A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses

From the best-selling author of the Throne of Glass series comes the breathtaking first-installment of a brand new series: A Court of Thorns and Roses. The story, a fantastical spinoff of Beauty and the Beast, takes place in a world in which humans and faeries live side-by-side, but with no shortage of fear and hostility. Our fearless young heroine, nineteen year old Feyre, is a huntress among the frozen woods that border the lands of the Fey, and her fateful encounter with one of the Fey sends her plunging into a world she had only ever dreamed of.

Feyre’s adventure begins when she kills a wolf in the forest to feed her starving family. Unbeknownst to Feyre, her prey was one of the Fey, and retribution for her actions would soon follow. When one of the wolf’s brethren bursts into her home and tries to kill her father, Feyre gives herself up as prisoner (sound familiar?) in exchange for his life. Only after being dragged into the territory of an enemy she had been raised to fear does Feyre discover that her captor is a powerful faerie named Tamlin, whom Feyre despises from the beginning.

What starts as open hostility between Feyre and Tamlin soon transforms into something deeper, a fiery passion neither of them can ignore. The lines that once existed between them began to blur, and Feyre suddenly finds it hard to remember why she spent her entire life living in fear of these beautiful, dangerous people. But this story isn’t as simple as a forbidden love in a treacherous world; Feyre soon finds herself entangled amongst the dark magic of the faerie world, and she alone holds the power to save Tamlin and his people from those who wish to destroy him.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is an incredibly original spin on a timeless classic. Going into the book, I was a little skeptical about the concept of faeries, and before reading I wasn’t even aware the story was a fairytale retelling. However, Sarah Maas had impressed me once before with her work in A Throne of Glass, so I decided to give it a shot. I was not disappointed.

The world-building was absolutely flawless: the magic and intrigue of Harry Potter meets the divided world of The Hunger Games in a fascinating dynamic, all the while subtly intertwining aspects of Beauty and the Beast– from the enchanted palace to the foreboding forest.

Maas created the perfect balance between romance and dangerous adventure in her story, and the characters were interesting and complex (some of my favorites were actually the villains, surprisingly enough). Feyre’s character in particular was exactly the kind of strong-willed heroine I always love to read about. Fans of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games will find it all too easy to fall in love with her fierce determination and infallible spirit as she fearlessly faces every darkness that attempts to consume her.

Though I liked A Court of Thorns and Roses a great deal, I was even more surprised when the second book in the series A Court of Mist and Fury came out and I loved that one even more than the first! Sarah Maas has won her place as one of my favorite authors of all time, and I would highly recommend that A Court of Thorns and Roses  (as well as any of her other books, really) be your next read.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is a 2017 Lincoln Award Nominee.