A Court Of Thorns And Roses by Sarah J. Maas

     I remember when this book initially came out a couple of years ago. I thought the cover was absolutely gorgeous and I even picked it up to look at a few different times but, never ended up buying it because for some reason I always thought books about faeries were cheesy and lame. It wasn't until recently that I learned it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Again, I was hesitant to read it because of the faerie aspect but, I had seen and heard so many people talking about how much they loved this book and series that I figured I would give it a go.

     I clearly have been reading the wrong faerie books because this was insanely amazing. I read through this book so fast because I just could not put it down. Usually a book of this size would take me two weeks or more to finish. I finished it in just under a week.

     The world building in this book was incredible. Everything was so descriptive and I felt like I was standing right next to Feyre throughout the whole thing. I loved how the beginning of the book mirrored Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun West of the Moon so well. The scene where Tamlin saves Feyre from the Naga gave me nostalgic flashbacks to the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. I thought the enchanted/cursed masks that couldn't be removed was a cool twist on the original tale.

     One thing that made this different than other books with creatures in them was that in this story humans know that faeries exist. There are so many books about vampires, werewolves, and other creatures that stick to the trope of humans being ignorant of the other creatures and beings living amongst them. While the faeries in this book don't live among the humans, the humans know that faeries exist and even take certain measures to protect themselves from faeries.

     I really liked Feyre and thought she was a great strong female character, even if she did make some stupid choices sometimes, like going out in the woods looking for dangerous creatures on purpose. I loved how she was willing to do whatever it took to save Tamlin and the faerie race. Feyre went through a lot of great character growth throughout this book and I'm curious to see how she handles the consequences of her actions in the final trial.

     I'm not crazy about Tamlin. It isn't that I didn't like him, I just didn't love him and he seemed a little bland to me. At times he seemed so possessive and bossy and then other times he was aloof and careless. I just didn't like the inconsistency. The romance between him and Feyre, while extremely steamy (would not recommend for younger audiences, due to the explicit graphicness) and cute at times, seemed very rushed and I felt like it came about rather suddenly.

     I love Rhysand! Before we even got a name for him, he saved Feyre and from that interaction I instantly got the feeling that he would play a part in a love triangle eventually. Later on, Feyre learns that he is supposedly evil, as he is close to Amarantha. I loved how sarcastic he was toward Amarantha and that he was the only one to bet that Feyre would win her first trial. When he went to heal Feyre and marked her with the tattoo I really thought he was planning some evil scheme. However, I started rethinking how evil he actually was when he started saving Feyre during her other trials Under the Mountain and helping her out as much as possible. At the end his actions led me to believe he isn't as evil as he was originally made out to be.

     I really liked Rhysand and Feyre's dynamic and now I've been completely sucked into that ship. Their final scene at the end left me with some questions that I hope are answered in the next book.

     This book was so fantastic and I feel like so much happened so fast. There are so many questions and theories that I have and I can't wait to see where the story goes in the next book. It ended on a happy note but, was still open ended enough to go a million different ways. It'll be interesting to see what Sarah J. Maas comes up with in A Courtroom of Mist and Fury. I'm 

Rating: 5/5 stars