A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, 2015

(spoilers)

Starting off strong, we have the well-known and wonderful CRACK we call ACOTAR (or A Court of Thorns and Roses for those of us who aren’t perpetually shortening it for our booktok hashtags)—the first in Sarah J. Maas’s ACOTAR series. 

ACOTAR’s initial appeal to me, I admit, was its popularity among booktok, but I became sure it would be Miss Sarah J. Maas to take my romantasy virginity when realizing (via the book’s back page summary) that A Court of Those and Roses is essentially a semi-mature retelling of folktale’s Beauty and the Beast. I am a sucker for all things fairytale and can confidently say, in the aspect of reaching us fairytale girlies, Maas slayed.

We’re conjured into a beautiful snowy landscape via the first chapter, where Maas introduces our courageous 17-year-old protagonist Feyre. We read along her angry, worn, and tired introspection as she hunts food in an icy forest to bring home to her destitute father and 2 older sisters, who live together in a small village bordering the feared Faerie land, Prythian. 

Now, in retrospect I think this first chapter is visually gorgeous and does its job well in providing background for our characters and world-building, but I will admit I was surprised when revisiting it (for purposes of this review) to find that Feyre’s hunt was only the first chapter; it did feel like reading three. The whole first half of ACOTAR gets a lot of criticism from us booktok girlies for being slow to read but, I don’t know, call me an ACOTAR sympathizer but I think it’s expected that readers aren’t engulfed in the book to start, as we’re only just being introduced to the ACOTAR world and don’t yet know how we LOVE these characters. Also, we must imagine that while writing this first book (especially the first chapter), Maas had no clue that the story would become at least 4 more, all HUGE in the romantasy world; so, yes, the first chapter does seem slightly out of place, but despite how slow it reads, it doesn’t wait to bring us to a timeless and fairytale-like landscape that has us hooked. I mean, truly, if the first few chapters of ACOTAR were as bad as booktok teases, we wouldn’t have kept reading, now would we have?

Once we get to Prythian (riding our “beast” Tamlin in his wolf-form), we definitely want to stay. His home, The Spring Court (there are 7 territories, each with their own High Lord), is beautiful! And warm! And light! With budding trees! And royal gardens! And all things else I fantasize about living in! Yeah, of course Feyre wants out – she’s only here because on her hunt she killed a faerie and according to a truce between the faerie and human worlds, she must give her life for the one she took – but, like, I’d probably be chillin’. 

As said earlier, the storyline is largely inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Forty-nine years ago all members of The Spring Court were cursed by the wicked Amarantha to wear masks (glued to their faerie faces, like skin) and the curse can only be broken if a faerie-hater (Feyre) falls in love with Tamlin (spoiler this is why he’d abducted her instead of murdered her). 

Amarantha, of course, does a bit more tormenting than just give the Spring Court a fairy-tale curse. She has all 6 other High Lords under her rule with diminished powers, and she plans to use them to destroy the human lands because of some old grudge she has against her deceased sister’s human ex-lover. 

After the push-and-pull enemies-to-lovers plotline of Feyre and Tamlin loses some of it’s initial heat, and Tamlin’s 49-year chance to break the curse has ended unsuccessfully (which seems sort of silly since Feyre is in love with him but he sends her home before she gets to say it), Tamlin is brought into Amarantha’s rule at a prison-like, underworld-inspired cave called “Under the Mountain,” and the human Feyre goes to save him. (HUMAN!!)

To save Tamlin and all of Prythian, Amarantha gives Feyre the option of answering a riddle or completing three impossible challenges, to which Feyre chooses the challenges because she can’t figure out the answer to the riddle (though, I bet you can) (I don’t even have to give you the riddle) (Just think of an answer) (Love) (The answer to the riddle is love)(This ruthless, wicked, manipulative MONSTER gives the human LOVER a chance to save both herself and her LOVER via a riddle in which the answer is LOVE) (C’mon, wicked Queen, you silly goose, you hopeless romantic, you!). 

The inclusion of a series of 3 challenges for Feyre to surpass is very redolent of your textbook folktale archetype, which more so has us feeling as though we are in a timeless story—and it’s fun, like I’m a girl again, reading through The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales or something. 

Through Amarantha’s Trials, we also fall in love with our antihero Rhysand (though we may not want to), who, despite being Tamlin’s archenemy and Amarantha’s (unwilling) helper, saves Feyre’s life on more than one occasion. We LOVE the drama of Feyre having two potential suitors. Although we still root mostly for Tamlin by the end of the novel, we do begin to grow a soft-spot for Rhysand, and depending on whether you love a good boy or a villain, you may even have switched sides by the last chapter. Regardless, the tension between Rhysand and Feyre is HELLA and this, I believe, is precisely why most of us are tempted to read the sequel, despite (at least according to booktok) this first ACOTAR novel being not all that great. 

Spoiler, Amarantha’s defeated, Feyre breaks the curse, and she and Tamlin are free to live happily ever after (literally, since, maybe bigger spoiler, Feyre is turned into a fae and is now immortal). 

I think this book is genius. As mentioned, booktok insists that this first installment is merely a “rite of passage” before getting to the next one, which is the real superstar. But (don’t come at me) I really did enjoy this first one. I loved the timeless feeling (and I know this is the third time I’m using that word, but I think it’s the best one for it), the fairytale aspect of Beauty and the Beast, the folktale aspect of the 3 challenges, the enemies-to-lovers trope between Tamlin and Feyre, and the confused/unresolved hero/suitor twist between Tamlin and Rhysand. Another thing I think is done magnificently, and this may be a bit of an aside, is the tenuous family dynamics between Feyre and her two sisters who, for many years, allowed Feyre to sacrifice herself for them and their father, who has given up on trying to provide for them. In a story so rich with world-building and reaching into folklore archetypes, it’s impressive that the story doesn’t leave out the reality of family trouble, despite it not being a main point in the novel. I anticipate that in sequels, the family storyline will come more to the surface, which is yet another thing I look forward to, along with some heavy Tamlin/Rhysand drama. 

Younger readers, there is some spiciness (a modest amount which doesn’t overwhelm the story), and trigger warnings; kidnap, SA, murder, and some very gory scenes. 

I give this a solid 4 stars. 

In terms of ACOTAR quotes which either made me teary-eyed with awe or absolutely ripped me apart (and could potentially inspire some really pretty writing), here we are: 

Quotes: 

I couldn’t say our lovemaking was particularly skilled, but it was still a release, a reprieve, a bit of selfishness. 

“One day—one day there will be answers for everything,” he said, releasing my hand and stepping away. “But not until the time is right. Until it’s safe.” In the dark, his tone was enough to know that his eyes were flecked with bitterness.

He left me, and I took a gasping breath, not realizing I’d been holding it. Not realizing that I craved his warmth, his nearness, until he was gone. 

Magic—everything was magic, and it broke my heart. 

Table after table of food had been lined up along the far edge of the plateau, and I lost Tamlin while I waited in line to fill a plate…Music started near the giant, smoking bonfire—fiddles and drums and merry instruments that had me tapping my feet in the grass. Light and joyous and open… 

…his fingers sturdy and strong, no signs of those claws that I had come to stop fearing…”Dance, Feyre,” he whispered. So I did. 

I was as unburdened as a piece of dandelion fluff, and he was the wind that stirred me about the world. 

In all my imaginings in Amarantha’s dungeons, I’d never allowed myself to think of this moment—never allowed myself to dream that outrageously. But I’d made it—I’d brought us both home.