A Court of Thorns and Roses: Sarah J. Maas

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Of course, Tamlin has to become a traitor. Maas basically did to him what she did to Chaol and Dorian in THRONE OF GLASS. They both become terribad people so Rowan can show up and steal the scene with his earth-shattering orgasms. I guess maybe even the author realized that Tamlin didn't look that bad, so making him into a betrayer was necessary for giving Feyre a clean-cut reason to dump his ass without looking petty. Also, apparently he harbors a sexual assaulter in his court, because in this book we learn that YET ANOTHER WOMAN IN THIS BOOK tried to have her way with Rhys without his consent, and Tamlin just keeps her around... because he's the bad guy now. Celaena Sardothien, heroine of the New York Times bestselling series, rises from the ashes to burn even brighter than before. The violence, blood and gore depicted in the novel are graphic. Feyre kills Andras, a High Fae in wolf form. Even though she suspects that the wolf is really Fae, she shoots him with an arrow made out of ash, the only thing that can kill the Fae. She skins him for his pelt and leaves the carcass in the woods. When Tamlin gets enraged, he shape-shifts into an enormous lion/wolf-like creature and smashes things.

The swearing in this book is moderate but I didn't find it bad, I'm exposed to it on a daily basis not because of my parents but because of my friends and school. There is a lot of violence in this book, to be frank. Now, as a kid who needs a fare amount of action (or romance) in a novel to stay hooked I was VERY pleased with the violence in this story. The violence is descriptive and was extremely well written and I’ve never read anything quite like it. This part goes out to the kids: if you do not like violence then you will probably not like this novel considering there is a LOT of action. If you DO like violence then you’ll probably love this book.

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it’s honestly really disappointing, it normalises a lot of really horrid behaviour and romanticises really possessive treatment of its mc, i don’t think younger teens should be reading this as they might romanticise these types of relationships For more on how the main romance is perpetuated by gaslighting, a trauma bond, dissociation, sexual assault, sexual harassment, lies, sexual stalking, control, isolation, manipulation, and more, please read this in depth analysis, which also sheds light on the racism and homophobia rampant in SJM's work in general.

It’s come up in the comments, but I do feel like it’s important to note for parents that the book has some issues around consent that they may want to discuss explicitly with kids that may still be learning how to navigate sexual relationships and communication around consent. All of the actual sex in this book is consensual, but some of the sexual touching is not. And, the narrative more or less portrays this as sexy or justifies it. Most notably, there is a sexual interaction where one person verbally tells the other to stop touching them during a sexual encounter, and the person doing the touching continues. The next morning the nature of the encounter is discussed as being the fault of the person who asked that the touching stop. There is also sexual touching / forced sexual dancing that occurs when characters are very intoxicated and a forced kiss. The narrative more or less justifies this in the context of the plot and world building. Okay, so now I’m just going to go through what you should know about the book. Again this review is being aimed at parents and I hope it helps kids sway their partners into letting them read it (I’m rooting for you!) Tamlin’s father and older brothers once enslaved humans and helped the King of Hybern in the war. Rhysand’s father killed them. Tamlin tells Feyre that his father was a tyrant and that his mother loved him too much to say anything against him. He mourns his mother but not the rest of his family. My 16 year old daughter read this series recently and my younger daughter (Age 12) who is an avid fantasy reader wanted to as well. I decided that I would read the book to determine whether it would be appropriate. I will admit, it was okay, however, definitely not appropriate for my youngest. However, I would recommend it to teens 14 and older and adults. Lastly... the mental illness rep. Some people apparently think it's great. No. I don't think it is. Love basically cures Feyre's ills. While it's true that being in an unhealthy relationship can exacerbate existing mental illnesses and cause ones you are predisposed to to manifest, being in a good relationship is not a cure. You don't lose your PTSD or whatever because the sex is good and you've found your soul mate. That is a toxic trope in way too many romances, and I can't stand for it. ALSO, what about Tamlin's PTSD? This was also never really discussed. Does only Feyre get to behave irrationally and have freak outs? That's an unrealistic expectation to have, and her contribution to that toxic relationship was never even discussed... because of course, Feyre is perfect.Ok. This may be my favorite book ever, but I read it too young. I read this book way too young. I was 12. This is an incredible book with incredible character development, but it was not a good way to learn about everything but the biology of sex. Now, this review is going to mostly be aimed at the parents who might think this book is too mature for their kid. As I’m speaking as a child of a VERY overprotective mother who thinks I’m too young to be reading this let me tell you parents a secret... KIDS KNOW ABOUT SEX!!! I knew about sex when I was 9! My friends and I joke about sex all the time. Teens, and younger kids too, talk about sex. Just because you are trying to keep your kid innocent does not mean you are. Kids know about sex, we learn about it in school. Just because a book has sex in it does not mean you should stop your kid from reading it. (Because this book is honestly amazing) The beggining is really boring, but if you go on, you'll find an amazing series. Acotar is a fun book to read before sleep, even tought I liked it so much I coludn´t sleep because I wanted to end it. After reading the whole series and rereading I see feyre and tamlin relationship is abussive, it is not good to read a book that romantizes abussive relations, but Sarah do not do this! By the second book you understand everything and I don´t think it gives the reader bad partners ideal, It doens´t has too much sex, violence(compared to similar ones) or cursings If you are reading this and have not already read the Throne of Glass series, please go read those books first because in my opinion, they are way better than the ACOTAR series. I read this series after reading ToG because I was dying for more Sarah j. Maas books, and I was kind of disappointed. I wasn’t a big fan of the plot, and I didn’t really connect with the characters. The first book is ok, but the further you go into this series, the more s*x there is. This is definitely not for anyone under the age of 13, and even then for mature teens. Honestly the side characters were more interesting and had more character growth and personality than the main character. It may be because this series is shorter than Throne of Glass, but in ToG I connected with the characters and by the end I really loved them and will never forget them whereas these characters felt very shallow in comparison. If you are here for the romance, then by all means read this series, but if you want a strong plot and deep characters, this series just was not it. Anyway, I hope this review helped. I loved this book and if you decide to read this book I hope you love it too!