A Court of Thorns and Roses Collector's Edition

A Court Of Thornes and Roses by Sarah J Maas. 4/5 ⭐ "Don't feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy". So, I started this book and got 2 pages in before I put it down. Maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind? But anyway, I picked up again a few weeks later and then completely devoured it within a week. First let me start by saying I cannot stand Feyre, there is something about her character I just don't like. Tamlin, unsure on him at the minute. The story stealer at the minute is Lucien. I love how he presents in the book and I'm intrigued by him. By the end I was slightly disappointed there wasn't a Tamlin dumping with a Lucien replacement 😂. However, the story line was fantastic and it really sucked me in when I got going. As soon as I had finished I purchased the entire set not caring if I didn't like the rest because I initially thought that about this book! The ending had me mind-blown, I never in a million years saw it coming. It was thrilling and just amazingly written. I look forward to reading the rest of these books. Thank you Maas for creating a masterpiece.

The full review is available on my blog: Positively Book Mad Anything Fae, and I am in, although I have never read High Fantasy before now, so I think I will be exploring all that I can get my hands on. I am rating A Court of Thorns and Roses Five out of Five Stars because there was not a single thing I disliked about this whole book! I was hooked by the very first page, hooked entirely by Feyre. I was so in love with it that I forced my mother to stop reading her current book and start this one. Now I am looking at her eagerly, just waiting for her to agree that it is brilliant and I was right to stop her, as I constantly pester her with, “Have you met him yet? Have you met Rhysand?”. To say I adore him would be putting it lightly. This is technically a young adult novel, but I would recommend A Court of Thorns and Roses to anyone of any age. Do check the full Trigger Warnings list online, as they include but are not limited to: drugging, kidnapping, physical and emotional abuse, manipulation, and torture. If you love anything faery, then get this book. If you love adventure, love, and strong female main characters who would do absolutely anything to help others survive, then get this book. Actually, just get this book, read it, and then tell me how much you love Rhysand. I cannot wait until the next book arrives, as I need, with a burning passion, to know what Feyre will do next. Thank you, Sarah J. Maas, for creating Feyre. I cannot wait to see more of Prythian through her eyes.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS SPOILERY I went into this book kinda expecting to read just another boring, trivial, YA fantasy. I'm happy - you can't even imagine how much - to say that it surprised me a lot, in a positive way. I'm not giving it five stars for a few reasons: first of all, the Faerie world is becoming a little bit too mainstream in my opinion and I would love to read about new, more original worlds. Second, I hated the romance side of this book. HATED. This book could've been perfect - I'm not kidding - if Sarah J. Maas didn't decide to add a spoon of 50 Shades of Grey in the mixture. Why, Sarah? WHY? If you plan on reading it, expect a lot of focus on male bodies, especially muscles, they're everywhere, in every thought of the main character and they're the main reason behind the romance, which to me sucks. Anyway, let's start with a more detailed review. Story: The story is nice and interesting. Everything is well explained since the beginning and it doesn't sound forced or clichè - well, at least until the romance starts. I must say that it gets a bit boring when Fayre goes to live in Prythian: all those chapters in which she basically just walks around, discovers her new home, eavesdrops conversations and hates on Tamlin without a valid reason, after a while they get annoying. Luckily it's just a phase and the story goes back to being interesting when Tamlin forces her to leave Prythian. I liked the idea of the curse, the fact that no one could actually tell Fayre what was going on and that she had to figure it out all alone. The best part is - obviously - when she gets Under the Mountain and accepts to complete three tasks in order to free Tamlin from Amarantha's curse. It kinda reminded me of The Hunger Games, but in a very different way, and I absolutely loved it. There are two main things I truly appreciated in this book: the characters have so much depth and structure, their stories are long and detailed, almost all of them feel very three-dimensional, which isn't an obvious thing (cough cough The Cruel Prince cough cough). Their actions don't feel weird or out of nowhere, there's always a clear reason behind everything. Honestly, they feel so real. I also really enjoyed Sarah's writing style: she's clearly a tell writer, which means you shouldn't expect too many descriptions, beside the necessary ones. Is this a bad thing? Not at all, at least for me. She puts in her writing the necessary details you need to understand the world you're reading about and see with your imagination's eyes what she wants you to see, but at the same time she does not extend into long-winded descriptions that make you want to skip the paragraph and move on. The only thing I have to criticize - and it's a very bad one for me - is, as I previously said, this feeling of 50 Shades wannabe. Tamlin's muscles are the main focus of Fa...

The book was in perfect condition. I never expected to find this title here in amazon japan.

I bought the trilogy. All together they were the best books I've read in a while. Separately, they were not perfect but I'm okay with that. I read a lot and tend to dislike books that show no character growth, or have wishy-washy villains, or have insta-love, or have love result from H saving h from sexual violation, or suffer from deus ex machina. I don't particularly care if something is obvious because sometimes I want to read something that is easy and obvious. My brain doesn't want to be challenged 24/7. Also, I love good dialogue- dialogue makes a romantic connection feel real rather than insta-lovey. Is dialogue action-packed? No. Does it slow down pacing? You bet. At this point, you're probably wondering where this review is going? Well, I think that knowing more about me as a reader might make it easier to see/ relate to my views for this book. Now the fun stuff! ***SPOILERS*** Feyre (the h): This character is complex and goes through several changes throughout the series. In this book, she has her ups and downs. Initially, she is hardened, street-smart and capable with a cynical eye toward romance and happiness and outright hatred and prejudice towards the fae. She also has love for a family who seems to dislike and neglect her. She is not very likeable. But does that make a book bad? No. (Hello, Wuthering Heights.) It is, however, more rare to write an h this way because readers in general tend to want to relate to an h, particularly when it's written in 1st person perspective. So many readers might not be able to get into the story because of their dislike for Feyre. When the far remove her burdens that largely drove who she was, Feyre changes. She doesn't have a purpose to keep her going, to shape her. The pacing of the book suffers a bit here while she tries to sort herself out. She tries to make love and painting her new purposes, and while she has the determination to do so, the fit just isn't right. Does this make the book bad? No. While many people won't like to read about an h that seems somehow "less" this downward arc was necessary to fuel the inevitable reversal toward a more fitting purpose. It drags a bit for sure, but makes the reversal feel more right, more true later on. Did she rush into something with Tamlin. Her feelings do feel a bit rushed but ultimately fit her as a character- going all-in has always been her style from the start. In that sense, the character is consistent. Also, her reluctance to voice her love made me think that deep-down she might have confused love with gratitude. Tamlin was her savior in many ways. For all of these reasons I liked Feyre. Tamlin (the H): Tamlin was the 1st high fae Feyre had any meaningful interactions with in the 1st book. I never really liked him as an H. He was pretty but basically hollow. He struggles with uncontrolled rage. He had just as much ha...