A Court of Thorns and Roses

[Shan5474]

I was looking for a sexy fantasy book and this seemed really popular but I’m almost halfway through and I don’t think I can actually carry on! (Small spoiler but not really below)

The writing style isn’t to my taste anyway but I’ve just got to the bit where she essentially fantasises about being forced, is sort of assaulted and then wears a pretty dress for the assaulter the next day.

I’ve tried a few sexy books recently and they seem to have similar themes of female submission, predator/prey, Stockholm syndrome etc. which I’m personally finding a bit problematic. I know MN has lots of feminists and women who’ve experienced SA but I guess these themes must be common fantasies so I wonder if I’m in a minority for not liking this book

I haven't read this, but these themes seem common in female-written fiction - I'm baffled as to why.

I remember reading an interview with the editor of Black Lace books - all female-written. She was expecting submissions of novels with strong, independent women. Instead, they were all submissive women & dominant men.

It must be a common fantasy, or people wouldn't read & buy them. I know you can fantasise about something without wanting it in reality, but it's still disheartening.

The book is not going to go the way you think. Try to finish it, it does get much better two thirds in / towards the end

So I read the other series she wrote - starting with 'house of earth and blood'. Waaaayyyy sexier. More and better sex

That’s really strange and I find it hard to understand. In some of the books I’ve read the main character is a strong person and has a good career or protects their family but sexually it’s a different story which is confusing. Like you say, people wouldn’t read it if they didn’t enjoy it but surely there are at least some women out there who don’t want to read about submission

Same @Shan5474. I haven’t actually read this book but I did read the first Haunting Adeline book and a small percentage of the second book and I think they’re similar. Those books were so horrid I felt compelled to write a book review for the first time ever. I somewhat understand rape fantasies but not actual rape and sex trafficking in an erotica book. Both those books were also written by women. It’s an incredibly worrying trend to see those books trending on TikTok and Instagram when they make a mockery of the trauma of rape. It’s hard enough for victims to be believed without books such as these making out that it’s what women secretly want.

Try the Crescent City series she wrote instead (as per previous post). Very strong female lead, lots and lots of sex!

I regretted starting that series. Just give up, it's not worth it!

SPOILERS!!

I shouldn't have read this to DD...

She says ACOTAR is a beauty and the beast retelling SPOILER. Once you read book 2, Feyre comes into her own power and realises the cage she has been put in. She meets more people and grows as her own person and this is supposed to represent the growth in maturity and how what she wanted when she was poor and starving is different to what she wants when she has options.

Please continue reading - it is one of the best series and also is relevant to CC if you decide to read that by SJM also

Yes, keep going!!

That sounds awful, I would’ve felt the same as you about it! I read part of another erotica book where the woman is raped and then gets over it quickly enough to have sex with the people protecting her from the rapist. I feel like this genre deserves trigger warnings more any other because you might expect bad things to happen in general novels but not necessarily ones where you’re hoping to be turned on

@wwyd2021medicine A few people have said to keep going but I feel like it’s genuinely making me feel uneasy! I might give it a couple more chapters

I was looking for similar after reading Fourth Wing and its sequel Iron Flame, which I really enjoyed. I tried A Court of Thorns and Roses and didn't like it at all. Aside from the issues you mention, I just thought it was badly written and the characters unconvincing.

I'm trying to get through the second book currently and struggling.

I'm thoroughly enjoying A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St Clair which is a Hades x Persephone storyline

For sexy fantasy I always recommend the Zodiac Academy series by Susanne Valenti & Caroline Peckham. And literally everything else they've ever written. They're phenomenal. (Though some of their series are reverse harem so those may possibly not be for everyone)
It sounds like a very YA title but the actual storyline is much more mature than the title suggests. The bullying/ cruelty is quite intense in the first few books but the FMCs take no shit.
The authors have managed to strike -in my opinion- the perfect balance of action, darkness, humour and spice.

I really enjoyed it, I am halfway through the second book which is definitely better than the first.

Thank you for the recommendations of other books to try! I wanted to give sexy fantasy a go after reading The Atlas Six trilogy which is not erotica or romance but there’s a lot of tension and a few sex scenes. All the ones I’ve started so far have been problematic 😆 the last one left in my pile is Kushiel's Dart 🤞

^^this

In book two she turns everything on its head (which I felt didn't fit with book one) but it's an OK read. After that the series goes downhill (IMO). And the steamy sex bits all felt a bit juvenile (again IMO).

Not read any Sarah J Maas, but all of her book series are in the teenage section of my local library system...

Yes, they are listed as Young Adult I think, it’s a bit of escapism really.

The problem I find with Maas is that her books are premised on old powerful men getting together with very young women. I haven’t read crescent city but in the other two series, that’s the deal.

reminded me a bit of the Twilight series, how she fell in love with Edward then was she going to fall in love with Jacob, I got half way through and gave up

Funny, I also abandoned the first book midway through today. Felt like the first few chapters actually had a lot of promise.

When she says ‘Give me everything’ to Tamlin all I could think of was that Pitbull/Ne-Yo song.

Who the fuck purrs anyway.

@Mothership4two I really liked the Throne of Glass series but I think she used up all her good writing on it and ACOTAR got the dregs.

I just couldn't care about most of the characters and ended up forcing myself to finish the series for no good reason, I wished I'd just googled spoilers instead.

Some of the sex scenes really made me cringe, I just had to skip over them.

Give up OP, there are better books out there!

I couldn't force my way through it, it was shit.