It’s been a while, and as someone who once dreamed of being a professional writer it can be a bit disheartening to feel like you can’t put yourself out there – it can be incredibly vulnerable to expose parts of yourself for public consumption, even if they are completely true reflections of your own life. Quite simply, the internet can be a weird and wonderful place, but once something is on there, it’s there forever. In my 2025 bid of trying to be nothing but a blossom of positivity (with my black coffee humour getting a swift kick to the shins), I am going back to the tried-and-true world of book reviews. At least until I’m a bit braver again.

So, in a bid to maintain (ahem, restart) momentum, this will be my first post of the year – a good old fashioned book review. Because if I don’t feel brave enough to tell you stories about my own life, why not give my humble opinion on someone else’s creativity?

A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J Maas

Wikipedia tells me that this book was published in 2015, however I don’t remember seeing or hearing much about it until sometime in the last 6-12 months. While I used to be hugely into fantasy books, I had largely deviated away from them, in favour of admittedly, a lot of self-help and development books.

Alas, I was at Cape Town International airport, waiting to board a flight back to Nairobi, and I was dreading the long haul in the air. I have been resisting a Netflix binge, as that was how I numbed myself through 2024, and I feel that my addiction to the tablet has played a huge part in stumping my creativity. Wanting to spring forward back into productivity and goal-setting-and-achievement, I have been trying to claw my way back into hobbies that enhance the features of myself that I used to love.

I readily admit that it was out of sheer desperation that I had picked up this book; I recognised the cover from an instagram user that I follow, and although I read the blurb, it didn’t give much away or give me high expectations. It was simply placing my trust in another human on the internet. I have to say, from the very first few pages, I was completely absorbed.

The story follows the life of youngest-of-three-daughters Feyre, who promised her late mother on her deathbed that she would take care of her father and older sisters. Through necessity, she turns to hunting and scavenging to survive, and manages to eke out a living for her household.

After a tragic interaction with a magical being, she is plunged into the faerie world of Prythian, and the story follows was has been described as an “epic love story and fierce battle” that subsequently follows. I know that when I say the word “faerie”, some people will meet it with eye rolls and scoffs. But think less Tinkerbell, more Tithe (Holly Black). 10/10 the best type of fantasy.

I honestly struggle to give feedback without giving much away about this book, as genuinely there was so much that surprised me, and so much that I found to be (a little) expected (but heavily enjoyed and anticipated). That being said, I was not able to put it down, and the day I started reading it, I was up until almost 3am still glued to the pages. I only put it down in order to get a few hours sleep (I managed 3hrs only), before being unable to stop myself from picking it up again; reading solidly until I had completed it, intermittently giving updates to whoever cared to listen to them.

If you enjoy fantasy novels that feature a strong heroine, good-vs-evil battles, slow burn romances, as well as some incredibly well written battle scenes, give this one a try.

I’m back in Kenya now, and already looking to see if I can get a copy of the sequel locally.

For those with access to Amazon, you can take a look at it here: (this is not an affiliate link, just a general link to the amazon product)

Happy reading!