A Court of Thorns and Roses

                A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Goodreads Summary: Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

My Thoughts: OK. There was so much hype about this series.  It has been plastered all over Instagram and the blogosphere for a while now, plus it was recommended to me by multiple friends.  I decided I couldn’t wait any longer, and I started it, despite the fact that description didn’t really call to me. I’m not gonna lie, it took me a while to actually become invested in the story.  For the first big chunk of it, I couldn’t get past the “Beauty and the Beast” vibe. Once I got over that, and deeper into the plot, I started to see what the hype was about.  The last half of the book is amazing, and made up for the slow beginning ten times over.  I almost missed my train stop because I was so into it!  Feyre grew on me throughout the book.  She is a bad-ass, and she doesn’t have any of the “holier than thou” attitude that I feel like a lot of YA heroines have.  She does what she has to do to survive and then she handles the consequences.  My biggest complaint about the book is Tamlin.  He is so vanilla, and I didn’t feel the passion that would inspire her to go to the lengths she goes to in the end.  I kept waiting for this all consuming love, and he was just boring.  I felt like a lot of their relationship development happened off the page, and we didn’t get to see enough of it for me to get into the meat of it.  On the other hand, I was immediately drawn to Rhysand.  I got him right away, and the more we learned about him, the more I liked him.  He definitely has something there under the surface, and they have undeniable chemistry.  From the first time we met him, he had my interest way more than Tamlin ever did.  I’m shipping them hard core.  I’m excited to get to the second book, because I think/hope that there will be a development there for them… Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and now I get the hype.  I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!