“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”
Where to even begin with this review? I’ve had these books on my shelf for many months after being recommended by a friend, I'd also seen that they were very popular on bookstagram. This was one of the first fantasy books that I have read and it certainly won't be the last (I’ve since brought 3 more fantasy box sets including the throne of glass by Sarah J Maas).
I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading this book and it took a good few chapters to get my head around the writing and the descriptiveness of the writing. But once I got into it, it was hard to get out of it. It defiantly gave me beauty and the beast feels at the beginning when she’s trapped (but also not trapped) in Prythian. I also got the feeling of Narnia when she kept meeting the creatures in the forest. Although these are fluffy mice with swords.
‘“It told a story...the story of Prythian. It began with a cauldron. A mighty black cauldron held by glowing, slender female hands in a starry, endless night. Those hands tipped it over, and, from it, golden sparkling liquid poured out over the lip. No -- not sparkling, but...effervescent with small symbols, perhaps some ancient faerie language.”
The writing in this book really is out of this world. This was the first fantasy book I have ever read, and it took me a while to create the images in my head of the characters and the lands that they live in. But the detail and descriptions in this writing were so amazing that I was able to create beautiful images in my head of how they looked. When I’m reading a book, I tend to go online and the thing that amazed me with this book was the drawings that people had generated of the characters. The similarity in the drawings shows what a good job Sarah J Maas did with the descriptions. I also found the maps at the beginning of these books very useful when picturing where things are.
I enjoyed the 3 main characters at the beginning of this book Tamlin, Lucian and Fayre. Although when I began this book I thought it was going to go down the route of her falling in love with Lucian instead of Tamlin. As the book progresses and she gets to know them more, I developed a soft spot for Lucian and learning about his history made me want to know more about him so I’m hoping this will progress in future books.
Although looking back all the juicy action of this book defiantly happened at the end, I never felt like this was a slow burner and slow-paced. It was perfect when it came to setting the scene for the dramatic parts. When we found out the reasoning behind the relationship between Tamlin and Fayre, I felt a little bit betrayed, even though he sent her away to protect her in the end. How all the details added up to show the curse was very cleverly done and I liked seeing it unwrap.
Now for the main action. How do I even put into words those trials and the introduction of Rysand? Again, praise to Sarah J Maas for the perfect descriptions of these. The last 200 pages were so addictive that I read them in one sitting. When we meet Rysands character here I didn’t warm to him. And the way he keeps teasing Fayre gave me mixed feelings even if he did help her. I did enjoy the bit of spice that this book offered as I felt it was tastefully done and a great addition to the tension. These trials were so drastic but I loved every second of them, what I didn’t enjoy was how Tamlin's characters responded to this after everything Fayre went through. But the ending was very dramatic and the beginning of what I’m sure will be an amazing addition to the next few books. I'm also very much looking forwards to where her deal with Rysand will take her. Especially the mark that now connects them to each other.
Altogether this was such a great book and an amazing introduction, not only to this series but also to the world of fantasy fiction. I'm now off to jump headfirst into the next book. Wish me luck.