A Court of Thorns and Roses vs. Beauty and the Beast: A Comparison 
 This was book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my review in any way. 
 While reading A Court of Thorns and Roses, my first Sarah J. Maas book, I noticed a few similarities to my favourite childhood Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. I realised after hitting Twitter that this book was a loose retelling of the classic tale (I will admit also that I am not familiar with any of the original tales). The only problem was, I was not really enjoying A Court of Thorns and Roses. How could this be? I loved Beauty and the Beast! But there was a lot that was bothering me about A Court of Thorns and Roses and it made me wonder - as I have gotten older, has the beloved Disney movie lost its appeal? Would what was bothering me about A Court of Thorns and Roses bother me in Beauty and the Beast? It had been a long time since I last watched Beauty and the Beast so I found a copy (very difficult!), sat down and prepared to be disappointed. 
 It was a relief to find out that Beauty and the Beast had not lost its appeal for me. That means something is off with this particular interpretation of the fairytale. In A Court of Thorns and Roses, we have Feyre, a 19 year old huntress whose family lives in poverty since they lost their fortune, who provides for her horrible sisters (a la Cinderella) and her crippled father. When she kills a wolf who turned out to be a fae in disguise, Tamlin, our beast, knocks down her door and takes her to live in his castle in a court in the faerie lands - a life for a life. There's a problem though - Tamlin isn't really a beast. He's like a shape shifter, between fae and beast, and he's extraordinarily handsome and really not at all scary. He's so incredibly good looking that this is pretty much all the heroine can think about, even though she hates him. Already I am unimpressed because where is the importance of inner beauty, who could ever love a beast? It doesn't matter when he doesn't even look like a beast! And his curse is that he and his entire court have to wear masks forever? What? 
 What I enjoyed about Beauty and the Beast is the slow burn, the gradual building of trust and friendship that blossoms into love. You can see it unfolding on the screen in front of you. In A Court of Thorns and Roses there was none of that. One moment Feyre's repulsed by Tamlin, the next there's some lusty behaviour and then they're in love? (Even after some questionable scenes that were pretty distasteful if you ask me). I believe that Belle has fallen for her Beast, and he for her in return, and that he no longer has the beastly behaviour he exhibited at the start - he learns to curb his temper, he attempts to learn table manners and he is gentle and kind with not just her, but everyone - the library scene as well as the snowball scene are adorable and evident of what is developing between them. I couldn't believe it with Feyre and Tamlin with whom there only appeared to be lust and pretty faerie things and pretty faces. And paintings - supposed to be like the library but I found it had a whole lot less heart. 
 I also think that, although the primary audience is children, there was a benefit from having the backstory explained in the film. When the curse was revealed in the novel, it was explained by a servant who was supposed to assume a Mrs. Potts role but did not have the presence in the novel to be an important character. And what we had was a whole lot of telling (I suppose the nice thing in the movies is you can be shown a lot easier) that was incredibly boring. Belle also didn't need to be told to confess her love to break the curse. She loved him, as she had seen past his beastly exterior to his kind and gentle heart. Beauty and the Beast is the story of redemption, how people can change and how looks aren't the most important thing, that it's the heart inside the person or beast that counts. A Court of Thorns and Roses is the story of - I'm not even really sure. I feel like the description of one does not suit the other. 
 A Court of Thorns and Roses really got interesting for me in the last chapters about Feyre's tasks, to prove her love for Tamlin, where it most deviated from the conventional tale. Then the action picked up and it definitely got more exciting. It felt like a little too late, though, and I'm not sure I'm invested enough to continue the series. While mildly entertaining, I was glad to be done with it all. I definitely don't really care about the characters. I will stick to my Disney favourite from now because you know what, I liked the talking appliances/servants! A Court of Thorns and Roses could have learnt a thing or two - especially when to leave well enough alone. 
 2.5 stars