When I couldn’t finish Outlander, I freaked out that I was a bad reader and just yanked for any old audiobook at my library so I could finish something.
This was that book.
The Book
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
2015
Amazon Link
Honestly I have no idea what this one’s going to be about heading into it, but I’m guessing it’s supposed to be like store-brand Game of Thrones going by the title and date of publication.
Non-Spoiler Review
When I first started reading this book, I thought it seemed a lot like The Hunger Games series. It used words like “blood” and “roast” and “roses” more than should be theoretically possible. It contained a main character who was a hunter using bows and arrows. That character, Feyre, was a woman, and she had useless sisters (sure, Katniss had one sister, but whatever). If you have a problem with Collins’s writing style, the writing style of this book won’t please you.
The plot, as well, was pure disappointment. About 1/3 of the way through, I thought to myself, “Is this Beauty and the Beast but with characters sexy in the way Edward was sexy in Twilight?” That is to say, “are these creepy, immortal pedophiles stalking this young woman and giving her Stockholm syndrome?”
And the answer is yes, yes that was what the book was about. If you’ve watched/read/heard glancingly about Beauty and the Beast, there’s no real reason to read this book. There’s no surprises.
There were some attempts made to show the character wasn’t a terrible pushover, and there were obvious struggles to get Feyre not to seem brainwashed (they failed). Something that bothered me a lot though was how many times she was covered in blood. It seemed like every other chapter she became drenched with blood and talked about it profusely. Sure, you can do that once or twice a book, but this was ridiculous.
1/5 Discoball Snowcones
SPOILERS AHOY
I spoiled it above because I said it was Beauty and the Beast. Sure, there was the “epic battle scenes” where Feyre has to defeat the witch who put the spell on the Spring Court (fey Tamlin’s castle thingy), but really there was nothing to the book. People on writing websites keep wanting revamped fairy tales, though, so I guess this fits the bill.
But why Beauty and the Beast? It’s a terrible story, really. I don’t see why someone would want to start with that as an inspiration.
Next week:
It’s the beginning of December, so there’s something new in the air! Stick around!
Sounds rough. And every time people talk about “revamped fairy tales” that are supposed to be edgier than the Disney takes, I just think about how dark and screwed up some of the original stories were, especially the old Grimm and 1,001 Nights stories. There’s no need to do them again but worse.
I agree. I honestly don’t like re-done stories. I get that “there’s nothing new under the sun”, but I have a hard time getting into stories that don’t offer me some kind of big, creative burst as a reward. This book offered me nothing.
Same time, I guess other people like the familiarity.
It seems that everybody has read this book except me. Hm, maybe I didn’t miss anything!
I don’t think you’ve missed out. That being said, I’m rather pessimistic about many things, and that includes books.
Indeed, fairy tales weren’t always written for children, and are much darker than we realise if we think about them for a while.
Oh yeah. Like AK said in an earlier comment, no point in writing for grittiness if the tale was already gritty.
It’s must be disappointing when you went into a book thinking of one thing and found out it was different. Thank you for the review, HRR.
Haha, I know, right? I guess I didn’t have many expectations going in, but at least I had hoped for creativity!
I came across quite a few books like that. I just spared the author by not writing a review.
I have realized since I started doing reviews that I might should just not review the books I don’t like. I don’t review indie books unless they’re 4 or 5 stars, but I decided at one point not to be so kind to traditionally published ones.
Now I question the decision because someone put a lot of effort into it. Still, probably not going to change for a while because I’ve got so many posts ready, haha!
You’re so kind to the indie authors. I do see a lot of ratings less than 4 for traditional books. What you’re doing is fine because someone has to be honest with them!
I’ve read some of her Throne of Glass series. It’s enjoyable fluff. I was sort of parodying it when I began writing The Sky-Pirates of Durn, though it moved on from there.
Well, obviously it did move on, because it had a real plot, haha. I thought the “Court of Thorns and Roses” book was just devoid of real creativity, but then again I am pretty harsh about wanting the content I consume to be fresh.
Admittedly I began reading the series after reading the book blurb from which I gained the impression the main character might be lesbian, which turned out to be wrong…
Whaaat? Why would they lead you astray like that?
It was just me reading into the ambiguity…
Ah. It still seems a shame. Let me look up the blurb right quick and see if I can read what you did…
Ok, I read the blurb on Amazon, and I think I could see it if Captain Westfall were a woman. But it was unclear.
It was: “And a princess from a foriegn land will become the one thing Calaena never thought she would have again: a friend.”
When you’re like me you trend to read lesbian subtext into everything, even when it’s not there.
*tend
Ah. Gotcha. Could the subtext not be read into the book?
No. Definitely no signs of anything like that.
Sad day
I must say as books they’re well produced. The hardcovers are a delight to handle.
Sometimes a hardcover is nice. I have a Kindle (Christmas gift from YEARS ago), and I don’t think I’m easily going back to hard copy books. Too easy to have any book at your fingertips.
I really hate staring at screens. I have eye problems due to staring at screens too much. I love having a book in my hands and the texture of the paper and the smell of it. Some books are a delight to read.
With eye problems, yeah, paper is best.
I am sorry, H. that you picked another one-star book. How about reading All Quiet on the Western front. I am listening to Sunweilder by Diana Peach [have you read that one, it’s terrific] and this is my next read.
I liked All Quiet. Haven’t read Sunwielder, though!
I’m glad to know that you liked it.