A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

*Possible Spoilers*

A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas

Read: February 1-2, 2016
Published: May 5, 2015
Genre: Fantasy

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 over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamlin---and his world---forever. (Amazon)




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Why did you read this book?
This is one of the many books that my cousin recommended to me and I'm finally getting to it. Also, I was in the fairy tale mood when I got it at the library a few weeks ago. And it's due Saturday, so I really had to get a move on and read it.

What did you like about this book?
This is one of my favorite Beauty and the Beast adaptations that I've read so far (I'll compare to them later). I liked the faerie aspect of the book. I've been kind of turned off towards the whole fae genre since I went through a fae genre frenzy by freshman/sophomore years of high school. This is the first I've read in a long time that I really enjoyed. As far as characters go, Lucien was probably my favorite. He was funny, but also really tough with a rough backstory. Feyre and Tamlin weren't as compelling to me, as characters, but I loved their love story. The best part about this book was probably the descriptions and the action scenes. Maas really has a way with words and her fighting scenes are excellent. It was really just a beautiful book to imagine, with the settings described so well I could see it.

What didn't you like about this book?
There seemed to be two climaxes to this book. The first was paced appropriately, but the second one was hard to get to. The whole build up to the main event at the end just took too long. I found myself skipping whole passages just because I was bored with it. I also had a problem with Feyre's character development. At the start of the book she was tough, and stubborn, and a provider...she was just awesome. However, as she fell in love with Tamlin, she lost the traits that I loved about her and by the first climax, she was a completely different person than she had been in the beginning. She was still portrayed as a strong, independent character, but I just didn't feel it like I did in the first chapters.

Comparisons:
As compared to Cruel Beauty, I enjoyed this one much more. The characters were better developed and it had a more driving plot and I cared about what happened in the end. When I compared this book to the original Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont, I was pleased to find small, basic similarities. There were the two sisters (although, the brothers were left out of Maas' book) and the sudden matter of Beauty/Feyre's father losing their fortune. The beast/Tamlin also sent Beauty/Feyre back home (although for different reasons). I just enjoyed the little similarities that reminded me that it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. However, there were very, very few similarities to the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. No dancing cutlery, singing teapots, or animalistic footrests. The only thing that really reminded me of the Disney movie is when Tamlin took Feyre to the gallery, which was very similar to the beast showing Belle the library.

Bottom-Line:
I really did like this book. I'm not sure if I'll add it to my shelf, but I do know that I'll have to read the second one when it comes out in May. I will add that I'm a little leery of the second book (I've heard rumors of a love triangle. The horror!). However, I think this book can be read on its own. The ending is satisfying enough where you really don't need a second book. So I will recommend it to anyone that enjoys fairy tales. You may divulge in book two (A Court of Mist and Fury) at your own risk.




"We need hope, or else we cannot endure." -A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Fairy Tales

         Greetings all! I wish I had something super interesting for you, but unfortunately I don't. I still have to finish reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (lent to me by the wonderful Franco Fan :o), so I don't have a review ready for that yet. And honestly, it'll probably have to wait until March is over. I'm very busy with a project for my Children's Lit class at the moment. (And yet I took the time to post this for you! Aren't you lucky?) I'm going to do my homework outside today...it's 53 degrees out and sunny!!! So, while I do that, I'll leave this timed short essay here for you to read. I personally don't think it was very good (I've written better), but my professor apparently liked it because I got 40/40. Anyway, enjoy!

