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Review

4.5 stars

After falling in mad love with the Throne of Glass series by this author, I’ve been waiting for just the right time to make a start on this one, and wow. Seriously. Sarah J. Maas has created another fantastic fantasy world, with another kickass young heroine, and a story of intrigue, bravery, tragedy and romance. It’s a great start to what I’m sure is going to be a great series, and I loved it!

Feyre is a young girl living in a world where war between the humans and fae has left the continent divided between the two. When her family fell on hard times, Feyre, though the youngest, took responsibility for providing for her family, and it’s while out hunting one day that she kills a wolf who turns out to be a fae in animal form, and when the death is discovered, she is given a brutal ultimatum – stay forever in the faerie kingdom of Prythian, or die. Of course, Feyre chooses life, and she is taken to the magical faerie land, kept in the home of the mysterious, mask-wearing Tamlin within the Spring Court. She isn’t a prisoner per se, with free access to roam the grounds and live in comfort, but she cannot leave.

It’s a bit of a twist on Beauty and the Beast (except there’s an art gallery instead of a library because our heroine is an artist), with Feyre slowly coming to accept her new life and the people in it, and slowly falling for her ‘captor’. But there’s so much about her new world that she doesn’t know, and as dangerous threats are revealed and secrets are uncovered, Feyre finds herself in a fight not only for her life, but for the lives of those she has come to care so deeply about, and the future of the kingdom itself.

“We need hope, or else we cannot endure.”

I won’t say any more than that because you just need to dive in and experience this one. There is SO much story in this story, with twists and turns, shocks and surprises, and a whole lot of intrigue and excitement. I loved the world that Maas has created, and there’s a fantastic bunch of characters. Feyre herself is wonderful, brave, smart, and very relatable. I loved Tamlin, and the romance between them is a beautiful slow burn. Tamlin’s friend, Lucien, is a fantastic scene stealer, the bad guy is evil incarnate and totally cringeworthy. And then there’s Rhysand… oh my God, SO many theories!!!

Rhysand stared at me for long enough that I faced him.
“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”

It’s magical and mysterious, and a little bit dark, with action, emotion, humour and heartache, and though it did lag a little bit in the middle for me, those final chapters had me on the edge of my seat, and the story as a whole is a wild ride, and I loved it! The book ends in a great place, though there is definitely more story to be told, and I’m continuing straight on with the next one!

I loved it! 4.5 stars.