Synopsis:Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
Summary:
Beautiful and incredible, ACOTAR is a fantastic retelling of Beauty and the Beast elegantly enriched by Russian Folklore and Sarah J. Maas’s fanciful storytelling.
My thoughts:
THIS BOOK.
This book is my book of the YEAR without a doubt. I don’t care what I’m yet to read. This book has shot to the top of my all time favourite reads list. It’s a Big Deal.
Right from the start, this book swallowed me whole and refused to let me go. As expected from Sarah J. Maas, the writing is beautiful and intriguing and the tension escalates right from the first page.
Feyre is an exceptionally complex character. Her loyalty to to her family is admirable even though she sometimes seems like they don’t appreciate her. Her Father is crippled and so can’t work, and both her sisters are too young to work therefore it falls down to Feyre.
In many ways she sacrifices her true self in exchange for being the anchor of her entire family. She tries to keep it together, hardening herself against the world and focuses on one thing, survival. Hunting daily to keep them and herself alive but one day she encounters a deer…and a large wolf.
The same wolf of rumors in her village, it’s size unnatural and suspiciously Fae… A surge of emotion forces her to send her arrow flying and she takes home both the wolf’s pelt and it’s kill, keeping her family fed and then some with the money from the pelt. That is until a giant antlered bear rams the door down.
And so we meet Tamlin. Beautiful, beautiful Tamlin. Tamlin who has come to fulfill the treaty between the Fae and Humans as Feyre has killed one of Tamlin‘s sentries – the wolf. Feyre goes willing in order to keep her family safe and alive, an incredibly brave and selfless move when considering she knows full well that nothing but danger awaits her in Prythian – the Fae world beyond the wall. Instead of crying and accepting her fate, Feyre tries to do everything in her power to escape. When her Mother died, she made a promise that she would do anything in her power for her family, and she refuses to give up and let them down. She is incredibly brave in less obvious ways than most heroines and this makes her more realistic and easily relatable despite the fantasy setting. In the beginning, Feyre comes off as an incredibly icy character but as spends more time in Prythian, she thaws out, rediscovering herself and taking her own life by the (t)horns.
The main hotties *cough* I mean Fae of this book are: Tamlin, Lucian andRhysand. Each have their brilliantly thought out personalities and mannerisms that make you want to squeal.
Tamlin is exactly how I remember the Beast of the Disney movies. A little bit rough at times but there is also a lot of compassion and you can really, really see that he is trying and the chemisty between him and Feyre is just fate. There’s no other way to describe it – except it is so god damn hot. Every scene with Tamlin and Feyre literally sparks off the page and I read through them so fast, I had to read through them again, it was just so magical and perfect.
Lucian is the ‘fool’ of the group and god did he make me laugh. He was brilliantly comical, sassy and downright gorgeous even with all his flaws and ire-dipped sarcasm.
And then we have Rhysand. Rhysand is the kind of character that you’re supposed to hate…but he’s just so damn sassy you can’t help but love him. Rhysand is sly, cunning and calculating, manipulating each of our characters for his own personal gain. He sort of reminds me of Littlefinger of the Game of Thrones series: playing a lot of games with a lot of people – I cannot wait to see more of him in the sequel!
The world-building for ACOTAR is epic. It’s on such a huge scale it’s a marvel in itself without all the characters and plot! The Fae World is separated into several different courts, and each court has their own sigil, colours, traditions, mannerisms and cultures and it makes the world fabulously rich and enticing.
Prythian, where most of the book is set, is exceptionally beautiful and is everything the mortal world is not. Of course, a Sarah J Maas book would not be complete without a map and we are treated to a beautiful rendition of both Prythian and the Mortal world(which looks striking similar to the UK and Europe don’t you think?).
The story is mind-blowing. I love what Sarah has done with her re-telling and I dare say, she has made it even better! The combination of Fae and humans works incredibly well. Their hard boiled relationship is a constant strain that weighs on our characters minds and actions and alongside other elements such as the blight and the curse, the plot is anything but boring.
As this is a Sarah J Maas book, it’s impossible to not mention her beautiful writing. Each scene is poetic in it’s own right. Each chapter filling us with plenty of detail, suspense and sensuality that we are left craving. Sarah’s descriptions are so incredibly vivid and with so little effort, I felt like I had stepped onto the page, walking right along side Feyre and Tamlin and Lucian. I laughed with them, I danced with them and I battled with them. And it was amazing. Her worlds and her characters will continue to mystify me time and time again.
Final Thoughts:
ACOTAR is a captivating fantasy world filled with magic and imagination. It’s incredibly fast-paced and never lets up on the stunning action(or sexy-times). Matched with gorgeous imagery, gorgeous characters and a Darkling-esque(Shadow and Bone Trilogy – Leigh Bardugo) anti-hero, this is the first of an epic trilogy that you do NOTwant to miss!
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