A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) in The Challenge Factory

Mar 25, 2015 Antonia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-books, i-own

I must admit that "A Court of Thorns and Roses" was one more book that I picked up because of the hype and its gorgeous cover (let's admit it -this cover is spectacular).

"A Court of Thorns and Roses" is the first book that I read by the acclaimed author Sarah J. Maas, and I'm so happy I did. I started reading this book while trying to keep some distance from it and not becoming overly excited due to the hype I've swallowed all the previous months. And yes, oh my God, this book was a great journe I must admit that "A Court of Thorns and Roses" was one more book that I picked up because of the hype and its gorgeous cover (let's admit it -this cover is spectacular).

"A Court of Thorns and Roses" is the first book that I read by the acclaimed author Sarah J. Maas, and I'm so happy I did. I started reading this book while trying to keep some distance from it and not becoming overly excited due to the hype I've swallowed all the previous months. And yes, oh my God, this book was a great journey. And you might wonder why I didn't give it 5 out of 5 stars but I'll come to it when the time is right.
First and foremost: Sarah J. Maas's writing. What an author! What a brilliant talent of describing the fantastical landscapes, the thoughts and the feelings of her protagonists and the raw, mesmerizing plot that kept me on my toes from the first page to the last. Throughout the book I felt incredibly inspired by Sarah J. Maas's writing style. She certainly knows how to write fully action-packed chapters and how to balance the plot by equally distributing love and adventure into it. I particularly enjoyed both the action/mystery aspect of the book and the romantic one.
As for the characters, I fell irreversibly in love with Tamlin and I also loved Feyre to a great extent. They both were strong leading characters with multilayered inner worlds, with an intertwined web of emotions and thoughts that will make every reader understand, appreciate, analyze and respect the decisions behind each character's actions. All the secondary characters were amazing as well and the villain of the story, Amarantha, was as cruel and intimitading as a villain can ever be. Because I've had a soft spot for villains since I can remember myself (as Sabaa Tahir quoted: "Most people don’t know: I’m in love with all of my characters. Even the bad ones. Especially the bad ones."), I enjoyed reading about Amarantha and I wished I had a chance to explore more of her past and the domino of actions that led her to become as evil as she was. I also fangirled hard over Lucien and his witty and funny remarks kept me smiling many more lines after he'd disappeared from the chapter I was reading at that time. I've got a tiny theory about Rhysand as well, as to why he didn't betray everyone (even though he did betray someone but not the one we'd expect from the beginning) and remained slightly moral until the very end of book. I think he's "interested" -and maybe even in love with?- in someone who is out of his league. Hint: this someone liked the cold, dark painting that Feyre painted. I hope the ones who've read the book just understood what I'm talking about. I didn't really liked the characters of Nesta, Elain and Feyre's father, but I hope we'll get the chance to learn more about them in the upcoming books of the series.
Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. I was seriously sceptical over how I'd rate this book. The exact moment I reached the last page, I wanted to give it 5 stars, but then I thought about some stuff and couldn't really stick to this decision. First, the story was a bit predictable to me, but maybe this isn't a real flaw of the book as the story is supposed to be a retelling of the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale. Second, I wanted more detailed sex scenes, no matter how shallow this may seem to some of you. The sexual tension that was hovering over Feyre and Tamlin during the first half the book was almost tangible and I wanted them to be together so badly that when the time for them to make love came, I felt... incomplete. Like Sarah J. Maas kept something away from me on purpose. Maybe she just wanted to walk on the borders of the NA genre, that's why she didn't dive into explicit sex scenes. But yes, I wasn't satisfied with it. Apart from these two things, though, this book was spectacular. A thrilling mixture of action, romance, horror and mystery, this book kept my interest and made me devour it in less than two days. Consider me invested in the series. I'll certainly pick up the sequel when it gets published.
I recommend this book to readers who love reading books in the Romance/NA/High Fantasy genres and to those who are in love with modern retellings of classic fairytales. The writing of the book was definitely worth 5 out of 5 stars and many quotes were beautiful and inspiring. Read this book, I'm sure you'll find many parts of it interesting and unique. ...more

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Nov 15, 2014 CassieV rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fairytale-retellings, fantasy, tower-teams-iv, 2015, 2017, tower-teams-v

I’ll just start by saying that I loved this book. LOVED IT. So much that I read the entire thing in two days and basically neglected all of real life until I was finished. Not that any of you have ever done that, right?

