I don't know why every story that has a guy with a curse taking a girl as his captive and they fall in love has to be classified as a Beauty and the Beast retelling (especially because anymore the Beast is a gorgeous guy who may or may not be a bad person), but whatever. Earlier this year I read Throne of Glass by the same author and it was just bad. I was hesitant about A Court of Thorns and Roses but I heard that the writing was better, the plot and characters were solid, so I decided to give it a try. Now I don't know why I bothered. 
 To be fair, this was a step up from Throne of Glass, but I still couldn't get into it. The beginning was the best part, before Feyre gets swept away to the Spring Court, but even that was overshadowed by her downtrodden attitude and constant martyrdom. "I made a promise to my mother to take care of my family so I let them walk all over me while I do all the hard work. Woe is me, I'm not appreciated. I have it so rough." Bleh. Both of her sisters and her father were awful. 
 So then she gets to the Spring Court in the Fae lands and things slow to a crawl. The story basically goes on hold to build up the relationship between Tamlin and Feyre until they're in love but it doesn't feel organic and it seems forced. Okay, yes, Tamlin was trying to force it, but it seems like Feyre went from "I hate Fae" to "I love Tamlin" at the snap of a finger. Sure, there are pages upon pages of them interacting, but it doesn't feel like she fell for him, merely that she was begrudgingly accepted her predicament and that he wasn't such a bad jailor. 
 The story is supposed to pick up when Feyre goes Under the Mountain, but I found that it was a waste of time and ink. The trials are fine (and actually shown, unlike the ones in Throne of Glass), but everything between them was trying to build up a relationship between Feyre and Rhysand, which was entirely unnecessary. Isn't the whole point of this book to show that a human who hates Fae can forget their prejudice and fall in love with a Fae? This should be a standalone book, since the ending wraps it up nicely, but instead we're going to get Feyre and her bitchy attitude for seven more books (edit: according to Maas' website, it's a trilogy, but GR has it listed as an eight book series, hence my lamenting. edit 2: Maas did an interview where she said ACOTAR will be six books, which includes a colouring book and two novellas. So not quite eight, but still more than a trilogy), which will no doubt include bouncing between Tamlin and Rhysand (didn't this happen in her other series? Celaena couldn't choose between Dorian and Chaol?), therefore negating the initial point of the book. 
 Feyre was obnoxious. Tamlin was dull. Rhysand did so many crappy things (including constantly drugging Feyre with faerie wine), but it's brushed off at the end as okay because he was doing it to protect her. Really, Lucien is the only character I really enjoyed, with his wit, loyalty, and overall presence. 
 I have been told the second book is a lot better, but I'm wondering how much of that is because Rhysand probably dominates it. I will have to pass.