A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: YA/NA Fantasy/Retelling

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: May 5th, 2015

Edition: Hardcover Pages: 416

Purchase: Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)

Summary

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 grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever (goodreads).

What I Thought

A Court of Thorns and Roses was such a fantastic read! If you are a fan of Beauty and the Beast retellings then this is an awesome book for you. Feyre is not provincial french woman with a brutish man pining after her. She is the Katniss of her family, she hunts for food for her family so they can survive. Her sisters are mild versions of Cinderella's stepsisters and don't help out much with providing for their family. Feyre shoulders all of the responsibility for her distant sisters, her wounded father, and herself because of a promise she made to her mother. When out hunting one day Feyre comes across a wolf like creature and has to kill him or be killed. Feyre's murder of the wolf (Faerie) has brought another faerie to her doorstep with an ultimatum: cross to the faerie realm to never return to the mortal lands or die. Feyre begs for her family's well being and is then whisked away by Tamlin back to the Spring Court that he calls home. The main plot of this book is Feyre's introduction to the Faerie Courts and the Fae culture with a bit of mischief, nefarious creatures, and a Faerie that is plaguing her own people.

As with Sarah's other series (Throne of Glass) I love her writing style in this book. It is a style that I can't read fast but rather I enjoy 'drinking in' slowly. Feyre has a lovely artistic eye and her descriptions are beautiful. I love how this story progresses and how Feyre grows as a character. She can be a bit timid and whiny at times but she really grows into herself and finally allows herself to be expressive and take charge of herself, even if it still gets her into loads of trouble. I was not disappointed by this book at all, the world is crafted well, the characters are wonderful (Tamlin and Lucien *heart eyes*), and the romance is kind of hilarious to me. The romance is a bit "instalovey" but I still like how it happened because it was funny! The Fae element of this book is so interesting and unique.

I want so much more! This book set up what will surely be an amazing series with a great cast of characters! Besides there is a giant library that any of us book lovers would want and gorgeously detailed paintings and murals. This books is fantastic and I would recommend to anyone who loves a good YA fantasy or Beauty and the Beast like stories.

'89 Walls by Katie Pierson

Genre: YA Romance/Historical Fiction

Publisher: Wise Ink

Publication Date: June 5th, 2015

Edition: ARC Pages: 264

Purchase: Book Depository
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Trigger warnings: abortion, (assisted) suicide

SUMMARY
College is not in the cards for Seth. He spends his minimum wage on groceries and fakes happiness to distract his mom from the MS they both know will kill her. It’s agony to carry around a frayed love note for a girl who’s both out of his league and beneath his dignity. 

Quinn’s finishing high school on top. But that cynical, liberal guy in her social studies class makes her doubt her old assumptions. Challenging the rules now, though, would a) squander her last summer at home, b) antagonize her conservative dad, and c) make her a hypocrite. 

Seth and Quinn’s passionate new romance takes them both by surprise. They keep it a secret: it’s too early to make plans and too late not to care. But it’s 1989. As politics suddenly get personal, they find themselves fighting bare-fisted for their beliefs—and each other—in the clear light of day. (Goodreads)


WHAT I THOUGHT
This was an interesting story overall. I haven't read much on the political fiction side of historical fiction but I found this very easy to follow and read even though I did not live through the events surrounding 1989, the year in which this book takes place.The prologue really drew me into the story, sadly I did have some issues with the book.

Things I liked: I appreciated the historical aspect of the novel and how it explored both sides of the political climate during this tumultuous time in our countries history. The book explored the impacts of the Cold War, apartheid, Roe v. Wade, and presidential decisions. This book would be a useful educational tool for helping students get historical information from fiction. The ARC copy even had a glossary and timeline for reference! I also thought the romance was really cute and somewhat realistic for the time period. I also appreciate what the author was trying to do with including abortion, MS, and a father in the military to highlight more of the issues that people faced during that time. I enjoyed the dual perspective between the two main characters/love interests.

Things I didn't like: The book was too short to explore so many different issues. The political issues with the cold war were enough to make the story interesting to anyone who understand the complete and utter opposition between a democrat and a republican but the author also added abortion, illness, living wills, and so much more to the story that it kind of diluted the impact that it could have had. The abortion scenes were quick and didn't have much emotion besides the activists and I was surprised at how the news was taken; it added to the political climate of the book but didn't really add to the story. I feel the same way about the sex scene, interesting but it fell flat because it didn't contribute to the story, honestly it lost me at "breast pancakes".

The political and historical angle of this book makes it great for getting that information across to students who just don't 'get it' from reading a history textbook. The romance makes it fun and the teenager angst makes it relatable. I don't think this book is bad, I just think that it could have been better had it been longer and took more time to complete each arc of the story with more detail. I feel like the issues addressed were very quickly resolved and somewhat unrealistic.

I would still recommend this book because the romance was cute, historical fiction is always interesting, and I did enjoy reading this book! I just wish it hadn't have felt so rushed.