A Court of Thorns and Roses - The Fairy Tale Within the Fairy Tale
- Elvira Dimitrova
- Aug 9, 2018
- 3 min read
“Don't feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.”
Most of the fantasy fans out there have already heard of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. A lot of you have read it and judging by the Goodreads rating, have even loved it. My view on the book, however, is a bit conflicted. To be fairly honest, I was very hyped about having the chance to read this novel as it has been recommended to me before. And, not to forget, the book cover, of course. It is lovely! So I bought the book, eager to start and to finish it, but then you see, things did not work out at all like I’ve imagined it.
To start out, the narrative begins with Feyre murdering a wolf. From there on, she has to cope with the consequences of her action which seem to be massive at first (her being brutally murdered), but then it turns out she will have to live in the land of the faeries - Prythian, as a punishment instead. However, the her "imprisoned" life is not what you would imagine - rotting in a cage with no option of doing anything but to waste away throughout the years. Her captor happens to live in a beautiful, gigantic palace where she can have her own room, pretty dresses, and even a maid to take care of her hair and to help her get dressed. The mystery that has befallen the whole place though, is that everybody in the court wears a mask that cannot be removed. There's only one thing that can break the curse. Can you guess what it is?
To me, the story in the novel seemed like a “Beauty and the Beast” version, re-told in another setting. In addition, there were other moments throughout the first three hundred pages of the book that totally made me feel like I should give it up any moment now. Things seemed predictable, the love story wasn’t my cup of tea, and the whole thing looked like a highly forced and unrealistic story until you get to the revelation in the last hundred pages which at least provides some sort of reasoning about all of those illogical moments in the beginning. So to put it in other words, in my view, this part of the "illness" that I refer to should have found its way to the reader way earlier on in the narrative.
Nevertheless, I avoid being extremely critical when it comes to novels as I realise how much effort each writer puts into developing their worlds and characters, and making their stories come to life through their words. In addition, there’s probably a reason that so many people enjoy the book. Perhaps I’ve already outgrown that kind of fantasy which doesn’t mean I should condemn the whole thing altogether.
In fact, there were actually some points that I enjoyed. My favourite and most original character in the book, for example, Rhysand (even though Lucien almost shares the first spot with him). The High Lord of the Night Court presents himself as the most mysterious and interesting personage in my opinion. Although his sense of humor is a bit twisted, he still proves himself to be more than what he seems like at first. He is the kind of character that I am usually fond of the most in fantasy – visibly evil but then again, there’s a good reason for that wickedness which makes him quite the rounded character.
The last hundred pages of the novel were much more fast-paced and active (I wish most of the book were like this!) They were crucial for the character development and they also brought to the main reason for which I actually finished it – to see if the characters I most cared for were going to survive.
To sum up, this young-adult fantasy novel is certainly not my favourite one so my recommendation here is limited. Anyway, if you’re a teenager above sixteen, perhaps even in your early twenties, you love a book focused on a love story, and you’re just starting on the fantasy genre, then maybe this one is suitable for you. I might not have been the desired reader for this but perhaps you are.
Have you already read it? I would love to hear your opinion about it and see if you enjoyed it all the way through.
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