2⭐out of 5⭐
0.5🌶️out of 5🌶️
0.5 ❤️ out of 5❤️
A Non-Spoiler Synopsis
In this beauty and the beast retelling, Feyre Archeron is a human 19-year-old woman who lives near the border of the wall separating the human territory from Pyrthian, the faerie lands. The wall between humans and faeries was erected after the humans, who were once enslaved by fae, rebelled.
Feyre is the youngest sister of three. Her family was once wealthy until a bad business decision made by her father led to their financial ruin. To keep her family from starving, Feyre risks her own safety hunting in the forest. During a particularly harsh winter, Feyre hunts deeper into the forest getting closer to the wall. Feyre comes across a giant wolf and questioning if it is a normal wolf or a fae, she shoots the wolf with an ash arrow, a wood that is deadly to faeries, and kills the wolf.
Later, a giant beast storms into Feyre’s family cottage demanding to know who killed the wolf. The wolf was a faerie and Tamlin, the giant beast and High Lord of the Spring Court, has come to demand retribution. Citing the treaty made between the humans and the fae, Tamlin demands that Feyre forfeit her life in the human realm and come to live with him in Pyrthian.
Once in the Spring Court, Feyre is shocked to learn that she will not be treated as a slave but will be treated as a guest in Tamlin’s home. She is also shocked to see that the giant beast that took her from her cottage is a handsome fae male. Well from what she can see he is handsome. Tamlin’s Court is under a curse that has forced masks to their faces and has weakened his lands. The dark forces are closing in on Tamlins’ Court and Feyre must find a way to stop it before it dooms her new home.
Overall THOTs on the Smut and Vibes of A Court of Thorns and Roses
Full disclosure, I read this book twice because I initially didn’t love it. My option still hasn’t changed, but I do recommend ACOTAR because the rest of the series makes it a worthwhile read. If you are like me and did not enjoy the first book, read the second book in the series, A Court of Mist and Fury before giving up on the series.
My biggest gripe with ACOTAR is the romance pacing which is why I rated it as a 0.5/5 heart. Maas is clearly using an enemies to lovers trope with Feyre and Tamlin on opposite sides. Feyre is an impoverished human who killed a fae with “hate in her heart” while Tamlin is not only a powerful fae but is the ruling High Lord of the Spring Court.
Despite Feyre not admitting to loving Tamlin until towards the end of the book she falls in love with him too quickly. It felt like her love came from his offerings of peace and safety and not because of him as a person. I wish the growth of their relationship was shown to us as a reader instead of being told to us by Feyre. There wasn’t a big moment where they realized they must set their differences aside. Tamlin’s feelings seemed to grow overnight as well but given the context of the curse he’s under that makes more sense for the overall plot.
I am a sucker for a fairy tale retelling, so I really enjoyed the beauty and the beast retelling aspect of the book. Like Belle, Feyre is self-sacrificing, but other than that she is very different from Belle. She is illiterate (which is used as a plot point) and instead of reading she loves to paint. Like the Beast, Tamlin has a temper, but this is only hinted at throughout the novel and doesn’t really show up until book two, A Court of Mist and Fury. I love that it is Feyre that has more of an attitude throughout ACOTAR because we get more dynamic dialog with Feyre and Tamlin. It is an interesting spin on the fairy tale that the Beast form is not related to the curse but is instead part of Tamlin’s power as a High Lord.
I honestly do not understand why ACOTAR is considered a “spicy” book. I gave the book a 0.5 pepper because there was simply not a lot of spice in the book. ACOTAR focuses more on the romantic aspects of love over the physical intimacy. There is one sex scene and while it doesn’t “fade to black” it is not very detailed. ACOTAR is firmly in the romantasy genre and nowhere near erotica.
The reason why I gave ACOTAR a 2/5 stars is a combination of the romance being subpar and the plotline being very slow. The plot does not pick up until toward the end of the book when Feyre is under the mountain.
Plot Summary: Warning Spoilers Ahead!
We meet Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court and the apparent flunky of the evil Amarantha (who cursed Tamlin), during a Spring Court celebration where he saves Feyre from some random fae men who are going to hurt her. He reappears later by barging into Tamlin’s home and threatens to tell Amarantha about Feyre’s existence.
Tamlin sends Feyre back to the human world for her own safety, which of course does not last. Feyre returns to Tamlin’s court to find his manor destroyed and she learns that she could have lifted his curse if she had verbally told him that she loved him. Now he has been taken Under the Mountain to Amarantha’s Court.
Feyre gets captured under the mountain trying to save Tamlin and strikes a deal with Amarantha. Either Feyre can solve a riddle and immediately release Tamlin and his court from Amarantha’s curse or Feyre must pass 3 trials that take place over 3 months.
The trails were the best part of the book. It is the most intense action we see as well as the deepest emotional responses Feyre experiences. We have Feyre defeat a giant worm where she uses her wits to trap the worm and have it impale itself. After defeating the worm Feyre is injured and on the cusp of death when she makes a deal with Rhysand. He heals her and in exchange after the trials she must spend one week a month with him in the Night Court.
In the second trial, Amarantha uses Feyre’s illiteracy against her and has one of Feyre’s friends and Tamlin’s right-hand man, Lucien, in a room that is slowly crushing him. Feyre must select the correct lever to stop Lucien from being crushed. If not for Rhysand using the connection he made with her during their deal to help her, Lucien would have been crushed and Feyre would have lost the trials.
In the third and final trial, Amarantha brings forth three faeries in chains with their heads covered with sacks. For the final trial Feyre must stab all three faeries in the heart. This was a beautiful plot device echoing the beginning of the book when Feyre kills the wolf. Now after living with the fae and her overall growth as a character she is no longer angry. What is done particularly well is the horror that Feyre feels during this trial. Trigger Warning: During this scene Feyre considers suicide after killing the bound fae. After killing the first two faeries the hood is removed from the third to reveal Tamlin. Leaving Feyre to question everything. If she refuses to stab him in the heart, she loses the trials and Tamlin along with his Court will be forced to live under Amarantha’s reign. If she stabs and kills him, her love will be dead, but his Court will be freed.
Feyre then begins to think and realizes that Tamlin and Lucien have allowed her to overhear multiple conversations despite their fae senses alerting them to her presence. Comments about him having a “cold stone heart”.
Feyre, to Amarantha’s shock, stabs Tamlin in his stone heart, thus successfully completing the trials. Tamlin was originally cursed by Amarantha not only because he protested her rule but because he rejected her sexual advances so besides cursing him and his court to having masks stuck on their faces, taking the majority of his power, she also turned his heart into stone. Thus, making his heart impenetrable to Feyre’s dagger.
Despite successfully completing the trials, Amarantha refuses to lift the curse stating that she did not say when she would remove the curse when the trials were complete. In a fit of rage, she begins to torture Feyre. Right before Amarantha snaps Feyre’s neck, Feyre realizes the answer to the riddle that would immediately lift the curse. The answer is “love”. Feyre dies and has an out of body experience and sees the curse lifting, Tamlin gains his powers back and rips out Amarantha’s throat.
Feyre is clinging to life having an out of body experience when all 7 High Lords give her a drop of their essence bringing her back to life and turning her into a High Fae.
The book concludes with Feyre returning to the Spring Court for their happily ever after…for now.
If you’re interested in purchasing this book I’d appreciate it if you use my affiliate link down below. I receive a small commission on sales using this link: