Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Thorns and Roses haunted me. Every time I browsed the book section at Target or wandered the aisles of Barnes and Noble, it stood out. I finally picked it up and read the back cover. A huntress and a faerie fall in love only to have their lives threatened by some lurking “shadow?” Sounds like a fantastical retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Not interested.
*Puts book back on shelf.
Yet I kept coming back to it. I posted a photo of it on social media one day and asked for opinions. It seemed I was late to the party because friend after friend and follower after follower told me I had to read it, and several warned me that the first book in the series was “so good!” but also the “worst one in the series.” I caved and picked up a copy.
I could not put it down.
A Court of Thorn and Roses *is* a fantastical retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but it is layered in moral choices, questions of how far one will go for the people they love, and the sacrifices they are willing to make for the greater good.
At nineteen, Feyre is the youngest of three sisters. Her family has fallen from grace. Once wealthy, her aloof mother dies and her merchant father’s business dealings go wrong causing the family to move from their comfortable estate to a dingy cottage in a working class village. With her father injured and in despair and her older sisters holding on to a past that’s gone, Feyre takes up the mantle of keeping them from starving by learning to hunt.
Cold weather and the threat of hunger drives her deeper and deeper into the woods, despite a fear of going too close to the wall – the dividing structure between the human world and Prythian, home of the faeries. There is a long history between the humans and faeries, and Feyre has been raised to fear them. Still, she does what she has to do to provide for her family. When she kills a wolf that is actually a faerie, life as she knows it is flipped on its ear and she finds herself in Prythian as a (sort of) captive of Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court.
As time passes, Feyre realizes everything she was taught to believe about faeries is wrong, right down to their inability to lie. As her fears of the fae prove false, she falls in love with Tamlin, and he reciprocates those feelings. Meanwhile, a threat hangs over Prythian – and she may be the only one who can save them all.
A Court of Thorns and Roses pulled me in right away. The will they or won’t they of Tamlin and Feyre had me staying up far too late to read just one more page which turned into one more chapter, which turned into… you get the idea. Just when things were getting good between Tamlin and Feyre…
Enter: Rhysand, High Lord of the NIght Court.
Rhysand is the most powerful high lord ever, and an absolute devil may care. He’s dark, handsome, and, at least it seems, evil. Except Rhysand turns out to be perhaps the most complex character of the series as he walks a very fine line between playing a part and letting the real “him” show. It’s hard to like him – until it’s impossible not to love him.
The last few chapters are full of action, sacrifice, and heartbreak and the end doesn’t really feel like the end at all.
Good thing there are four more books.
I highly recommend A Court of Thorns and Roses. As soon as I finished it, I did two things. I texted a friend who had read all the books and was eager to discuss and confessed I didn’t like Tamlin. I didn’t have a real reason, he just didn’t set right with me. Her reply?
“No spoilers.”
I’ll echo that here. No spoilers…
The second thing I did?
Put on a pair of shoes and head out to get the next book, A Court of Mist and Fury to find out if Feyre will get her happily ever after.
I give A Court of Thorns and Roses 4.5 stars out of 5.
