A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. MaasSeries: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating:
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
I don’t really know what to say about this book other than it’s an enormous disappointment and I wish I had never read it. In regards to Maas’ other books, I liked Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight well enough, but Heir of Fire blew me away. Considering A Court of Thorns and Roses was published AFTER that masterpiece, I was expecting more amazing things from a writer who seemed to have gotten this writing thing down.
But actually, my thoughts on A Court of Thorns and Roses can be summarised in one gif:
I just don’t understand how the author of Heir of Fire could give us this shitfest. Because that’s what it is. I am honestly disgusted with the depiction of abuse in this book. And yes, I know that A Court of Thorns and Roses is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but that fairytale is hella old and if you’re going to write a retelling and publish it nowadays, I think some adjustments should be made. Like the abuse aspect should be written properly and not romanticised.
Tamlin, the love interest, plays the role of “the Beast” even though he’s a beautiful fae creature who’s apparently very charismatic. Charismatic enough to get into Feyre’s pants, apparently. I didn’t like him to start with because I am so over the “look at me I’m hot and broody and mysterious so LOVE ME” thing, and then when he went up to Feyre and told her to stay in her room or he would rape her I was out. So out.
Rape. And. Abuse. Should. Not. Be. A. Plot. Device.
I could rage about this all day but in summary:
- Did anyone else lol at the name “Feyre”? Because… fey/fae.
- Tamlin was abusive and a horrible character and I think he should die.
- The trials at the end were quite good.
- Aside from that other brosef who turned up and “claimed” Feyre because no thank you.
Basically, don’t read it.
I’ve been looking forward to your review! I’m glad to see you’re on the same page as Tatum, which is also the page I’m on. I don’t now what horrifies me more: that Sarah J. Maas wrote this book or that so many bloggers loved it, completely brushing past the blatant romanticism of rape. I feel like I can no longer fully trust their book recommendations. What happened to all of these supposed feminists?
I truly hated the Twilight-esque ending. WHY did it have to end with the weak, pathetic, mortal human girl (it’s never a weak, pathetic, mortal boy) turning into brave! and beautiful! and strong! immortal. She definitely never consented to that.
Ha, yes, I’ve got to say, I’m pretty there with you, this book was really disappointing, I hate to say it, there were things and characters I liked enough throughout the novel that it’s not the crushing disappointment that it was, but the actual actions in this book, the threat of rape, the ownership, the getting woman drunk and using them, ugh, I was so NOT on board with that shit. Yeah, I struggle to understand what exactly people liked about this.. *sigh*