Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses
Book 1 in A Court of Thorns and Roses series
by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well I finally read it. And I will admit everyone is right; I'm total trash for A Court of Thorns and Roses. Is this just smutty teen crack? Yes, yes it is.

The Intended Audience
Just like I said with Bridget Kemmerer's series, that is okay, because that is the audience it was written for. Is Sarah J. Maas the most brilliant writer ever? No. That's not to say that she's isn't good at keeping the readers attention, moving the story forward, and creating intrigue. She's in fact excellent at all of those things. Although, I felt her descriptions were a bit lacking in places, and I would have preferred more lore and information about the magic and Fae system in general. But I'm a hard-core fantasy reader at heart and love world-building.

The Ending
The biggest thing that has importance to me in teen stories like this is that the ending isn't cheap. It was clearly set-up right from the beginning; it felt logical, the pieces locked in together and it flowed nicely. I was actually surprised that this book had a real sort of ending given it's a part of a larger series. You could read just this first book and have a complete story without feeling forced to move onto book 2. However that is not me. I will be starting book 2 in the next few days for sure!

The Best Part?
That is the easiest question to answer. And anyone else who also loves this character as much as I do probably gets it... Rhysand. Ohhh Rhysand.
I am a total and complete suck for the bad boy, anti-hero, do good'er villain. The one who might be trying to do covert good; but whose number one priority is keeping the imagine of them as a villain alive. Also, the descriptive, wicked, blue hair. I could imagine Rhysand almost from the moment he enters the room (page?). He's beautiful, sexy, and dangerous. Even at nearly 40-years-old I still appreciate the bad now. And I know 16-year-old me would have been completely obsessed and swooned for Rhysand. I've briefly seen in the past comments about being on a 'team' (gosh I hate that phrase for picking love interests) and if I had to pick I'm team Rhysand. It does not matter what he does in the rest of the series. He can be the worst person ever, I'll still love him. Just as I loved Jamie Lannister (Game of Thrones) a little bit even before he showed some humanity. The ultimate bad boy cannot be beat in my mind.

The Other Characters
As per usual with most books in this genre the character the reader is supposed to love and get all gooey about is not the one I liked much at all. I'm sorry but Tamlin is boring, annoyingly broody, moody, and overall just not that interesting. I do hope he gets a chance to show more of his personality as the series goes on.
Then it's onto our leading girl, I don't hate her. Which is saying a lot as I tend to really have an issue with a lot of female heroines in these types of series for teens. The lead girl in Iron Widow for example is just a horrible bitch, there is no two ways about it. So I'm pleased that I don't totally hate Feyruh, and I do hope that she is given the chance to grow and explore (mostly Rhysand, lol) her personality and feelings further. I'm assuming this growth is what makes the rest of the series interesting.

Sex, sexual tension, and oh look, sex
Finally, let's talk about the sexual nature of these books. These are not middle grade books. I wouldn't even call them young adult. While we often us YA and Teen interchangeably there is perhaps one distinction that should be made. YA generally doesn't have too much sex or implying of sex. Teen is generally that step above it. We often experience characters losing their virginity, experimenting, coming into their own sexually, etc. in teen books. I have no problem at all with a 15-year-old reading this. As I was that age when I was active; so it seems only fair that I at least accept that age is appropriate to read about sex. I would actually go as low as age 13 for this book. BUT I would be hard pressed to say younger. It might depend on the child; however I think most 12 and younger would not enjoy the sexual tension here because it's "icky". Their emotional maturity is just not there yet.
Honestly, given the violence, gore, and other elements of today's TV, movies, and video games; the making-out, lusting, and sex is quite tame. It may be important to point out that, for me, sex is no more taboo than gory. Therefore I am not at all concerned about how this is labelled or marketed the way some have been. Never mind the fact that the title, cover art, and blurb make it pretty clear you're going into a fantasy teen romance novel and those tend to get hot and heavy at some point. Especially as the series moves forward.

Overall
I mean what can I say that everyone else hasn't said? Not a lot really. It's as good as people say; IF that is the kind of content you want. I get why some hate it; because they are just not into books like this. And that's okay. But for those of us that do love this romance trash; it's up there with being very compelling to read.
I'd like to add that within 5 pages of reading the riddle I knew the answer. Maas actually gives a tiny tip-off shortly after reciting the riddle that I'm sure most picked up on. And while I was quite certain for the next 100+ pages I knew the answer; it was still exciting to read the solution.

If you like Bridgit Kemmerer, Rin Chupeco, or Tracey Deon (Legendborn), or most big name authors in the fantasy teen realm then I am quite confident you will like this.
If you're an adult that has enjoyed Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita or Mercy series), Anne Bishop, or Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series then I think you'll enjoy this. It's a bit tamer than your adult horror/fantasy scenarios listed; but in the same vein. It keeps up the idea of punishment for punishment sake, and love for love's sake; and ultimately taking punishment to show love.

I'm picking up book 2 tomorrow, because somehow I had book 1, 3 and 4 on my shelf! Weird or what? I can't wait to get further into the pants (I mean mind...) of Rhysand.
Lastly, if you didn't laugh at my joke just now and kind sneered or wrinkled your nose then maybe don't pick this up, it's probably not your cup of tea.

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