Anyway on to my review, starting with the genre. This is definitely a fairy-tale retelling, but beyond that the Goodreads genre tags seem to be split between Young Adult (YA) and New Adult (NA). Using the formal definition, it’s NA as Fayre is 19, but also the romance is a little I’ll just start by saying that I loved this book. LOVED IT. So much that I read the entire thing in two days and basically neglected all of real life until I was finished. Not that any of you have ever done that, right?

Anyway on to my review, starting with the genre. This is definitely a fairy-tale retelling, but beyond that the Goodreads genre tags seem to be split between Young Adult (YA) and New Adult (NA). Using the formal definition, it’s NA as Fayre is 19, but also the romance is a little more than YAs (but not by much, still lighter than most Adult Romances) and there are darker parts that may be above what I would want someone under 15 or 16 (ish) to read. I only mention this in case there are other moms out there wondering if it would be appropriate for their teens. My daughter is particularly sensitive, even though she’s not yet a teen, so I just wanted to throw that out there since it is in the YA section of my library. Stepping off the Mom Soapbox now.

As far as the story and the writing itself, Thorns and Roses is written from the first person perspective of Fayre. I very much enjoyed seeing Fayre’s personality come out through the language she uses to describe the things around her. Fayre is a suppressed artist (due to the poverty of her family), but even suppressed she can’t stop the artistic way of seeing things. So many jewel tone adjectives and wonderful descriptions of the cold and barrenness of the wood in contrast. Very well done.

As it is in most books, though, the characters really make this story. I’ll keep my comments to Fayre in order to keep from spoiling things, but trust me that the characters are ALL good:).

Fayre. Maas, please tell me how in the world do you get fay-ruh? Must be Irish. I just stuck with “Fair” in my head ;P, fits better with the whole Beauty and the Beast thing. I like her for her strength, but I do think her trust of Tamlin came a little easily. “Oh, you promise to send my family exactly what they need? Sure, my guilt is instantly lessened!” Phbp :p. Even when she found out the Fae could lie, she didn’t begin to question his help for her family. She does prove to have a devotion and tenacity that I really admire, though.

Prior to reading A Court of Thorns and Roses, I had never read one of Sarah J. Maas’ books. This will something that I quickly change now that I have read this one. Five Stars!

Review also posted on Book Charmers Blog ...more

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Apr 15, 2016 Maddie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

First time around reading review: This was an awesome book :D Can see why people love it so much. But PLOT TWIST (view spoiler) And is it just me that didn't fully understand how (view spoiler) But I like Lucien and Rhysand! (view spoiler) First time around reading review: This was an awesome book :D Can see why people love it so much. But PLOT TWIST (view spoiler) And is it just me that didn't fully understand how (view spoiler) But I like Lucien and Rhysand! (view spoiler) I can see why everyone likes him now :) I also kind of like how it took me so long to read, because it really gave me time to think about everything and remember it.

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Second time around reading review: Wow. If that book was only the introduction to the series, I cannot believe the amazingness of the next two books. They will be amazing. I feel like I can only give this book 4 stars because, if the next 2 books are better, then they will be the ones deserving of 5 stars, but I won't go against my gut, and I will be giving this one, yet again, 5 stars. I'm so pleased I decided to re-read this one, so I can finally proceed to finish the series before Acofas, which is out in May. I'll be finished a month before, which should give me enough time to absorb the story, and to fully hype myself back up.
You have no idea how happy I am to be finally a part of this fandom. I will be participating like crazy.
While Feyre's type of character typically annoys the heck out of me, I couldn't help but go along with it because of the need for her personality. This book contained everything I love: medieval-ish setting, fancy clothes, fantasy, aspects of superpowers, and most of all the (view spoiler) Anything involving these things I will love. I can't wait to get more involved with these incredible characters and this world, and to see her (view spoiler) All I want to say, or I'll be ranting forever.

