The story: I think this has been reviewed here a million times, but here goes: Feyre kills a wolf who’s actually a faerie in disguise, and another faerie prince type guy named Tamlin comes calling to collect his revenge. He takes her back to Faerie and then just kind of leaves her alone in his giant castle. Eventually they fall in love (I guess? I am skeptical), she learns more about what’s really happening in Faerie, and decides she has to try to save Tamlin and the rest of the faeries. Apparently this is based on a Scottish folk tale I am unfamiliar with, called Tam Lin.
Why I read it: I’m really not sure. I love fantasy, but not romance. I read Fourth Wing a few years ago and HATED it, so when I first started hearing about this book I dismissed it as more of the same. But I follow someone on Instagram who read the whole series and then started posting highly entertaining TikToks about it in her stories, and eventually they won me over.
What I thought of it: Like I said in the title–this is way better than Fourth Wing. Sarah J. Maas is a good writer and the story was interesting. The first third of this book was great. The middle dragged, and I felt like we were twiddling our thumbs through endless horse rides and Feyre trying to decide if she should wear her usual tunic and pants or a fancy dress to dinner. Things finally pick up speed and the ending is pretty exciting. While I didn’t love this, I liked it enough that I think I will get around to the rest of the series eventually.