Fathers in Fairy Tales

          Fairy Tales often employ the use of archetypal characters in the telling of their tales. In fact, they rarely stray from the standard portrayal of their characters, some of the most common being the wicked stepmother, the beautiful princess, and the dashing prince, always there to save the day. However, there is one character that recurs in many fairy tales, but doesn't often receive the attention that is given to the others. Making an appearance in both "Rapunzel" and "Rumpelstiltskin" is the negligent, and often rather selfish, husband and father.
          In the tale "Rapunzel", as told by the Brothers Grimm, the father makes a very brief, but important appearance. He agrees to trade his only child, which hasn't even come into the world yet, to the witch in exchange for her rampion. The man doesn't even pause to think about the consequences of his actions, but rather "in his distress of mind the man promised everything; and when the time came when the child was born the witch appeared, and, giving the child the name of Rapunzel (which is the same as rampion), she took it away with her," (73). Not only does this man agree to anything the witch demands in exchange for the rampion, but when the time comes to hand over his daughter, he does so without a hint of remorse. He doesn't even seem to care that he just sent his only child to live with a witch. At the time of his actions, his only thought is to appease his wife so that he won't lose her. This may seem like a romantic notion, but it is actually very selfish. The story starts "there once lived a man and his wife, who had long wished for a child, but in vain," (73). The wife very much wants a child, but her husband is more than willing to bargain this much desired child so that he won't have to live without his wife.
          Another careless father similar to that in "Rapunzel", is the one that is portrayed in the Brothers Grimm telling of "Rumpelstiltskin". In this tale, it is the miller's lack of fortune, rather than his wife's appetite, that drives him to use his daughter to his own gain. When given the opportunity to speak with the king, the miller uses it to tell him "that he had a daughter who could spin gold out of stray," (50). This father knew that his daughter couldn't actually spin gold out of straw, but he told the lie regardless. When the king ordered him to bring his daughter to the castle, the miller agreed without a second thought, all the while knowing full well that his daughter wouldn't be able to spin gold for the king. As most often happens, the father's child is left to deal with the consequences of his actions. When it was time for her to spin the gold "...the poor miller's daughter was left there sitting, and could not think what to do for her life: she had no notion how to set to work to spin gold from straw, and her distress grew so great that she began to weep," (51). The miller's careless actions bring great distress to the poor girl, but it is not her that he things of, but only himself.
          One father who breaks the mold of inattentive fathers is that of Beaumont's "Beauty and the Beast". The father in this tale is a giving one, doing everything he can to give his children, especially his daughters, a better life. When "by some unlucky accident, the merchant suddenly lost all his fortune, and had nothing left but a small cottage in the country," (22), he still does not acquire the same selfishness displayed by the poor fathers in the other tales. Instead, he loves his children, particularly Beauty, and tries to provide for them the best he can. When he receives word that their fortune may have changed, he ensures that all his daughters should get a gift from him. Even though he didn't get the money he thought he would, he still tried to bring back a rose for Beauty. Because he stole the roses, the beast he had stolen them from orders that he will die for it, but allows that he can exchange his life for one of his daughters. Initially, the man recoils at the idea of sending any of his daughters to live with the beast. However, even he succumbs to the traditional selfishness of a father figure common in fairy tales. He allows Beauty to go in his stead, permitting him to live, even if it may mean her death. Despite the fact that he "in vain tried to reason with Beauty who still obstinately kept to her purpose," (24), he still let her go. As a father, he should have the ultimate authority in the household, but, for the sake of his own life, he lets Beauty overthrow his decision.
          The most common trait in the father character in all three of these fairy tales is selfishness. This more than likely was formed out of a resentment towards men as expressed by the original tellers of the stories, women. Both "Rapunzel" and "Rumpelstiltskin" were recorded by the Brothers Grimm, but they weren't the original tellers. They collected stories from word of mouth throughout several countries. As women were the primary story tellers to children, they were the ones that produced these archetypal characters, including the selfish and negligent father/husband. Beaumont, however, wrote "Beauty and the Beast" herself. Her father figure is very different from that in the tales of the Brothers Grimm, but it still contains that inherent selfishness that readers have come to expect from fathers in traditional fairy tales.

          Source: Classics of Children's Literature by John W. Griffith and Charles H. Frey

"'I must,' sighed the beast, 'for I know well enough how frightful I am; but I love you better than myself.'" -Beauty and the Beast by Mme Le Prince de Beaumont