By Sarah J. Maas
This series is great! It is fantasy, and it is technically YA, but everyone can find something to like in these! I was going to write them up individually, but I sort of consumed the last three in one sitting over two days…so, might as well do them all!
What I like is how complex each story is – it keeps me guessing. I never foresee the tunnels we will go down, the allies that will be made, the enemies that were there all along, or the sheer magnitude of what she writes. There is great romance, and some delectable sex scenes (so be wary giving it to a younger YA audience). There is action and sweeping battle scenes a la Lord of the Rings.
The main character is Feyre, a human, hunting in the woods to keep her starving, impoverished family alive. On the other side of those woods is a wall separating the remains of the Fairy World from the Human World. When she kills a wolf to feed and clothe her family, she inadvertently thrusts herself into the Fairy World. She becomes the unwitting savior of a land within the Fairy Realm, the bold Warrior that saves all of Fairydom, and finally the selfless angel that save the entire world.
The minutiae and complexity combined with the plot twists and character motivations unfolding is really beautiful to read and experience. Again, I read multiple 700+ page books in two days! I cried, I laughed, I wanted to join a battle and fight – it was a cathartic experience. If you like this series, you will like her other ones too – check them out!
Soundtrack
- Till There’s Nothing Left by Cam
- What if I Never Get Over You by Lady Antebellum
- I Am the Fire by Halestorm
- My Demons by Starset
- Breathe by Through Fire
- If You Want Blood By AC/DC
Pros & Cons & Potential Spoilers
Pros
- Strong female lead who becomes self-aware, physically powerful, and kicks ass through creating genuine, good relationships with all creatures
- The details and the vastness of the world Maas creates
- It’s four books so far with rumors of a fifth!
Cons
- The fourth book is not much, just a gift from the author to tide us over. It’s like a “Feyre and Family Christmas” more than a critical, soul-bending chapter in the saga.
- You will be very disappointed in a character you thought you really liked in the first book, but you will also come to love someone you hated in that book, so…balance
- Not a big fan of Feyre’s sisters in any of their iterations