I am knee deep in the comments thread on a Sarah J. Maas fan page, trying to find out if popular opinion about Rhysand is really as positive as it appears to be, without spoiling too much of the content for myself (at this point I had not yet finished the last book). I had imagined, on entering this fan page, or “book club” as it is titled, that the posts would be equally split among Maas’ three fantasy series, Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City. But after a while I found out that really, all anyone wants to do is talk about ACOTAR.
My journey with ACOTAR is not a smooth one. I was an early adopter of Maas’ Throne of Glass series, having actually discovered it back when it was called Queen of Glass and she used to post it chapter by chapter on Fictionpress.com. Finding out that it had been published— by chance in a bookstore one day— literally blew my mind and made my year. I went through it, or what there was of it at the time, eagerly and quickly, amazed by how much the story had changed and how intricate the storytelling had become in this published version. Till this day Throne of Glass remains one of my favourite fantasy series. But this is a review about ACOTAR.
I have no clue how I discovered that Maas had released a new series, but while waiting for her latest ToG book I found myself downloading book one of ACOTAR onto my Kindle and giving it a go. I read the first two books kind of back-to-back but gave up on the series somewhere amidst the second book because it bored me. The main character pissed me off, the focus on romance felt extraneous, the chain of events, and what some of the characters could do magic-wise, felt unbelievable and extra. And that should have been that. Except, it wasn’t.
Years later, literally at least four, as I was reading Maas’ latest release, Crescent City, I found myself longing for another fantasy book in the same style and so I re-read and finished ToG. The ending was epic, the character development so real, that it got me wondering if I could possibly have misjudged ACOTAR. A thing to know about Maas is that her stories usually get more complex and interesting the further in the series you go. It didn’t help that at this point ACOTAR had become a cult sensation and one of my trusted book friends was spurning me on to read it. So, on a trip to Saudi Arabia (I know) I decided to pick it back up again. I couldn’t remember a thing I had read before, so I read it from the beginning again and get this…I didn’t hate it. In fact, I spent the whole five days we were there reading it anytime we weren’t at prayers. I even downloaded the third book illegally onto my dad’s notebook (I couldn’t find it on Kindle) because I couldn’t wait till we were back in Cairo.
ACOTAR tells the story of Feyre, a human and huntress, who kills a wolf— in fact a faerie in disguise— and then is sought out by a terrifying creature in retribution for the wolf’s death. She is given the choice whether to die or live out the rest of her years in faerie lands. Feyre chooses Prythian, the land of Faerie (or,the Fae). A subtle spin on the Beauty and the Beast story, Feyre winds up living with “the beast”, who is in fact one of the faeries that once ruled her world and who she has been raised to fear and despise. But unbeknownst to her, a darkness has overtaken the faerie lands and Feyre’s role in it has yet to be determined. What ensues is part romance story, part adventure saga, part tale of lore.
While my second reading of ACOTAR went a lot better than my first I wouldn’t say that I became a die-hard convert. In fact, I am still trying to make up my mind if I ultimately like the series or not. The story is gripping, if a little slow in the beginning. It feels familiar, and yet has many of its own original elements, including creatures we have never encountered in other books. I would say that it’s a good fantasy story for non-fantasy readers. It is approachable and yet not devoid of magic. However, although I loved the second book (infinitely more than the first), I would say that around the third book some events and unfoldings become too unnecessarily complex and quite preposterous in the way they play out. Especially the last part of book three was for me just too unrealistic and too much happening (and not in the good way) Furthermore, the world-building is definitely not up to par with ToG, or more traditional fantasy series. What kept me reading was the characters. Maas has a way of getting you to fall in love with her characters and to understand even those you feel disinclined to like.
Read if you are a lover of romance and new to the fantasy genre.
Read if you enjoy character development and deep psychology.
Read if you like adventure.
Do not read if you care too much about your plots following a realistic arc.
Do not read if you tire of certain beauty and power sterotypes (it is overwhelming how everyone in this series is supposed to be hot and sexy and powerful af).
Do not read if you’re expecting it to be as good as Throne of Glass (but do read if you’ve finished it and want a story with magic and depth).
This is what I sent my friend (who had spurned me on to finish ACOTAR) immediately after I closed A Court of Silver Flames:
“El saraha for every outrageous and extra thing she does she comes up with a passage that’s so moving and deep and real. Yaani there are so many things about the books that bug me, but she digs deeper into human feeling in these than in any of her other series. I think.”
This is not my favourite Maas series, but I’d still give it a solid 3/5 Stars.
Warning: some content would not be advisable for younger readers.
If you have a book you’d like me to review or that you yourself would like to review, comment below or send me a DM @girlwithoneearringblog.
