I will never stop talking about this book series until I die. This is going to be my thoughts on the ACOTAR book series, with spoilers!
ACOTAR has fully got me into fantasy books, and has convinced me to continue reading fantasy books!!!
Book 1: A Court of Thorns and Roses
My thoughts:
LOVE! I went into this book apprehensive because I know how hyped up it is on TikTok, and I had also only read 2 fantasy books before this (six of crows duo), so I was nervous I wouldn’t like it. But I rated it a 5/5 stars!
For me it was a slow start because there was all of the world building that I had to become used to, but once I understood everything more, then that’s when I really started enjoying it.
Let’s talk about Tamlin
Because I am a romance book lover, I immediately jumped on Tamlin, and wanted them to be together so bad!! (Looking straight past the red flags lol).
I thought he really cares about her, he’s protecting her from evil, and all of these horrible things. (Although I did think it was weird that she was taken to the Spring court and treat like a princess, with all of the food and warmth you could imagine, after she killed one of his men… I was like how was she asked to choose between this, and death? Like what kind of trap is this).
And then when we find out at the end that he was cursed and has been sending his men into the woods to get killed?! I definitely overlooked that red flag looking back on it now!
But towards the end, that’s definitely when the red flags started to show.
When Feyre got in the mountain and Tamlin didn’t so much as look at her?! I get that he didn’t want Amarantha to know how much he truly cared for her so that she went easy on her… but I wouldn’t say she went easy on her, and still no emotion from Tamlin.
And then when they had a free moment and he decided to kiss her instead of letting her escape? To be honest, I won’t lie, during that scene I was like oh my god, yaaas, they love each other so much, but looking back, no.
Rhys…
In this book, I did not like him. I thought who is this man thinking he’s so great, making Tamlin beg on the floor for him?
But throughout this book, I never felt any threat from Rhys like I did with Amarantha. I felt like he was the cheeky bad guy that everyone loves, because deep down he is nice.
I love how much he helped her under the mountain during her trials, and when he was the only one who voted that she would win… are you kidding me?! *heart eyes*.
Looking back, I thought he was evil for making that bargain with her, and giving her a permanent tattoo, but after reading all of the books you see why he did that.
After finishing this book, I was still leaning more towards Feyre and Tamlin staying together *side eye*.
The ending
I was literally on the edge of my seat towards the end, and throughout most of the trials tbh.
Also, was it just me who got the riddle straight away, and thought there’s no way that’s the answer because it was so easy?
I did not think that she was going to kill the innocent faeries if I’m being honest. I thought she was going to figure out the riddle before she had to kill them.
And can we talk about the fact that she literally died?!
I was flabbergasted.
And Rhys was actually trying to kill Amarantha, and Tamlin was begging on the floor?! Like are you kidding me… if that doesn’t give me the idk thinking back on that now, then I don’t know what does.
I didn’t like the fact that Tamlin killed Amarantha. Like he had all the glory at the end killing her, when throughout the whole book he literally sat there and didn’t do anything throughout the full thing!
Characters that need appreciation
Firstly: Lucien. The banter between Feyre and Lucien at the beginning was amazing. Under the mountain he risked going to see her in her cell (more than Tamlin ever did for her under the mountain). He spoke out during her trials resulting in him getting whipped by Tamlin, so he obviously cared more about Feyre surviving than the consequential punishment. I just thought he was a good friend – I mean apart from the end when he let her whither away in the Spring Court but at the same time, what was he going to do about it?
Secondly: Alis. I feel like she was so nice and helpful to Feyre throughout it all. She really kept to herself and didn’t betray anyone. I wish we could of found out what happened to her in the later books!
Book 2: A Court of Mist and Fury
My thoughts:
Like most people, I did think this was one of the best in the series! The tension and the giddiness I felt throughout was something else.
I rated this 5/5 stars!
The dreaded Tamlin
We have to talk about the red flags at some point, and in this book, they are in full force.
So firstly, at the beginning when Feyre was having nightmares and Tamlin doesn’t even comfort her? I was thinking is this the same Tamlin that supposedly loves her? Like I get he’s also gone through trauma, but comfort your soon to be WIFE.
That’s another thing… he proposed, and she said yes. I remember reading thinking aww okay this is so cute, she’s getting married, but I didn’t feel like she wanted it. From the ceremony to the dress, it wasn’t what she wanted and that was heartbreaking.
So I’m glad Rhys came in at that point and took her away.
And then let’s not even get started on when he locks her in the house. I actually had the audacity to try and ignore the red flags and think that he just really doesn’t want Feyre getting hurt again, but I snapped myself out of it.
Because of Tamlin’s previous outburst in his office, I get the vibe from Tamlin that he would turn really toxic and aggressive, possibly even abusive when he doesn’t get what he wants.
Fan girl moment for Rhys
I was screaming throughout this full book, because Rhysand is so smooth and flirty and cheeky. I couldn’t contain my excitement.
Keeping the bargain, meaning Feyre had to spend her time at the Night court, I was thinking what is Rhys going to get her to do? And when he said that he wants to teach her how to read… I melted.
