A Court of Thorns & Roses guide: Characters, spice + FAQs
About to read A Court of Thorns and Roses? Here’s what you need to know.
If you’ve made it here, chances are someone or BookTok convinced you that this book will change your life. And they’re not wrong.
We’ve got Feyre, a human girl just trying to survive, Tamlin, a mysterious masked Fae High Lord, and a whole bunch of other characters, which I’ve written about in a little character guide. Oh, and let’s not forget the ACOTAR spicy chapters, for book one, I got you.
This ACOTAR guide will walk you through the A Court of Thorns and Roses synopsis, characters you’ll meet and their descriptions, where to find the spicy chapters in book one (and if you’re looking for the entire spicy chapter series list, check out this post!), and the correct order to read the books.
Once you discover the world of Prythian, there’s no going back, so I hope you’re ready.
A Court of Thorns & Roses: synopsis/summary:
Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest.
Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
A Court of Thorns and Roses characters.
Our female main character (FMC) is named Feyre Archeron, and the first book in the series is narrated from her perspective. The secondary main character is Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court in Prythian, and Feyre’s main love interest. Here is the full A Court of Thorns and Roses character guide with descriptions.
| Character name | Description |
|---|---|
| Feyre Archeron | The youngest Archeron sister, professional hunter and reluctant provider for a family that contributes approximately nothing to the household economy. Accidentally kills a faerie wolf and discovers that actions, unfortunately, have consequences. |
| Nesta Archeron | Feyre’s eldest sister and a woman who appears to have decalred war on being nice. Proud, beautiful and spectacularly unhelpful when Feyre is out there literally hunting to keep everyone alive. |
| Elain Archeron | Feyre’s middle sister. Sweet, dreamy and extremely invested in pretty things, gardens and the general aesthetics of being wealthy, despite currently being very much not wealthy. |
| Mr. Archeron (Feyre’s father) | Feyre’s father, former wealthy merchant turned impoverished, injured father. His daughters are keeping the entire family afloat while he sits around contemplating his circumstances. |
| Tamlin | The High Lord of the Spring Court. Very large, very handsome, very growly and apparently operating under the assumption that kidnapping a teenage hunter is an acceptable introduction. |
| Lucien | Tamlin’s emissary and resident sarcastic redhead. Has a metal eye, excellent banter and the exhausted energy of a man who has been surrounded by idiots for far too long. |
| Alis | A Spring Court servant who becomes one of Feyre’s few allies. Helpful, practical and considerably more willing to explain the terrifying faerie world than everyone else who apparently enjoys watching Feyre figure things out the hard way. |
| Bogge | A nasty little faerie creature with one very important rule: whatever you do, do not acknowledge it. Naturally, Feyre eventually has to deal with one because apparently minding your own business is not an option in Prythian. |
| Suriel | An ancient, creepy, robe-wearing information broker who knows everyone’s business and is therefore essentially Prythian’s most terrifying gossip columnist. |
| The Naga | Horrifying, serpentine monsters with sharp teeth and absolutely no interest in making Feyre’s transition to faerie life a pleasant one. |
| The Puca | A shapeshifting faerie creature that can take on familiar forms to lure people into danger. Because apparently the local wildlife in Prythian also has trust issues. |
| Middengard Wyrm | A gigantic underground worm with approximately zero redeeming qualities. Feyre gets to fight it as part of Amarantha’s trials. |
| Rhysand aka Rhys | The High Lord of the Night Court. Beautiful, powerful, suspicious and possessed of the sort of smug confidence that makes you want to throw something at him while simultaneously thinking he's hot. |
| Andras | A Spring Court sentry who happens to be disguised as a wolf when Feyre kills him. Unfortunately for Feyre, killing mysterious wolves in the woods is apparently how one accidentally gets abducted into faerie land (Prythian). |
| Amarantha | The terrifying faerie queen currently running Prythian like a particularly sadistic dictatorship. Collects power, grudges and unfortunate people forced to entertain her. |
| The Attor | A grotesque flying creature who works for Amarantha. Imagine the worst possible combination of bat, nightmare and evil henchman and you’re getting warmer. |
