35 ratings (3.89 avg)
15 reviews

Elliott

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Elliott rated a book it was ok

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

by Sarah J. Maas (Goodreads Author)

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Elliott said: " This may not be the fairest rating, as I did like it for what it was. If I did not know the whole scope of this series it would be a solid 3. But knowing the direction of the series and how much it respects the reader's emotional investment and in ge This may not be the fairest rating, as I did like it for what it was. If I did not know the whole scope of this series it would be a solid 3. But knowing the direction of the series and how much it respects the reader's emotional investment and in general long term memory makes me take off a whole star.

It almost feels like the first book is a bad joke, or a foreshadowing of Maas' poor memory or inability to edit once the words touch the page. Characters start as cartoonishly evil, then randomly flip as if they've been that way the whole time. The logic to how the plot starts barely holds on by a thread and slowly improves through the course of the story (not so much that I don't just want to shout "JUST EDIT IT MAAS").

Her writing reads like a fanfiction, where events are constantly reactive to one another and barely foreshadowed. Which is acceptable for fanfic, but not for a whole novel! If you're going to write without a plan, you have to at least read it over once or twice to make sure the whole thing makes sense.

Motivations are murky but in less of a "what secrets are they hiding" and more of a "what the hell is wrong with them way". And unfortunately, most of the time the answer to the latter question goes entirely unanswered or an answer that raises entirely new questions.

That being said, I obviously didn't hate all of it if I gave it 3 stars initially. I think Tamlin's character in *this* book is actually quite charming and compelling, and while a lot of byronic romantic interests tend to be explicit abusers Tamlin never crosses the line. Obviously his attitude sucks (and he bites!!!) but I never felt like Feyre was making a mistake by not running away. The transition from captor and prisoner to lovers wasn't the smoothest, but by the time they actually do the damn thing I was pretty damn entertained.

Unfortunately though, the whole time I was reading there was a shadow on my back. I knew what was going to come afterwards, how these characters would change, and I couldn't help but feel like a fool for enjoying it. I was hoping at some point I would come to hate Tamlin, to think the relationship between him and Feyre was abusive and sadistic, but that moment never came. This is a straightforward Beauty and the Beast love story that comes to a conclusion that satisfied me. Which makes everything after so much more.

So yeah! I'm just going to pretend this is the only one that exists. Vapid, entertaining, satisfying, but insultingly pointless in the grand scheme of Maas' money printing machine. ...more "

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(55%)
"Tamlin they could never make me hate you" — Jul 08, 2024 02:38PM

Aug 07, 2024 02:16PM · see review