Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at court is closely guarded, and she begins to learn why, her feelings for Tamlin turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands becomes an even-more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever (from Amazon).
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The second book on my October reading list, there was always something about this book that made me unsure whether I'd enjoy it or not. Despite me loving Sarah J. Maas as a writer, and her Throne of Glass series being one of my favourites, this book never screamed a 'must read' to me. I did order it from Amazon with my first pay check and decided to give it a go.
For the most part, this book was pretty okay. It wasn't great, but it did keep me interested. It just took me a long time to read. Usually when I'm into a book, I'll make time to read it, utilise the time I'm meant to be sleeping if I have to. I didn't do that for this book.
Feyre is our main character, and she's a strong young woman who has been forced to provide for her family after they hit rough times. She was born into wealth, or at least the appearance of wealth, with a good family name and a big house. But everything changed when her father lost all his money, and he along with Feyre and her two sisters had to build a new life drenched in poverty and bitter memories. Over the years, she has become broken and hardened to the cold world she's had to face growing up. When she kills a wolf in the woods, she does it becomes it's either her or that wolf getting the deer. And Feyre would do anything to feed her family.
I can respect Feyre in a lot of ways, but there's something a little bit annoying about her for the first half of the book, where she whines a little too much for my liking. The other half she returns to the badass we met in the first couple of pages, a young woman who is afraid but undeterred.
The complicated world of the High Fae and Prythian has potential to be fascinating, but for half the book Feyre was just in Tamlin's home. I did like the introduction of curses and lore and monsters. Tamlin is a pretty interesting character, even if I didn't really connect with him that much. He's a broken man thrust into a curse existence, unable to take off the mask covering his face. His court has been shattered over the years, and his only real friend left is Lucien, who is just as embittered as he is about life. When Feyre arrives, she shakes things up with her lively personality. I like Lucien as a character. He doesn't like that many people, and is rather prickly, but he would do anything for the people he cares about and that's the most important thing.
Rhysand is a character I am fascinated by, and he's introduced about halfway through the book as well. He only properly becomes a featured character near the end, which is a shame. He's a character I would have enjoyed seeing more of, and learning more about his powers and his history.
The book really picked up halfway through, as I've already mentioned I enjoyed it a lot more. It felt like the first half was just setting up for the adventure of the second, but you can't really waste a whole two hundred pages of a book doing that. That's why the book has gotten 3 stars. I do plan to read the next book, as I'm curious to see what happens with our characters next, especially now Feyre and Rhysand have become unlikely allies. If the second half hadn't started picking up speed, I wouldn't have bothered.
0 comments :
Post a Comment