A Court of Thorns and Roses
Ratings1,620
Average rating3.7
Made me feel like I was 13 again, reading wattpad books under the blanket.
But other than that, it was fine.
ACOTAR follows Feyre, a young woman who cares for her family until she kills a wolf (fae) and is captured by a beast who turns out to be an incredibly handsome but moody/grumpy fae named Tamlin. As she goes through her new life in the Spring Court, she begins to fall for Tamlin, while also realizing things around Spring Court are a bit off - something isn't right. Romance blossoms, problems grow, and she must figure out both what she can do to help and what she is truly feeling for Tamlin.
This was my first dip into fantasy-romance books and it ended with me diving full force into the deep end. I could not put it down, it was fantastic!
I really enjoyed the strong, stubborn, feisty FMC Feyre, she was great! I loved going along with her through her journey. Sarah J. Maas did a great job with world building and descriptions of everything, I felt like I was in the spring court and could visualize it perfectly, as if I was part of the book itself. Tension grew and I was sucked into the story, dying to know what happened next!
Reading ACOTAR opened me up to a whole world of books I never considered and I am so glad I gave it a chance.
If you like world building, fae, heated romance, strong FMC, and general fantasy, this is a must-read!
This reading experience was very similar to when I accidentally picked up 50 Shades of Grey thinking it would be a mystery/thriller (it had handcuffs on the cover! I was so young and unaware!). I thought this was going to be a YA fantasy, and based on its popularity, a fairly good one.
Wrong!!
This is 100% fantasy smut. It was both a terrible romance and a terrible fantasy. The world-building was hand-wavy and horribly incomplete; the magic system is never explained, at all, based completely on the author's whims of romance and necessity of plot. Characters' motivations do not make sense and there is little to no complexity in thought. It's a macrame of cliches from the fantasy/romance canon: some mixture of Hunger Games, Beauty & the Beast, and Game of Thrones (among others). Nothing feels original. No character has a personality.
I had several other issues with the plot line; for one, Feyre had no complicated feelings whatsoever when she found out (through blatantly expositional dialogue) that her lover, Tamlin, had captured her because the love of a human would break his court's curse. Wouldn't that make one wonder, at least a little, about that ulterior motive? And the sexy scenes are just... not for me, I guess.
And when it comes to the trials Feyre must face at the end – for our “strong” heroine, I found it frustrating that she really only survived one based on her own merit. Everything else was accomplished through some other character helping her through completely unexplained “poof!”-type magic.
All in all, this series just isn't for me.
Thank God that T*mlin lovefest is over and I can move on to more important books. Aka ACOMAF. I only read this so I cam read ACOMAF.
What can I say--this book opens like Hunger Games with a strong, hunting-savvy female lead and then dives into full Beauty and the Beast mode with the addition of fairies and dark fairy bargains.
The story is very straightforward with minimal surprises and uses dark fairytale tropes to its advantage. The first half lags with aimless palace wandering, although gives Feyre a chance to process and settle in.
Some bits were clunky; repeating that fairies were unable to lie too often, the event in the middle of the book, and asking the hero to set snares outside her palace room like fairies wouldn't notice.
I especially enjoyed the beautiful and emotional writing during the blue fairy scene that furthers Feyre's character arc.
Then, the pacing picks up and is maintained through the end with some interesting tension-building challenges. The romantic bits are cute, well-placed and elegantly fade to black. Yet, I wish there were more sister-to-sister scenes with no-nonsense Nesta in the second half.
Best of all: It has an actual natural ending in spite of being a series. Solidly enjoyable read.
Wow, I'm clearly in the minority here, but why the heck do people adore this book/series? I honestly don't get it, and I guess I never will. There are tons of great YA fairy-centric stories, so why waste your time on this one?
DNFed at less than 20%... yikes.
Not my usual genre but Booktube kept mentioning it and I liked the cover, so when I spotted it for cheap in my local supermarket I figured why not.
This book has the single most unlikeable MC that I've ever read. Not only a terrible Mary Sue but has no redeemable qualities about her. She does the absolute opposite of anything she's told and goes out of her way to make trouble and answer back on everything. She's supposed to be 19 but has the attitude of a spoiled 12 year old. The real fantasy part of this book is that a man would ever fall for someone who is constantly fighting him.
It definitely feels like it was written as a fanfic by a teen in 2004. But I weirdly find myself wanting to read the next one, even though I couldn't say I enjoyed this, and this first novel is a self contained story. So I don't neeeed to read the next one, but I still might.
Let me be clear when I say that my rating is for Lucien, the only character with any real depth.
