Book Review - The Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas

I first encountered Sarah J. Maas on fictionpress.com. She was a popular author on there with a very popular first draft of Throne of Glass. I couldn't ve happier for her when the final draft of ToG was published.

It's the dream most authors have.

This book review is not about ToG and its sequels.  I'm still working on them.  This review is for The Court of Thorns and Roses.

When I first started reading I got Beauty and the Beast vibes.  Not the cartoon B&B either but the original tale with the three sisters and merchant father. 

But with Fae.

You can see the set-up as it's happening.  A mix of modern and fairy tale. Old and new.  Modern sensibilities about relationships and proper sensibilities about relationships mixed in one.

Yes, that was a subtle hint towards the main character, Feyre, having a friends with benefits relationship amid people arranging marriages for money, to get enough food to eat.

To using marriage to get out of dire circumstances. To get enough food on the table.

Especially when you have a mean-spirited sister and a thoughtless sister who don't help the youngest sister with chopping fire wood and helping each other survive.

In truth, a well done beginning with strong Beauty and the Beast vibes.

But it's Sarah J. Maas.  It can't continue. Just take a look at Throne of Glass which started as a Cinderella retelling.

There's little surprise that there must be a beast (that would be the Fae by the way).  One day while hunting for food to keep her family from starving, she finds a deer.  Before she can shoot, a wolf with golden eyes appears.  A choice is before her. Shoot the giant wolf that may or may not be Fae (the eyes) or don't shoot the wolf.  If she does shoot and it is a Fae there would be a price to pay.  If she doesn't shoot the wolf and it turns on her she could pay for her hesitation with her life and her family would most likely starve.  With those options before her she shoots the wolf as it attacks the doe.

The Fae aren't happy with this.  Unbeknownst to Feyre, there is a treaty. A life for a life.  She can either die for killing the Fae disguised as a wolf (he was a Fae) or she can cross the wall dividing the humans and the Fae.  In protecting her family, she leaves with the Fae.

There are a few things to note.

- SJM writes strong female characters, even if they don't always know it.
- There will be plot twists and relationship twists. 

Would I recommend?

Now, off to find a copy of A Court of Mist and Fury and check out those spoilers I went in hunt off. 

Book 3 - A Court of Wings and Ruin was released May 2nd, but I don't know if it's the last book in the series.