The scene where he was getting her to read the sentence where he wrote that he was beautiful or something… I was SO GIDDY.
Throughout this whole book, I was rooting so much for them. Chapter 54 and 55 live rent free in my head.
I LOVE how in those chapters you can see things from his point of view, especially under the mountain and when she died. It’s all because of Rhys that she came back to life because Tamlin didn’t do ANYTHING.
The ending
So throughout the full book, there is a war looming. And The Night Court have been trying to find ways to stop it. One of them being to nullify the cauldron, with the books they stole (one from the summer court, and one from the weaver).
When Feyre tries to destroy the cauldron, it fails, and the king of Hybern finds them. He then brings out Nesta and Elain, who he found because TAMLIN ratted them out. Honestly the anger I feel for him.
Lucien is also there, along with the mortal queens, who want to be immortal. That’s where Nesta and Elain come in, as the King shoves them into the cauldron to see if they turn high face, which they do.
However when Nesta goes into the cauldron after Elain, because she is so angry, she takes something from the cauldron. So when the youngest queen Bryallian goes into the cauldron, she comes out immortal, but old and withered.
To save them from being with the king any longer, when the King of Hybern breaks the bond between Rhys and herself, she pretends that Rhys has had her under a spell the full time, and that she can’t believe she can have Tamlin back.
The king of Hybern thinks that he has broke their bond, but he doesn’t know they have a mating bond, and that she was made High Lady of the Night court the night before.
Other points I need to talk about
Getting straight to the point. Why would Lucien just straight away come out with the fact that Elain is his mate when he has barely met her before. Like he could’ve let them have a romance that happened naturally, rather than just blurting that out!
Cassian jumping in front of Nesta… my romance senses are tingling.
Amren. She just gives off bad ass energy that’s all I have to say.
Book 3: A court of Wings and Ruin
This book felt like it dragged just a little bit, but I still gave it a 5 star because of how intense it was!!
Feyre in the beginning…
Feyre going into the Spring court, madly in love and mates with Rhys made me feel so anxious the FULL time.
Her time there was basically just to see what they were doing and what part they had to play in this war. She found out that they are willing to assist the king of Hybern destroying the wall.
Ianthe drove me insane. You can just tell she is evil, especially from what we have heard from Rhys about her basically being a man eater.
When I found out that the Hybern twins have been putting faebane in her food (weakens her powers), I got so scared. I am partly glad that Lucien went with Feyre when she decided to leave the Spring court, but also I know he was just going to see if Elain wants to explore being his mate.
I didn’t know whether to trust Lucien in this, but overall I think he was quite lost and I felt sorry for him.
The chaos in the middle
It is revealed that Elain has been made into a seer by the cauldron, so she can see things – this is good news because they need all the powers they can get. And I’m glad that Elain is willing to use her powers to help them because of how DISTRAUGHT she has been about her fiancé (I wanted to shake her).
Hybern attacks the Summer Court, and the Night Court are the only ones who come for aid. I am kind of glad about this because the Summer Court were already mad at them for messily stealing their book, and my anxiety is growing due to their lack of allies in this war.
The meeting with all of the High Lords. Omg. Tamlin was infuriating. I get that seeing the girl you loved with another man would be hard, but there is bigger things going on right now, and he did A LOT of things to make Feyre fall out of love with him.
Probably because of Tamlin (lol I’m just blaming him) Hybern actually destroys the wall while they are in this meeting. My anxiety = through the roof because how are they going to win this war.
The war
I was so nervous during the build up, because they are doing EVERYTHING they can to win this war, and the odds are not working out in their favour.
They resort to dangerous things like recruiting the bone carver (Feyre had to look into a mirror which shows the darkest parts of you), she got the monster Bryaxis from the library to help them. Rhys got the weaver. It’s looking a bit more hopeful.
Feyre, Nesta and Elain’s father come in a boat with an army. I was shook and emotional.
Amren sacrificing herself to unleash all of her power and give them a winning shot in the war. Are you kidding me?! *cries*
Nesta and Cassian finding the king of Hybern who kills their father so quickly and abruptly was a shocker and I was not prepared for that, as well as Nesta covering Cassian’s body so that they would die together. OMG
The biggest shocker though: Feyre and Rhysand resurrecting the cauldron and Rhys dying (I was a mess at this point). But luckily the High Lords (including Tamlin thank god) used their powers to bring him back, who then brings Amren back.
Tamlin’s development
So although I still don’t like Tamlin, he had some redeeming moments. I say redeeming, but really it was just the right thing to do.
- When Tamlin helped save Feyre after she rescued Elain and the human girl from the Hybern camp.
- When he gave some of his power to help save Rhys.
Obviously, he would have to be fully evil to not do both of these things, and I don’t know why I feel kind of sorry for him because he literally has NO ONE now, and his full court is gone… but there are unforgivable things he did.
Book 3.5: A Court of Frost and Starlight
I rated this book 4/5, simply because it’s a smaller book, so there won’t be as much drama.
