Hello Everyone,
I literally don't remember when I have posted the last book review here on the blog, but now I finally feel like I read a book that generally made me want to tell my opinion about it, so here I am.
As you could see from the title, I FINALLY read ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas and I have no words for it. I already read the 2nd book in the series and if the 1st book was good then the 2nd was phenomenal. Yes, I loved this book. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, I even tried to read it twice, but it never really grabbed my attention so much for me to continue on with the series. So, it's no wonder it took me a year to pick up this book, but I was so wrong. ACOTAR made me fall in love with fantasy stories again and believe me if I say I haven't felt like I am in love with a fantasy book ever since I discovered Twilight or the Hush Hush series, but obviously, those were in another era and ACOTAR is on a completely different level.
The Premise of the Book:
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.
My Thoughts:
Okay, I don't even know where to start this. I loved the writing in this book, in my opinion in this book the writing is so much more detailed and better than in the Throne of Glass. Sarah J. Maas did really improve with her characters and with her world building. I am more the contemporary or thriller kind of person, but this book just straight up sucked me in and didn't let go. I think this was because it was a fantasy filled with a lot of romantic scenes and elements. A lot of people said that it has too much romance in the first book, but I think it was the thing that helped me get into the story initially.
ACOTAR was really good to introduce the characters (where they came from, what they were like), the world and the starting point of the whole series in general. And I loved that although it was truly just the first part of a story, doing all the introduction of the world and the characters, it did feel like a complete story on its own. It could have been only a stand-alone and after reading it I would have been satisfied with it, but fortunately, that's not the case.
I loved the appearance of the elements of the Beauty and the Beast because it's one of my all-time favorite tales and I have read so many retellings, but this one was by far the most creatively executed.
Feyre was a good main character because this way we could see Prythian from the eyes of an outsider, which just made getting to know the world much easier. She was brave enough, but she knew her duties and wanted to keep her family alive. And she learns really fast and adapts to circumstances, which I really appreciate in characters, where they don't spend days whining about how they don't know what to do.
Tamlin was a good love interest he didn't do much for me in the first book other than being cute and handsome and protecting Feyre while falling in love with her. One of my expectations for him in the second book was to get to know him more and yes, we do get to know more about him in the next book, we get to know him a LOT better. But about that later in my ACOMAF review.
Lucien is a really interesting character for me. He is so loyal to Tamlin and he does everything for him. He is the one who helps Feyre when she needs help and he is kind of a good friend to her.
I loved the way Rhys was just barely there in this book, but then I was constantly thinking whether he is good for Feyre or he is going to do something bad to her and al while I was thinking about it, I felt kind of stupid, because it was obvious who I want to the main love interest in this book to be.
The main thing I liked about this book how excited it made me feel, even after finishing it fangirling over it for days and it has been a long time ago when I was having a really good book-hangover.
Overall the beginning of the book was rather slow, it was like a romance with fantasy elements and then there was this rather exciting finale kind of part, where initially Feyre went through a lot of challenges and ups and downs, which initially leads to her huge character development in the second book. I think you should definitely read this book if you haven't yet, even if you don't like fantasy, simply because it's so good and it gets even better through the series.
Until next time,
Bianka
