Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Type: Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Teen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Press
Date published: May 5, 2015
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 416
Source: Personal purchase.

Summary: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it… or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

This book…was exactly what I had been missing in my life.

Where to even begin? The world building was spectacular. Having grown up reading Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, and Terry Brooks, I am not easily impressed by fantastical worlds. Especially for being a YA novel, I commend Maas on creating a world into which I lost myself for about a week.

Maas’ descriptions of the world were almost lyrical, and they most definitely cast a spell on me. I found myself walking through the wintery forest of the human realm, and then strolling through lush gardens, dangerous woods, and high-ceilinged and luxurious rooms.

As for the characters. My goodness! They are fully rounded out, with their positive attributes, flaws and all. The female lead was relatable, and I felt sorry for her at times, and at others felt that she was really empowered, and motivating.

This is definitely not a story about a weak female character!

Now, regarding the men… The Fae are incredibly gorgeous, and depicted in a manner where you can almost feel them brush up against your arm, as if you can almost smell them. They were quite enjoyable to read about it. But this wasn’t a book where every single male character was unrealistically perfect. No, it is explicated that the High Fae are simply more superior to humans, which then explains their “unnatural” beauty. The human male characters are all described in a very realistic, and human (aka. flawed) manner.

And finally, I would like to discuss Sarah J. Maas’ writing. Upon opening this book, I instantly felt that Sarah is not only a born storyteller, but that she is also a great writer. There are some storytellers who have a good story in mind, but simply do not know how to put it on paper. But Maas is not one of them. Throughout the book, Maas was in control of every single character and event in her story. The story flowed perfectly, and I wish that I could forget it all, just so I can read this book and experience it all over again!

I highly recommend this exceptionally-woven story of love, loyalty and magic!

About the author:

Sarah J. Maas is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling Throne of Glass series–Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, and the series’ prequel, The Assassin’s Blade–as well as the New York Times and USA Today bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses and its sequel A Court of Mist and Fury. She wrote the first incarnation of the Throne of Glass series when she was just sixteen, and it has now sold in twenty-three languages. Empire of Storms, the fifth Throne of Glass novel, will release on September 6th, 2016

A New York native, Sarah currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and dog. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Hamilton College in 2008 with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Religious Studies.

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