After killing a High Fae disguised as a wolf, Feyre must give her life in exchange for the life she’s taken. Instead of death, she chooses to live with her captor over the wall in Prythian, land of the Fae, where mortals are forbidden from entering. Taken to the Spring Court, Feyre is free to roam the grounds and live out her life in comfort. But the stories she’s heard all of her life about faeries has her feeling very unsafe living among them.

But as she begins to learn about what life is really like in Prythian, and gets to know her captor Tamlin, she comes to discover that a blight is spreading across the land, threatening to enter into the mortal realm. As her feelings for Tamlin grow, she finds out that she could be the one to break the curse that has been placed on the Spring Court and all of Prythian.

It’s only taken me three years, but I’ve finally read this fantastic book! It definitely lived up to the hype surrounding it and was a great start to the series. As someone who’s read a lot of new adult contemporaries, it was great to read a new adult fantasy.

Being the first Sarah J Maas book that I’ve read, I didn’t know what to expect in terms of writing and the world, and I thoroughly enjoyed both. Sarah’s writing style was really enjoyable and the world she created was really interesting. (Spoiler alert for ACOMAF & ACOWAR reviews – the writing and world building get even better!)

All the characters were really great, and each of them were really intriguing. Feyre in particular was an interesting narrator, and seeing the world through her eyes was really enjoyable. Tamlin was interesting enough in himself, but his character fell a little flat for me (in part because I knew what wast coming in ACOMAF). I felt like more could have been done with his character to make him a more intriguing character.

The ending for the book was definitely action packed and very gripping, although the change in setting did take me by surprise. Getting to see more of Rhysand was great too, and his character was very intriguing, knowing that there was a lot more to him than meets the eye (also because Feysand is perf).

One problem I had with this, which became more evident in the second book, is the whole ‘Beauty and the Beast’ element. When I really think about it, it’s hard to see and believe that either character could really fall in love with one another. This is in part because we don’t see that many scenes between Tamlin and Feyre where they have a real connection. This was really put into perspective in ACOMAF when you see how their relationship changes and Feyre’s connection with Rhysand.

Overall, I really enjoyed ACOTAR and can see why people have been raving about this book and series.The characters and world we are introduced to in this first book opens it up for what we see and learn of them in the following books, and I think Sarah did a great job with this first book, and how she set up the storyline for books two and three. Just a reminder that this is a new adult series!

This guest review was contributed by My Books Are Me. This blogger openly displays her bookshelf for all to see what she reads. She mostly does book reviews on that blog, although she occasionally discusses books on her Booktube channel.