A Court of Thorns and Roses (10th Anniversary Recording): A Court of Thorns and Roses, Book 1
4.6 | 307,391 ratings
Price: 18.8
Last update: 12-07-2025
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- BeyondthefontDelivered Much More Than I ExpectedLet me preface by saying that I sat down to read this book and could not put it down until I completed it within a 24 hours period. This is an occurrence I find so rare these days as I get older.
My basis for a good book have become more and more demanding the more I read and the less time I have to read. I'm someone who will not hesitate to drop a book a hundred pages in if it's not gripping me by any means. With that said, my requirements are quite simple although they seem hard to achieve these days. Good enough writing, engaging plots, believable characters, and “HEA”.
ACOTAR certainly exceeded my expectations because I dove into it purely based on my immense interest in its premise being based on a Beauty and the Beast retelling, which is one of my most loved stories. And the intrigue of faery court politics, which I am always fascinated by. The rest I was willing to chance since this is in the YA fantasy category and I find most of these make my eyes roll while reading a majority of the time. But ACOTAR delivered on all that I asked for: world building, character developments, romance, and action.
WORLD BUILDING: Wow do I desperately wish to see this Fae world brought to life on screens. I appreciated the illustrated map of their world before the book began. It made envisioning the world of Prythian a breeze. I would probably read every single book if Maas ever decided to write about each of the seven Courts and their ruling High Lords. ACOTAR took place majority of the time in the Spring court and it was as if I was there walking along with Feyre during all her outings.
ROMANCE: There was no “instalove” happening here and for that I am always grateful. The draw in any forms of fiction for me is a slow burn, gradual build of love. It makes for deeper investments from the audience and the payoff scenes so much more satisfying. I will admit I was generally indifferent to Tamlin for the first quarter of the book. He was pretty stiff and bland but after the incident that occurred the nite of the Spring ritual(fans self) I started to fall in love with him just as much as the heroine was. It also helped that their relationship building after that was sweet and believable. My only nitpick is that although his face was concealed, it was already implied that he was extremely good looking. Which contradicts the theme of loving someone despite their outer appearance that BatB conveyed.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS: Feyre was brave but ultimately very human and therefore imperfect. She made bad choices and actions but I always understood where her motivations came from. At the beginning it seemed as if characters behaved in certain ways "just because" to push a point, which seemed forced. But once they were revisited and layers were peeled at a later point, their actions suddenly made sense.
ACTION: For anyone who is expecting a full on action-packed book from beginning to end then you might be a little bit disappointed. There were one or two scenes thrown into the first 3/4, but most of the action came at the last quarter of the book. And when it came it was exciting and riveting to see played out.
Although this is a first in a planned trilogy, ACOTAR should have no problem standing on its own should I decide not to continue the rest of the series. The main plot was tied up leaving me feeling satisfied and fulfilled while just enough bait was dangled to make me anticipate the next book. I hate it when series writers end their books in a cliffhanger in order to hook readers to anticipate the next book. Guess what, it doesn’t work like that. All that does is generates unnecessary aggravation and ruins any good feeling the reader had upon finishing that book. Especially when the reader usually has to wait up to a year for the next.
*RATINGS CATEGORY AND SLIGHT SPOILERS*
As most others have pointed out about the included sex scenes, they are a bit more detailed than the typical YA fade to black. This is a heads up for anyone who is wary of reading sex scenes described in books or intends this for younger readers. - Taylor WilliamsCompletely Addicted from Start to FinishI was completely addicted to this book from the very first chapter. I became so engrossed in the world, the characters, and the tension that I could barely put it down. I finished it in just three days. The writing pulled me in, the plot kept me hooked, and every twist made me want to read “just one more chapter,” which turned into hours. If you love fantasy, romance, and rich world-building, A Court of Thorns and Roses is absolutely worth the read. I’m already excited to start the next book.
- NicoleA solid series - no spoilersThis series is easy to read and get engaged in. I truly wish it ended after the first 3 books. The last 2 books are pointless money grabs imo. Maybe if i was more entranced by the story and committed to the characters, I would have enjoyed the next 2 books in the series.
The plot was interesting but had many overdone ideas that I've already read about countless times. I totally get the love for this series if it was your first romantasy! The characters have depth and the world building is done well. The books read very YA and are even a bit cringe at points. I don't think it is bad writing but just the genre and intended audience.