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Re-read 24/9/19:
I could honestly re-read SJM's books constantly and never get bored! Third time around reading this one, and still just as amazing as before. Her descriptions of love, the relationships Feyre forms, her development over this book. The trials that are worked through, the depth to this story, it's all amazing. And it only gets better. I loved going back to the root of the story and remembering how it all starts, and seeing how it changes over time. I'm both team Tam and Rhys, I can see both sides. But in this book, 100% Tam. Their love for each other is so clear! If Feyre hadn't loved Tam with everything she had, she would never have cured the blight. I'll never get bored of these books. ...more

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Jan 06, 2015 Denise rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, read-2016

Beauty and the Beast meets faerie lore in Sarah J. Maas's second series. Once again, she has created a beautifully brutal, magnificent fantasy world filled with fascinating, well-rounded characters whose fates draw you in and whose emotional rollercoaster rides you experience while reading as if they were your own. I absolutely loved Feyre right from the start, perhaps even more than Throne of Glass's Celaena. Living up to so brilliant a debut as Maas's first series is one hell of a challenge, b ...more

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Sep 11, 2015 Suzanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya

This is one of the better YA books I've read (although I don't think it felt very YA)- it has a strong fairytale element and the chemistry between the two main characters is strong. I liked the world too. I'm glad my niece wanted me to read it. ...more

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Jun 05, 2015 Shy The WidowMaker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: unchallenge

Its been a while since I have read a 5 star read but this book was amazing. I loved Ferye and her and Tamlin worked so well together. I found myself falling in love with them as a couple and hoping they would see it too. This is the first book that I have read by this author but it won't be the last. I guess it's finally time for me to get to her other series since I loved this one so much. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book. ...more

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Aug 01, 2015 Megan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: new-to-me-authors-2015, read-in-2015, out-of-this-world, october-2015, 2015-the-creature-challenge, 2015-family-fortunes

This was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which I didn't know before I started it though it was pretty obvious early on in the story. I love fairy-tale retellings, especially when they have new and unique twists to them - which this one did.

I loved all the characters! Feyre was brave and strong, yet so sweet with the way she cared for her family (even when they didn't seem to appreciate it). Tamlin sounded fierce, he definitely wasn't someone you'd want to cross. I also really liked Lucien, ...more

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Jul 25, 2015 Angie ~aka Reading Machine~ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Feyre is just trying to feed her family while keeping her vow to her dead mother. She goes hunting finding game which she brings home. She thought her family's fortune may be changing but nothing could be further from the truth. Tamlin, a High Fae Lord, plucks Feyre from her home for killing one of his sentinel in the hopes that the blight might be cured. Feyre's life becomes vastly different from her old life. Tamlin finds that Feyre is very different even for a human. Tamlin sends Feyre home b ...more

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Mar 26, 2017 Anita Reads rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, paranormal, fantasy, pnr-uf, new-adult, young-adult, read-2017

This book was very over-hyped, but not the worst I've read. I don't like Feyre very much, and the romance I couldn't really get behind. The last section of the book was the best. ...more

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Dec 11, 2014 China Duncan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fantasy, favorites, young-adult, court-of-thorns-and-roses-series

This is a surprisingly good book. I'm assuming this is going to be a trilogy but I'm looking forward to the series as I like the characters in this book. ...more

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Jun 14, 2015 Dani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, fairy-tale-spinoffs, fantasy, romance, books-i-own

I thought this book was fantastically written. I loved the beauty and the beast retelling. I couldn't put this book down once I started it. I gave it 4 stars and will be starting the sequel soon! ...more

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Oct 06, 2014 JackAttack marked it as tbr-pre-2025 · review of another edition

Shelves: my-library-to-read, on-kindle, in-my-library

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Oct 15, 2014 Darlene marked it as wishlist · review of another edition

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Jan 01, 2017 AliciaJ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books-kindle, pnr, 5-stars, library-book, enemies-to-lovers

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Mar 18, 2018 Skandia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, 2018

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Aug 08, 2017 Christine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, magic, pn-shapeshifters, pn-romance, authors-i-have-read-before, 2015-notable-releases, 5-star, pn-fae, 2017-book-purchases, favorites-in-2017

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Aug 05, 2018 Cmkage rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fairies, 2015, kindle

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Shelves: z150207-print-arcs, 2024-reads, jan24-reads

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May 19, 2015 Belinda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-read, library-books

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Jun 07, 2015 Vi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, for-challenge, romance

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Shelves: grimm-possibilities

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