Hearth and Pages: A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1)

“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”

A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) is a Young Adult romance fantasy book by Sarah J. Maas. This book is the first installment of a trilogy with the same title. ACOTAR is also a retelling of Beauty and the Beast—not the one made by Disney, but the original fairy tale written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve—mixed with Tam Lin and East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Since I am a sucker for mythology, fairy tale, and folklore retelling, I was so excited to read this book.

The story follows Feyre, a 19 years old young huntress who lives with her father, and her two older sisters. Feyre and her family lives a miserable life after her father lost all of his fortune and his legs are ruined by the debt collector. Though she’s the youngest, Feyre step forward and become her family solid breadwinner. Since she was fourteen, she hunts in the woods near their cottage for foods and animal pelts to sell to gain some money. One day Feyre killed a large wolf without knowing that very wolf is a High Fae. Now, as the consequences Feyre must leave her family and lives in the land of the Faeries. With all the magic, wildness and dangerous nature of Faerie world, Feyre must learn to survives.

I have to admit, reading this book after I read 5 books in Throne of Glass (ToG) series in a row, feels weird. I guess I got used to Sarah’s third person writing that the first person writing in this book feels a bit off to me. It feels dragged, and only when I reach the 2/3 part of the books that it started to get better. Maybe it’s just me, maybe I just found it hard to adjust to the first person writing. But I honestly prefer the third person writing in ToG series rather than this book.

The things I like, as usual, is the mythology aspect. Like in ToG series, Sarah put some heavy Celtic mythology aspects in ACOTAR. What makes it different, in ACOTAR she also mixed it with some mythology creatures from another cultures. And that makes her world building as fascinating as always.

The romance plays bigger part in this book. The plot is driven by romantic attractions between characters. I also feel some of the characters are heavily defined by their romantic relationship rather than their own personality. Which unfortunately I don’t quite like, but if you’re a fan of romance, then ACOTAR might be your cup of tea.

The plot in this book is quite good, especially as a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I quite like it because it has more actions and twisted story than the original. My problem is, I always thought that Beauty and the Beast story is leaning a bit towards Stockholm Syndrome. Which in my opinion, is shown in this book by the way the main character fell for her love interest. Worse, there are many events in this book that making me dislike the main character’s love interest so much by the end of the book. To be honest, at first I was indifferent toward him, but then there is this one part when he subtlety victim blaming the main character and after that I just can’t get myself to like him. Not to mention, he’s also a spineless bastard. Sorry if I sound really salty, but I really don’t like him.

The characters that I do really like in this book are the anti-hero side characters. I'm pretty sure most people don't like them at all, but I do. In my opinion they have so many layers of personality, which I love to see in a character. Meanwhile, I feel quite indifferent toward the main character. I can sympathize with her but I can’t get myself to really like her. I have to say that this is what cemented my opinion towards this book. I tried, really, I tried to like this book, but I can’t. And honestly, I almost didn’t continue to the second book. I even give this book 2 stars on Goodreads. Sorry Sarah, you have become one of my favorite author, but I have to be honest and fair.

That being said, I still recommended this series for you to read. Why? Because I have read the second book as well and it is waaaaay better than this one. For me it goes from 2 stars to 5 stars. The second book—A Court of Mist and Fury—is one of the best read I have this year. And for that I will forever be grateful for people from tumblr who convinced me to continue to the second book. Thanks guys! I’m going to write a review for the second book, as soon as I finish rereading it thoroughly. But for now, I wish you can endure the first book, or maybe unlike me you will really enjoy A Court of Thorns and Roses. After all the vast majority of people do.