A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses 
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Page count: 416
Date published: May 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars!

Summary (from Goodreads):

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Timesbestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

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.

As it states in the summary, this is a Beauty and the Beast re-telling. There are a lot of different aspects, of course, but beneath it all there is Disney's Beauty and the Beast plot. If you've watched the movie you can figure out what elements are twisted to create a unique story. Unlike the Disney movie, this book has a lot more of a magical quality to it. The main character is taken to the magical land of Prythian after killing a Fae disguised as a wolf. The reader gets to meet interesting characters and creatures; some terrifying, some not so much. We learn a lot about Prythian and its customs. Fans of fantasy and paranormal may enjoy A Court of Thorns and Roses. 

The first half:

The book starts out very slow as it goes through the motions of Feyre's every day life. Her family lost all of their money after a bad investment and now lives in poverty. Her father is left crippled after a confrontation with debt collectors and now spends all of his time withering away into nothing. With a deceased mother and two sisters who would rather gripe and moan than help around the house, Feyre is left with the burden of taking care of her family. Winter is coming and her family is going to starve. This leads Feyre out into the woods to hunt. Everyone knows that the woods are dangerous because of the Fae, deadly, magical creatures who live on the other side of a wall. This wall separates these vile creatures from humans like Feyre but that doesn't stop them from coming over the wall and slaughtering innocent humans. Feyre knows that going into the woods are dangerous but fear of starvation is stronger. Things start to look up when Feyre kills a wolf. Enough meat to last her family for weeks! This is good, right?

Wrong. Wolf ends up being a Fae in disguise. Another Fae, a beast with talons, comes for Feyre. She has two options: die or come with him to his estate in Prythian. Either way she must atone for killing his friend. A life for a life. Desperate to keep her life, Feyre follows this beast over the wall and into the magical land of Prythian. Feyre will now live out the rest of her mortal life in Prythian as a sentence for killing a Fae.

I'm going to be honest right now and tell you that this isn't much of a "sentence". Feyre lives her days in luxury and comfort at the estate. The beast who carried her away turns out to be a shape-shifting Fae named Tamlin with a gorgeous "human body". He's well-mannered and patient with Feyre even if he does like to keep his secrets. His best friend, Lucien, provides the comedy with his snarky comebacks and sarcastic attitude that is worthy of Kenji from Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me series. Feyre doesn't have anything to worry about in Prythian. She is well fed, clothed, and protected. Tamlin even goes as far to make sure that her family is provided for! If this is the consequence for killing a Fae, sign me up.

The only thing that Feyre has to worry her pretty little head over is the magical blight that is ruining Prythian and its Fae inhabitants. Sooner of later it's going to cross the wall and begin harming the humans. Families. Children. It's already taken so much from the Fae: their magic and even taken the faces of Tamlin's court. Tamlin and all of his subjects are stuck in masks after a surge of sickened magic that passed through during a masquerade.

"There is... sickness in these lands. Across Prythian. There has been for almost fifty years now. It is why this house and these lands are so empty: most have left. The blight spreads slowly, but it has made magic act... strangely. My own powers are diminished due to it. These masks" - he tapped on his - "are the result of a surge of it that occurred during a masquerade forty nine years ago. Even now, we can't remove them."

Feyre spends most of her time being reckless and getting into trouble. Both Tamlin and Lucien tell her not to go out by herself but she does. Both times she needs someone to save her. This was the side of Feyre that I didn't like. She doesn't listen to reason, thinking that she's invincible. And Tamlin saving her every five seconds doesn't help that fact.

Obviously there's romance in this book. If the blurb wasn't enough to tell you this then I will. This book is 80% romance. If you love traditional romance then you'll probably enjoy this. I myself and a romance fan but I just couldn't get into the romance between Feyre and Tamlin. It felt too rushed. Feyre goes from hating the Fae and all that Tamlin stands for to falling in love with him and thinking of only him. It happened too quickly. If you've read my reviews before, you know that I'm a sucker for a slow-evolving romance. I was hoping for that with A Court of Thorns and Roses but was slightly disappointed.

