A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Summary from Goodreads:

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Review:

I’m not sure why it took me so long to get to this one. I love Sarah J. Maas. And Beauty and the Beast is my favorite of all the fairytales. You’d think a combo of those things would equal instant read for me, but somehow it kept getting pushed back. I’m a little glad it did because it took me a little time to read. And I sometimes DNF for later, books I know I won’t be able to finish for a long time. I’m glad I read this one now when I could afford a more leisurely pace.

I’m going to be honest. I took me a little bit of time to get into this one. It moves very slowly for the first half of the book. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Here, it was important because of the world building. Maas is an expert world-builder. Her juxtaposition of the fairy world and the normal world were just so beautiful. Really, the writing in this book was pure beauty. However, it took me a long time to read because of this slowness.

I guess, for me, I’d become used to a certain level of action and pace with this author, so this came as a bit of a surprise. The pacing was very slow.

I did love the characters. I love this author’s ability to develop characters as she goes. I don’t seriously get to know anyone right away or in any kind of info dump, anywhere. She spreads her character traits and secrets over time. There were things I learned at the very end, and I love this. I love being surprised. But more than that, I love getting to know a person over time. It makes me feel like I know them better.

A lot goes down in the last quarter of the book. So, while it was easy to put the book down while reading the first ¾, the last bit was un-put-down-able. And I guess in the long run, it felt a tiny bit rushed. So much was leading up to what to Feyre was capable at the end and then, when the end finally happened, it happened kind of quickly.

All in all, I enjoyed this one but I didn’t love it as much as the author’s other series. It moved a lot more slowly. Not a lot happens in the beginning of the story, and the end of the story holds most of the action. The action at the end felt a little rushed. However, the world building and the character development in this one were pure magic. I loved seeing what else Maas was capable of. And I’m definitely excited for the next installment. I give this one an 8/10.