The first rule about BookTube is that we don't talk about A Court of Thorns and Roses. The second rule of BookTube is that we don't talk about A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in her Court of Thorns and Roses series and is marketed as a Beauty and the Beast retelling. A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) has been circling the BookTube community for a while as something that you either love or hate, but there seems to be either a lack of or an unwillingness to talk about this aspect in any great length. It was this mystique that enticed me to pick it up. Unfortunately, ACOTAR did not hold my captivation long enough for me to hold out to the end.
The first few chapters presented an intriguing protagonist with an equally exciting backstory. Feyre is living with her Father and two Sisters on the verge of poverty and must hunt for their food (Hunger Game vibes anyone?). On the verge of hunger, Feyre is forced to kill a Faerie to protect her game, thus violating a treaty thousands of years old. As retribution, Feyre must live with Tamlin, a High Faye, in his Kingdom. Feyre then spends her time getting to know the castle and its inhabitants. Some freaky shit starts to happen, she learns about a curse and then I stopped reading.
This book, or what I read of it, is OK. It is nothing extraordinary, but I put that down to Maas' writing style where she struggles to settle into the Young Adult Fantasy genre. She relies too heavily on descriptive text, which feels more like an epic fantasy attempt than a YA Fantasy. Further to this, there is too much disconnect between chapters, almost as if they were written out of order. The result is storytelling that is reminiscent of a community quilting project. Individually, each chapter is well written, but when you look at the book as a whole, it makes very little sense, thematically, and is a bit of an eyesore. It was for this reason that the book ended up on my DNF shelf.
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