Intensely Gripping || Review Of A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah J. Maas

As a bookworm, I'm somewhat disappointed in myself because I haven't read much this year and only started working on my reading goals last month! I'm starting slow and what better way to pick up my reading momentum than with the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas.

This high fantasy author is not new to me—I'd read Throne of Glass and Crown Of Midnight, the first two books in her Throne Of Glass series a while back before I came on Hive. Those books are fantastic! I was going to continue the series when I read a blog that advised on the reading order of this woman's books. ACOTAR was recommended as the first series, followed by Crescent City and lastly, Throne Of Glass. I wish I knew this earlier but all is not lost.

A Court of Thorns and Roses, the first book in the series, is set in a fantasy realm of faeries and mortals. It's focused on a nineteen-year-old human girl, Feyre, who must hunt in the harsh winter for the survival of her family because they are poor. Days in the woods without catching a wild game, she sees a doe and aims her arrow at it only to sight a large wolf who wants the doe as well. Her family at the forefront of her mind, she kills the wolf after it pounces on the doe.

It turns out that Feyre killed a faerie and not a wolf when a high Fae, shapeshifted into a ginormous beast, appears at her doorstep. To save her family, she must pay for the life taken—"a life for a life" according to the Treaty between the humans and faeries. The beast demands she leave her family and live with him forever in Prythian, a fae land. As Feyre sets out on this life-changing journey to protect her family, will she survive the hurdles ahead? How will she survive in the mythical world?

Review

After reading this intensely gripping novel, I realise it's a retelling of the Beauty and The Beast fairytale but much better. Feyre is the main character of this series aka, Beauty, and her captor, the high Fae called Tamlin, is the Beast. I like that Sarah J. Maas didn't whip up a boring regurgitation of the fairytale but she adds entertaining and adventurous twists to the plot that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The first three chapters unfold at a leisurely pace as the author introduces Feyre, delves into her backstory and the world around her. Then the pace gradually increases when the high Fae, Tamlin, appears in their home, creating a tantalising story of action-packed adventure and passion.

The worldbuilding is simply perfect, in my opinion. The author did a great job hooking readers in the fae world and bringing Pyrthian to life. As I read, it feels like I'm stepping into this almost-realistic fantasy world and living life alongside the characters.

The story is written in the first-person perspective. The setting, characters and their development are well-developed and get better throughout the book. I enjoy how her characters mature with each chapter, and become bold, making the story fascinating.

One part that stands out in the character development is the morally-grey traits the author attributes to them. I expected Feyre to be this cute, well-behaved and damsel-in-distress lady but her actions and thoughts say otherwise. She's tough, brave and fierce because her circumstances and world need her to be so. She's had to cross many lines and soil her hands to achieve her aim. This makes her flawed and relatable. None of the characters in this book is completely good or evil, except for the main villain who is pure evil.

Overall, this book is so good. There's gripping and suspenseful fantasy and there's romance too, slow-burn and enchanting. The author's writing style is lucid and the manner in which this book ends makes me eager to delve into the second book in this series, A Court of Mist and Fury. I'll give it 3.8 stars out of 5.

Have you read this book? Let me know your thoughts on it.

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^{Book cover is from my e-library and edited in Canva
Image credit: Edgar Colomba}