Book review: Finding Home in Prythian: A Love Letter to ACOTAR
By Cuylee Troyer
Have you ever read a book you cannot stop recommending, one you physically can’t shut up about? A book you bring up in every conversation months after finishing it, without anyone asking? The kind of book you would take to the grave with you because it feels like a part of yourself? If you haven’t, let me tell you about A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I am not exaggerating when I say this series shook me to the core, became my comfort book one line in, and left me a little changed by the end.
Before reading this series, I was already an avid reader. I consumed books in one sitting and would move on to the next the same day. But then, like many readers, I hit a reading slump. Every book I picked up didn’t peak my interest and forcing myself to read even one line felt like nails on a chalkboard. Then one day I picked up ACOTAR, and suddenly I was staying up until five in the morning telling myself, “Just one more page,” no matter how late it got. These books reset my brain and reminded me how addictive reading can be, the rush of flipping the page, your heart racing, not knowing what is going to happen next. Before I even finished the first book, I already had the second on my lap ready to go.
After finishing the entire series, I immediately started it over because I didn’t want it to end. I couldn’t even read another book for over a week after this series because I just didn’t want to let go yet. I’ve reread the series more than eight times, which might sound slightly insane, but honestly that should tell you just how mind-altering these books are. So anytime I get into a slump, or I’m stressed I throw myself into the world of Prythian, my comfort place.
The story technically starts relatively simple, there seems to only be two sides, humans and fae, immortal beings with magic. Feyre, the main character gets dragged into the world of fae after killing one of them. However, to me the plot is the side character, and the real heart of the series is how it makes you feel. Feyre isn’t perfect or untouchable. She makes mistakes. She lets her emotions control her. She is stubborn and frustrating at times and that is why she feels so real. She doesn’t feel like a flawless heroine in a fantasy world, but she feels intrinsically human. As a reader, you get to watch her grow from a girl just trying to survive and provide for her family into a woman who is powerful and confident. You’re not just reading about her though, you are watching her grow and rooting for her every step of the way, despite her flaws.
And then there are the male characters – which might honestly be the best part.
Sarah J. Maas somehow created the blueprint for all fictional men that makes not only every other male character impossible to compete with but also real-life men too. This series has every trope you could want: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, found family, and the intense “I would burn the world for you” kind of love. Each character has their own distinct personalities which is hard to believe one person could create them all.
And then there is Rhysand.
He genuinely altered my brain chemistry. I read in anticipation for every time he would appear, the entire tone of the book shifted. Just like Feyre, he is complex, both amazing and frustrating. He is sarcastic, witty, powerful, dramatic, and strong yet soft, which should be impossible, but he proves that wrong. He isn’t just a male love interest there to be attractive, he has depth, trauma, extreme loyalty and the way he loves Feyre in the way she needs and only he knows how makes their relationship that much healthier in the end. Their relationship is not just another romance, but rather a partnership built on choice and trust. It is the love story that poets write about, and hopeless romantics dream of.
The world-building is yet another reason I fell so deeply for this series. Some fantasy worlds feel difficult to envision and are overly complicated, but Pyrthian is immersive and alive with the different courts, politics, wars, different powers, and the history all intentionally connected. The foreshadowing had my mind spinning quicker than I could process. Tiny details in the first book that didn’t seem important suddenly became pivotal a couple of books later. Every single time this happened, I wanted to flip back through the pages, always mesmerized thinking “Wait… she genuinely planned that this whole time?”
Reading ACOTAR was honestly a rollercoaster for me. I was laughing out loud in public, crying at three in the morning, and on the floor staring at my ceiling after finishing, not knowing what to do with myself. I got attached to all the characters, and in her latest book the side characters get their own stories. It feels like catching up with your best friend that you haven’t seen in a while, easy and like you’d never been a part in the first place.
I think that’s the reason I recommend these books to everyone not because they are perfect or deeply academic, but because they are fun and emotional and completely all consuming. It reminded me of why stories matter in the first place. Not every book needs to teach a lesson or be overanalyzed for the symbolism. Sometimes you just need a story that makes you feel alive. While Prythian is not realistic and everyone seems to get their happily ever after, that is exactly why I love it. Real life doesn’t always give us happy endings, but books can and sometimes that escape is exactly what we need.
When someone asks me what book I would recommend without hesitation, it will always be this series. Years from now, I will still be rereading it and screaming from the rooftops that everyone should too. Some people have comfort movies or TV shows, but I have Prythian. And honestly? I wouldn’t change that for anything.
