Book Review: a Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
May 5, 2023
I did not want to read this. A dear friend of mine had suggested it over and over for the past couple of years and I finally gave in and I am already planning the next time I will be reading this series and I am only on book three of many ( the author is not done with the series yet ).
I started listening to this book because I wanted something to listen to while I was completing mundane tasks at work to keep me focused and happy. It was just a book that I remembered my friend suggesting and I couldn’t decide what to listen to. Boy amI glad I listened to her.
This series has a lot of spoilers and easter eggs, so I genuinely apologize if I give something away.
Starting this book was slow. It is set in another world where there are fae and humans and monsters and kings and queens. It does not start out adventurous though. You meet Feyre who lives with her two older sisters and her disabled father. They had once been wealthy, but had lost all of their money due to a bad trade. Her father was attacked in front of her and it left him disabled, so not only were they penniless, they had to find a way to survive while their father was healing. Feyre takes matters into her own hands and becomes a huntress in the forest near the tiny shack they call home. Her older sisters were of no help, so it was on her shoulders to makes sure they all survived.
The story goes on to Feyre killing a wolf in the woods and using the pelt to keep her family’s bellies full during the winter, but that wolf was no ordinary wolf, but a fairy. His friend, Tamlin, infuriated by the loss of his friend, breaks into their home and gives Feyre two options – come and live with him or be killed on the spot. She weighs her options and what she knows of the high fae, but ultimately chooses to go with the creature.
From here Feyre’s story unfolds and is confusing at first, things don’t seem to quite add up. Why would Tamlin want her to come and live with him? Why did everything she thought she knew about the fae seem to be completely wrong? Why couldn’t Tamlin and his court ever take off their masks? But Sarah J. Maas has a brilliant, beautiful way of unfolding her stories.
I worry that, if I say anything more, I will give away too much, but I cannot recommend this series enough. I would like to give you a fair warning, though, there is harsh language and scenes that are rather…saucy. If you care not to have either of those in your books, you may want to skip this one, or skip over certain chapters. This series is well worth reading around them, even if you do not enjoy those things in your books.
