Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Nesta and Elain were turned into High Fae. And Lucien is mated with Elain. Crazy, am I right?! Another message directly pointed at the parents: you need to start letting your kid read more mature content at some point. Or they're going to end up like me——asking their friends to smuggle them the real books they want to read. You can’t keep you kid(s) innocent forever. Feyre and a boy from her village, Isaac, have been meeting in a barn to have sex for two years. Neither has romantic feelings for each other, but they have sex as a reprieve from the sadness and emptiness of their lives. Isaac drinks a contraceptive brew so Feyre won’t get pregnant. This book doesn’t hold a whole lot of educational lessons. It’s an adaption from the story The Beauty And The Beast. There’s a bit of mythology. The Fae are brought out with their heads covered, and she kills the first two. When the third turns out to be Tamlin, she doesn’t know what to do. She remembers all the times that Tamlin allowed her to eavesdrop on his conversations. She guesses correctly that he has a heart of stone and shoves the dagger in his chest. She is right, and as Tamlin is slowly recovering, Amarantha is livid.

It’s come up in the comments, but I do feel like it’s important to note for parents that the book has some issues around consent that they may want to discuss explicitly with kids that may still be learning how to navigate sexual relationships and communication around consent. All of the actual sex in this book is consensual, but some of the sexual touching is not. And, the narrative more or less portrays this as sexy or justifies it. Most notably, there is a sexual interaction where one person verbally tells the other to stop touching them during a sexual encounter, and the person doing the touching continues. The next morning the nature of the encounter is discussed as being the fault of the person who asked that the touching stop. There is also sexual touching / forced sexual dancing that occurs when characters are very intoxicated and a forced kiss. The narrative more or less justifies this in the context of the plot and world building. RHYSAND AND FEYRE WERE ALSO ACTING THAT OUT TOO. THE MATE BOND WASN'T BROKEN. I REPEAT, THE MATE BOND WAS NOT BROKEN. THE KING JUST BROKE THE BARGAIN WITHOUT REALIZING IT WASN'T THE MATE BOND. THAT LOVE CANNOT BE BROKEN, ESPECIALLY RHYSAND AND FEYRE'S. AND SO NOW THIS SETS UP THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD BOOK. FEYRE IS GOING TO SPY ON THE SPRING COURT AND SEND THE INFORMATION DOWN THE MATE BOND TO RHYS. YEAH FEYRE YOU GO GIRL. In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world. My age opinion for this book was 14 but honestly it depends on the child. I am a 13 year old who loves Action-Fantasy-Adventure-Romance novels and I’d had ACOTAR on my reading list for quite some time. ACOTAR had easily made it’s way on to my Top 3 Favorite Books and Series’s it is an amazing book that was wonderfully written. I am fairly mature (or at least more mature than my 17 year old sibling) and I thought this book was fine. So, I’m I’m going to say this again: It all depends on how mature the child is.

Did we miss something on diversity?

This book makes me feel so many different things at once that I have to just stop and think until I can get my head straight.

My favourite was Amren, but I also loved Cassian and Azriel. Our brief introductions to the Bone Carver and the Weaver were highlights too. Does your 12 year old need to be aware of these issues, no not yet probably. Is it terrible if they are, also no. If they weren't ready for the material - they wouldn't be able to proceed. Do I wish my daughter's never had to know or experience the most unpleasant side of of sexism and objectification? Of course. Will it serve them to pretend it doesn't exist and censor any material that alludes to it? Absolutely not. Children are corrupted not by the content they consume so much as by the repeated actions of society that doesn't fail to reach their notice. Also, apparently Feyre hates painting now and is totally upset that Tamlin gives her a set of paints as a present. Because how dare he get her something that she used to like but didn't tell him that she doesn't like anymore. How dare he not be a mind-reader like Rhysand who is a prince among men. And I had other issues with this book... but that was my main one. I'm afraid this has become the modus-operandi of SJM.

Need Help?

Again, it all depends on how mature the child who is reading the book is. And, also to the parents, let the kid choose if they think the book is too much for them——you don’t know what’s going on in your kids head and it’s not your choice to make. Things were so perfect so far that I was getting scared. Scared that all that perfectness was going to be ripped away and I was going to be one emotional mess. And for a minute there, I was. You guys know what I'm talking about. Sarah J. Maas has been confirmed to actively harm marginalized communities through her books. See Literary Phoenix resource here. - https://theliteraryphoenix.com/code-red-problematic-authors/ I could go on and on forever about the many many many precious Rhys and Feyre moments, but let's talk about that ending. A brush of his tongue against the seam of my lips had me opening fully for him, and he swept in, claiming me, branding me.

Loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, A Court of Thorns and Roses tells the tale of Feyre: a young girl who doesn't quite know what she has done when she shoots a wolf to feed her starving, ungrateful family. One day, a snarling faerie beast appears at her doorway, demanding revenge for the death of his friend, who Feyre unknowingly killed. As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre's hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future-and the future of a world in turmoil. My problem is that SJM wanted to force Rhysand on us, like she wanted to force Rowan on us in her Throne of Glass series. Excuse me, miss, but I don't need the love interest to be pushed on me. I can decide by myself. And the thing is... I FELL IN LOVE WITH RHYS IN THIS BOOK! And I think I would've fallen for him even if Tamlin hadn't been the piece of shit he was. I was not a pet, not a doll, not an animal. I was a survivor, and I was strong. I would not be weak, or helpless again. I would not, could not be broken. Tamed.❞I really couldn't stand this book. Rhysand and Rowan are literally the same person, and their "development" with the heroine follows the same trajectory. It's not the worst book I've read, and it's not even the worst Maas book I've ever read, but I will never for the life of me understand why this series is so popular, or why some people who eagerly condemn other books for being problematic seem so eager to forgive or ignore the flaws in this one.

The writing style of this book is 1st person, which differs vastly from the writing in Maas’s first series, “Throne of Glass”. The style fits the story well. Maas writes with a finesse most YA and NA authors do not possess. I recommend her books highly, as they are quality tales: very complex, written well, and the characters are well developed.

I'm thinking that I was a lonely, hopeless person, and I might have fallen in love with the first thing -thing? Now he’s a thing?- that showed me a hint of kindness and safety. And I'm thinking maybe he knew that- maybe not actively, but maybe he wanted to be that person for someone. And maybe that worked for who I was before. Maybe it doesn't work for who- what I am now." Okay… deep breath and pray no-one kills me for this… I have a confession. I have never ever read a Sarah J Maas book! That might not sound so bad, but the thing is, I have actually met her (she is super nice and lovely) and have all of her books! I know the shame of failing at my bookworm goals… but now that’s changed! When I heard Maas was bringing out a modern fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast – my favourite Disney story of all time – I knew that the time was now and I had to read this book! I was super grateful when I was accidentally sold it in a book shop a month before its release, and I also received one from the Guardian to read and review! I wasn’t disappointed (and neither was my best mate, who got my spare copy). The most special and bewildering aspect is the lush and vivid portrayal of the Night Court. Enthralling and contradictory, it completely enraptures you with its seductive tone. So different from the Spring Court (and Summer Court which we get to visit!!). But I expected something disheartening and equally dark, and while this mysterious court has that vibe and then some, there is also such glorious light and normalcy and elegance that reside in its spectrum. The Court of Nightmares gave me goosebumps. The Court of Dreams, however, gave me breath and life. The book centers in Velaris and ohmygod this city! I loved Velaris with all my being and if there ever was a fictional place or universe in which I'd want to live, then Velaris and the Night Court are it.