A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J Maas seems to be the YA author of the moment. So, as someone who always likes to know what others are reading, and why there’s so much hype, I jumped on the bandwagon and opened up  A Court of Thorns and Roses. 

A Court of Thorns and Roses is told from the perspective of Feyre, a fierce young woman who does whatever she must to care for her sisters and father as they struggle with poverty. That is until one day her hunting has the most dire of consequences, which ends up with her being taken to the dreaded land of the Faeries that haunt the human world. 

This book is a romantic re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, and the world-building is so well done. It takes a classic tale and transports it to a really new place that I wanted to learn more and more about. But for me the chemistry between High Fae Tamlin and our heroine Feyre just isn’t what I was hoping for. A lot of this book’s hype is centred on this relationship and it fell flat. It’s possible this comes from my own desire to see strong female characters matched by their partners and Tamiln just wasn’t it.

Of course this is a romantic novel, and it does get a little spicy at times, but I wish it had leant into that passion a bit more. The last third of this story is really where all the action happens, but by the time we’d reached it I wasn’t invested enough in Tamlin and Feyre’s relationship to really root for them. There are other distractions, especially one who goes by the name of Rhysand, that drew my attention. 

I still don’t know about this series. Which might not be the most satisfying review, but its my honest one. I’m going to read the next book in the series and decide whether it’s worth continuing on with the rest (so far the series has four main titles and several “spin-off’s). I’m intrigued by the world building, so lets hope there’s more in this next book to convince me that Tamlin and Feyre are really the star-crossed lovers they’re purported to be.

I’d recommend A Court of Thorns and Roses for lovers of fantasy and world building, who like a little romance too. Although it definitely sits in the Young Adult genre, don’t let that hold you back from giving this super popular series a go. 

Lauren M.