Nesta was insufferable
I’m sorry, but Nesta is insufferable in this book. I absolutely can’t stand how she blames Feyre for her being made into a High Fae, when the only reason they are Fae is because Feyre went out hunting FOR THEM.
I get that she has been through a lot, but I don’t think she’s been through HALF of the trauma that the inner circle have gone through. She has the worst attitude and I found myself getting so annoyed at her during this book.
As well as this, it infuriated me that on Feyre’s birthday, Nesta barely remembered. After everything Feyre has done for her the least she could do was be there for her birthday instead of being bribed to come.
You can tell that Cassian has feelings for her and it’s so painful watching her reject him time after time again, and when she rejected his solstice gift *cries*
Feyre’s growth
I think it was nice to see Feyre exploring things by herself and making friends on her own, as well as wanting to ignite her love for painting again.
This book although happy, has a very depressing and sorrowful feeling about it due to it being just after the war, some people have lost their families, and Valeris having to rebuild itself again.
You can just tell in this book how much Feyre has grown, I see her as more of a older sister rather than Nesta being the oldest, based on the trauma and knowledge she has gained, compared to the first book when you could tell she seemed more naive and younger.
That was why I was so happy to see that Feyre and Rhys were trying for a baby. I did think maybe it was kind of quick, as she mentioned she wanted to live her life with Rhys, but it made me happy that Feyre is building a family and is able to give everything she never had.
Book 4: A Court of Silver flames
Okay, this book was a 5/5!!
This isn’t the last in the series, so I’m glad that this isn’t how it ends because I do still have questions (at the end).
Let’s talk about Nesta
I thought I was infuriated at Nesta during acofas, but this book my infuriation is 10x worse!!!
Again, I just don’t understand why she thinks she can have this attitude, when basically all of the characters have been through worse.
I’m not saying that she hasn’t been through awful things. But despite the other characters going through awful things, they were not acting like this towards the people they loved. Like when she blames Elain for their father’s death – I couldn’t believe it.
When she is refusing to train with Cassian?! But then I did understand she didn’t want to train in that area. BUT SHE COULD OF BEEN MORE CLEAR ON THAT.
The one thing that I liked about Feyre was that she was really good at communicating. Whereas Nesta is so bad at it. I’m not a fan of the miscommunication trope, but I think overall this book was too good to get marked down because of that.
When Nesta told Feyre about her dangerous pregnancy… I couldn’t believe it. It was good that Feyre found out, but the way that Nesta said it was so hurtful and mean for no reason!
Let’s quickly talk about Rhys not telling Feyre. I know that many people think that it was so wrong and out of character for him not to tell Feyre. But I understand why he didn’t tell her, as he didn’t want to stress her out and harm the baby. As well as it gave him more time to figure out a cure before telling her.
Cassian has my heart
Cassian during this book has my absolute heart. Throughout all of the book he was so helpful and forgiving to Nesta!
The tension in this book though… *blushing*.
I also really felt for him during this book. When he has to go and meet Eris, and he was beating himself up for wearing his heart on his sleeve, I felt so sorry for him and just wanted to tell him that he is doing amazing.
The friendships
Firstly, I really want to know exactly what was said between Nesta and Amren. Amren usually has wise words, so I hope she told Nesta she was being a b*tch.
The friendship between Nesta, Emerie and Gwyn was amazing. I’m so glad that Gwyn really came out of her shell, and you could see the softer side of Nesta, because if I didn’t see that side throughout this book, I would have hated Nesta!
The scene when they’re in the blood rite and they talk about their trauma was so sad. Gwyn really melted my heart. I am a twin, and I can’t imagine what she went through.
They are absolute badasses for completing the blood rite, I was so scared for them, especially for Gwyn. They literally made history.
I also love the friendship between Nesta and the house. I feel like the house knew that she needed a friend and someone who understood her, and gave her exactly what she needed to not go totally insane.
Genuine fear
When Nesta, Cassian and Azriel go in search of missing items in the trove and Nesta gets taken into the bog by the kelpie brought me genuine fear!!
The end
The rollercoaster of the Blood Rite, especially when Bryallian turns up with Cassian under her spell. That scene had me SHOOK.
And then immediately after the Blood Rite Feyre goes into pregnancy where Rhys and Feyre (and the baby) nearly DIE, AGAIN.
I’m glad Nesta saved them and redeemed herself (although I still expect some grovelling from her).
Also, I desperately want to know about Eris and Mor and what he is going to tell her!!! And I feel like Elain needs a good romance story after all she’s been through, as well as Mor and Azriel!
Thank you for reading <3
I hope you enjoyed my thought dump of all of the ACOTAR books. This has been one of my favourite series ever, and I would 100% recommend to anyone who is thinking about reading it.
I think the ACOTAR series is also good if you are a romance lover and want to get into fantasy, because it is romance heavy and eases you into fantasy!
I have a book recommendations page if you want to check it out! http://bigsisterera.com/book-recommendations/
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