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

I read this book to try to understand why it’s so popular, and I failed. It has all the trappings of a rollicking fantasy: a poor girl from the north is kidnapped by an evil magical being from a land she kind of thought was a fairy tale, where she discovers that not only does the villain have a heart of gold, but he’s not actually a villain, he’s the good guy in his own struggle of good versus an evil she can’t even contemplate.

But she’s a thoroughly unlikable character who is somehow nonetheless a Mary Sue, and the writing is mediocre at best. I would encourage a high school girl who wrote like this, but this author’s editor is clearly not interested in helping her out.

Not recommended for anybody. Go pick something by Naomi Novik instead.

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