The main character Feyre is easy to like but plays the typical FMC role. Nothing interesting.
The whole series gives me Hunger Games meets fantasy world. It is a good easy read and I recommend it but it will not live in my brain rent-free. - ShayDoesn’t deserve the hateOkay so... I might lost some of my favorite critics over this because I know a lot of you weren’t a fan of this book. And I have some pretty intense feelings about some of the biggest criticisms lmao. I will talk about some flaws with the book still, as no book is perfect. But for the most part I really loved it. There will be rants. I have ALOT to say. Sooo here we go before I lose my nerve lmao.
My main petty annoyance: the fact that tamlin uses his paws the same way a human uses hands even when he’s in beast form lol. There I said it. Now let’s move on to hopefully not my most controversial review ever. I feel like I’m supposed to hate MAAS and her writing. But I don’t. I really love what she did here.
Characters:
Feyre:
I really don’t get the hate. Maybe she gets worse later. Maybe. But people hate her in this book too and I don’t get why. She was meh to me. I admired her in some ways and hated her in others. I loved her heart, and how often she let it guide her even if it resulted in her ignoring everything anyone told her. Which yes- did annoy me sometimes. But it wasn’t that bad.
now we get to the fun part.
Tamlin and rhyes (similar thoughts on both)-
Oh my god. The reasons you guys hate this dude are absurd in this book. Every single thing I was told to look out for and that would start me into hating him was ridiculous. I genuinely believe you guys just don’t ship him and feyre so that makes him immediately sooo horrible. Same for the rhyes haters.
You guys have to stop inserting in a fantasy setting and acting like any of the decisions made are simple. Both of them are great in their own way- and both had feyres interest in mind in my opinion. The questionable things they do, because yes there are some...Are either for show to SAVE feyre and everyone else. It’s all so obviously calculated and here you guys are trying to critique it like they’re events that happened over tea in a totally normal world with nothing intense or life threatening going on around them. Just why.
I’m team Rhys just because I like him a little more- and I love the way he thinks and speaks. But I also love tamlin and am still rooting for him to be happy.
I think they’re both fleshed out brilliantly and have many layers that I can’t wait to uncover. They both have scars and they BOTH have really unfortunate situations that are eating away at them that make them who they are. I’m just saying... think about the alternative that could happen if they didn’t make some of their questionable choices.
They wouldn’t have done half the stuff they did for this one human... if they didn’t truly care.
Villain-
Well she’s like not very nice lol so of course I don’t like her and I’m not rooting for her but...idk I put her here because I did kind of have a problem with how stupid she seemed to be for someone who was supposed to be cunning. She let certain people get away with way too much, and didn’t seem to notice or care. It was strange because then she would just randomly turn into a brutal witch out of nowhere but then let certain things happen other times. I’m sure some of it was her calculating but... still. It seemed a little weak.
She’s bitter, brutal and interesting. The ring, will probably haunt my nightmares. She just wasn’t as developed.
Lucien-
I don’t want him with feyre but I just wanted to say... despite me liking tam and rhyes... Lucien will forever be my babe. I love him the most. He’s so complex and he’s been through so much.
He’s witty, intelligent, and overall just cares about people even when he pretends he doesn’t. I want nothing but greatness for him lol. His story is heart breaking as well.
The rest- this story is filled with intriguing, misunderstood, and terrifying creatures. No complaints there.
Her family- feyres family is on my poop list. But I don’t hate nesta even now as some of you seem to. Maybe I’m a mean bitter person... Idk.
The plot-
Like every plot it has both weak and strong points. I loved seeing the world unfold, and getting to see a good chunk of it before the action started.
I did think the twist with the masks and how convenient all of the events were was well... convenient....while it did lead to the most exciting parts, I felt like the point of it was kinda glossed over and the explanation for why things were how they are wasn’t too important to the story.
But it came over decently- and the ending wasn’t terrible. So I’m happy.
I still got the magical yet unsettling experience I wanted. And I can’t wait to see more of this world.
I really feel like it’s just the cool thing to hate maas and these books now. But I don’t see them as problematic as a lot of people seem to. I had an incredibly enjoyable time reading them, and I saw the reasons behind the words .
Think what you want about me because of that lol. I will not defend myself for not seeing the issues other people see. I will be continuing.