Welcome to another Collective review with Solene and Eponine! Today we tackle a favorite of booktok: “A Court of Thorns and Roses” (ACOTAR) by Sarah J. Maas. It is my first time reading a Sarah J. Maas book whereas Solene has already read the Thrones of Glass series. We are currently reading the second book of the series (after a long time debating whether or not we should give it a go) and I thought: What better time to post this collective review than now?
Why did you decide to read this book?
S: There wasn’t a person around me who wasn’t talking about this. From Instagram to TikTok and Twitter, this book was everywhere, and I felt like I was missing on something that could genuinely be great.
E.: After reading The Cruel Prince, I saw on BookTok (the side of TikTok dedicated to books) that a lot of people recommended Sarah J Maas’s book. As Solene had already read Throne of Glass, we decided to start a new series and this is how we started reading A Court of Thorn and Roses (ACOTAR)
Before reading it, what were your expectations?
S: Extremely high, to be honest. This book was praised by most people on social medias, it has got a very good grade on Goodreads and everyone who had read it at the time kept telling me it was an amazing book from start to finish, a must-read series, even. With this kind of hype, it’s hard to not expect a lot.
E.: I heard so many good reviews of this book which is supposed to be a retelling of Beauty and Beast. Sarah J Maas’s books are always recommended on social media and I had very high hopes for this book. However, I also knew that there was a chance that I would end up disliking this book. Therefore, I entered this book with mixed expectations.
After the first chapter, did you wanted to read more?
S: For once, I was not mad at the first chapter. It was okay, nothing revolutionary, but it did a good job of making me want to read the second one. I could tell, however, that the writing was not going to be for my taste.
E.: It was simple but effective. It was easy to start the story and know exactly where you are at. Nothing to say specifically, it was working well.
Rate this book on a scale from 1 to 10?
S : 4/10 It is by no means a bad book. There are just a lot of things that weren’t « it » for me, in the end. Like stated above, the writing wasn’t to my taste, and the pace also lost me at times. I read this knowing it was supposed to be a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I found none of my favourite elements of it in the story, which was quite disappointing. I did like the action scenes though; those were always my favourite parts of SJM’s books.
E.: Honestly it is pretty hard to rate this book. I would say 4/10 because it was a good book but not for my liking. People told me that the story gets really good in the second book so I might be surprised!
Favourite character? Most hated character?
S: I keep never being able to pick one, and really, I’m sorry about that, but the characters in this all felt very cliché somehow. I’m guessing they evolve in the following books though, so I’ll reserve my judgment for now.
E.: Lucien all the way baby! We did not have a lot of detail about him but he was my favourite character. I thought Feyre had a lot of potential and was quite interesting! For most hated character… I do not think I have anyone in mind, I did not care for the characters enough to hate one of them honestly… Maybe the villain?
Would you recommend this book?
S : I would, I will and I did. I truly think I would have liked this book a lot if I had read it some years ago, because it would have suited my taste back then. I recommended this to one of my friends whom I know would love this kind of story & writing. She ended up eating up the whole series in two weeks.
E. : Depends to whom but overall I might. This was not an awful book to read. For the right person, it could be a good recommendation.
What could have been done by the author for you to enjoy the book even more?
S : Not much really. SJM is a really good writer, no doubt, I’m just extremely picky and I do not particularly enjoy her writing style. I’m also not a fan of love triangles and this had way too much romance for me (although, really, it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling, what did I expect?); I’m not someone who enjoys reading about romance in general, and this has about as much romance as action in it, so there’s that. I also found a lot of similarities with the Throne of Glass series that kind of bothered me because I ended up outgrowing this series as well.
E.: We talked a lot about this with Solene and we agreed that if this was a standalone, we would have had more appreciation for the story that was told, even if it was a bit cliché. Knowing that we have other books to read to fully understand the story and plot is so annoying honestly. Especially when you already know the love triangle to come, too much drama.
Final thoughts:
S: I understand why people love this with a burning passion - whether they admit it or as a guilty pleasure - but I think I’ve grown past the period of my life where I would enjoy this type of reading.
E.: This book was not for me but I recognise the potential of the story. I feel like 15 years old Eponine would have love this book and devoured the series in a week.
What’s next?
S: Everything I never told you by Celeste NG. A very poetic standalone, I hear. As for the second book and the rest of the series, I am unsure if I will ever read them but I have heard it all gets better from here on, so perhaps somewhere along the road I will decide to read them.
E. : After this I read two short stories and a novel. I read the short comic: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and the novella: I’ll Be Home For Christmas by Mason Deaver. I wanted a short break before starting my last book of 2020, a major read with high expectations: Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater.
We are so sorry for not liking this book, we are trying our best with the second book (spoiler alert: it's not going so well...). I promise the next collective reviews are positive !!!!
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