a court of thorns and roses, affectionately shortened to acotar within the bookstagram folks is a ya fantasy fiction book by sarah j maas. i first listened to this on audible and have since become obsessed with the entire series. i’ve started a buddy read with my friend who is experiencing the book for the first time. i can’t wait for her to read a court of mist and fury because, well, if you know, you know.
a court of thorns and roses is an inspired retelling of beauty and the beast. it tells the story of feyra, the youngest of three sisters that lives in a border village by the wall that seperates the southern mortal realms from pyrthia, the faerie realms. years ago a treaty was formed by the high fae and six mortal queens to stop a war and the fae using human’s as slaves.
despite feyre being the youngest she is the provider for the family as her father is crippled due to a dangerous debt collector and her sisters just seem to pass the buck a little and expect everything from feyre. i didn’t have a lot of sympathy for her sisters and father at the start and the way they treated feyre especially as she took it upon herself to ensure everyone was well despite their poverty.
feyre is easy to like and as the book continues, she’s easy to love. she is by far by favourite female protagonist in a book i’ve read so far. she is fierce but really balanced, mature beyond her years and incredibly kind. a real feminine hero in this story. the conflict happens early on in chapter four where it is revealed that the wolf feyre killed was fae and therefore must either accept death or live out her days across the wall in prythia as she has breached the treaty.
feyre begins living within the spring court and is untrusting of her, as she see’s it, captive, who does afford her a little freedom whilst she is there. this is where the real beauty and the best retelling kind of comes into it really as tamlin doesn’t really come across as the best host at first. the dynamic and banter between lucien and feyre is interesting throughout. however, throughout the entire book is a whisper of she, someone bigger, in control of the blight and honestly, that’s where the unexpected came for me.
the series currently continues with two further books (a cout of mist and fury being my favourite, because, well, if you know you know. i’ll review it at a later date!) and a novella which is really cute and is i believe bridging the gap between this triology and the next, which is debuting next year.
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One of my goals for 2020 is to read 52 books or around one a week. Some might be new, some are ones I’ve had for a while or been meaning to read, some I haven’t quite finished yet and some will be recommendations from others. You can see all the books I’ve read so far on my Good Reads 2020 Reading Challenge.
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