What do I care?
 |
| Available at Amazon.com |
A Court of Thorns & Roses
Sarah J. Maas
ACOTAR, book one
Paperback, 419 pages
Published June 2, 2020
ISBN 9781635575569
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
I don’t know how I’ve never heard of this series but I managed to be convinced to read book two, A Court of Mist and Fury, and I can’t very well in good conscience skip over book one so, without even reading the blurb, here we are.
Smh. I should have just skipped to book two.
The first chapter was sad. And the main character is a bigot. Not off to the best start.
But Tamlin made me smile (once, and never again) and Lucien’s hostility was intriguing enough so on I continued as the two Fae worked on eradicating Feyre’s prejudices.
The plot - Feyre is a young woman of nineteen tasked with providing for herself, her father, and her two older sisters. Her mother is long deceased and any riches the family once possessed have dwindled to a tiny cottage. This doesn’t shy the woman from looking down on everyone though. Resentful and oh so judgmental.
On a hunt to sustain the family, Feyre crosses paths with what appears to be a wolf targeting the same deer in the woods. Wolf kills deer. Feyre kills wolf. Feyre skins wolf. Feyre leaves wolf’s corpse to rot in the winter woods.
But that wolf was a Fae. And that Fae had friends.
And so, Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court, invokes the rights to a life for a life as dictated by the treaty between their two peoples and collects Feyre to join him in Prythian as not his prisoner or slave, but as his guest.
There you have it. Beauty and the Beast. At the most diabolical level.
Spoilers and a profane rant below.
Beauty and the Beast meets... Saw? Because wtf else did I just read??
She's his pet.
About halfway through this book, I had a question that was nagging to be answered because apparently I’m developing a habit of questioning the role of the love interest… Am I suppose to like Tamlin? I knew he wasn't endgame thanks to Booktok and what little I'd pieced together about book two, but was I suppose to even like him? Despise him? Was I suppose to despise everyone? Because aside from Lucien, that was the path I was on.
And then Rhysand shows up and what a breath of fresh air... Yes, you beautiful, dark creature! Avenge me for the pain they’ve put me through! Torture them all!
If only I had skipped the first seventy percent of this book... Feyre is awful. Tamrin… fucking hell. The entire plot is based on a lie and a curse. Fuck him. Fuck his whole court.
Pages 290 through half of 415 was all I needed. Didn't even finish the last bit because Rhysand was gone and to hell if I was going to suffer through Tammy again.
The bond between us went taut.Are we really not going to talk about that? ^^
Am I going to still give it a go with book two? A grumbled yes.
Why? Because Rhysand is the devil and I hope to see all these characters, aside from Lucien, burning in hell.
And because I’ve already purchased it.
“Well, good-bye for now,” he said, rolling his neck as if we hadn’t been talking about anything important at all. He bowed at the waist, those wings vanishing entirely, and had begun to fade into the nearest shadow when he went rigid.
His eyes locked on mine, wide and wild, and his nostrils flared. Shock—pure shock flashed across his features at whatever he saw on my face, and he stumbled back a step. Actually stumbled.”
His eyes locked on mine, wide and wild, and his nostrils flared. Shock—pure shock flashed across his features at whatever he saw on my face, and he stumbled back a step. Actually stumbled.”
2 out of 5 stars.
Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook
