A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

Apr 07, 2023 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fairytales, audiobooks, library

Interesting twist on Beauty and the Beast. The beginning feels very "animated Disney movie, now for older teens" but about the halfway point it really descends into "real fairies are not cute, and they like to play with their food" which I love. I also was fascinated by the nature and terms of the curse, which was very unusual. Sarah is very good at setting up her fantasy worlds. I was fascinated, too, by a human world in which there was no religion because the fairies had come to town, wiped ou ...more

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Oct 02, 2024 Esther rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, e-book, author-female, __mine-and-i-m-keeping-it, series-loved-or-to-continue, zz-2024

I normally avoid books with so much hype but several friends and acquaintances have recommended this book to me.
Then my daughter told me she really loves this series and wanted me to try it so I picked up a sample on NetGalley.
And enjoyed the first chapters enough that I couldn't wait to get hold of the paperback and bought the Kindle version.

My full review:
OK so this was bit of a weird one for me. Although I really enjoyed it and it easily earned 4 stars I definitely got the impression it was w I normally avoid books with so much hype but several friends and acquaintances have recommended this book to me.
Then my daughter told me she really loves this series and wanted me to try it so I picked up a sample on NetGalley.
And enjoyed the first chapters enough that I couldn't wait to get hold of the paperback and bought the Kindle version.

My full review:
OK so this was bit of a weird one for me. Although I really enjoyed it and it easily earned 4 stars I definitely got the impression it was written for a different generation.
The overall tone of the story didn't make me angry or annoyed but I also didn't quite identify with the characters. It didn't play to my opinions or emotions because it wasn't really interested in them - I am not the target audience. That would be my children (and their generation ) so I can completely understand why my daughter loves this series so much.

I felt this phenomenon most markedly in my attitude to the main character. I found her weak, naïve and disappointing. She seemed to stumble from one crisis to another with no inner core of beliefs, principles or emotions to guide her. Her only insights were for aesthetic considerations connected to her painting and nearly all her agency was derived from outside forces.
Heroes surviving impossible situations due to a stroke of luck or unexpected assistance is a perfectly acceptable plot twist but in this case it really did feeling like cheating or that our MC was simply a tool towards a greater end such that her identity was almost irrelevant.

Having just written that I am sure some people are wondering why I felt this was a 4 star book. And the answer is the world and character building.
The fairyland and its in habitants were brought alive for me. I was concerned about the fate of our protagonists and intrigued about the true nature of what was happening.
I may not have liked our main protagonist but her character development stirred my emotions enough for me to write the above paragraph on the subject.

Tamlin is the strong, silent type so I feel I barely know him yet and I love Lucien's loyalty and humour. But I have a taste for the bad boys (with a heart of gold) so I will definitely be rooting for Rhysand to play a greater role in the next books.

And yes, I will be continuing the series.

ETA I was warned this was 'spicy', even 'very spicy'.
It fact it was medium spice, with some background spice suggested and only one quite spicy scene that fit in perfectly with the plot development. ...more

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May 06, 2017 Megan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, booksithoughti-dhatebuti-mlovin, series, fantasy

Never thought I'd be reading high fairy fantasy and loving it! ...more

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May 27, 2024 Rachel rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-lit, fantasy

I've described this to several people as Hunger Games meets Twilight. It has the drama of hunting, supernatural romance, and waaaay too much explanation of the protagonist's inner voice. Just way too much explanation for me in general. It seemed like everything was explained about three different ways, much in the same way as I'm explaining how all the explaining was too much here.

The story of a woman going to live in a fairy court seemed very contrived (view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 19, 2018 Sarani Rangarajan rated it liked it · review of another edition

A good beginning

A solid YA series. Hooks you to the MC, following a straightforward plot. Imagine Beauty and the Beast but with more frills and two other characters. Will the next be some other fairytale? I’d like to see.

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