A Court of Thorns and Roses is a High Fantasy Novel by Sarah J. Maas and the first book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Feyre is only nineteen, and yet her family’s lives rest on her shoulders. Her world is bleak and cold, and everything is a fight to survive. Until one choice, one arrow changes everything, an action to feed the ones she has sworn to protect means she is ripped from the world she has known, a world where she has fought tooth and nail to survive and dropped into a world that seems anything but hard—peaceful, perhaps. Finding her footing, finding where she stands now, will be challenging, but with creatures, she knows only tales about surrounding her and secrets, so many secrets, being kept from her, this colourful land may be harder than the one she came from. What would you do for love? Just how far would you go to protect the ones you love? Which lines would you cross?
Feyre is so fierce and strong because she had to be; there was no choice for her not to be. So much pressure was put on her shoulders—so much weight for someone so young to carry. I would like to say Feyre lives in fight or flight mode, but she lives entirely in fight, and that fight is always for others; she is always pushing to save others, so her life is always pushed back along with any desires she has. To live like this, to be forced to survive with no way of escape and no hope of escape for herself, makes being forced to think outside of her instincts like an awakening that she has no idea how to cope with. Feyre sees the world around her as a constant battleground; she is always looking for a way out if things go bad because things always have gone bad, but there are these moments when she stops and sees the world as it is, the beauty of every landscape, and these moments, though so small, are such a huge part of her soul. Being able to paint the world around her in colour makes them feel wasted no matter how much she longs for them not to be. Feyre has a brutal intelligence born of fully functioning instincts, as evidenced by the way her brain works so fast to keep her fighting for those around her. She is so much wiser than she is given credit for and so much more intelligent than she gives herself credit for.
Being thrown from a family depending on her to spending her days in a place seemingly full of harmony was jarring; peace almost seemed jarring to her. That is why it made so much sense to me. Though I completely agree with how idiotic her choice was, it made sense that she bought herself like a lamb to slaughter. She pushed through those trials, not for herself and not entirely for Tamlin, but for all of those prisoners. The Fae say humans are full of hatred, but Feyre is full of love because that is all she has ever fought to keep alive; if she did not believe it, then she would not have carried that weight, promise or no promise.
Feyre was not the only character I loved in A Court of Thorns and Roses, but she was definitely a favourite. I also liked Nesta, although I despised her, to begin with. You get a deeper glimpse of her later on, small though it is, but I almost understood her and felt sorry for her. Not to say I forgive her, but I understood her behaviour more. Lucien was entirely himself; he never hid or tried to act differently, which is why I think I liked him more than Tamlin. Lucien admitted his faults, but at least he tried to help, which is more than I can say for Tamlin; he just feels off to me. I feel as though Feyre is blinded by her feelings in regard to him. He did not try hard enough in my eyes; he did not fight hard enough for her; he pocketed her away, and maybe that is seen as protecting her over others, but that is not Feyre; she would rather die trying than be hidden. Rhysand, on the other hand, I am in love with him, and I love how Feyre never holds her tongue, never hides her emotions around him, like she seems to do around Tamlin; she is her whole self, thorns and all, and he tried so much. Rhysand tried before he even knew her, and I cannot wait to see more of him in book two!
Anything Fae, and I am in, although I have never read High Fantasy before now, so I think I will be exploring all that I can get my hands on. I am rating A Court of Thorns and Roses Five out of Five Stars because there was not a single thing I disliked about this whole book! I was hooked by the very first page, hooked entirely by Feyre. I was so in love with it that I forced my mother to stop reading her current book and start this one. Now I am looking at her eagerly, just waiting for her to agree that it is brilliant and I was right to stop her, as I constantly pester her with, “Have you met him yet? Have you met Rhysand?”. To say I adore him would be putting it lightly.
This is technically a young adult novel, but I would recommend A Court of Thorns and Roses to anyone of any age. Do check the full Trigger Warnings list online, as they include but are not limited to: drugging, kidnapping, physical and emotional abuse, manipulation, and torture. If you love anything faery, then get this book. If you love adventure, love, and strong female main characters who would do absolutely anything to help others survive, then get this book. Actually, just get this book, read it, and then tell me how much you love Rhysand. I cannot wait until the next book arrives, as I need, with a burning passion, to know what Feyre will do next. Thank you, Sarah J. Maas, for creating Feyre. I cannot wait to see more of Prythian through her eyes.
Favourite Quotes
“That was all I could do, all I’d been able to do for years: focus on surviving the week, the day, the hour ahead.”
page 1-2
“Better to die with my chin held high than grovelling like a cowering worm.”
page 36
“Despite myself, despite the afternoon, my lips twitched upward. “Is it supposed to be hard?””
page 142
“I’d been…erased from their lives. Forgotten. I’d let him erase me.”
page 171
““Who wants someone around who’s so covered in thorns?””
page 254
““Because,” he went on, his eyes locked with mine, “I didn’t want you to fight alone. Or die alone.””
page 413
Finer Details:
Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Pages: 419
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication: 2015
Language: English
Rating: 5/5