rereading – Zakiya N. Jamal

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses (Reread)

Posted on April 25, 2017April 22, 2017 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Buy

Synopsis:

When nineteen-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.

Purchase From:

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Review

*This review will contain spoilers for ACOTAR and ACOMAF. For the spoiler-free review of this book please click here.*

In preparation for the release of A Court of Wings and Ruin, I’m rereading the first two books in this series, and thus far it’s been a blast. There were so many things that occurred in ACOTAR that I totally forgot about so let’s dive right in.

First of all, it was super strange to read about Feyre falling in love with Tamlin, knowing that Rhysand is her mate. I ended up cringing a lot during this book, especially during particular points that I thought were warning signs for Tamlin’s over protectiveness that turned abusive in ACOMAF. For example when Tamlin said this to Feyre:

“No, I don’t want you to live somewhere else. I want you here, where I can look after you—where I can come home and know you’re here, painting and safe.”

This sounded really nice and sweet in the moment but when combined with the way Tamlin locked up Feyre in ACOMAF, it doesn’t sound all that sweet anymore. That being said, I did find some sympathy for Tamlin after rereading ACOTAR. Sarah J. Maas affectively turned her fandom against Tamlin with the utter change in character of him and Rhys in the second book but I think a lot of us forgot why we liked Tamlin in the first place because of it. My reread reminded of all the reasons why I did like him.

Feyre says it best in ACOMAF, when she says Tamlin was good for her at the time that she needed him. Yes he was overprotective with her and was more than happy to take care of, and that’s what Feyre needed when she was human. Tamlin didn’t treat Feyre poorly, she just hadn’t wanted anything more than to be pampered and loved by Tamlin. His problem began when he failed to realize how much Under the Mountain changed Feyre and after having to watch her die, it’s easy to understand why he became so protective and controlling. Was Tamlin wrong? Without a doubt, yes. Do I know understand where he was coming from? Also, yes.

Besides Tamlin, I didn’t know how to feel about Rhys. I was at war with myself while reading. On the one hand, I knew why he did all the things he did but on the other hand, I wanted to tell Rhys to chill and at least try to be nicer to Feyre. There’s one point right before he makes the bargain with her, where he grabs her injured arm and twists and I literally cringed. Why Rhys, why?

Still, there were also a lot of one liners that meant so much more to me, knowing how he truly felt. My personal favorite was when he sees Feyre for the first time at Calanmai and saves her from those other faeries.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

I think I literally swooned, especially when Feyre referred to him as, “the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.” So good! (Side note: Rhysand probably heard her think that. That probably made him even more cocky.)

Another one of my favorites was when Rhysand sees Feyre dressed for the party in the throne room Under the Mountain.

“You look just as I hoped you would.”

That means so much more knowing how he felt about her. For Feyre, she thinks he’s joking at her expense but in reality he really means it and it’s so cute and also so heartbreaking because at this point Feyre hates him so much. Another moment that broke my heart was when Feyre heard the music that gave her a slither of hope. That moment also meant so much more knowing it was Rhys that sent it.

Also, through my reread I realized all the many hints SJM put in about Feyre and Rhys being mates. There’s literally so many references to the night and stars that I’m honestly a little mad I didn’t catch on sooner. It was so obvious! SJM is amazing. I truly can’t take it.

My reread also reestablished my distaste for Feyre’s sisters and my love for Lucien. Hopefully my reread of ACOMAF will make me like Nesta and Elain again. As for Lucien, I’m still upset with him for the things he did in ACOMAF but I remember now why I loved him so much and I hope he’s redeemed in ACOWAR. I kind of hope Tamlin’s redeemed too but to be perfectly honest, if he died I wouldn’t cry over it. Sorry, not sorry.

Overall, I think I liked ACOTAR even more the second time than I did the first. The start was still just as slow as I remember it being but because I knew where the story was heading that was enough to keep me reading and interested. I highly recommend giving this book a reread after reading ACOMAF. It takes on a whole new meaning and it’s really interesting seeing how drastically the characters change between books.

What are your thoughts on the ACOTAR series? Let me know in the comments below.

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”

Other Reviews

Blog of a Bookaholic

Going Through Books

The Biblio Life

POLL: Do you reread books?

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog

I really enjoy rereading some books. Especially if it’s been a long time since I read it and I don’t remember specifics about the book I love going back and reading it again. However, I know there are some people that are a once and done type of reader and that’s fine too.

So which are you. Only one good read or do you enjoy the occasionally reread? Vote in the poll and comment below whey you like rereading or not.

Results of last week’s poll:

YA or Adult Novels?

Although winning by only 10% more than just YA, both was the winner. I guess most of us just can’t choose.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: Binge Reading

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Books

The best feeling is discovering a book series that already has four or five books out. You don’t have to wait (im)patiently for the next one to come out, you can just grab it from the library or buy it instantly. Though this can be a great thing it also be bad. Really bad. Why, you ask? Because just as quickly as you became obsessed with Scandal you’ve become just as obsessed with the Private series. What’s worse is unlike a TV show, reading takes longer and you can’t really multi-task while you’re reading. Instead you find yourself so wrapped in your book, hours have gone by and you’ve forgotten how to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, and socialize.

