December Book List

December was yet another wild ride. If I'm honest, I don't really remember that much of the month. It was another humdrum month with low focus and low energy. Plus, I spent every free minute with my boyfriend and we mostly played video games. So. Much. Stardew Valley. I had been trying to get through Sarah J. Maas' fantasy staple, A Court of Thorns and Roses, which is another long read. I discovered Goodreads about this time as well, and was very excited to see that there were goals that I could set to help me both pace my reading and strive to do better. I came in in the final week of December and promised myself I would get to five for the year, and I was only at three. I came across Doug Wright's play about the true story of a trans woman, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, in Nazi-occupied Berlin. The play is based on the author's interviews, and I just had to read her story.

I pushed through the books as quickly as I could, and completed both of them on December 28. Overall, I enjoyed both of them, but I definitely have my reservations. A Court of Thorns and Roses is an excellently written book, but it falls into many of the young adult fiction tropes.

The Review

I'll be honest. I think this one only got the Pulitzer because it is such an enticing sounding story. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte is a character, with a big personality, but it was soured by the author's frequent self insertion. Self insertion is probably one of my biggest pet peeves, and I have a hard time finishing books in which the main character's description too closely resembles the author's portrait.

Regardless of my feelings, there is an element to this story that is absolutely something to think about - Charlotte's actions and motivations were like Jekyll and Hyde. There is a recurring theme of recurring ambiguity and the audience is left with a choice: do I consider Charlotte to be self serving or self defensive?

The Review - There Be Spoilers, For Sure, Because This Book 'Bout Killed Me

Despite the drama of my title, A Court of Thorns and Roses is not a bad book. In fact, it's actually a pretty good book. Sarah J. Maas has a talent for imagery and story weaving, planting seeds and growing flowers; she creates character conflict very well and does not force resolutions. Her characters are well developed in terms of their personality and motives, but she falls flat on the actual actions of her characters and encourages toxic relationships.

The toxic love triangle in young adult fiction is a genre staple. One is dark and brooding. One is light incarnated, a rigidly good, privileged man versus a tortured, rough around the edges loner. See Twilight, the Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, etc. There is a theme in this book, as well, of strong females who change themselves or cripple themselves over a man, and this quality is in both Feyre, the heroine, and Amarantha, the evil tyrant and warlord who has brought the leaders of the Fey courts to their knees in fear and submission.

Amarantha was the biggest disappointment as a villain. The whole book built her up as this calculating, manipulative, powerful woman, but her lust for Tamlin caused her to not only put that at risk but resort to, for lack of a better term, petty woman-against-woman high school drama. But with like, swords and shrinking spike walls and shit.

Don't get me started on Rhysand, the dark and mysterious member of this triad. I don't want to prolong this and piss off the diehard CoTaR fans, but why are there so many people rooting for a man who literally t a t t o o s Feyre and makes a bargain that enslaves her. That's disgusting.

This is my problem with this book. It's so well written, but ultimately the characters are as problematic as they are well written. Part of me wishes I had read this as a teen before I turned into an old bitter feminist, but I'm glad I read it now so I didn't romanticize these relationships.