Photo Credits: Clker-Free-Vector-Images Edited by Vaishali Title: ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ Author: Sarah J. Maas Series: (A Court of Thorns and Roses) Genre/s: Fantasy Fiction, New adult, romance, Faeries Publisher: Bloomsbury YA Year of Publication: 2015 Version: Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4088-5786-13 R E V I E W... This is what you call a pure, FANTASTICAL, unputdownable, page-turning marvel. And Sarah J. Maas is what you call the leading, gold-medal creative breathing vicious, burning life into this sizeable genre. Feyre is a huntress with the heart of an artist. A heart of stone chiselled by companionship, and a heart of ice melted by the lands of spring. To declare her love might just be the boldest and most dangerous thing Feyre can do. Feyre and her family are destitute, living in a ramshackle cottage bordering the wall that separates the arrogant, merciless realm of the Fae from the human lands. After Feyre’s father lost their fortune, with no hope and acrimony running through their veins, Feyre's family’s survival lay in her young hands, hunting and killing for them to fill their starved bellies and survive another day without the dread of perishing from starvation. Feyre’s world is bleak and dreary, a lonely woman with no joy in her life but the bouts of passion she shares with the village farmer’s son. But even those temporary moments can’t erase the darkness and despairing shadows that haunt the young huntress’ heart. She has small, humble dreams with no expectation of her miserable life. “We need hope, or else we cannot endure. So let her keep this hope, Feyre. Let her imagine a better life. A better world.” “There is no such thing.” Fending for herself and her ungrateful family, one day Feyre ventures too far into the dangerous woods where rumoured stories of the deadly, cruel faeries have been known to breach the invisible wall erected for the very purpose of segregating the two races. Hatred for the immortal faeries embedded in mortal genes, Feyre kills one of the fae just as hard-heartedly as they once slaughtered her kind when the fae enslaved the humans. The cottage filled with the art of Feyre’s humble dreams, along with her self-effacing life is suddenly stripped from her when an immortal beast blasts through their front door, demanding payment for the life Feyre slaughtered in cold blood. Forced to live out the remainder of her life in Prythian, the land of the Fae, Feyre must forsake the promise she made to her mother on her deathbed. ‘The mouth of the pit loomed, and with a final prayer, I leaped.’ From rags to the riches of the Spring Court, Feyre never stops looking for escape, but the strangeness of the land and masked faeries doesn’t escape Feyre’s notice; faeries dying, intruding evil and magic faltering are but a few things Feyre didn’t see coming. She is caught in the midst of fae games, High lords, court politics, bargains and curses. There is much that is mysterious about this new world Feyre is in, and the more she enquires, the more her companions evade her, leaving her alone to make discoveries which place her in just as much trouble as her own ignorance does. Though Feyre is shielded by the golden beast, the lands are not safe for humans by far. “But then chirping birds flitted past me, and a mild breeze kissed my face. I spied a hedge-bordered metal gate ahead. My prison or my salvation – I couldn’t decide which.” Feyre is proud, defensive, protective and sharp-tongued, but cold from a hard life. Little does she know of the path that her life will take, and the golden warrior that takes her captive will soon melt her concrete heart, instilling what Feyre’s life has always been missing: love, hope and friendship. I love everything about her from her morose sort of humour, her self-doubt, her fierce piety, to the lengths she goes with her heart despite her fear of being so fragile and human among her foreign, otherworldly companions. “Because I wouldn’t want to die alone. Because I’d want someone to hold my hand until the end, and a while after that. That’s something everyone deserves, human or faerie.” As powerless and insubstantial as she feels against the brutal, larger than life fae, Feyre’s mortal strength surpasses its own parameters, propelling her to do the extraordinary, because her strength comes from her heart and its pure need to stake it's loving claim. Feyre’s cache of weaponry exceeds farther than her skills as a huntress. Her fight in dire situations is what makes her. Terrified though she may be, her fear never precedes her courage and never outshines it either, which in itself makes her brave. Though she feels infinitesimal standing amongst her ancient enemies, her heart’s will is just as immortal. “I love you,” I said. “No matter what she says about it, no matter if it’s only with my insignificant human heart. Even when they burn my body, I’ll love you.” “Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.” Feyre’s character is realistic, too. She doesn’t come across as this badass, unparalleled, all mighty warrior, with guns of steel who has no faults and can do all and end all. She has very human weaknesses and that's what I love about her and her character construction. She is real and forlorn and encounters a multitude of struggle in all aspects of her life. 