Blurb :

When 19-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 over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it… or doom Tamlin – and his world – forever.

My Thoughts:

I have to confess that I haven’t been a devoted reader of fantasy, nevertheless, a great book is a great book irrespective of its genre. This particular book had been highly recommended on TikTok, so I decided to give it a chance. I finally delved into it, and unfortunately, it didn’t quite meet my expectations. ACOTAR is essentially a retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a unique twist. While I had fond memories of enjoying Beauty and the Beast when I was younger, this book, spanning almost 400 pages, failed to captivate me. One would expect a book of this length to be enthralling from start to finish, but that wasn’t the case here. The story felt like a slow, arduous journey, lacking the excitement I had hoped for. The characters didn’t capture my interest, and the romance fell short. Regrettably, I didn’t find pleasure in reading this book. Not every book is a masterpiece, and in my honest opinion, it didn’t live up to the hype it received on TikTok.

I recently shared my thoughts on TikTok and received some feedback from people who assured me that the second book improves significantly upon the first. They advised me to trust the process and keep reading. However, it’s important to convey that a book should not require readers to reach page 300 out of nearly 400 pages to be considered good. This can understandably be discouraging. I almost lost faith in the process and nearly gave up on the book. Even when the book supposedly improved, it felt like a considerable effort to get through the initial 300 pages. This doesn’t seem fair to the reader. I’m disappointed by the abundance of challenges compared to the highlights.

Readers should immerse themselves in a book’s entirety. While this particular book didn’t resonate with me, I’m excited to share it with someone who may appreciate it more. Although I won’t continue with the series, each reader’s experience is unique. I eagerly anticipate delving into other captivating books and relishing that post-read “book hangover” sensation, which this book failed to evoke in me.

Nonetheless, Happy Reading Folks!