Title: A Court of Thornes and Roses [Goodreads Link]
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
General Thoughts (NO SPOILERS):
I finally finished it! I bought this book the day it came out and I have just been to busy to read it but I got there. But while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I can't say that parts of it didn't fall a bit flat for me. I adore Sarah J. Maas and I possibly set my standards a little too high for this book, so I was slightly disappointed. In saying that, though, I still thought it was a solid book to start off her new series. I have similar thoughts about this novel that I did to ToG and I went on to absolutely LOVE that series so I'm excited to see what lies ahead for the ACOTAR series. As always, Maas has introduced a set of really compelling characters and a really interesting world with lots of potential. I felt a bit like this book would have stood well as a stand-alone so I am intrigued to see where the story heads in book 2!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Characters:
In my opinion, SJM really has a real knack for creating amazing characters and I very much stand by that statement for ACOTAR. I am just really digging the main set of characters in this book. Feyre is complex and engaging and a super badass. From the first page, she felt like such a strong character and I really enjoyed reading from her perspecive. I think Tamlin is an intriguing character but I hope we get to learn more about him in following books because I still feel like he kept himself quite reserved in this one (with good reason, though) and I just want to understand him more. My personal favourite so far, though, is Lucien. I'm not quite sure what is exactly but I just love him so much and find him to be such an interesting character. He's hilarious as well as being ernest and that's exactly how I like characters to be.
Oh, and Rhysand. How could I forget him? I definitely do not like him at this point. Nor do I ship him with Feyre even a little bit. I think he's an interesting character and I'm sure we will be getting more backstory for him and unraveling of his character in the following installments but I just can't find it in me to sympathise with him just yet. Also, I know there's a lot of speculation about whether or not he mated with Feyre in that last scene between the two of them but I really don't have much of an opinion on it. I think it's an interesting idea (and not one I thought of, to be honest) so I'll be curious see what it was all about in book 2.
Plot:
I think the plot is my main issue for this book. It had a lot of good elements but it also felt a bit lacking at points. The romance between Feyre and Tamlin was one thing. It felt a bit insta-love to me, to be honest. It kinda of went from Feyre hating him to her having all these feelings in a chapter. I do like them as a couple and think they had some really lovely scenes, I just feel like it could have been better developed originally.
I also think the section where Feyre goes back to her family didn't need to be as long as it was. It just felt pretty dull up until the moment when we find out Nesta wasn't as ignorant as Feyre thought (which I absolutely LOVED). And a few other moments in the book just dragged on a bit too much and got kind of tedious.
Also, as I mentioned before, I'm still not quite sure if there was enough plot in this book to constitute a sequel. I feel like the ending could've been slightly altered and ACOTAR would have stood quite nicely as a stand-alone. In saying that, I am not one to turn down a SJM book any time soon so at least there's that.
Writing:
SJM is an incredible writer. She laces her prose with really wonderful description but keeps it really engaging and easy to comprehend. I have no complaints here.
So, have you guys checked out Sarah J. Maas' new novel and if so, what did you think about it? Let me know in the comments below and let's get a discussion going!
Until next time!
- Jess, xxx
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