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A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Sarah J. Maas

Start date: June 1, 2015

Finish date: June 30, 2015

Discussion: Series

Why we're reading this: It won the poll for the series BOTM
[close] It won the poll for the series BOTM

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Series

* New Series- One Dark Window
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last updated Oct 28, 2025 05:06AM

* Continuing Series- Fearful by Lauren Roberts
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last updated Oct 15, 2025 04:49AM

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What Members Thought

Mar 28, 2019 Kathryn rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya, fantasy

I thought my ON THE COME UP review would be my most unpopular opinion, but Sarah Maas’ A COURT OF THORN AND ROSES beats that by miles. Did I hate it? No. But I just don’t get the hype.

Were it not for me, we would starve. Were it not for me, we’d be dead.

Basically, A COURT OF THORN AND ROSES is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a hint of THE HUNGER GAMES. It starts similarly to the latter book, with Feyre, our main character, hunting and trading to support her single-parent hou ...more

18 likes · Like · see review

Aug 24, 2017 Lesa Divine rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-own, 2017, read-it, 2021, botm-selection, april-2023

1st read 8/2017 4 to 5 ⭐. Loved this story. But I must admit most of the middle of the story was a bit blah to me. Slow but coming towards the end I was on the edge of my seat. My rating went from 4 to 5 🌟
From faries, immortals, magic, secrets, curses and more I enjoyed.
Feyre went from hate in her heart for faries to love in her heart for them.
Tamlin I'm loving him more and more. But Rhysand yeah he I had to watch closely. But at the end I see why he did the things he's done.
Enjoyable read. My f ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Sep 18, 2016 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library-has-a-copy, favorites, romance, young-adult-teen-new-adult, fantasy-science-fiction, best-books-read-in-2016, book-boyfriends

This was a change of pace but not for Maas. Whereas the Throne Of Glass series is fantasy/romance with the romance being secondary, this was romance/fantasy with the romance coming more to the forefront. Don't get me wrong, the fantasy was here in droves and certainly did not suffer for the romance, but the romance came first. And that's okay by me. According to Maas, this book does exist in the same Megaverse as TOG and I did pick up some similarities. I really liked how Maas wrote the fae in t This was a change of pace but not for Maas. Whereas the Throne Of Glass series is fantasy/romance with the romance being secondary, this was romance/fantasy with the romance coming more to the forefront. Don't get me wrong, the fantasy was here in droves and certainly did not suffer for the romance, but the romance came first. And that's okay by me. According to Maas, this book does exist in the same Megaverse as TOG and I did pick up some similarities. I really liked how Maas wrote the fae in this book. They're almost nothing like the fae in TOG. Here, they are truly the fae of legend, many are utterly terrifying, others are good and decent and still others are somewhere in between. She explored fae nature and the faerie courts in a lot of depth which I greatly enjoyed. This is supposed to be a loose retelling of Beauty And The Beast with elements from other myths and legends and I though that Maas did an excellent job of taking all those elements and making them into a unique and beautiful story all her own. I'll start with the characters. I really liked them all. Feyre had quite the journey here, from being a very angry and closed off person to being one who opens herself up to Tamlin's love and softens and grows and changes and ends up making an enormous sacrifice at the end of the book. Tamlin was so refreshing for a love interest, instead of being this douchebag who magically gets reformed by love, he's a good guy from the onset and one that I rooted for, he had some nice growth of his own. I found that Maas kind of flipped the Beauty And The Beast trope on its head with Feyre being more the Beast and Tamlin being more the Beauty. Lucien was another great character and I was so glad that (view spoiler). (view spoiler) I didn't think much of Feyre's family, they were pretty crappy to her. (view spoiler). The plot itself was great! It was very action packed and moved swiftly and was also very suspenseful! (view spoiler)[Having Feyre kill Tamlin's friend (whom he'd actually sent out for just that reason) and Tamlin then coming to get her to live in the Spring Court for the rest of her life as atonement was an original spin on getting two characters together. I enjoyed seeing Tamlin and Feyre's relationship slowly blossom from fear and suspicion on her part to friendship to love. Theirs was a very sweet and believable romance that I loved. The descriptions of the Spring Court were just gorgeous and it's a place I'd love to visit. Rhysand and Feyre's first meeting was interesting to say the least and I never dreamed that he'd end up playing such an important role in the series. I just figured he was another jerky guy. I'm not sure if the idea for Amarantha having cursed Tamlin having 50 years to meet a human girl who killed a fae out of hatred and then make her fall in love with him so that the curse may be broken is from a myth or legend or it's a wholly original plot, but I liked it quite a lot and I felt that it was a good and organic way of creating conflict. Under The Mountain was a very interesting if extremely sinister place. Rhysand ended up playing a most interesting role, even saving Feyre's life in exchange for her agreeing to spend one week a month with him in the Night Court for the rest of her life, which ends up playing a big role in the next book. The three tasks Feyre must complete to free the Tamlin and the other Courts are, ah, well, interesting to say the least. The first task, defeating some behemoth worm thing was a clever way to show off just how resourceful Feyre really is, it was a well written scene and pretty harrowing! The second task, read and solve a riddle on the wall or be impaled by spikes on a slowly descending chandelier was reminiscent of more than a few action movie scenes, especially a scene in Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom. Rhysand of all people came to her rescue there, telling her the answer through the mental bond forged by the bargain they'd struck. The third task broke my heart, kill three innocent fairies or the Courts and Tamlin remain enslaved forever, I couldn't imagine having to make such a choice myself. And to have Tamlin be the third fairie she has to kill? My jaw dropped. I was so thankful that Feyre was able to put two and two together and realize that he had a literal heart of stone and could not be killed by being stabbed in the heart. And then having Amarantha decide to be the biggest you know what ever and not release everyone?! And then to begin torturing and killing Feyre because she's so mad that Feyre had was able to do it? Oooooooooh! I was steaming. But seeing Feyre, with her last dying breath, gasp out the answer to the riddle Amarantha had presented her with earlier in the book and the curse be instantly broken so everybody could unleash whoop you know what? Oh, yeah!! And Tamlin and the other High Lords saving her and turning her into a High fae?!?! BOO YEAH!!!! What an ending! (hide spoiler)] This series is a nice change of pace for Maas and one that is superbly written and highly enjoyable and one that I recommend to all fantasy fans and fairy tale retelling fans. This is not for the younger fans though, this is new adult for sure and does have a steamy and frank sex scene. ...more

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