Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: May 5, 2015
Genre: YA, New Adult, Fairy Tales, Retelling, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Pages: 416
Source: Purchased
First Line: "The forest had become a labyrinth of snow and ice."
Find on Goodreads
Goodreads Description
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!
Favorite Quotes
"We need hope as much as we need bread and meat. We need hope, or else we cannot endure."
"Because your human joy fascinates me — the way you experience things, in your life span, so wildly and deeply and all at once, is . . . entrancing. I'm drawn to it, even when I know I shouldn't be, even when I try not to be."
"Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all.”
(There are so many more but I don't want to have too many.)
My Thoughts
Just as a fair warning, this review is most likely going to contain spoilers!
When I first started reading this I was a little scared that this was going to end up like my experience while reading Throne of Glass. I thought I was once again going to be in that group that thought this book was just okay while mostly everyone else loved it. The beginning was a bit of a slow start. I was interested in the life Feyre was living but I wasn't invested enough to really care. At the beginning of the book I was more worried about how much I didn't like her family. None of her family showed appreciation for Feyre basically keeping them all alive.
There were little parts that helped the plot more forward but for the most part the first half of the book was slow for me. I was interested in what was going on and the interactions between the characters but I was frustrated at the same time because I was trying to think of every reason why Tamlin might have kept Feyre alive. Not only did Tamlin keep her alive, he basically offered her a better life than the one she was living. However I enjoyed having the time to learn more about this new world and the people living in it.
I had mixed feelings about Tamlin sending Feyre home when they were so close to breaking the curse that had been put on the Spring Court. I understand why it had to happen but I didn't get why Feyre didn't put up more of a fight. I'm pretty sure at that point she knew she was in love with Tamlin but she just let it all go for what she thought was freedom. I was kinda happy that it happened though because I got the feeling Feyre wouldn't have realized how much better her life had become since she didn't have to worry about keeping her family alive because of some stupid promise she made to her mother.
I admit I did kind of spoil myself (by accident) for part of the ending. I was trying to see when the second book in the series was coming out and I started to read the synopsis. Knowing didn't take away much except for not being a little confused or surprised by the part where they drop the light on/in Feyre. Besides that I was happy with the ending and I was surprised by the reaction of some characters, mainly Rhysand.
I'm happy that there was no insta love with Feyre and Tamlin! They are both flawed characters and they had to learn to get along and eventually like each other regardless of their faults. I loved the slow progression of their relationship. Besides the 2 main characters, there were a few others I liked. One of my favorite characters so far is Lucien. I liked Lucien even before I found out his back story. Even though he made it clear that he didn't like Feyre, he was always helping her out and entertaining her, sometimes even being a buffer between her and Tamlin.
I also really liked Alis and Rhysand. I'm not really sure why I like Alis, I just do. I knew from the moment Rhysand was introduced he was going to be important. The more that was revealed about Rhysand the more I liked him. It's clear by the end of this book that Rhysand has developed feelings for Feyre, especially by the way he was fighting to help her, even though he gave an excuse for that. From the moment Feyre got to under the mountain, Rhysand had done everything he could to help her. I'm pretty sure this is going to end up being a love triangle. As of right now I'm team Tamlin. Although Nesta wasn't my favorite character, she redeemed herself a little later in the book. I would love to see how she would do living in Prythian with Feyre.
Overall I loved this book. I couldn't give it a full 5 stars because it was slow in the first half of the book for me. I'm excited to see where this story goes! I can't for A Court of Mist and Fury to come out. I will most likely be preordering it!
What are some of your thoughts about this first book? Are you looking forward to A Court of Mist and Fury?
(Just a side note, if you leave a comment please use commentluv. I have it set up because for some reason I can't respond to comments when using the default blogger comment system. I had to delete a comment already because I wasn't able to reply to it and the plugin wouldn't show up.)