| Jurian | A legendary human warrior from the ancient war between humans and faeries. Mostly a historical figure in book one, but apparently nobody in Prythian knows how to leave the past buried. |
| Clare Beddor | A human woman whose name becomes caught up in Amarantha’s twisted game. Her story is one of the first indications that this whole “immortal faeries in charge” situation is considerably less whimsical than it sounds. |
| Lady of the Autumn Court | Lucien’s mother and the Lady of the Autumn Court. Kind, gentle and apparently one of the few people in her family who didn't receive the memo about being absolutely terrible. |
| High Lord of the Autumn Court | Lucien’s father and the High Lord of the Autumn Court. Cruel, intimidating and very committed to maintaining the Autumn Court’s reputation for being an absolutely delightful family environment. |
| High Lord of the Summer Court | One of Prythian’s seven High Lords and ruler of the Summer Court. Currently dealing with the small problem of Amarantha having taken over everything. |
| High Lord of the Winter Court | Ruler of the Winter Court and one of Prythian’s seven High Lords. Also, unfortunately, subject to Amarantha’s reign of terror. |
| High Lord of the Dawn Court | The High Lord of the Dawn Court and one of Prythian’s seven rulers. |
| High Lord of the Day Court | The High Lord of the Day Court, one of Prythian’s seven rulers, and another unfortunate participant in Amarantha’s ongoing authoritarian nightmare. |
| Lucien’s brothers | Lucien’s older brothers from the Autumn Court. Violent, cruel and generally making a compelling case for why family estrangement can sometimes be a perfectly healthy lifestyle choice. |
| Isaac Hale | Feyre’s human lover and the wealthy boy she sneaks around with. Handsome enough to be worth the trouble, apparently, although the whole “engaged to someone else” detail does make things a little complicated. |
A Court of Thorns & Roses review.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
4 stars.
Spice level: 🌶🌶
1.5/5, medium spice.
I’m so extremely very late to the Sarah J. Maas party, but I now can understand why she is such a gargantuan crowd-pleaser.
ACOTAR was not a perfect read, nor the best Beauty & the Beast retelling I have read by any means, but I was immensely entertained, and I rate books based on enjoyment.
There’s a lot of world-building to begin this series as expected. Once I reached about 50%, I became a lot more invested and I forsook sleeping throughout the night to finish it, oops. Despite a few couple of issues and niggles I had with the plot, prose and editing (once you see it, you can’t unsee it!), my enjoyment levels were sky high, especially the last 30% of the book.
View the full review and join me on GoodReads here!
FAQs.
Before we get into answering the FAQs let me warn you: 🚨🚨🚨 Major spoiler alert.🚨🚨🚨
Here are the answers to all your common ACOTAR FAQs.
How to pronounce Feyre:
Sarah J. Maas explicitly spells out how to pronounce Feyre in the first ACOTAR book: ‘Fay-ruh’.
What is the correct order to read the A Court of Thorns and Roses series?
Here is the correct book order to read A Court of Thorns and Roses series:
A Court of Thorns and Roses
What is A Court of Thorns and Roses’ age rating?
The age rating of ACOTAR book one is 18+, there is a spicy scene, as well as some other steamy scenes, plus adult themes.
How many pages is A Court of Thorns and Roses (first book)?
ACOTAR is 448 pages.
How many chapters are in A Court of Thorns and Roses?
There are 46 chapters in A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Is A Court of Thorns and Roses spicy?
Yes ACOTAR is spicy, with one, short detailed scene, as well as a couple of steamy scenes. The first book in the series is quite comparatively tame compared to later books.
Spice level: 🌶🌶
1.5/5, mildly-medium spice.
When are the A Court of Thorns and Roses spicy chapters?
There is a significant build-up of sexual tension and flirting between Feyre and Tamlin. Yet there is only really one truly spicy chapter and one semi-spicy fade-to-black scene. That spicy chapter is chapter 27. Listed below are the chapters that are steamy, the one spicy chapter (highlighted), and the fade-to-black:
Chapter 21: Calanmai
Chapter 27: THE spicy chapter
Chapter 42: Under the Mountains, steamy kiss scene
Chapter 46: Light spice, fade to black scene
Looking for all the spicy chapters in the ACOTAR series? Check out this post.
Enjoyed reading A Court of Thorns & Roses? You may also enjoy reading:
A Court of Mist & Fury | A Court of Wings and Ruin | A Court of Frost and Starlight | A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Fourth Wing | Iron Flame | Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
The Serpent & the Wings of Night | Six Scorched Roses | The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King | The Songbird & the Heart of Stone