'Human' being the operative word here. She's human. She was never expected to stand out amongst the fae, she holds nothing remarkable or outstanding against them...but that's the deception. Love is only the catalyst, it's Feyre's beautiful and boundless humanity that lights the torch. She only has the pureness of love and sacrifice. Her driving force. What's so remarkable about this story is Feyre herself. What she does from a place of passion to win. ‘I didn’t realise I was weeping until the wet warmth of a tear splashed upon my arm. But even then I clung to the music, gripping it like a ledge that kept me from falling. I hadn’t realised how badly I didn’t want to tumble into that deep dark – how much I wanted to stay here among the clouds and colour and light.’ The interaction between Tamlin and Feyre is frosty and awkward at first and most importantly realistic. What transpires between them is slow, unhurried and engaging, nothing false or hollow about their attractions whatsoever. As Feyre and Tamlin come to realise that they are both shared in their mutual feeling of loneliness and the burdened isolation that their responsibilities create, their understanding evolves into an appreciation and genuine affection. Feyre has lived a life of deprivation, and Tamlin enables her to fall in love with all the things she has missed out on, and though Feyre doesn’t desire much from her life, her dreams soon change as she realises that her heart begins to want and the man who gives her the courage to realise it. “Don’t feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.” ‘But I gave myself again to that fire, threw myself into it, into him, and let myself burn.’ Feyre’s existence transforms from a ‘live or die’ kind of world to a ‘live and hope’ kind of life, and soon so does Tamlin’s, and Feyre can’t stop where her heart takes her, even though she knows how grave the risk is. Uncherished and unloved, Feyre’s efforts have never been appreciated, and one of Feyre’s biggest trials, probably the biggest, is allowing herself to feel. It takes courage to give yourself deeply and wholeheartedly and this young, brave protagonist takes both a tragic and prospective leap to attain her heart’s desire after finding where it has been hiding all along. Feyre is an example of what love alone can provoke in action. Powerless she might be in comparison to the might of the fae, her love alone is a strength bold enough for her to achieve the almost impossible. Feyre is not content to wreck herself, but she has something to fight for, which makes her walk forward and do it anyway. “But they never understood. What it was like, what it is like, for me to care for my people, my lands. What scars are still there, what the bad days feel like…This reminds me of it.” “Of what?” I breathed. He lowered the painting, looking right at me, right into me. “That I’m not alone.” This book is full of amazing characters, evil or otherwise, all were strong in their individual development and each were gripping to read about. From strange faerie festivals, bloody historic wars and scheming rulers, Sarah J. Maas tells a story of overcoming, passion and hope with loving sacrifice that burns at the heart of this breathtaking fantasy. ‘I was filled with sunshine. It was like I’d never experienced summer before, like I’d never known who was waiting to emerge from that forest of ice and snow.’ Sarah J. Maas is an immersive storyteller writer. One of the best I've ever read from. Fleshy, brawny, descriptive and utterly aphrodisiac-like, she writes like it's her last run and tells a story like it's her last breath. Though novel writing is seldom a novel, this NA fantasy reads effortlessly. There is a vivid sense of zeitgeist, time, place and atmosphere that reading was just as real as any life experience. Such flawless attention to detail and a passion that rivals any, this book was so gripping for me because I could feel the thirst, the thrill, the excitement that went into its creation. Ablaze with heart, hope, passion andmagic. This book is a ‘Beauty and the beast’ retelling with Cinderella-esque ties woven into it. Inventively written and thoroughly magical, A court of Thorns and Roses is a truly, unquestionably alluring fantasy, one that holds captive a special place in my heart. ‘I wasn’t faerie, but I was a part of this earth, and the earth was a part of me, and I would be content to dance upon it for the rest of my life.’ I gave this book 4.5 stars - --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- ____________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● BOOK REVIEW: 'A Court of Mist and Fury' by Sarah J. Maas ____________________________________ Content below includes spoilers! Favourite Parts/Things I liked: 1) Tamlin’s attempts at flattery. 2) Tamlin getting Feyre painting supplies. 3) Tamlin showing Feyre the gallery. 4) Feyre showing Tamlin her paintings. 5) The pool of starlight scene. 6) Tamlin’s limericks. 7) “Faerie pig” 8) Feyre drunk on faerie wine. 9) Lucien! 10) The summer solstice scene was one of my favourites. 11) Everything that happened ‘Under the Mountain’!! 12) Feyre’s defeat of the worm! – amazing scene filled with pure anticipation. 13) When Feyre flings that bone at Amarantha in defiance. 14) The High Lord of the Night Court 😉 15) Rhysand screaming Feyre’s name when Amarantha was slowly breaking her. 16) Feyre seeing Tamlin without his mask for the first time. F A V O U R I T E Q U O T E S: "Do you ever stop being so serious and dull?” “Do you ever stop being such a prick?” I snapped back. Dead- really, truly, I should have been dead for that. But Lucien grinned at me. “Much better.” “You gave up so much for them.” He lifted his other hand as if to brush my cheek. I braced myself for the touch, but he lowered it before making contact. “Do you even know how to laugh?” “I don’t want your pity.” His jade eyes were so bright I couldn’t look away. “What about a friend?” “I heard you scream,” he said as I examined the blade in my hands. I’d never held one so perfectly crafted, so perfectly balanced. “And I hesitated. Not long, but I hesitated before I came running. Even though Tam got there in time, I still broke my word in those seconds I waited.” He jerked his chin at the knife. “It’s yours. Don’t bury it in my back, please.” “So many, so different, yet all arranged to flow together seamlessly…Such different views and snippets and angles of the world. Pastorals, portraits, still lifes…each a story and an experience, each a voice shouting or whispering or singing about what that moment, that feeling, had been like, each a cry into the void of time that they had been here, had existed. Some had been painted through eyes like mine, artists who saw in colours and shapes I understood. Some showcased colours I had not considered; these had a bend to the world that told me a different set of eyes had painted them. A portal into the mind of a creature so unlike me, and yet…and yet I looked at its work and understood, and felt, and cared.” “Why – why do any of this?” “Because your human joy fascinates me – the way you experience things, in your life span, so wildly and deeply and all at once, is…entrancing. I’m drawn to it, even when I know I shouldn’t be, even when I try not to be.” ‘Faintly, echoing into my world of slumber, he spoke again, his breath caressing my ear. “You’re exactly as I dreamed you’d be, too.” ‘The music became a siren song. The melody was my lodestone, and I was powerless against its lure.’ “Dance, Feyre,” he whispered. So I did.’ ‘I was as unburdened as a piece of dandelion fluff, and he was the wind that stirred me about the world.’ “Feyre,” he whispered onto my head. He made my name sound beautiful. “Feyre,” he whispered again – not in question, but simply as if he enjoyed saying it.’ ‘I might have been going to my death, but I wouldn’t arrive unarmed.’ ‘I wanted to fade into it, wanted the light of that sun to burn me away, to fill me with such joy that I would become a ray of sunshine myself. This wasn’t music to dance to – it was music to worship, music to fill in the gaps of my soul, to bring me to a place where there was no pain.’ ‘There was such a thing as Fate – because Fate made sure I was there to eavesdrop when they’d spoken in private, because Fade had whispered to Tamlin that the cold, contrary girl he’d dragged to his home would be the one to break his spell, because Fate kept me alive just to get to this point, just to see if I had been listening.’ “Everything I love has always had a tendency to be taken from me." I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers. Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK L E A V E A C O M M E N T A N D L E T' S T A L K A B O U T
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