A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m not sure what I expected here, being that I’m a little late to the game. This is a very popular author and series but I just now have started at book 1. This is a fairy tale coupled with romance and self discovery.

Feyre is a girl who has had to take on responsibility for keeping her family fed at too young and age. Even though she’s not the eldest, she is the one who hunts for them, keeps money coming in, and essentially keeps them all alive after her father’s business crumbled. While this certainly takes place in a different world, it is some weird blend that does not include technology but does include magic. There was a divide between the fae and humans that created a wall between their worlds. There is a lot of hatred, worship, and anything in between for them. Ultimately, Feyre is focused only on keeping her family safe and maybe one day being happy.

While hunting one day she ends up up killing a wolf who is much more than that. From the treaty it seems that Feyre is subject to fae laws and taken to their land by Tamlin. This feels very much like Beauty & the Beast at times, with some smuttier thoughts thrown in. At her “prison” she lives in an estate, never really wanting for anything. She’s able to explore what she enjoys (painting) and figuring out how to spend her days free of obligations. It was nice to watch Feyre open up and grow as a person, even if some choices she makes had me pulling out my hair.

Tamlin is her keeper, love interest, lord, and will likely come to be a lot more. This story grew in ways I didn’t expect, though it did set me up properly by building a wonderful, happy world only to smash it to bits. We do get to a good ending, though, but it takes a lot of pain to get there. As a first book in the series, this was enough to get me into book two. They introduce enough additional characters that I’m thoroughly invested now.

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