Thoughts from a girl who swore she’d never read it
If you’re anything like me, every few scrolls on TikTok show something related to Sarah J Maas’s “A Court of Thorns and Roses” (ACOTAR) series. At first, this annoyed me since I had not read the books (and frankly, had no interest to do so), and I grew an aversion to the series. I was anti-ACOTAR for a while, judging the book based on the (back) cover. As someone whose fantasy reading list comprised only the Twilight Saga, I thought ACOTAR would be way too “fantasy-ey” for my taste.
My sister was in the same place I was: we kept hearing about these books and how everyone loved them, but we thought the premise was not up our alley. “Faeries” seemed a far cry from the vampire-human love stories our fantasy experience provided thus far. My sister, though, was more open-minded and decided to finally try ACOTAR this past winter. After finishing the first book, she convinced me that I needed to overcome my stubbornness and just give the books a chance. When I finally picked them up this summer, I discovered that all the positive discourse is true and well deserved: this is one of the best book series ever.
If you haven’t read ACOTAR, I’m begging you to borrow the nearest copy and get on that ASAP. I know I’m pretty late to the party, but now I write to you while in my Velaris shirt, completely infatuated with the story. If you’re like me and the synopsis on the back cover doesn’t fully sway you, let me give you what I needed to hear about the first book.
This fantastical world is divided into two areas: the human lands and the Faerie Realms. The main Faerie Realm is called Prythian, which is made of the seven “courts” – Spring Court, Winter Court, Autumn Court, Summer Court, Day, Dawn and Night Court. In the human lands, Feyre Archeron lives with her family in a small village just south of the wall that separates the lands. At only 19, Feyre is the head provider for her two sisters and father, hunting in the nearby woods for their food. One day, she shoots a wolf that turns out to be a faerie, and breaks the treaty between faerie and human. For this, Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court, comes to Feyre’s home and takes her to live in Prythian for penance. From here, we learn all about Prythian while finding out that everything is not what it seems. There is an enemies-to-lovers trope, and friends are found in even the darkest places.
In my opinion, the first 200 pages are a little tough to get through, especially if you don’t typically read fantasy and have a hard time getting through the world-building of stories. BUT, I beg you, push through and give it a chance. Trust me, because I was that person who – as Booktok would say – DNF’d (did not finish) the book for a few months and then forced myself to pick it back up after reading a palette cleanser. Near the 3/4th part of the book, so much information is revealed that will have you reflecting on everything you read prior, and sends the characters into an intense action-packed new storyline that will have you staying up until the early hours of dawn flipping the pages like a madman.
Booktok and my sister were right – the ACOTAR series is incredible, and I highly recommend it to everyone. The first book is just the tip of the iceberg, too. Book two (my favorite!) follows Feyre on a new chapter of her life in Prythian where not everyone turns out to be who they seem and things heat up in unexpected ways. The third installment sees a war within the Faerie Realms that shakes up the story. The fourth is a fun transitional book that introduces us to new POVs, leading into the fifth book that strays from Feyre as our narrator and follows another character instead. I promise, once you get past those first couple hundred pages of book one, the world of Prythian and the story of Feyre and her friends will capture your heart.