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mandersdraws's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
I guess I don’t hate it, but I really do not like it.
I’m currently reading the next book in the series, and the further I get, the more I think this book is only here to serve as a prequel. I don’t feel like it stands very well on its own merits, and as it is, I’m wondering if it was all set up just for the sequel to tear down.
Now. The main thread of this book, and one of the most frustrating things about it, is how the main character Feyre is kept incredibly uninformed about the world, its magic, and the people around her.
For most of the novel the characters have reasons or excuses for never telling her important details. But in my opinion, there are plenty of situations in the book where they definitely could have told her more. They could have answered many more of her questions. They could have explained why something was dangerous. Especially when it becomes clear that this girl will not follow a rule or a warning without being given any reasoning behind it. Characters then often blame Feyre for being uninformed about magic or faerie society, which I find to be…well, unfair and kinda slimy. Especially when sex gets involved.
It also means that some of the rules of the magic in the world are just murky and unclear and appear to be inconsistent. The narration is in 1st person so (with maybe a few exceptions) we only know what Feyre knows.
And on the topic of world building, I had a little trouble staying invested when it came to the main villain of this book. They felt a little stereotypical to me in the way they are described. Additionally one of the great challenges they present, that ends up being the climax of the book, just felt a little silly.I mean you’re telling me that this incredibly jaded war lord, for her incredibly high stakes challenge, is going to present a riddle about…love? Besides which, I’ve seen that the riddle is pretty obvious to many readers (I solved it immediately lol I mean come on). I guess we can assume Amarantha doesn’t think humans to be very smart but to stake her power on that assumption? Even though Feyre was genuinely challenged by it, how would Amarantha know that? I dunno girl. It just seemed a little ridiculous.
I also have some thoughts about how the narration deals with class issues in this book. There seems to be kind of a rigid caste structure in this world that doesn’t really get examined.The narrative establishes kind of an innate hierarchy of races and sub-races, and then from that point onwards, the narration seems to almost exclusively care about the lives of the “High Fae,” who basically act as the magical world’s rulers and nobility. Lots of other faeries are described but none really appear to have personalities— the servants even being literally invisible for a large portion of the book — and Feyre doesn’t seem to concern herself with them. She also starts to look down upon her fellow humans at one point. But at the end of the day, I guess Feyre wasn’t a poor girl. She was a temporarily embarrassed rich girl. /s I might be taking this part of the book to seriously, but if you’re one to read your fantasy books through a lens of class consciousness, well. Might not be the one for you.
And the way she gets resurrected at the end? I found myself thinking, not for the first time since starting the book, “that was an option???” I can’t help but feel weird about them resurrecting our white girl romantic lead protagonist and not the literal child that also died at the end. But I guess was kind of necessary to set us up in the next book.
Another point of frustration for me are Feyre’s own feelings about her family. I feel personally like whenever the narrative turns towards her father and sisters that her feelings are inconsistent. And listen. I know feelings don’t have to make sense. But it was a frustrating reading experience, mostly because for the majority of the book, I don’t feel like the narration recognizes the dichotomy in how she feels about them. It just kind of switches back and forth between devotion and resent.
I also feel a little uncomfortable knowing who the fan-favorite love interest ends up being in later books. That character treats the protagonist absolutely horribly in this book, and while there are (again) lots of magical and political reasons for him to treat her that way, if it’s not addressed and reconciled later, I’ll be kind of grumpy about it lol. Of course, this book’s love interest doesn’t treat Feyre great either IMO, and has a fair few red flags himself, but honestly. It’s bad. It’s all bad.
Now here’s what I did like:
I like that Feyre has character growth. It’s subtle and slow, but as a character who hasn’t had the time or privilege for introspection in her adolescent life, I think it makes sense. Feyre is a hunter by trade but the story has her questioning who and what she wants to be.
I like that the love story has our characters finding common ground. That sounds like a low bar I guess, but the narrative is VERY EXPLICIT that they find each other sexy, so it’s nice that spice isn't all the characters have in common lol.
When the book bothers to flesh out other characters than our main couple, I do tend to like them. Lucien is very likable, and I even ended up liking Nesta.
Already I can see the sequel has more characters for us to get to know, and I hope for more development for them and for Feyre.
I’m currently reading the next book in the series, and the further I get, the more I think this book is only here to serve as a prequel. I don’t feel like it stands very well on its own merits, and as it is, I’m wondering if it was all set up just for the sequel to tear down.
Now. The main thread of this book, and one of the most frustrating things about it, is how the main character Feyre is kept incredibly uninformed about the world, its magic, and the people around her.
For most of the novel the characters have reasons or excuses for never telling her important details. But in my opinion, there are plenty of situations in the book where they definitely could have told her more. They could have answered many more of her questions. They could have explained why something was dangerous. Especially when it becomes clear that this girl will not follow a rule or a warning without being given any reasoning behind it. Characters then often blame Feyre for being uninformed about magic or faerie society, which I find to be…well, unfair and kinda slimy. Especially when sex gets involved.
It also means that some of the rules of the magic in the world are just murky and unclear and appear to be inconsistent. The narration is in 1st person so (with maybe a few exceptions) we only know what Feyre knows.
And on the topic of world building, I had a little trouble staying invested when it came to the main villain of this book. They felt a little stereotypical to me in the way they are described. Additionally one of the great challenges they present, that ends up being the climax of the book, just felt a little silly.
I also have some thoughts about how the narration deals with class issues in this book. There seems to be kind of a rigid caste structure in this world that doesn’t really get examined.
