My rating: 5/5 stars
Feyre is the only one keeping her family from starving by hunting, so she thinks nothing of slaughtering a wolf to capture its prey. But Feyre will lean that taking the life of magical creature comes at a price… and like all mortals Feyre fears what lives beyond the forest. Imprisoned in an enchanted court with her enemy, she is free to roam but forbidden to escape. As Feyre’s feelings for her beastly captor begin to burn through every warning she has been told about his kind, an ancient, wicked force grows stronger. Feyre must find a way to break the spell, or lose her heart forever.
My thoughts
This review has been so hard to write. Does anyone else find that when they loved a novel it is harder to write a review for it than it is to write a review for books you didn’t enjoy?
I have seen a lot about this novel for a while but I was sceptical because of it being labelled YA fantasy. I know that at 21 I am not far from the age range that YA books are aimed at, but I tend not to like reading about characters younger than me. This novel has definitely changed my perception and has made me much more open to reading other YA novels, especially fantasy as it is hard to feel too old for a novel that doesn’t have many events you can relate to in it. Feyre is 19 in the novel but the faeries are ancient and at no point did their relationships seem immature or childish.
I absolutely loved the world that Sarah J. Maas created. It was well described and although there was an element of politics around the court system it was well explained and I never felt confused. It honestly felt like I could have been there. This book put me in such a daze that it was all I could think about when I wasn’t reading it.
This novel is supposedly based on the well-known story of Beauty and the Beast and although I can definitely see that, it didn’t feel like a straight retelling. I enjoyed that it had some elements of that fairytale; Feyre ends up living somewhere she is told she can never leave, her captor turns into a beast and there is a spell, but really there were so many other things going on that Beauty and the Beast wasn’t at the forefront of my mind whilst I was reading. It was so much more than a Beauty and the Beast retelling, just calling it that, I don’t feel, does the novel enough justice.
The characterisation within the novel was so strong and I loved them all. Each one had such unique traits and personalities that it really set this novel apart from just another fantasy novel about faeries. Feyre is a strong female protagonist. I loved Rhys and I hope to see a lot more of him in the next book because I’d love to learn more about his character.
If you are going to give this series a try I would recommend getting the second one at the same time because now I am impatiently waiting for the next one to arrive! I am desperate to jump back into this world and find out what happens. From what I understand it is a direct continuation. This book has also changed my opinion on series because I tend to prefer stand-alones but I am excited for this story to continue. However, I do think it helps that all of the novels in the trilogy have been released as it means there is no waiting time for me to get bored.
I genuinely loved this novel and it is a great way to get into fantasy novels in general. I know this has been marketed at young adults but I really feel that a reader at any age could enjoy this novel as the relationships between the characters are mature. This is definitely a book to get you out of a reading slump!
I know I am kind of late to the party with this one, have you read ACOTAR? What did you think?
Do you have a suggestion for the next book to add to my bookshelf? Let me know in comments.
Alice and Her Bookshelf 