A Court of Thorns and Roses

NOTE: This review is treating ACOTR as a standalone novel! Some of these thoughts do change in later books

Short answer: Yes! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling (which I don’t typically go for) but Maas creates a unique and engaging world that can stand all on its own, while still including nods to the original tale.

As far as fairy tale retellings go, ACOTR checks all the boxes: magical world, hot love interest, cute love story.

So, what’s different? What is ACOTR doing that other fairy tale retellings aren’t?

Number one, ACOTR stays true to the source material, but it also goes far beyond it. This isn’t a rehashed version of Beauty and the Beast that recreates the original tale shot for shot—or worse, just straight up plagiarizes the Disney version (coughlibrary scenecough). Sure, there are references to the original tale (the main character’s name, Feyre, means “beautiful,” there is a curse, Feyre’s father is a poor merchant, etc.), but the world Maas creates is much deeper than these superficial similarities. There’s political tension, war between humans and fae, and actions have much deeper consequences than pure romance.

Number two, characterization is interesting. Unlike many versions of the story, the Beast (Tamlin) isn’t a complete jerk. In fact, Feyre is the angry and aggressive one most of the time, while Tamlin is surprisingly accommodating. 

Feyre is a balanced character who feels realistic—she’s strong and is used to surviving and taking care of others. She faces challenges head-on and does what it takes to get the job done. However, her personality doesn’t end here—she struggles with reading, she loves art, and she has a complicated relationship with her family.

Number three, the writing style is engaging! From the opening scene to the final showdown, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Maas knows how to make an ordinary story absolutely extraordinary.

Finally, the book itself isn’t all that original (let’s be honest—ACOTR is basically just Katniss Everdeen cast as the lead in Beauty and the Beast), BUT the portrayal of Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship in the next book is what makes the ACOTR story truly unique. But no spoilers.

So why only 4 stars?

This is mostly personal preference—I understand why a lot of people LOVE this book, but I just liked it. It didn’t speak to me in quite the same way as it did to others. Because guess what: No book is complete until someone reads it.

My main issues (Spoilers Ahead):

I just didn’t like Feyre. She was an interesting character, and she does give more depth to the “I’m not like other girls because I’m good at hunting” stereotype. But she often doesn’t act in a very mature way.

Things happen because of Plot Convenience™. For example, the riddle that the evil queen gives at the end has SUCH an obvious answer. Like so obvious I think some readers could figure it out without even reading the riddle. I solved it in less than five minutes, and it took Feyre three months. Which is fine—as established, Feyre is not a scholar and I don’t think she’s ever solved a riddle in her life. But why would the evil queen even offer the riddle as an option for breaking the curse? She had ZERO reason to. Feyre had already agreed to her impossible terms! 

Also, (and I recognize this is a petty reason), the riddle is objectively bad. I LOVE riddles (which is why this triggers me so much). I have heard a lot of riddles. This one may be the worst. It rhymes, but the meter is all over the place. With most (good) riddles, the clues don’t quite make sense until you know the answer and then everything clicks into place (I’ll include a riddle below). With this riddle, once you know the answer you’re like “Okay? I guess that sort of makes sense.”

Overall thoughts?

Give it a read, give into the hype! Maybe you’ll love it! Maybe you’ll hate it. Or maybe, like me, you just won’t care.