A Court Of Thorns And Roses
Summary
Author Sarah J. Maas presents this first book on the series. It’s a story about a mortal 19 years old girl who also happens to be a huntress. Her name is Feyre (which is pronounced Fay-ruh) Archeron, and the story followers her adventure into the faerie lands of Prythian.
When Feyre kills a faerie wolf, there are repercussions in the form of kidnapping by a beast who demands retribution for the killing. It turns out, the beast is another faerie named Tamlin, and as she stays at his home, their feelings go from hate to love.
Development
The book has its DNA from the classic stories of beauty and the beast, Tam Lin, and East of the Sun and West of the Moon. It wasn’t meant to retell these classic stories but a unique take in the stories themselves.
Sarah started writing the story in 2009, and the first manuscript was completed in a few weeks. The book was written from two equal points of view between Feyre and Rhys. Eventually, the story was spread over five books that were published in May of 2015.
The books in the series are below with A Court of Thorns and Roses being the first and the following:
- A Court of Thorns and Roses was released on May 5, 2015. It had 130,423 words and 419 pages.
- A Court of Mist and Fury which was published on May 3, 2016, and had 186,220 words and 626 pages.
- A Court of Wings and Ruin which was published on May 2, 2017, and had 199,464 words with 699 pages.
- A Court of Frost and Starlight, published on May 1, 2018, had 57,763 words and 229 pages.
- A Court of Silver Flames is the final book in its series and will be released on January 26, 2021.
The story
The First Chapter
At the start, we meet F. Archeron, a young woman with hunger pangs; she is a hunter in the woods near a wall, which is a place no one wants to go to.
She hates to hunt fairies, but soon, a doe appears in the last moment and with her family hungry for days, this could be the very meal they need.
However, she also notices an enormous wolf looking at the doe, and now she is in a dilemma, should she let the wolf kill the doe or kill it herself. Or should she kill the wolf first then try to kill the doe afterward. She chooses the latter and kills the wolf with an arrow.
At the end of this chapter, we are left with this big cliff hanger. But this was a forest, and it was winter, and the decisions were to be made very quickly with the high stakes.
The Second Chapter
In this chapter, we meet her family, so we are introduced to the family when she gets home. She has a father and two older sisters. The family members are lazy, however, and they are usually just lying around and doing nothing. Moreover, they use excuse after excuse to justify their actions or non-actions. We also glimpse her dead mom and her past life with her kindness and lost luck.
She suffers from ignorance and ridicule, but she is dissatisfied and disappointed with them. This also lays some ground on her lack of knowledge and the wrong beliefs about the faeries.
The Third Chapter
The chapter introduces us to the conflict that caused rifts between the humans and the faeries. Three brothers rush to the local market, where they meet the so-called “blessed Children or Children of the Blessed.”
These are young people who are obsessed with Faes, and they often bother fellow men. As Nesta’s hot temper explodes on them, Archeron soon finds herself trying to escape from her.
He tries to sell the prey to another skilled mercenary, and the mercenary reveals that the wall is about to be demolished. After that, she takes a little time to remember all the events that led to the war between Faes and humans.
The events that resulted in the wall being built to create a barrier between the two worlds. After a woman’s advice and a bit of a warning, she takes off from the market only to be confronted by her lover of two years, Isaac Hale.
She tells him that she has no feelings for him anymore and explains that she was only with him as a means of reducing her anxiety. And limiting the difficulties she faces every day.
Later that afternoon, F. Archeron finds her family relaxing in front of her sisters’ goods for their father.
At this time, she remembers the problem with Thomas Mandley, Nesta’s boyfriend, and who wants to marry her sister, has not yet been resolved. As he tries to resolve the issue, the front door opens, and a giant beast walks by the door. Her sisters start screaming.
The Fourth Chapter
Archeron recognizes that the giant beast is a faerie. And he accuses them of the murder of his family. The confused family says they didn’t kill anyone. Fearfully they ask who he was referring to.
The beast explains that it was a big wolf dressed in a gray cloak. He wants to know if the wolf was killed accidentally and demands that the culprit pay the price. Archeron admits she is the killer.
The beast demands that she go with him back to Prythian as a punishment for killing a faerie. She leaves instruction for her family since she doesn’t think she will ever see them again and leaves with the beast.
Conclusion
This story is an interesting take on the beloved beauty and the beast genre, and it touches all the heartstrings. Even though this is actually a fairy tale, it has human components that we all know and love.