In short, you’ve become a hermit.

It’s okay. Take a breather, relax. Binge reading is a fine (and fun) activity. It’s great to find yourself wrapped in a series with these characters you just can’t stop thinking about and always wanting to know what happens next. Reading is fundamental after all and unlike watching TV it won’t kill your brain cells.

It becomes bad, however, when you let your reading take over your whole life. Now you might be thinking, “That would never happen.” Yeah, sure. Here’s some signs that you might be losing it:

You freak out when the library doesn’t have the next book in the series.
You’re willing to buy the next book (or next three) no matter what the cost. “If I don’t check my bank account then it’s not real.”
Friends ask you to hang out but you say no because you JUST GOT TO THE GOOD PART.
You tell yourself you’ll go to sleep at 3 AM but then when 3 AM comes and you’re still in the middle of the chapter so you say, “I’ll just finish the chapter,” but it ended with a cliffhanger. You can’t possibly stop now, you’ll just go to sleep at 4 AM. This cycle continues until suddenly the sun is up.
When you have to eat or go to the bathroom you take the book with you.
Actually you just take the book everywhere.
People try to talk to you but you just say, “Uh huh,” or “Okay,” because really you just want them to be quiet so you can keep reading.
When you’re not reading you have to remind yourself what’s real and what happened in the book. No you do not have super powers and no you’re not in the middle of an all out war with the Capitol. Relax.

If any or all of these apply to you, you might have a problem but that’s okay because let’s be real reading too much is never really a problem right? The book series has to end eventually . . . but then you’ll find another one to read then another then another until you forget what real life is.

Here’s the deal, I love binge reading as much as the next person but just as binge watching TV can be bad for you so can binge reading. For one thing you can actually hurt your eyes by reading so much. For another you’ll start alienating yourself for the sake of a book. Don’t let your favorite character become your best friend. The day a character in a book actually starts talking to you is when you know you need to put the book down.

Rather than binge reading, take a break in between books. I give you permission to stay up however, long it takes to read one book but after you’re done give it a rest. Go for a walk, go see a movie, hang out with friends. Don’t let a fictional world become your whole life. Remember, no matter how good the book is, it’s not real and it’ll still be there when you get back.

Besides why rush a good thing? The sad truth is the series will have to come to an end eventually or worse you’ll actually catch up and find yourself waiting a year for the next one. Why put yourself through that torture? Take your time with the series. Re-read all the good parts. Let it all sink in before you jump right back in. Trust me, it won’t kill you.

Honestly, I know many of you will ignore my advice and keep binge reading anyway. If you do I wish you the best and enjoy the reading.

Sources for photos: Tumblr

Why Rereading Is The Best

Posted on January 30, 2014October 20, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog

I am a firm believer in rereading books. I most recently just reread the whole Mediator series by Meg Cabot and I loved every second of it. Something about reading a good book for the second time just feels awesome. If you need any more reasons to reread your favorite book (although you really shouldn’t) here’s a few.

1. You know how it ends

Although we hate it when other people ruin an ending for us it’s different it we’ve read it ourselves. There’s this crazy anticipation that comes when you know something good or bad is about to happen and you feel so much anxiety because you want to yell at the character but you can’t. Also, it’s great watching your OTP fall in love knowing they’re going to end up together. It’s like hitting rewind on your favorite movie.

2. You pick up on things you missed

Remember how there was that crazy twist at the end and you couldn’t believe THAT person was the killer. Well now you’ll be looking at all the clues and seeing what was staring in the face the whole time. I still don’t understand how Kate Brian (aka Kieran Scott) pulled the wool over our eyes with Private. HOW DID THE AUTHOR DO THAT???

3. Falling in love with your favorite character all over again.

Yes Pooh Bear. Yes we can.

The worse thing to ever happen is when you forget, specifically, why your character is the best. You know in your heart this character is the greatest thing that’s ever blessed a novel but you can’t remember exactly why. That’s why when you reread and see Dimitri and Rose (spoilers!!!) finally give into their feelings for each other in Shadow Kiss you melt all over again. You forgot how good that scene was! Yeah, it’s the best.

4. You know so much more now then when you first read the book.

Being older and wiser (even if it’s just a little bit) you will see this book differently than when you first read it. That quote about all the “little infinities” (TFIOS has the best quotes by the way) suddenly means something different when you lose someone close to you. Or how falling in love is just like falling asleep (last TFIOS quote I swear) means more to you when you’ve actually fallen in love. As you grow and become a different person, reading the same book for the second (or third time) will take on a whole different meaning for you.

5. Going through all the laughs, tears, and pain all over again

I guarantee that if a book is truly well written it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve read it you will still laugh at the jokes, cry when your favorite character cries, and feel pain when someone is hurt or dies. Though it may sound crazy you know you fell in love with that book because of the emotional roller coaster it put you on.

Your emotions:

Yeah, you know you enjoy the stress. Wouldn’t it be great to go on that ride again?

I challenge you to take a look at your bookshelf and try rereading that book you used to be totally obsessed with. Trust me, it’ll be even better the second time around. I mean really, who doesn’t love seconds? Enjoy!