Another point of frustration for me are Feyre’s own feelings about her family. I feel personally like whenever the narrative turns towards her father and sisters that her feelings are inconsistent. And listen. I know feelings don’t have to make sense. But it was a frustrating reading experience, mostly because for the majority of the book, I don’t feel like the narration recognizes the dichotomy in how she feels about them. It just kind of switches back and forth between devotion and resent.
I also feel a little uncomfortable knowing who the fan-favorite love interest ends up being in later books. That character treats the protagonist absolutely horribly in this book, and while there are (again) lots of magical and political reasons for him to treat her that way, if it’s not addressed and reconciled later, I’ll be kind of grumpy about it lol. Of course, this book’s love interest doesn’t treat Feyre great either IMO, and has a fair few red flags himself, but honestly. It’s bad. It’s all bad.
Now here’s what I did like:
I like that Feyre has character growth. It’s subtle and slow, but as a character who hasn’t had the time or privilege for introspection in her adolescent life, I think it makes sense. Feyre is a hunter by trade but the story has her questioning who and what she wants to be.
I like that the love story has our characters finding common ground. That sounds like a low bar I guess, but the narrative is VERY EXPLICIT that they find each other sexy, so it’s nice that spice isn't all the characters have in common lol.
When the book bothers to flesh out other characters than our main couple, I do tend to like them. Lucien is very likable, and I even ended up liking Nesta.
Already I can see the sequel has more characters for us to get to know, and I hope for more development for them and for Feyre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Animal death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Excrement, Gore, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Torture, Classism, Alcohol, and Confinement
Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, War, Alcoholism, and Sexual violence
-Is drinking “faerie wine” alcohol use or drug use? It blurs the line. -Fantasy racism is a big topic in this book. -Additionally while it’s never addressed directly, I think this book is kind of heavy on rape culture.madisonstarkov's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Confinement, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Addiction, Grief, Kidnapping, Outing, and Cursing
Minor: Death of parent, Hate crime, and Vomit
katierosecrane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book is heavily based on fairy tales (Beauty and the Beast). I didn’t finish this book the first time a read it but this time I was successful. From what I’ve heard from Maas fans this is her worst book, which for the record was a good book. There were some things I thought should be different in the book but still a great read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Kidnapping, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Alcoholism, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Classism, Death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Gaslighting, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, and War
ettan's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In some regards it feels like a fanfiction, but at these times its more funny and self-aware rather than cringe. I especeially remmeber a scene where the protagonist is asked about her previous love-life very early in the book. While it makes somewhat sense later it still felt very unnatural. The book also has some nice plot-twists and despite me not taking a liking to neither the protagonist nor the male-lead I found some other charatcers quite intruging and likely will be the reason I continue with the other books in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Confinement, War, Slavery, and Sexual content
orthopyroxene's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really expected this book to be garbage. I generally cannot stand first person narration so I listened to the audiobook which helps me focus on the plot and not the writing. It was enjoyable! Definitely worth the read if you like an easy fun fantasy romance. Sometimes things are popular for a reason! I had only ever heard these books described as “fairy porn” but the sex scenes were only a step or two above fade-to-black. There is a lot of icky sex used as a policial ploy and a lot of coercion and objectification of the main character. Despite it technically being YA, I would not recommend to young people who still fall into the trap of romanticizing that, because I don’t think the book does enough to condemn the abuse of power dynamics like that. Also it barely passes the bechdel test, and is definitely a Stockholm syndrome scenario. But in a world where game of thrones is the gold standard, I think this book deserves a fraction of the flack it receives. Let women enjoy things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Sexual violence
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Alcoholism
furreverreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The first half of the book was a bit slow for me, but the second half picked up, and I enjoyed the ending. Some characters I have mixed feelings about, so it will be interesting to see how they develop in the next books, to see which way my feelings solidify.
SJM writing was overall decent. I did get a little annoyed with the ways she tended to describe Feyres feelings or reactions to things. Such as “my bowels turned watery” and various forms of that. But it can be overlooked 🤷🏻♀️
Overall, it didn’t live up to the hype that I expected it to, but it wasn’t terrible. It was still a fun read, and I plan to read the next one soon!
SJM writing was overall decent. I did get a little annoyed with the ways she tended to describe Feyres feelings or reactions to things. Such as “my bowels turned watery” and various forms of that. But it can be overlooked 🤷🏻♀️
Overall, it didn’t live up to the hype that I expected it to, but it wasn’t terrible. It was still a fun read, and I plan to read the next one soon!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Animal death, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Gore
tinator's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
It's not a bad book, but it's not the best book. If you want a romance in a fantasy setting, this is great. But personally the story feels flawed and a little stereotypical.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Kidnapping, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Animal death and Slavery
Minor: Death of parent
zuhh's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
This book was really great at setting the foundation for the second book. It really helped with the world building, but as a result, it was a little lacklustre. It was kind of like the first chapter of a book: you have to get through it so you can understand the rest of the book. It’s the first chapter of the series. That being said, the Beauty and the Beast theme was interesting but made half the book very slow. I appreciate the dedication to slowly laying out information that would foreshadow the conclusion and allowing us to see their love grow naturally, but i nearly gave up at the halfway point because of how much Feyre seemed to lose her sense of self as she fell in love with Tamlin. She became more comfortable and unshackled by the worries of her mortal life, yes, but she almost became meek and docile in the home. Guess that kind of also explains why she didn’t fight to stay when Tamlin sent her back to the mortal realm. Everything can be explained away, but the main character was disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Vomit, Blood, Death, Excrement, Gore, and Torture
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Classism
Minor: War, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
Uninteresting characters, except for Rhysand. Curious to know where his storyline takes him.lizzye33's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Hate crime, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Grief, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, War, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexism, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Medical trauma
rory18's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Gore, Sexism, Slavery, Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Sexual content, War, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Mental illness, Addiction, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Religious bigotry