This is the first book in a while that has me screaming into my pillow. I have known about it for a while, and have heard good things, but was skeptical. I really like the beginning of Throne of Glass, but the ending got a little too complicated and the relationships convoluted, and generally unenjoyable and I didn't want to go though that again. I'm glad I did though because this book is amazing. I really like how the characters are really diverse in their motivations and back stories. There are no cookie cutter characters, and even the background characters like Alis have fully flashed out stories. The story doesn't feel rushed, and I like learning the magic system from Feyre because she has a warped understanding because she is human, so learning it through her perspective is really interesting. The romance also doesn't feel overbearing, and is definably the B plot to the whole magic debacle and the blight/Amarantha.
Lucian is my favorite character because he is just so snarky but can still hold his own in a fight despite the fact that Tamlin is the all-powerful one. I also like the relationship that Feyre and Lucian develop because it feels very playful and brother sisterly, but he really does care about her. During the rite, and when Rhysand visits, he protects her from a danger that she may or may not even recognize herself. He truly cares about her past Tamlin being his bro and him tolerating her for his sake. I also like his tragic back story because it makes him relatable as a character and he may be this snarky and standoffish character, but he has walls built up because of the trauma, which is a very human thing, despite being fae. Also the fact that he can stick it back to his family by being Tamlin's ambassador and dealing with them is such a power move. And he has a whole development arc where he genuinely starts to like her and tells her that he would protect her even if Tamlin didn't insist on it because she risked her life to save him by giving up her name to Amarantha, even though he had been an asshole to her in the past. One of my favorite scenes in the whole book is when Lucian blows up at Feyre for making the deal with Rhysand to heal her because he would have healed her as soon as he was able to move after Amarantha made Tamlin punish him for helping Feyre in the first trial. They have a really good sibling relationship, and I'm excited to see that develop as the series goes on, especially since Lucian's bio family is full of assholes that tried to kill him, and Feyre made sure to give them some murderous stairs.
I originally wasn't a fan of Rhysand as a character because he was on the side of villainy for no apparent reason, which I suppose was the point because he is the high lord of the night court and is supposed to be all mysterious, so he did a good job of that. But as the book went on and he started to develop more of a relationship with Feyre, and told her about how Amarantha was actually punishing him for his father killing Tamlin's father and brother, who she liked because they also hated humans, I started to like him more. I think his fascination with Feyre, and his rivalry with Tamlin is super fun, and an interesting dynamic that puts Reece in a weird gray area between good and bad, which I think suits him perfectly. He definitely fits the type of tall dark and handsome, and I haven't really looked into the fandom for this series, but I have a feeling the Reece and Feyre is a popular ship, as opposed to Tamlin and Feyre which is the canon main ship going on right now. I would not be opposed to a love triangle, but I like that Tamlin and Reece's rivalry seems entirely separate from Feyre, and Reece is just kind of using her to get to Tamlin, but Feyre seems to understand this, and no real feelings seem to be developing, which is always good.
I really like Tamlin as a character, but on the whole, I was underwhelmed by him in particular. I thought he had a really interesting character, but since he had to keep a secret during the first half, and in the second half under the mountain he had to remain distant for Feyre's sake, I feel like he didn't get as much characterization as many of the other characters, making him a little underwhelming as opposed to Reece or Lucian or even Amarantha.
Todos los personajes son los prototipos y clichés típicos de fantasía romántica.
La historia aburrida. Me estas diciendo que te has enamorado perdidamente de un hombre (perdón ALTO FAE) porque no te trata como una esclava?!?!
No voy a seguir la saga pero se ve venir el triangulo amoroso Y LO ODIO SIN LEERLO.
Por no hablar del estilo de escritura. Aburrido, repetitivo y puedo ver que ma frase de “el metal me mordió la mano” le encanta a la autora porque cada vez que roza algo ligeramente metálico esta con el mordisco.
Merece una única estrella en lugar del cero, porque por lo menos me he reído de lo estúpida que es esta muchacha y toda la corte que la rodea.
the entire book was genuinely PAINFUL to read. i'm gonna have “he growled” in my nightmares tonight
i have never been so happy to finish a book in my life pls never again
This book was like a crossover between Twilight, Divergent and Hunger Games, where they took out the mistakes of the actual books and introduced their own blunders.
This was not a good read. I finished this book in a day. Was really enchanted by the covers, and disenchanted by the actual text. There were so many loopholes in this. The protagonist was bearable enough in the beginning but by the end I wanted to either fling myself out the window, or the book. Whew! Why did she need the help of so many people by the end, it's like she couldn't do anything on her own.
Also the lazy lines repeating themselves over and over again. “He flecked dust from his clothes...”, “she flecked dust from her red gown...”. Good lord, how much dust is there in your underground cavern. And why fleck it, just use magic.
I didn't like the latter part of the book at all. It was very weak and the characters were not smart. Made me compare it to the Red Rising trilogy at every turn where the characters stood with grace and elegance by themselves. Will not be continuing the series. Don't want to read more of the story with Mr. Third Wheel here.
