"Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all."

Breathtaking! Unforgettable! Incredible! We've had A Court of Thorn and Roses on our Kindle forever, and not sure why it's taken us this long to get around to reading it, but all we can say is that it was worth the wait! Believe the accolades! This book is phenomenal.  

'But I lived in that moment - my life became beautiful again for those few seconds when our hands grazed.'

Faerie books are our catnip, they're one of our favourite paranormal themes - who doesn't love those secretive, mischievous, devastatingly gorgeous Fae, and their often-cruel Faerie lore? ACOTAR delivered all that we love on so many fronts!

"What?"
"I'm thinking I might kiss you."
"Then do it."

Sarah J Maas is a sublime storyteller, blending magic, suspense, romance, passion, and even brutality with the most incredible world building and imagery.  We can only hope the optioned series does this book justice, as it will be almost a challenge to bring to life the spectacular world this author has created.

Told from the POV of nineteen-year-old huntress, Feyre Archeron, whose life is forever changed when, as a penance, she is forced to leave her family for the magical treacherous lands of Prythian. So much eschews from this point on, when Feyre meets the mysterious and brooding High Fae and High Lord of the Spring Court, Tamlin, and his friend Lucien. As is the Fae way, they speak in riddles and it's up to Feyre to decipher the hidden meaning within those walls to save her life.

"This reminds me of it."
"Of what?" I breathed.
"That I'm not alone."

Other characters, Rhysand of the Night Court, MUST get a special mention here because whoah! This sarcastic, bad boy held us captive. We went gaga over him and cannot wait to uncover more of this mystifying man and equally bewildering lands.  We're completely hooked! There were times our hearts were racing ten to the dozen, be it from the passion, the suspense, or the cruelty inflicted on the characters in this brutally harsh world. Everything kept us turning the pages.

This is an interesting sample from Sarah J Maas who I've heard so much about and I'll be exploring the books in the series soon.

Heard so much about this book, I have loved the preview and will now purchase the series.
Thank you netgally for the preview of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I've avoided ACOTAR for a very long time, mostly because of all the hype around it. This sampler, while short, was intriguing, well written and the perfect taster to hook me in - I'm now the owner of a full copy and will be devouring this post-haste.

I'm both sorry and not sorry that I waited so long, but am thankful to Netgalley and the publisher and author for sharing this sampler so I can finally jump in to this series.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC sample of A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah Janet Maas. All opinions are my own.

I first read ACOTAR during the COVID-19 pandemic after getting back into reading. In this book, the human protagonist, Feyre, is taken as punishment to live with Tamlin, a fae and the High Lord of the Spring Court. During her time there, she realises there’s a curse on the Spring Court, meets a certain fae with purple eyes, and seems to develop Stockholm Syndrome where she starts to have feelings for her kidnapper. They start a relationship, but Tamlin breaks it off and sends Feyre back to live with her human family.

The pace of the story picks up during the second half of the book, when Feyre returns for Tamlin but is captured and has to endure three trials set by the antagonist, Amarantha for her freedom, as well as Tamlin's. As an older reader, I recognised Tamlin’s toxic behaviour while reading and I’m glad Maas wrote this character so readers, especially younger ones, can distinguish between toxic and healthy relationships.

Having read ACOTAR and its sequels, I like how Maas developed the story and the characters over the five books. She explores themes such as poverty, independence, friendship, partner relationships, sibling relationships and uses the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers and found family tropes. I have enjoyed reading the ACOTAR series, Throne of Glass series and the first two Crescent City books. I look forward to reading the third instalment of the Crescent City series in January 2024.

Loved this little glimpse into this popular series - now working my way through the rest. Interesting book glimpse that I’m grateful for.

Exciting. Fast paced. Griping. I enjoyed the opening to this very much and will seek to read the whole thing at some point. The characters were instantly likeable (or not!) and I felt invested in their struggles. Worth spending some time in this world.

