Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Oh man, this was definitely fun and a pretty good start to a new series. A Court of Thorns and Roses, is a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast but instead of a standard "Beast" there is faeries. This books has been everywhere and everyone seems to love it. However, in the beginning it took me some time to get into and I wasn't 100% sold on this novel. 

I found the first 100 pages quite slow, and it took me a decent amount of time to become invested in the story. But I do understand the need for a slow build. It is the first in a new series so you do need to set the stage for the rest of the books. Once the story, got going it didn't take a lot of time to get invested in the characters. 

And the characters in this book are pretty awesome. Our lead, Feyre, is "a normal human". I did like Feyre, she is strong and quite sure of herself. I enjoyed how she wasn't self conscious and remained true to herself and her feelings. The leading man in this book is Tamlin. I had a hard time picturing Tamlin, but I think I just wanted him to be tall dark and handsome instead of blond and etherial. However, there was some steamy scenes between Feyre and Tamlin. 

ACOTAR is classified as "New Adult" so there definitely is steamy. But I was a little let down and was expecting more steamy. I feel like I missed the part where Feyre went from hating Tamlin to loving him because I totally forget why it even happened. However, I think I just find the Beauty and the Beast story a bit far fetched to start with. 

The best part of this novel is end. I love the turn that the story took and how the Beauty and the Beast story intertwines with the story of the faerie kingdom. However, I am not sure about the potential love triangle that may be introduced. It may not happen but it may. I feel like what Feyre went through for Tamlin means they are meant to be together. 

(cough cough, this means you Rhys) 

Conclusions: Solid start to a new series and it's definitely enjoyable. Slow to start but the ending makes up for that. A solid steamy romance and lots of world building/politics. I can see this becoming a fantastic series with 2 more badass books. 

Rating: 4/5 Stars 

Losing It by Cora Carmack Review

Losing It by Cora Carmack is a New Adult Novel about a virgin named Bliss. Bliss is in her senior in college and still hasn't lost her virginity. When she goes out to find a guy to have an exciting one night with, she meets Garrick. Sparks immediately fly but it turns out to not be as easy as she thought it would be. 

I have some major issues with this book, however I was exactly what I expected a very guilty pleasure romance read. What it had going for it was that Garrick could be quite swoon worthy and their relationship was definitly steamy. However, that was all it had going for it. My biggest issue was that I felt like Bliss' friends were virgin shaming her. Which isn't right or fair. Losing your virginity is a very personal thing and everybody should do it when they want to and how they want to. The major culprit of this was her friend Kelsey, whom I hated right from the start, She was the most annoying and selfish character I have read in a very long time. Bliss needs to drop her as a friend ASAP. Another thing that I disliked was the pressure from Bliss' mother to be engaged by the time she graduates. Ummm, girls don't go to university/college to get engaged. This is not the 60's, women don't need men to support them. I did however like that Bliss realizes this herself and didn't take that shit from her mother. 

Conclusions: It was at times an entertaining guilty pleasure book. It followed the "new adult romance" formula to a T and was very predictable. I have some issues with it that really brought down the reading experience for me. Not the worst thing out there but I feel like the author took some tips from Fifty Shades of Grey. Why is biting of the lip thought to be so attractive?  I will never know.

Rating : 2.5 / 5 (Essentially a bad lifetime movie)