Next up for me in my reading was A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas. I’ve had this book on my Kindle since the end of November, but for some reason, I hadn’t gotten around to reading it. It wasn’t quite what I expected.
A Court of Thorns and Roses is an epic fantasy book. I hesitate to call it a young adult simply because in my own definition, a young adult book is one for any upper middle school to high school age. Even though I was an advanced reader, I don’t think this would have been appropriate for me at fifteen.
Feyre, a human, lives a hard life in the south. She takes care of her father and two sisters (who strike a resemblance to the stepsisters of Cinderella) by hunting, much like Katniss in Hunger Games. One day, while hunting in the forest, she comes upon a wolf, who she thinks could be a Fairie in disguise. Scared that the wolf will take the doe she had also spotted, she kills the wolf as well as the doe, giving her family something to eat and a way to make money.
Brief Summary (while trying not to give everything away)
After Feyre kills the faerie (yes it was one), she is taken by Tamlin, a High Fae, into Prythian and its Spring Court. Tamlin, whose face like all those in the Spring Court is covered by a mask, can be broody as well as kind and gentle. He’s mercurial. Feyre struggles to find her place amongst the faeries. Her only hobby was painting and Tamlin allows her to explore that. But there are plots afoot in the Faerie world. Things are amiss and Feyre will get caught up in it all. What will happen?
Recommendation?
This closely resembles a Beauty and the Beast retelling, while including elements of other fairy tales. It was a good story with several twists along the way. This is the first of a series, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to jump into the next yet. I actually liked the ending and am not sure that I want to explore past it.
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And in case you hadn’t figured it out, my plan for 2021 is to write a blog post for each book I read. Last year, I read 150 books. We’ll see how I do this year.
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