A Court of Thorns and Roses Book Club Questions

A deliciously consuming YA novel, these book club questions for A Court of Thorns and Roses are designed to get you fully immersed back into the story with your reading group.

How did the plot leave you feeling? What moments really stood out to you?

Between the family drama, curses, love triangles, and evil rulers, there is just so much to make sense of in this Faerie fantasy novel.

It stars Feyre, a main character reminiscent of Katniss a la Hunger Games. This Beauty and the Beast retelling is part love story, part a story of what a person will do when faced with hard times.

Personally, it’s my favorite young adults novel (and even one of the top romance novels) I’ve read in a long time. It also has some of my favorite characters overall.

It’s truly worth the time to read and discuss with your book club, so enjoy these A Court of Thorns and Roses book club questions as you dive into this ultimately original story of finding true love in a world of magic and fairie lands.

A Court of Thorns and Roses Book Club Questions

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses (aka ACOTAR) is loosely based on the plot of the fairy tale, The Beauty and the Beast. Do you find the familiarity with the classic to be helpful in getting into the story? Distracting?

Do you generally like “retellings” or “based on stories”, or do you prefer the classics to stay in their original form? Why?

2. Feyre’s father and sisters refuse to fully embrace their new station in life. Instead, they leave Feyre to take care of her family by taking on all the work of keeping them alive.

What were your first impressions of them? Did you feel any empathy for them given how they grew up? Or was your empathy all for Feyre for having that kind of a family? Explain. 

3. The one tiny bit of relief Feyre finds in her life is her joy as a painter.

Why do you think historically people turn to all kinds of art (writing, music, painting) when they are facing hardship? What is the significance of Feyre’s being an artist in the story?

4. Once Feyre is in the Spring Court of Prythian, she sees how beautiful and pleasant it is. Why do think she still tries so hard to leave the faerie lands?

5. Feyre starts having feelings for Tamlin fairly soon after arriving, and he ends up being her first love.

What do you think led to that initial attraction when she couldn’t see his face? Technically her jailer at first, how do her perceptions of him change over the course of the book?

6. During the Calanmai rituals of the Great Rite, Feyre goes to the hill with all the fairies despite being told how dangerous it was.

How would you have acted in her place? Did you often find Ferye doing things that felt illogical, or were you a fan of her daring? Why or why not?

7. After Feyre goes home she realizes she loves Tamlin, but at that point, it’s too late and he is in Amarantha’s clutches Under the Mountain.

As a plot device, what point do you think Sarah J. Maas was trying to make by having Feyre first fail the curse, and then choose to go after Tamlin?

Was it just to move the story forward, or is there a larger message? Explain. 

8. Feyre agrees to compete in three trials to win Tamlin’s freedom from Amarantha. Which of the trials seemed the most intense in its depiction? Which would have been the hardest for you to face?

9. Rhysand is high lord of the night court, but he still saves Feyre at the Great Rite party, and then again when she is sick in the jail cell.

What sense did you have of his motivations? Where did he seem to fit into the story? Given he is made to look like the bad guy, were you confused by his help?

10. Feyre is ultimately saved by being made into a fairy herself and receiving the powers of the high fae from a spark from each of the high lords of the different courts.

Did you see this twist coming, or did it surprise you? How did it make you feel in the moment when reading it?

11. As far as love interests go, you have Tamlin, a high lord who transforms into a beast-like creature. You also have Rhysand, the high lord of the feared night court who seems enmeshed in a dark web of politics.

By the end of the novel did you find yourself on Team Rhysand or Team Tamlin?

12. Out of the whole book, what scene stuck with you the most?

13. By the end of the book Feyre knows she will get to live the rest of her life with Tamlin, but with the occasional visit to Rhysand as a part of the deal for him using his dark power to save her.

Does this feel like a happy ending? Did she do the right thing in accepting his help?

14. If you could ask Sarah J. Maas (the author) any question about the book, what would it be?

15. Did finishing the book make you want to read the rest of the second book of the Court of the Thorns and Roses series? What questions are you hoping are answered in the next book, A Court of Mist and Fury?

A Court of Thorns and Roses book club questions PDF available below for easy printing

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Did you read A Court of Thorns and Roses for your book club? What did you think? Leave me a comment below about how the questions and book worked for you!