by Sarah J. Mass

OMG you guys.

Where do I even begin? First, I will say, I just finished RE-reading this book for the third time. That’s how much I love it. In my humble opinion, this book is every bit worth the hype and the thousands of TikToks made about it. It has amazing world building without getting ‘boring’ (one of my issues with Maas’ Crescent City novels), it has spice, it has adventure and at the end, I was holding my breath for most of it. This is one of those books that I’d sell my soul to read again for the first time. I’ve already dove straight into the second book, “A Court of Mist and Fury”, which I’ve already read four times and is my favorite book in the series.

The book begins with Feyre, a scrawny but tough girl who’s whole family depends on her for their survival. The youngest of three girls, she goes out and hunts for food and sells pelts for money to keep the family from starving. You will get an instant dislike for her family for their impossibly high expectations considering how poor and destitute they are.

One day, Feyre is out hunting when she comes across a massive wolf, she’s very aware that this wolf is probably a faerie (yes, if you didn’t already know, this book has faeries) and consequences be damned, she kills it, skins it, and sells the pelt.

Gross.

The following day, another wolf creature explodes into Feyre’s home and states that the punishment for her crime is to live in Prythian with him forever in exchange for his friend’s life. Feyre bids her family goodbye, giving them quick instructions on how to survive the next few weeks on what little they had left, and goes with the beast across the ‘wall’ into Prythian, the Faerie realm.

In human form, the wolf is the gorgeous, but masked High Fae, Tamlin. Tamlin extends unexpected kindness, and tells Feyre that her family will always be taken care of and provided for. He feeds her, houses in her his luxurious manor, and even buys her paints and canvas as painting is her passion. Feyre begins to enjoy her life in the beautiful Spring Court and is starting to fall in love with Tamlin, but there are deadly creatures lurking and appearing in the lands that should not be anywhere near. Little does Feyre know that there is a curse on Tamlin and his lands, and the woman who cursed him, is coming to collect on her bargain. The curse terms were that if Tamlin cannot make a hateful, faerie killing, human woman fall in love with him within 49 years, he belongs to the Evil Fae Queen, Amarantha. And guess what?! (Mock shock) It’s been 49 years and Feyre foolishly doesn’t say it back when Tamlin tells her he loves her.

Tamlin is taken by Amarantha to ‘Under the Mountain’, a deadly court full of the most despised, evil, depraved, and deadly creatures. Feyre, just a lowly human, realizes that she loves Tamlin, but too late, and now must rescue him from his servitude to Amarantha Under the Mountain. What follows is a nail-biting, emotional, exhausting journey that Feyre takes to save the one she loves. I won’t spoil anymore of the story and have gone into much more detail than I usually do, but it’s hard not to when I just adore the book so much and want to tell you every little thing.

I wanna tell so bad!

This book is not suitable for children, it’s got a good level of spice in some parts that wouldn’t be appropriate for the YA crew (again, in my opinion).

Let’s get to the pros and cons!

Pro: Even though it’s a long book, I found it very easy to stick with it. I was very captivated and really loved the characters and world building. The last part of the book when Feyre is Under the Mountain was just so intense, and the descriptions really made it kind of emotional to read (in a good way). I loved the romance, and wish again that I was reading it for the first time because what happens and who she meets Under the Mountain…IYKYK. (See picture above again for how I’m feeling right now).

Con: Small thing, but she repeats phrases/words, like, “He was cut to ribbons” or “My dress was shredded to ribbons.” There’s a lot of the word ribbons, which for some reason grated on me. I don’t know…*shrugs*.

Overall Rating: 10/10 ribbons. 5/5 stars in the night sky. 😉