Hello everyone! Thank you for being here. I am back with another book review for you, and I have decided to write about one of my favourite series by Sarah J. Maas. I am quite sure you know which series I am talking about. It is weird that I have never written reviews for this series before, but I think it was because I returned to my book blog long after I finished reading these books. Of course, after years have passed, I feel quite different from how I felt when I first read the series. However, I must say that I quite enjoyed it, and it quickly became one of my favourites. Although I don’t consider rereading the series unless I completely forget what happened, I am aware that these kinds of fantasy books don’t hold up well to rereading for me. I tend to remember a lot of details, especially if I liked them when I initially read them, so it feels like I am just losing time by doing the same thing again.
This is the first post of the “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series, and I hope you enjoy it with me. If you have ever been on Bookstagram or BookTok, you already know what the series is about, and I am pretty sure half of the readers have already finished this book too. So, I will be pretty relaxed when it comes to giving certain spoilers. Just so you know: I may talk about things you are not ready to hear yet! I will publish all reviews back-to-back so that you can have a coherent experience while reading them. But let me stop babbling about my plans and start talking about the book.
First, I want to give you a brief explanation of the plot and the world. When you are reading the first book, the world-building is fairly slow, and you learn something new with each page. This continues throughout the series. The world-building doesn’t finish after the first book; quite the opposite, you keep learning about the world that the author has brought us into with each book. I like this very much about the series.
The book is set in a realm that has Fae and Humans. They are both aware of each other, and there is a treaty that both must obey. Of course, like any other young adult fantasy book written in the 2010s, our main character is a human girl who is the sole caretaker of her family because her family is quite broken in the beginning. Her name is Feyre Archeron, our main character for the first three books of the series. She is a little fiery thing who does everything for her family, even though they don’t really acknowledge her efforts. She tries to have some kind of normality despite their poor background.
The story begins when she is out hunting because they don’t have money to buy food. She ends up killing a wolf, which turns out to be a fae, a member of the Spring Court from Prythian (the Fae Realm). Eventually, our girl has two options: either die because the treaty openly states that you die after killing a fae or go to Prythian and live or serve there, doing whatever the fae people you killed want you to do. In the beginning, Feyre is a completely naive person and doesn’t want to die, so she accepts leaving the human realm to live with this monster-looking fae who came to get revenge after she killed one of his friends. The good part of the book starts right after that. There are seven courts in the Fae Realm: Day, Night, Dawn, Autumn, Summer, Spring, and Winter. Each court has its own kingdom-like system and coexists in the Fae Realm. Feyre ends up in the Spring Court, and her story progresses quickly from there.
She gets closer to the fae that lives in the Spring Court, especially someone called Lucien. I can say that throughout the entire series, he is one of my all-time favourite characters because he never steps out of his characteristic line, and I really appreciate him for being very stable with who he is. Feyre’s relationship with Tamlin (oh- sorry- Tamsh*t I meant-), the fae who brought her there, also progresses, and they start a romantic relationship. However, everything changes after something called Calanmai. This is a ritual, and she ends up in trouble because of her actions. She starts to realize the facade she has been living in the Spring Court. She begins asking questions about the masks on their faces and what is going on around them, and she starts learning about the other courts.
A lot of things happen in this book, and I don’t want to focus on each event because this review would be at least 2000 words long. However, we are introduced to more characters as the book progresses. We learn about an amazing character who likes to gossip and is a great meme on Bookstagram, Suriel. We also learn about Jurian, our main character Rhysand, Feyre’s past, how they lost everything, and a wicked queen called Amarantha.
The book gains momentum after the masquerade ball that happens Under the Mountain, Amarantha’s domain where she terrorizes the entire Night Court and all the other courts. Here, Feyre realizes she has to take action quickly. At first, it is frightening because she is drugged and has to perform in front of everyone, which is quite shaming. But as the book progresses, we understand the reason behind Rhysand’s behaviour. Feyre undergoes vigorous trials, and the book ends in an unexpected way. I have to be honest, after finishing the first book, I was in shock because I was expecting Feyre to remain human for a little longer, but her transition from human to something else happened quickly within just one book. We learn more about our male main character, his past and a little cheesy character of his in Under the Mountain as well, I truly love Rhys because he is quick-witted, easy-going and although he is in tremendous pain, he manages to hold up this face ignoring everyone and anyone who is talking badly about him. What can I say, if life gives you lemons; you make a damn good margarita in order to survive. 🤷🏻♀️🤭
Overall, from the characters to the world-building (which I must say was the best part for me), it was a very good book. I didn’t want to change my rating on Goodreads even after rereading it, so it stands as five stars for me. I cannot wait for the fifth book. I will see you in my next book review, which will be for the second book of the ACOTAR series. Until then, stay safe and take care of yourselves. ⭐🌸
Luster of Books 