A COURT OF MIST AND FURY debuted this week, and the buzz has been ~CRAZY~
You may be wondering why if you never read A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES.
Last year, ACOTAR was my favorite book of 2015, and I have been SO excited to read ACOMAF.
Today, I'd like to introduce ACOTAR to everyone curious about this series!!!
(I'm going to hold off on my ACOMAF review for a while
because everyone is reading it together and OMG SPOILERS!)
O P E N I N G L I N E:
I'd been monitoring the parameters of the thicket for an hour, and my vantage point in the crook of a tree branch had turned useless. The gusting wind blew thick flurries to sweep away my tracks, but buried along with them any signs of potential quarry.
Hunger had brought me farther from home than I usually risked, but winter was the hard time. The animals had pulled in, going deeper into the woods than I could follow, leaving me to pick off stragglers one by one, praying they'd last until spring.
They hadn't.
I wiped my numb fingers over my eyes, brushing away the flakes clinging to my lashes. Here there were no telltale trees stripped of bark to mark the deer's passing--they hadn't yet moved on. They would remain until the bark ran out, then travel north past the wolves' territory and perhaps into the faerie lands of Prythian--where no mortals would dare go, not unless they had a death wish.
(pg 1, US ARC edition)
This review was first posted on April 15, 2015 during Fairy Tale Fortnight.
Fair Warning: A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES is a BOOK KILLER. It will give readers a huge book hangover and leave the next book read--whatever it may be--with a dull, lackluster finish. It's that good. I literally held the book and hugged it for a couple of minutes after finishing--and I never cuddle my books. It was so tough for me to pass it on to Kat the next day! (At the time, the book wasn't published and it was an Advance Reader's Copy, so she couldn't get her own just yet!)
The best part, though? NO CLIFFHANGER!!!
Even though this is the first in a series, it reads as a stand-alone and readers are left with warm fuzzies upon finishing. The story is complete, but Feyre's story has only just begun. THINGS HAPPEN TO HER, and those things change her life so completely that WE NEED MORE!!!
I was so afraid to read A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES. When I first read THRONE OF GLASS, I'll admit it: I was a little disappointed. I'd wanted to read it for so long, and I'd been promised a story of Cinderella with assassins. There was, however, very little fairy tale present in the text (I've since come to love the series for being an amazing high fantasy adventure). I'm so in love with Beauty and the Beast, and I was so happy that A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES was based on the tale's lore. But how much?
Let's just say...
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES is now one of my all-time favorite retellings of Beauty and the Beast. ALL-TIME. It is amazing and wondrous and so completely new and different. It holds up against my other all-time favorite retelling of the tale HEART'S BLOOD by Juliet Marillier remarkably well.
Feyre is no beauty. Her father never stole a rose. But the way she winds up a captive of a High Fae named Tamlin in the land of Prythian is so unique and works so well. The curse has new twists and turns, and the climax is dazzling and intense, impossible to put down. I also really loved the way "Beauty" wasn't in love with books. (In fact, she can barely read!) Instead, she has a deep love of painting and color. I love this fresh take, and also the way Maas writes through an artist's eyes, allowing me to see things differently. The way Feyre loves color reminds me of the way Celaena from the Throne of Glass series loves fine clothing; it's a writer's quirk that helps define Mass' signature writing style.
Maas also has a beautiful way with words. She makes me wish there were truly such things as ponds made with starlight and waterfalls brimming with rainbow beams. She makes you swoon and sigh, hold your breath in wonder and amazement, turn pages in terror and dread. With each new book, her writing prowess grows, and I'm so glad I've been following her journey since the very beginning.
AND THE ROMANCE!
Let's stop and talk about the ROMANCE. Talk about a slow burn. It has everything I love about the Beauty and the Beast tale (without the Stockholm Syndrome, really, since she's never truly a prisoner). Unlike with Maas' Throne of Glass series where readers are on pins and needles, where there are potential triangles and quadrangles, the romance in A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES is pure and true.
There aren't enough words to convey just how much I love this book.
Just know that it is fantastic and you will want to be buying this one.
IT'S A KEEPER!!!
Feyre is no beauty. Her father never stole a rose. But the way she winds up a captive of a High Fae named Tamlin in the land of Prythian is so unique and works so well. The curse has new twists and turns, and the climax is dazzling and intense, impossible to put down. I also really loved the way "Beauty" wasn't in love with books. (In fact, she can barely read!) Instead, she has a deep love of painting and color. I love this fresh take, and also the way Maas writes through an artist's eyes, allowing me to see things differently. The way Feyre loves color reminds me of the way Celaena from the Throne of Glass series loves fine clothing; it's a writer's quirk that helps define Mass' signature writing style.
Maas also has a beautiful way with words. She makes me wish there were truly such things as ponds made with starlight and waterfalls brimming with rainbow beams. She makes you swoon and sigh, hold your breath in wonder and amazement, turn pages in terror and dread. With each new book, her writing prowess grows, and I'm so glad I've been following her journey since the very beginning.
AND THE ROMANCE!
Let's stop and talk about the ROMANCE. Talk about a slow burn. It has everything I love about the Beauty and the Beast tale (without the Stockholm Syndrome, really, since she's never truly a prisoner). Unlike with Maas' Throne of Glass series where readers are on pins and needles, where there are potential triangles and quadrangles, the romance in A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES is pure and true.
There aren't enough words to convey just how much I love this book.
Just know that it is fantastic and you will want to be buying this one.
IT'S A KEEPER!!!
~*~
C O N T E N T R A T I N G S
Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details
Romance: R ( Kissing; sexual situations, sexual encounters )
Language: PG15 ( Sexual language/innuendo )
Violence: PG15 ( Death, violence, torture )
Violence: PG15 ( Death, violence, torture )
~*~
C O V E R D E S I G N:
This cover is dark and fierce, and yet also so beautiful. I've come to expect that in a Sarah J. Maas book by now, haven't you? ^.~
The interiors match the exteriors and the covers are always attention-grabbers!
UMMMM and that outfit!!! My only gripe is that there's a spoiler on the cover, but you don't really know or understand until you get to that part of the book, so... *shrug*
I can't wait to see this book in person next month!
~*~
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
Title: A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Received: For Review;
since purchased!
Received: For Review;
since purchased!
SUMMARY:
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!
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!
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