New Adult | Thorough Edits

a-court-of-mist-and-fury A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Publication Date: May 3, 2016
Read Date: December 31, 2016

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Book #2

The sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses was definitely not what I had expected. To be honest, I was really despising this book and seriously considered not finishing it. That would have been a huge mistake. A lot of people you will have noticed stopped reading it because of how Tamlin seemed to have changed and how all of a sudden, Feyre’s with Rhysand. I felt the same way. I was pissed. We go through the entire first book where she literally DIED because of her love for Tamlin, only for her to go to Rhysand?!!

But Maas knew what she was doing. She had planned it all during the first book. It was never going to be Tamlin. I’ve accepted that, and now that I’ve finished the book, I couldn’t see it any other way. It was honestly genius. Rhysand is everything. If I ever get the chance to reread this, I will do so with way more excitement than before. Maas explained everything sooo well. She makes you see that there was really only ever Rhysand. And you know what? That’s OK too, because he has loads more of a personality than Tamlin ever did. Can you believe how often Tamlin would bow to others?! Such a turn off. In this book, Rhysand actually has tattoos on his knees and explains that he would never bow before anyone but his own crown. Now that’s a high lord.

The world building was even more spectacular in this, which played well amongst the plot line regarding the differences between Tamlin and Rhysand. Feyre getting to understand her powers was spectacular. There’s this really epic battle scene where she just kicks ass. I’m not even going to share one bit about it because everyone deserves to read that battle scene without an inkling of knowledge of what she does.

The ending is killer. I can’t wait for May to read the next one because this world is just phenomenal. The growth in the characters, new and old, is just so much fun to watch. I said “if” earlier, but when I’m able to read this book again, it’ll be 100% better knowing that everything happens for a reason and it’s genius.

five-stars

a-court-of-thorns-and-roses A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Publication Date: May 5, 2015
Read Date: December 23, 2016

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Book #1

Amazon, Goodreads

This book kind of feels like a mashup between Beauty and the Beast, The Hunger Games, and Twilight. And you know what? That’s OK. I really enjoyed it. This is one where the main character, Feyre, is the youngest of her family, but the mightiest. She has had to learn to hunt in order to ensure her and her family’s survival. No easy task for a nineteen-year-old who used to come from money. But she made it happen. But now there’s this world that she has ever only heard horror stories about on the other side of the wall. The Fae live there, and they’re awful. Or are they? Her beast in this story, Tamlin, started out a little rough around the edges, but that’s how all beasts start out. And because we know it’s a take on Beauty and the Beast, I was like “Feyre! Just enjoy his presence!”

There’s this curse going on where everyone in the Spring court has masquerade masks stuck on their face and that’s hilarious. This has been optioned for a movie and I can’t wait to see how that’s done. I loved seeing Feyre’s growth throughout the story. She has only ever imagined what it would be like to not have to take care of her family, but then, as Tamlin starts to grow on her, she starts being able to paint, one of her absolute passions. But then in order to break the curse, she can’t be that person she had wanted to be, to not have a care in the world and just paint, she needed to be a hunter again and take care of her family.

This isn’t really a spoiler, but she has to accomplish three tasks to break the curse or solve a riddle and the whole thing will be over. Not even halfway through the riddle did I know what the answer was. I guess that means I’m well read. Or just literate. Or clever. So because I knew the answer, getting through reading the tasks was killer for me. However, if Feyre was clever and/or literate, we would have never known what the tasks were and it would have been a cop out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and actually read it in just a day. This book is also a prime example of building a world without information dumping. It all felt effortless. By the way, did you know this is classified as New Adult? Basically the fantastical aspects of Young Adult, but for adults. This book has brought me to my new favorite genre. Thank you, Sarah Maas.

five-stars