The romance was dull in the first half of the book. Actually, the entire first half of the book was a big yawn. The pacing was off and there were huge chunks that seemed unnecessary. Between the practically instant romance and insignificant chapters, the first half of the book was nothing short of a disappointment.

You're probably starting to wonder why I gave this book 4 stars. I alone would have given this a 2 star rating solely on the first half if the second half of the book hadn't been so freaking amazing.

The second half:

The blight eventually becomes too much and Tamlin forces Feyre to go back home to her family in order to keep her safe. Feyre spends some time with her family but she's so in looooove with Tamlin that she decides she's going to go back to Prythian whether he wants her to or not. She finally reaches his estate only to find that it's in shambles and Tamlin, Lucien, and all of the Fae subjects are missing. Only Feyre's maid remains. Secrets are revealed and the plot finally gets going. You'll learn some important and interesting backstory. One of these is Amarantha, the Fae behind the blight that is ravaging Pyrthian. She has taken Tamlin and his subjects hostage under a mountain that constitutes as her lair. Desperate to save Tamlin, Feyre journeys across Pyrthian to find him.

Feyre gets captured almost instantly once stepping into the lair. Obviously. She's taken to Amarantha, who is biting at the bit to murder Feyre. Feyre claims her love for Tamlin and Amarantha decides she'd like to play a little game.

"I'll make a bargain with you, human," she said, and warning bells pealed in my mind. "You complete three tasks of my choosing - three tasks to prove how deep that human sense of loyalty and love runs, and Tamlin is yours. Just three little challenges to prove your dedication, to prove to me, that your kind can indeed love true, and you can have your High Lord." 

and 

"I'll throw in another element, if you don't mind - just to see if you're worthy of one of our kind, if you're smart enough to deserve him. I'll give you a way out, girl. You'll complete all the tasks - or, when you can't stand it anymore, all you have to do is answer one question. A riddle. You solve the riddle, and his curse will be broken. Instantaneously. I won't even need to lift my finger and he'll be free. Say the right answer, and he's yours. You can answer it at any time - but if you answer incorrectly..."

The last half of this book is pretty great. It's everything that I wanted this book to begin with. Once I was hooked there was no going back. Things get a little tricky as Feyre goes up against these trials. She has the help from an unlikely ally, Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court. Yep, folks, we have ourselves a love triangle. And while I didn't like the love triangle in Maas' other series, I don't mind this one because I'm rooting for one of the guys unlike Dorian and Chaol in the assassin series. Rhysand reminds me of Warner Anderson and I LOVE Warner. To even have a character that reminds me of him immediately makes them my favorite.

Feyre and Rhysand team up together to get through the trials. Rhysand and his own personal reasons, of course. One being that Feyre has promised him something very important:

"We made a bargain," Rhysand said. I flinched as he brushed a stray lock of my hair from my face. He ran his fingers down my cheek - a gentle caress. The throne room was all too quiet as he spoke his next words to Tamlin. "One week with me at the Night Court every month in exchange for my healing services after her first task." He raised my left arm to reveal the tattoo, whose ink didn't shine as much as the paint on my body. "For the rest of her life." 

I like the dynamic of their relationship and, let's be honest, I love me a sexy piece of Fae hunk. Not to mention that he's a pretty awesome team partner to have to get Feyre through these trials. They're not the easiest tasks, and Feyre needs every little bit of help that she can get.

Now.. on to the ending. Maas pummels the reader with every human emotion possible: shock, fear, happiness, sadness, excitement, and even numbness. The second half is well worth trudging through the first half of the book. I was very pleased with how this book ended (there is NO cliffhanger) and I can't wait to read the second book. I'm excited to see where Maas is going to take this story next. Hopefully with more Rhysand and Julian?!

Until next time,