Having heard about this book....a lot....I was quite pleased when this sample came up because I always worry that it is just mostly hype or that I will be the exception and not enjoy it. This does seem like it will be my kind of book, the writing is ok nothing spectacular so far, but the setting is very interesting and I am definitely keen to see what happens to Feyre now that she is in Prythian. I am now quite looking forward to delving into this series.

Review based on reading an extract of 6 chapters

I wanted to read this, mainly because the series is so popular and I wanted to see what the fuss is all about. Although it seems a little predictable I am intrigued enough to continue on and read the rest of book 1 before I commit to reading the rest of the series.

Ooh, this is right up my street. I loved both Buffy and GOT so that description alone enticed me in before I even read any. It's perfect. I read just a sampler of the first book and this has led me to ordering the set, I cannot wait to get stuck right in a perfect cosy read.

One of my all time favourite. Feyre growth through out the book and how she handles the trials had me gripped. The world building really pulls you and keeps you wanting more.

This was such a good read that I finished it in three nights. It’d have been quicker if it wasn’t for work. I actually went out and bought the next two books in the series when I was halfway through this because I couldn’t wait to see how this ended. I really struggled to put this down.

The story was well-paced and the way she created the tense moments was well done. With it being a loose retelling of Beauty and The Beast I had a feeling I was going to love it but this was so much more than I was anticipating.

The characters are well thought out but Maas is so much better at the world building.

This is a must-read for any Young Adult Fantasy fan.

This book is great place to start if you want to try fantasy, and this sampler was helpful to get you stuck into the world!

The first 50 pages were a little slow but I find that with most of the fantasy genre because of the world building. But after that it really gets going, this is (very loosely) based on beauty and the beast which you definitely do get those vibes whilst reading it!

Would definitely recommend for those who are new to the fantasy world / like reading popular 'booktok' books.

Special thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Netgalley for proving a sample copy to review.

Looking for your next fantasy obsession?! Bookstagram persuaded me to read ACOTAR initially and honestly, I get the hype. I loved this book so much and hadn't even realised it was a spin on Beauty and the Beast before reading it. The world building is brilliant, in-depth enough that you really get a sense of the world Feyre is living in, but not so much you spend the first chapters frowning and making notes trying to remember what colour trees are meant to be or why everyone's called some confusion variation of Jared (if you've read lots of fantasy, you'll know what I mean). It's definitely fantasy for an 18+ audience (not graphic but definitely mature) and beyond that I just cannot say much for fear of spoilers. Dig in, for once the hype was onto something.

Very late to the COTAR reading group but I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The world building is good and the story is paced well and kept my interest throughout. I can see this appealing to fans of Cassandra Clare and Rainbow Rowell although I think the themes of the book may be more New Adult than Young Adult at times.

4 stars - I have heard so much about this series but never been able to read. I really enjoyed this extract - will be reading the rest. Thank you for letting me read.

This extract gave me a good indication that I'm going to love this series!

The writing is so well paced and easy to read and yet has a depth of description that keeps you reading. You can tell why a lot of books get compared to this, the calibre of writing is better than other books I’ve read with similar themes and basis in Irish mythology/folklore.

Feyre as a character is obviously living a tough life of poverty and is responsible for her families wellbeing despite being the youngest. She is forced to fight for survival and I enjoyed her stoic inner thoughts as she deliberated the wolf when hunting.

Where we leave this extract, we have arrived in Prythian and we are unaware what will come next in the story. This short extract honestly gripped me enough that I will be continuing the series.

It’s been on my tbr for ages but I was a bit overwhelmed with how popular it is and was worried whether I’d like it or not. Safe to say this has my interest piqued and I will be continuing with the story.

It feels weird to be reviewing such a well known book.. especially when I didn't like it. I don't think Fae are my kind of thing, to be honest.

A great place to start for anybody thinking of dipping their toes into the fantasy world. This first book in the ACOTAR series is loosely based on Beauty and The Beast.

Not for me. I thought I’d try it as a different type of read to what I normally enjoy. But the faery descriptives and the graphic description of a dying wolf early on meant it wasn’t my thing.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this six chapter taster. I’m sure however it will work well on the tv for its Netflix series.