The very first time I saw this book on Goodreads, it immediately went to among the top of my most anticipated for the year. There were so many factors that made it interesting: it's about the fey, which I love, and it's a fairy tale re-telling. It's by Sarah J. Maas, and though I'm not as crazy about the Throne of Glass books as everyone else seems to be, I recognize her excellent world-building skills and writing talent. To top it off, the tale it centers around is Beauty and the Beast; plus it has a gorgeous cover, and it's classified as New Adult, so it's allowed to be a bit more explicit than YA. It's like a bunch of publishers got together and brainstormed ways to make a book sound so awesome I would die to get my hands on it. 
 I went out and purchased this a few days before it was published, because my bookstore stocked it early for some reason. I was super excited and immediately began to read it. I will admit: ACOTAR started off fairly slow for me, and I was actually annoyed by several things within the first hundred pages or so. The first of which was this; I didn't like Feyre at first. I appreciated her determination to care for her family despite their ghastly behavior, but that was it. I don't know if this is just a recurring theme since I also have my issues with Celeana - maybe the protagonists of her books just get off on the wrong foot with me. The first thing that bothered me about her was I didn't follow her logic - after she's kidnapped by Tamlin, she gets it into her head that Lucien - basically a close friend of his who also works for him - will for some reason help her out of her situation. Though something good came of that, I couldn't for the life of me understand why Feyre would seek out Lucien's help when he was suggesting they kill her when they first met. It's like seeking out the potential bad guy and hoping he doesn't murder you. 
 She was also a little weird about the faerie land, Prythian. Maybe it's just because I've read too many books about them and know what to expect, but I found it strange when she saw her crippled father outside the window and didn't even consider that it might be an illusion of some kind. (view spoiler)[I also didn't like that the fey couldn't lie. That's like a main, important point about them. Why not just take away a vampire's desire for blood? (hide spoiler)]. I was shocked at how nicely Feyre was treated after being taken to Tamlin's castle/estate. She murdered a friend of Tamlin's and Lucien's, yet she's treated to a very comfortable lifestyle - she always has enough to eat, has her own room, beautiful clothes and servants attending her. It wasn't that I wanted them to be mean to her . . . it's just that the story kind of missed that hate-to-love factor I enjoyed in the Disney version. There's also a fairly major factor missing: nothing about Tamlin is beastly. He's powerful, sure, and part of his face is covered by a mask. But he is consistently polite and gentlemanly, and from what we're told, he's gorgeous. My point is, the person who cast this curse on him was kind of stupid to leave him like that, because what young woman wouldn't fall in love with a kind, beautiful and powerful man? 
 The first half of ACOTAR was dedicated to characters and the romance. I'm not quite as connected to Tamlin and Feyre as a couple as I'd like to be, but I definitely felt like they had good chemistry. Feyre hates him for a very brief amount of time - the hate morphs into lust, and lust into love. Tamlin had this calm, collectedness about him that was very attractive - and at the same time he could be fiercely passionate. I feel like I would ship them together wholeheartedly with a little more development, but at this time I'm just very fond of them. It didn't hurt that their romantic encounter were pretty steamy - this book is new adult for a reason. I adored Lucien - I was glad he was never made out to be a love interest, but he was an awesome side character. I want a whole book just dedicated to him and his whole tragic tale back at the Autumn Court. I was very cautious about Rhysand when he was first introduced - and I still am. He's made out to be villainous at first, but later on that status becomes questionable. I've heard people say that ACOTAR had a character reminiscent of the Darkling, and I'm pretty sure Rhysand is who they're talking about. And though no one compares to the Darkling . . . I could see it. He's compelling to say the least. (view spoiler)[There's also the potential for a love triangle. This kind of irritated me at first - B&B is not supposed to have one of those. But I'm intrigued by Rhysand, and I'm almost positive more will come of his relationship with Feyre because of their "one week of the month" thing. I'm also very curious about why he gave her that weird look during their last conversation. (hide spoiler)] 
 The second half of this book came as a slap in the face. In a good way. I was used to the slower pace and the idea that the villain was this intangible "blight" upon the land no one could really do anything about. So when an evil Faerie Queen suddenly appeared in the story and all this violence and blood came up, I was shocked, but thrilled. I couldn't put it down in that last forty percent of the story. Feyre had to undergo several trials and a lot of pain, and it was during this time I grew to appreciate her more as a character. She is a very strong person, and used her wits to keep herself alive. I ended up liking her quite a bit. Maas does an excellent job of creating villains that you legitimately want to jump into the book and kill. Amarantha was such a twisted character, and I wanted nothing more than to have her curse broken and see her go down. The action and the emotions were intense and heartbreaking in some parts, and I loved it. (view spoiler)[It was a bit of a cliche to had Feyre turn into a High Fey at the end, but hey, she deserved it after going through what she did. (hide spoiler)] Overall this book really did a number on me, but I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the sequel next year. 
 4 stars