“Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.”
A Court of Thorn and Roses? An Emotional Rollercoaster!
It took me a while to completely immerse myself in the story – 13 chapters to be exact. However, I really did enjoy this story on the whole.
One reason it took some time for me to engage is because there’s a lot of backstory. I understand we need this information, the issue I had was in the delivery. We’re told a lot throughout the book, some passages were a few pages long.
In the beginning Feyre tells us about the ‘evil creatures’. The problem is that it was hard to connect with the statements until later in the story, when we saw those acts.
Once Tamlin drags Feyre to the ‘magical kingdom’, things start to pick up a little.
Once fully invested I could barely put it down.
Sarah J. Maas did a brilliant job in making me feel such sadness for one particular character shown once throughout the story. For me this was a point of no return in my allegiance.
I enjoyed some of the characters and felt others had really interesting arcs. I admit I found the main character a frustration at times however, really came into her own towards the end.
There’s one character I dislike however, most adore him. I take issue with this character because he does nothing but humiliate and, in some ways, abuse our main character. From the moment we meet this person his motives are questionable. In some cases he tries to help her however, it doesn’t excuse his behaviour.
I’ll definitely have to read on with the series. Mainly because I want to find out how they excuse his behaviour and whether they make up for his actions.
None of the characters are perfect, make no mistake, and I love that! Believe me, every character in this book makes questionable decisions and have murky motives.
It’s great to have characters like that because these are things which happen in real life. To act like it doesn’t exist would be even worse. However, while I understand that this character was designed to be loved by many, it’s worrisome how much people love him and try to normalise and excuse his actions, because it isn’t normal and it isn’t excusable.
Rant Over! Because, apart from that, I really did enjoy the story as a whole and I certainly don’t claim to know everything after reading only the first book.
Who knows, perhaps my review of the second book will just be me screaming at my past self, writing this now, because I was completely and utterly wrong.
I don’t want to say too much more, but it did keep me on the edge of my seat. Especially towards the end! At which point I was rooting for Feyre (which was interesting considering how indifferent I was to her at the beginning). I was both fuming at the antagonist and yet totally enthralled.
I almost wish I didn’t have to read on, for me the book ends exactly as I want and, I know for a fact that the sequel will wreak havoc on my emotions once more.
Let me know what you guys thought if you’ve read it, or your thoughts if you plan to read it!
Thanks for reading – Much Love!