I don't like Tamlin, not because i though he was an asshole in this book, but because he is boring as fuck. And not fun. Also lets ignore the first half of the book with its boring uninspired romance and too much feeling and not enough actual plot.
If you like bad fanfiction, this one's for you. Spoilers tag just in case.
Okay, here's my issues:
1. The writing felt repetitive and a little lazy. For example, every time Feyre is scared, she gets “watery bowels” and I'm sure I'd want to shit my pants too but fear responses aren't the same every single time.
2. The entire love story felt like manipulation - which was briefly touched upon in the book. I wish this was explored further.
3. Literally every male character is a walking cargo ship filled with red flags. I understand that's supposed to be part of the appeal but I just wasn't sold on it.
4. Some things just lined up too well for Feyre. Sure, there's going to be one or two “right place, right time” moments but, until she faced the challenges at the end, it seemed too easy. Like it was almost forced.
5. Because things seemed to go too well, the plot felt off. And I can forgive a poor plot if the book is spicy but that also felt... lacking.
I realize I'm in the minority here as far as opinions of this book goes, but this felt like watching a bad, slow train wreck. I plan on starting the second book to see if there's growth or changes but if this is how Maas writes, I will probably DNF the series.
I found this book was decent, but just didn't capture my interests like fantasy-romance usually does. I think I was expecting it to be more lighthearted, smutty and fun because of the reviews I saw on TikTok. I've heard the subsequent books are better; but probably won't be trying this one again anytime soon so I won't be trying those either. I gave myself extended time to finish it but eventually called it as a DNF once I got through another book and was really reluctant to return to this one.
Se me había olvidado lo buenísimo y precioso que son estos libros después de releerlos tres años después
“Una corte de rosas y espinas” es una novela de fantasía romántica que nos descubre un mundo poblado por seres humanos y por seres fantásticos.
Para los que no sean muy fans del romance o de la fantasía romántica: la primera mitad del libro puede llegar a hacerte tirar la toalla.
Es lo que me pasó a mí... he estado muchas veces a punto de abandonar el libro.
El argumento general es bueno, pero la primera mitad del libro me parece repetitiva, caprichosa y sin emoción ninguna.
Había pequenyas cosas que me hacían seguir leyendo (por ejemplo la afición de la protagonista por la pintura. Que también se quedó -en mi opinión- en una idea poco explotada o no del todo bien encajada en la trama general).
El caso es que al llegar a la segunda mitad del libro la cosa se va animando.
La última parte del libro realmente me ha gustado. Es emocionante, me ha mantenido realmente enganchada y con ganas de saber más, de saber cómo terminaría todo.
Los personajes en general están bien definidos, también los personajes secundarios juegan buenos papeles! Solo la protagonista se me ha hecho algo pesada en ocasiones, con sus idas y venidas y sus cambios de actitud (sobretodo la primera mitad del libro).
Si solo me hubiera guiado por la primera mitad del libro me habría quedado en 1 o 2 estrellas.
Por cómo avanza y termina la historia, al final me decido por 3.
No tengo claro si seguiré con la serie... veo que el siguiente también está catalogado como romance fantástico...
Kind of fun but also cheesy. Its basically med-high quality fanfiction. Feyre is the self insert MC who is shy but brave, beautiful but doesn't know it and desired by everyone. The hot faerie love interests are part beast part man but change forms and also have masks so they are impossible to imagine, when I try to visualize them I see a blur. The world building is interesting although the plot beats are often forced or cliched. Cool things about the series: the female main character is never punished by the plot for being sexual. Entertaining, but not that deep and not that sexy either.
I've heard that this book was wrongly advertised as YA, because it's actually for adults and smut. Well... I arrived here for smut
This was a tough read
The pacing is undeniably slow, particularly in the first 2/3 of the book, and Feyre's decisions can be frustrating. She often ignores advice, makes reckless choices, and struggles with self-awareness, which can make her difficult to root for. If friends didn't tell me to push through, I wouldn't have finished.
That being said, the last 1/3 of the book really kicks into high gear and ends satisfactorily. I was told the rest of the series gets better. So reading this book is, unfortunately, a must.
I know I'm late to this, but somehow I've managed to start this series with no spoilers, and I get it! I really do get it!
This was everything I needed, enough said.
I was holding off of ACOTAR for the longest time, but you know what, I actually got into it. I'm not a huge romance/fantasy reader and this is not the best piece of literature out there, but the storyline, the world and the characters ended up gripping me and I see myself finishing the entire series.
I started this years ago when the hype first came but wasn’t all to into it at the time at page like 150ish. Recently though a friend picked it up and I wanted to buddy read with them which brings me to here ><
The writing felt forced / not great. The plot felt extremely predictable, the suspense at the end does give me enough drive to read the rest of the series past the next two ( only because I already own them ).
I felt no drive or excitement when reading this, and again only am gonna read the next two because I own them already.
