totally different works and should therefore be considered separately, but you'll find lot of refences to the second in this review, as my mind could not stop comparing the two while reading ACOTAR. I was really disappointed when I read Throne of Glass, so the fact that I did not like it much might actually have had a strong impact on my LOVING ACOTAR because this time, expectations were really low and I was not expecting everything I've felt while reading this magical work. 

The thing that surprised me the most about ACOTAR is the radical change I've perceived in Maas' writing style. I loathed how immature and silly the characters appeared in Throne of Glass and I particularly hated the dialogues, which were pointless and vain and did not help me at all in liking the protagonists. I felt like the author did not particularly dwell on descriptive images of the fantasy world she was creating and did not even balance this shortage with an action-packed plot. To be short: it was flat. But ACOTAR on the other hand. 

I read a few  reviews after reading this book and there a lot of things that I caught thanks to other people's perspective. Just like Throne of Glass, ACOTAR too does have a slow rythm, lots of readers claiming that it took them a while to get into the story. But apparently, I did not have this problem at all. Want to know why? Because I LOVED how descriptive the author had been from the beginning! This time, Maas did not spare us any detail: from the snow-covered forest in which Feyre hunted her preys, to the magical mansion where Tamlin's court resided, to the small silver lake in which they bathed, till the stenching cave where Amarantha formed her wicked reign... everything was brilliantly portraied. I couldn't help but falling in love with everything Feyre laid eyes on and the fact that she was a painter and first person narrator, gave us a wider spectrum of colours and impressions that the average eye might not catch. I still have freshly painted in my mind every image the author has presented us and I find this to be particularly important for a fantasy book, whose aim should be to make the reader evade.

Another big problem I had with Throne of Glass concerned Caelena and how much I detested her and her ambiguity. On the other hand though I immediately liked Feyre, who, in my opinion, shows much more bravery and temperament than the infamous killer Caelena. I loved her pride, her desire to preserve her integrity and the energic way in which she experiences everything. Consequently, I really enjoyed the romance in this book too as it felt natural and mature and well-structured. I was not expecting this book to be so damn sexy and after reading the stupid altercations between Caelena and Dorian, I was certainly not expecting to experience such a mature and incredibly seductive relationship between the two protagonists.

The building of Tamlin and Feyre relationship actually occupies 3/4 of the book and then eventually, the real action kicks in. I really liked where the book went and the whole thing about the curse, but if I have to be honest, it was problably the part I liked the least. From that moment on, infact, we see way less of Feyre and Tamlin and at that point all my mind was craving about was actually to have more of their moments. However, I can see that the author certainly has a lot of surprises ready for me in the following books, and I'm thrilled by the impression that with all the courts and other worlds implied in this first installment, ACOTAR might actually resemble a medieval fantasy, although with Faes. 

... Just, can I be cruel about just one thing? Dear Sarah J. Maas, why do you always have to put that love-triangle clichè thing into your works?! I mean with stupid Dorian and that poor Chaol it was no problem, but what when I love both Tamlin and Rhys? What if I don't want to switch team? I'm sure you'll get to me and I already hate you for this!

Eehm, ehm. So sorry for the little outburst. Well, to finish, this book has earned my whole heart and therefore 5 brilliant stars and the possibility to become one of my new favorite fantasy series! Now I can go back and wait on my Amazon parcel of book #2, #3,#4.