A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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.

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Published by Bloomsbury Children's on May 5th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Teen Fantasy, Teen Romance, Teen/YA Fiction
Pages: 432
Format: eBook
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For a while, I thought I wasn’t going to really like this book, but I’m glad I stuck with it because it turned out to be way stronger in the Character development department than many books I’ve read lately. Feyre, the heroine, is stubborn as hell and starts out intensely self-righteous when it comes to the difference between humans like her and Fae like Tamlin, her captor. At times, I felt like Feyre’s stubbornness and (fairly understandable) prejudice were steering her into Too Stupid To Live territory; there’s a point where I would expect her to see what was going on around her and adapt, but she stubbornly clung to her increasingly outdated ideals.

But… she grew. She did start paying attention and learning about the new world she’d been thrust into, and while she held onto her stubbornness, it turned more into resilience tempered by a lot of thought about her situation. CHARACTER GROWTH!

I love it when a character that starts out frustrating the crap out of me actually learns from her experiences and grows as a person because of them! I thought I’d be frustrated with the whole book, and while I did want to shake Feyre a few times in the later pages, I also felt a lot more connected to her as a character.

I love the complicated world that Maas has created and how very little is what it seems on the surface. It’s a very good representation of Faerie as a concept, and the other character reflect the way the world is constructed. You may think they are one thing, but the story slowly reveals new sides to everyone, both physically and mentally. Even at the end, I didn’t feel like I really had a lock on characters like Tamlin or Rhysand.

I’ve seen this classified as a Teen novel, and I’m not sure if I’d put it in that box (though I’m sure teenage readers will enjoy it). Yeah, Feyre is nineteen, but the story reads more like an adult-oriented Fantasy romance to me. But your mileage may vary. Despite the teen label, there is some nice, non-explicit sex (hey, I like my steamy romances).

I’m glad I didn’t get too irritated with Feyre early on, because I really enjoyed this book. I have a few more in my TBR pile, but I’m looking forward to reading the sequel soon.

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