Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Court of Thorns and Roses

I began reading Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses while traveling. At first I thought, "Oh yuck, this is a remake of Beauty and the Beast." But I was trapped on a plane, so I gave it a few more chapters and it quickly deviated from that trope. I finished the book and have purchased the rest of the series.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy/Romance

Protagonist first person point of view.

The main cast is kept small and tight. There is Fayre as protagonist, her father and two sisters as secondary motivating characters, Tamlin as love interest, friend Lucien, friend Alis, antagonist Amarantha, and Rhysand friend posing as foe.

The first half challenged me because I am not a huge fan of Romance as a genre. I don't mind it as a layer as long as it is well-crafted with believable points of connection and conflict. The first half of the book is about the protagonist and love interest overcoming their differences to form a bond and to suggest something is really wrong with the fae world that only Tamlin can fix. Fayre learns about the fantasy world and her misconceptions about fae. She overturns the fae's misconceptions about humans. At least she isn't Tamlin's "captive" per se. There are information repetitions I could have lived without, but on the whole the story kept advancing.

The protagonist, Fayre, is 19 and not a virgin, making the sexual part of the relationship more realistic. She is pretty-ish but not "perfect." Her secret weapon is her ability to hunt. Her personal motivation is to save her irritating, dependent family. Her critical flaw is illiteracy. I found that refreshing.

The love interest, Tamlin, is high fae who can shape shift into, I'm not quite sure what. The high fae are beautiful, naturally. He is a reluctant hero. Thankfully, Fayre's love doesn't transform him from his bestial state. There are enough believable points of connection to make their relationship work. And in the second half, Fayre is tasked with saving him rather than being a damsel in distress.

The timeline could have been tighter. There is lots of dead space. The months Fayre spends in Prythian in the first half are employed to make the relationship build gradually rather than using love at first sight. I appreciate that. But in the second half, waiting for the full moon for different challenges and nights of repetitive torture irritated me.

In terms of worldbuilding, there are different types of fae with Winter, Summer, Spring, Autumn, Dawn, Day, and Night courts, plus other kingdoms. The fae have varied physical appearances and abilities. There are magical powers like shapeshifting, glamours, and walking through walls. They are depicted as being rather evil and nasty on the whole and constantly at war with each other. High fae are immortal but can be killed with weapons made of Ash.

Many authors overwhelm the reader with info dumps, but here the lore and the layout of the world are successfully delivered as Fayre learns them. Being an artist, her depictions bring the world alive through color. Maas successfully incorporates music as well.

The antagonist, Queen Amarantha, is referenced but not introduced until the second half. I consider that a weakness. But she is evil enough to do the job. Tamlin is the only high fae powerful enough to defeat the antagonist, but becomes her slave in the second half.

Fayre must complete three challenges and solve a riddle to save Tamlin and manages to do so, but not without help from Lucien and Rhysand. Tamlin delivers the killing blow to the antagonist.

The end sets up a more interesting second book with Fayre transformed.

I recommend The Court of Thorns and Roses to YA paranormal lovers. Fans of Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter series would enjoy it. There is a rumor of a movie. 

I could do without the graphic sex scenes, but at least Maas makes sure the protagonist has a good time and the sex is consensual. So many writers fail in that area. (See The Five Ts Sex Scenes).

I have finished The Court of Mist and Fury, the second book in the series. While I admire Mass's imagination, the cast list and number of kingdoms and foes are unnecessarily bloated.  There were too many to keep track of without notes. The antagonist makes a brief appearance, the whole plot gearing up for a final battle. She throws in one chapter with Rhysand's POV, which is unnecessary given he can communicate with Fayre telepathically over distance. 

Maas has several crutch words that became annoyingly repetitive. All of the characters (and some body parts) hiss and bark. And I'd be happy to never see smirk again.

Maas also starts off book three,  A Court of Wings and Ruin, with Rhysand's POV in a prologue, which confused me because it felt like a different story rather than a continuation. I went back to make sure it was number 3 in the series. Once she resumes Fayre's POV, the story flows well. 

I  have purchased the fourth book A Court of Frost and Starlight. 

The unique story world and characters I can root for have made this series hard to put down. I can easily finish them in a day or two.

I will also check out the Throne of Glass series. I read Hulu has plans to turn it into a television series.

A solid 8 out of 10.