A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass
“I came to claim the one I love.”
– Sarah J. Mass
Specifics:
Book: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J Mass
Published: 5th May’15
Genre: Fantasy fiction, High fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Pages: 416
My Rating: 3.5/5
Audiobook details:
Courtesy: Storytel.in
Narrator: Jennifer Ikeda
Duration: 16 hours 7 minutes and 51 seconds at 1x
Click on the picture to go to her post and read her thoughts on the book.
Blurb:
‘She stole a life.
Now she must pay with her heart.’
Feyre is a huntress. She thinks nothing of slaughtering a wolf to capture its prey. But, like all mortals, she fears what lingers mercilessly beyond the forest. And she will learn that taking the life of a magical creature comes at a high price.
Imprisoned in an enchanted court in her enemies kingdom, Feyre is free to roam but forbidden to escape. Her captor’s body bears the scars of fighting, and his face is always masked – but his piercing stare draws her even close. As Feyre’s feelings for Tamlin begin to burn through every warning she’s been told about his kind, an ancient, wicked shadow grows.
Feyre must find a way to break a spell, or lose her heart forever.
“You didn’t tell me this would happen.” “You didn’t ask. So how am I to blame?”
-Sarah J. Mass
REVIEW:
“I love you,” I said, and stabbed him.” The author had me intrigued with this dialogue.
A Court of Thorns and Roses begins with the description of an independent 19-Year-old huntress who strives to protect her family even though she is occasionally ill-treated by them. As the blurb mentions, she makes a choice that rattles her world and takes her away from her loved ones or so she assumes.
Click on the picture to go to the post on her feed.
The book starts off at a rather slow pace and it seemed to be describing unnecessary things which might or might not be pivotal to the plot. But it keeps building up as we go forward. It has the right percentage of romance, thrill and anguish to keep us hooked to it.
I absolutely adore the descriptions of the author as they were surreal. The language was easy and elaborate. There was a sense of suspense at the end of every encounter which had me longing to keep reading and find out what happens next.
It is a retelling of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast. The best part was that though it is inspired by the tale, it is not a copy of the exact story in a different background. It can stand on its own without being compared to it. Props to the author for pulling this off as there are a lot of retellings of beauty and the beast coming out which are sadly sub-par.
The story-line was smooth and though some parts of it were not satisfying enough, it comes through well. It is predictable because we know that everything falls into place in the end but how that happens is what makes this book worth reading. All the characters are very well made and each of them shone through to their full potential. (Sometimes they were annoying though)
It was definitely a good read and I enjoyed the book. I want to grab the next one soon, so that is a good thing.
I rate the book 3.5/5 stars.
“We need hope, or else we cannot endure.”
-Sarah J. Mass
SPOILERS AHEAD
Going into the book and the parts that I loved and loathed, my absolute favourite bit was the trial in which Feyre is faced with a gigantic blind worm. That was most certainly gripping. Some other things were how she loved painting and she dreamed of a life where she could afford paints and brushes, the agreement she makes with Rhysand that gives her a tattoo which lets him guide/help her in the trials. The revival of Feyre into a High-Fae by the high-lords was a good end.
Click on the picture to go to the post and read her review.
What I was not a fan of was how Tamlin (being cautious of course) was silent. Kind of annoyed me to be honest.
“Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”
– Sarah J. Mass
Characters:
Feyre: She is such a fierce young lady. I absolutely love the fact that we get to view the story from her eyes. She definitely felt like Belle and more so like Merida from Brave. (I have no idea how my brain made that connection.) A book where a woman saves the day is exactly what I needed to fill into my feminist pride and even though it was evident that she will save the day, I was beaming with joy when she did. I was sometimes disappointed in her choices and I loathe the parts where she becomes a damsel in distress but not everyone is perfect. May be she will shine brighter in the next books
Tamlin: I didn’t fancy Tamlin that much probably because I knew he was not Rhysand and I needed Rhysand to be there with Feyre but I did not despise him either. He was strong and powerful but he did sort of mislead/lie to Feyre along with everyone else and I am not sure how I feel about his character. He does make a good high-lord and I like that he can transform into a beast. He is probably an honest High-Fae.
Lucien: Of all the major characters in this book, he was my favourite. He is witty, he is brave and guessing from the descriptions, handsome even. I like how he has a dark past that sort of builds up to his current personality. He cares deeply even though he acts like he doesn’t. I am not sure of what I think about him being a tad bit inferior to Tamlin because I think Lucien deserved better. I hope Lucien gets an amazing love interest and a happy ending as the story progresses.
Amarantha: I have a confession to make here. I am a sucker for bad-ass vamps and Amarantha was simply amazing at it. First things first, she wore black and she conquered (well, almost). I was disappointed that her role ended in the first book of the trilogy because there was so much potential but having recurring antagonists isn’t a good idea in a series, so maybe I could just hope for a sassier vamp in the next book.
Rhysand: The problem with me getting into the book so late was that I knew it was Feyre and Rhysand in the end. So, the mention of him, even though late in the book, made me all ears (I was technically listening to the book, so makes sense). I knew it was him from when a mysterious High-Fae saves Feyre from the mischievous fae’s on Fire Night and I needed more of him since. I am also a sucker for bad men (Jacks from Caraval seriesbeing my favourite bad men of all times). He is one reason why I cannot wait to jump into the next book. I want to find out how he misuses the ‘one week every month’ arrangement with Feyre.
Nesta: This is probably the character that had the most growth in the book. Initially, depicted as a cold and selfish elder sister to Feyre who only wants to rest and live off of her sister’s hard earnings, she turns out to be a clever, strong girl with a presence of mind. She is probably the only one that spoke of things that made sense. Wishing to see more of her in the next books.
Review of the Audiobook:
I actually took over two weeks to finish the audiobook not because it was boring but because I got busy after I started it. Storytel definitely has an amazing collection of audiobooks. The book itself was pricey and since everyone were talking about the magic of Sarah J. Mass and I had to feel it, this was my best option. The narrator does a great job and I loved her voice, slang and pronunciations. I will happily listen to a dozen more of her narrations. So, the book is long and I heard it at the speed of 2X but I did not feel like it dampened the effect of narration and this is something I look for in audiobooks, so that was a win.
Reasons to read the book:
- Amazing descriptions into a fairytale dwelling
- It has Faeries
- The protagonist that saves the day is a strong female character
- There is the right amount of romance in the book
- The antagonist is bad-ass too
- It is a beauty and the beats retelling
Cons:
- Sort of slow to begin with (I know a few people who left it initially but then ended up reading and loving it)
- The female protagonist loses her strong outlook and turns into a needy cry-baby for a while (becomes her strong self again though)
“Don’t feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.”
-Sarah J. Mass
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