I’ve been so curious to read A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas ever since I first joined bookstagram over a year ago. I honestly had never heard of the series before then and finally decided to give it a go. After reading it for over a month on and off since December, I sadly didn’t love it as much as I was hoping I would. 

The main issue I had was the pacing. I thought the beginning started off intriguing enough that I wanted to know what happens next, but the majority of the book with Feyre’s arrival in Prythian and learning about faeries, the realms, Tamlin, and the curse, was just so slow. It took a long time to build the world, longer than it should, that I was close to DNF-ing the book all together. In part, I struggled with the writing because while Maas is a good writer, it felt for me at times that she was trying too hard to accentuate her talent by being overly descriptive (kind of how I feel like I’m doing right now) and not when it mattered. It teetered between showing and telling. When it came to Feyre’s inner thoughts and emotions, they would be too drawn out and detailed, but when it came to understanding Prythian, there would be a character who would end up explaining everything in a simple long monologue. 

The last half of the book was when I thought the story finally took off and were the parts that I actually liked. Everything I had expected the story to get into - the tension, the conflict, and the characters mentioned, but kept in the background until their true nature was revealed  - all appear in the last fifteen chapters. Had this happened earlier, or kept that level of action and pace throughout, then I think I really would have loved it more.

Despite all of this, I still want to continue the series. ACOTAR ends on a note that opens the door for something exciting ahead (and I already have a feeling Tamlin and Feyre aren’t exactly endgame). I’ve heard that the series gets better now that the first book establishes the world and the characters. So, I may very well read the next book though I’m in no rush to.