Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Young Adult
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars)
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!
I have been trying to avoid reading the famous ACOTAR series after DNF-ing the Red Queen series and being let down by the Cursebreaker’s last book. I love high fantasy and I know this series was one and I just didn’t want to be disappointed. However, after finishing the Twisted series by Ana Huang and was left craving for character and plot depth I thought it was time. And it is!
PLOT/SUMMARY
The beginning would feel a lot like Hunger Games. Feyre (Fey-ruh), the main protagonist, is hunting in the woods to get her family something to eat. Through her narration we understand that her family used to be rich, and, in her world, there are creatures known as faeries. A big war happened around 500 years ago and that separated the humans and the fairies’ lands. Their race’s grudge against each other passed through generations, war barred only by an old treaty and an invisible wall.
As Feyre was hunting, he encountered a wolf taking her prey doe. She killed it, not knowing it was a faerie, and this resulted to another faerie taking her life in return in accordance to the treaty. However, instead of taking her life, the faerie, who turned out to be one of the High Lords of the Courts, Tamlin, just held her in the realm without bounding her as a prisoner. She was free to leave and take residence in any other faerie courts but dangerous creatures prevented her from doing so.
Thus began Feyre’s involvement with the Fae world where she discovers a curse upon Tamlin’s court and gets entangled with the Fae world’s brewing war that may or may not affect the human world.
OPINION
I really like the pacing of the story, the plot twists, the events, and the character progressions. The characters themselves are likable and distinct.
For the story flow, the beginning established the world really well. It established Feyre’s family, their conditions, and her initial motivations. It gave a glimpse of history, but the full picture of the Faerie world unfolds as the story goes on. At first, it was just the existence of faeries and urban tales about them, and as we go on, I understood their capabilities, their ranks, their ruling system, and lands, and introduced some interesting creatures.
I read some reviews that they felt like the story progression was slow because the first half of the book was just about Feyre finding some activities around Tamlin’s court. But honestly, I’d prefer this over an innsta-love arc. Feyre hated the faeries and it wouldn’t be so reasonable to soften up so quickly to Tamlin and Lucien (Tamlin’s emissary). There was also enough reason for Lucien to dislike Feyre, I mean she killed his friend after all. The interactions were reasonable, fun, and on-brand for the characters.
The twists of the book were really good! I did not see most of them coming. I mean the spring court’s festival ritual; the summer court party moments; the three challenges that allowed Feyre to be the rescuer instead of Tamlin; the curse that Tamlin’s court experienced and its relevance to what got Feyre imprisoned and why she was treated so well; the same curse that explained why there were dangerous creatures around Tamlin’s spring court; planting the seeds of the next book by introducing a lifetime brand from Rhys? The story is so complex yet still so focused on Feyre and Tamlin that I couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what happened next.
Speaking of characters, when I said their actions are on-brand, they are VERY on-brand.
- Feyre all had the ups and downs of being taken as a prisoner, to making the best out of a situation, and then to someone who loved Tamlin. Her conversion to like these specific faeries were not just out of falling in love, it was when she witnessed a death of one of them and she realized what she did when she killed that wolf.
- Tamlin, as a High Court Lord, had a good balance of being a powerful Lord who commands everyone around him as he was used to, but soft enough to have loyal friends like Lucien and loyal servants like Alis.
- Lucien, my favorite character in this book, was a playful snide who thought lowly of Feyre until she earned his loyalty that stretched all throughout the book. Honestly, he was an underrated hero here. He also provided the comic relief that I needed between the pages. I would just light up when I read that he’s in the room.
- Amarantha, the ultimate villain of the first book, was as cruel as one can imagine. She probably has the weakest character foundation since she was introduced late in the book, but she was remarkable, nonetheless. I thought giving Feyre three challenges and a quick riddle as a get-out-of-fail-free card were more generous than I expected out of her but when the loophole kicked in at the end of the book I understood. We also needed those three months to see how vicious she was and introduce Rhys to the plot.
- Rhys, another High Court Lord with rich history with Tamlin, also showed his cunning characteristics. I honestly hated him, what he made Feyre do made me furious. He dressed her in sheer clothing (practically nak*d as Feyre mentioned her n*pples being seen), paraded her in court like that, intoxicated her, and made her dance to him like that IN FRONT OF PEOPLE for several nights. I understand he was playing the game to get his world back, but still, it made me sick. He had a mini redemption arc in the end and thank goodness because his last interaction with Feyre tells me he’s going to be more important in the next books. I don’t think I can tolerate him again if he didn’t have that.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m looking forward to the next books in the series! I ship Feyre and Tamlin in their current relationship. Tamlin gave her up for her safety despite being two days away from breaking his curse. Feyre proved her loved by being a fierce woman protagonist and faced humiliation. All their kisses and passion felt so earned that I was literally smiling while reading their moments. Additionally, the story of the first book opened up the possibilities of what bigger adventures they can face in the faeries’ world and what other characters are waiting.
As a series opener, this was great at laying the foundation of the next ones. As a standalone, I’d honestly love it even more. I can rest easy knowing Tamlin and Feyre are happy and the biggest threat in the book had closure. I’m actually scared to pick up the next book because based on my experience with the Red Queen and Cursebreaker series, the sequels can really ruin a good thing running. Crossing my fingers that all will go well!
The Stray Reader 
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