A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) in The Wide Web of Friends in YA Books

Apr 30, 2015 Ashley Tropea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

This book took me by surprise. I didn't really have big expectations. That's what tends to happen to me when I pick up any book about the fae. For whatever reason, most authors that write about faeries tend to stick very close to the story of A Midsummer Night's Dream but that wasn't the case with this book and I was so thankful for it. Maas expertly weaves a fairy tale we all know and love, Beauty and the Beast, with the strange, gory, and mystical world of the fae. On top of that, the faerie p ...more

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Sep 18, 2018 Saloni rated it liked it

I'm honestly really disappointed by this book. I absolutely love the Throne of Glass series and in comparison this book fell flat. Feyre and Tamlin felt too much like younger siblings or fanfiction versions of Celeana and Rowan. Their entire encounter was too much like beauty and the beast for me to feel like this was an original storyline. Even then, Beauty and the Beast had a much more realistic transition from hate to like to love. This book showed Feyre and Tamlin going from hate to love wit I'm honestly really disappointed by this book. I absolutely love the Throne of Glass series and in comparison this book fell flat. Feyre and Tamlin felt too much like younger siblings or fanfiction versions of Celeana and Rowan. Their entire encounter was too much like beauty and the beast for me to feel like this was an original storyline. Even then, Beauty and the Beast had a much more realistic transition from hate to like to love. This book showed Feyre and Tamlin going from hate to love within the span of a few pages. The progression of their relationship just seemed way too fast-paced and I found myself rolling my eyes too often.

As characters, Feyre, Tamlin, and Amarantha did not do much for me. All of them seemed extremely two-dimensional and overdone. The real gems of this book were Nesta, Lucien, and Rhysand, all of whom are side characters but had much more complexity.

Not to mention the entirety of this book was wholly predictable. As soon as the riddle was told, I immediately guessed the answer and let's be honest, of course she finished her trials at the end. What other alternative was there? The final climax where Feyre instantly has this immense realization and all of the small moments where she had been eavesdropping came to this big conclusion that allowed her to save Tamlin's court was just too convenient.

Every part of this book seemed like it came from tropes of other books. We start off with Feyre, a girl from a poor family who has to hunt to feed her family and keep them alive (anyone seeing a Katniss Everdeen?). Then she accidentally kills a member of Tamlin's court and has to serve her time as a "guest" in his mansion (Beauty and the Beast?). Eventually she falls in love with him but he sends her home BUT she senses he is in trouble so she goes back for him (More Beauty and the Beast). Then she has to complete three trials to free the court (probably the most original part of this book) and finally she ends up breaking her human body and has to be turned to Fae (Twilight).

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed and am unsure how there could be more books since the ending of this one didn't really set up for a second book. ...more

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Jan 28, 2016 Mili rated it really liked it

Shelves: sniffing-sobbing-books, badass-books, lets-gooo, amazing, favorites, ahhhhhhhhhhhh

I love rereading Mass' books. I literally will read anything this woman writes.

First Read Jan 28, 2016: This was SO MUCH FUN! Can't wait till the next one! ...more

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