A Court of Thorns and Roses

73 pages • 2 hours read

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015

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Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-11

Reading Check

1. What does Feyre kill in the forest?

2. Where does Feyre choose to go after Tamlin confronts her?

3. What does the “blight” force the Spring Court faeries to wear?

4. Who does Feyre hunt with in the Spring Court?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Feyre’s relationship like with her family? What does she do for them?

2. Why does Feyre feel guilty about her new living situation?

3. Why is the Spring Court largely deserted?

4. In what ways is Tamlin more powerful than a typical faerie?

Paired Resource

“Faerie Lore”

This Britannica resource provides information on faerie lore in various cultures and eras.
This connects to the theme of Hidden Truths and Subverted Expectations.
How do these factors of faerie lore compare to the mythology developed by Maas?

CHAPTERS 12-22

Reading Check

1. What is a skill Feyre does not possess?

2. What does Feyre capture in the forest?

3. How did Tamlin help Feyre’s family?

4. Who does Feyre meet at Calanmai?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How is Feyre’s interest in Tamlin increasing in this section?

2. What is the purpose and significance of Calanmai?

3. How is the theme Consent and Power Dynamics in Sexual Intimacy demonstrated between Tamlin and Feyre at Calanmai?

4. How is the theme Hidden Truths and Subverted Expectations portrayed as Feyre learns more about the fae?

Paired Resource

“Is This Love? Or Am I Gonna Fight a Lion?”

This audio recording and written transcript details an NPR interview with Adam Cole, who discusses the stages of falling in love and the scientific workings in the brain.
This connects to the topics of Love and informs readers of the nuances of the romantic genre.
What happens on a biological level when someone experiences love? Compare the stages of falling in love to Feyre’s experience with Tamlin. What is likely to happen next?

CHAPTERS 23-31

Reading Check

1. What does the Night Court stick in Tamlin’s yard?

2. Who is the reason for the blight on magic?

3. What name does Feyre give Rhysand?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Tamlin demonstrate the theme Sacrifice and Moral Compromise as the Duty of Love when he sends Feyre back over the wall?

2. How does Nesta’s reveal convey the theme Hidden Truths and Subverted Expectations?

3. Why does Clare Beddor’s fate convince Feyre to return to Prythian?

Paired Resource

“Body Language”

This first-person point-of-view poem by Kenny Fries explores emotional and physical intimacy in regard to mental and physical scars.
This connects to the theme of Consent and Power Dynamics in Sexual Intimacy.
What message is the speaker trying to convey in the poem? How might the meaning of this poem change if we assume Feyre or Tamlin is the speaker?

CHAPTERS 32-38

Reading Check

1. What does Amarantha have on her ring?

2. What does Feyre kill in the maze of trenches?

3. How does Rhysand help Feyre when she agrees to his bargain?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the curse Amarantha gives Tamlin, and why?

2. How can Feyre free Tamlin?

3. In what ways does Rhysand Subvert Expectations?

Paired Resource

“What Does Sacrifice Mean Nowadays?”

This NPR article explores the question, “Is it sacrifice if it is something that you must do?”
This connects to the theme of Sacrifice and Moral Compromise as the Duty of Love.
What are some examples of the different kinds of sacrifices people make? Is Feyre doing an act of sacrifice, or is she merely completing an expectation? Why?

CHAPTERS 39-46

Reading Check

1. What does Rhysand force Feyre to do each night?

2. How does Rhysand help Feyre survive the second task?

3. What must Feyre do for her final task?

4. What is the answer to the riddle?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Rhysand demonstrate the theme Consent and Power Dynamics in Sexual Intimacy with Feyre?

2. Why does Amarantha punish Rhysand by making him her lover?

3. What is the significance of Tamlin’s heart being made of stone?

4. How does Feyre survive, and how does it pertain to the theme Sacrifice and Moral Compromise as the Duty of Love?

Recommended Next Reads

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

In this sequel, Feyre struggles to accept her new life as a fae under Tamlin’s increasingly strict protective measures. She still abides by the bargain she made with Rhysand, High Fae of the Night Court, only to realize that he may be the one she truly wants to be with.
Shared themes include Sacrifice and Moral Compromise as the Duty of Love, Consent and Power Dynamics in Sexual Intimacy, and Hidden Truths and Subverted Expectations.
Shared topics include fantasy, romance, battle, family, and sacrifice.
A Court of Mist and Fury on SuperSummary

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

In this novel, a skilled human-portrait artist named Isobel lives in a world where faeries crave human craft, making her highly valuable. When she accidentally insults the fae by painting sorrow into the eyes of the faerie prince Rook, he takes her to fae court to stand trial. The events that ensue force them to flee and rely on each other’s skills to survive.
Shared themes include Hidden Truths and Subverted Expectations and Consent and Power Dynamics in Sexual Intimacy.
Shared topics include fantasy, romance, danger, and faerie magic.

Reading Questions Answer Key

CHAPTERS 1-11

Reading Check

1. A faerie disguised as a wolf (Chapter 1)

2. She chooses to go with him to Prythian. (Chapter 4)

3. Animal masks (Chapter 7)

4. Lucien (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Feyre has a complicated relationship with her family, leading to tension between herself, her sisters, and her father. Her family does little to support her, but she continues to take care of them; she hunts and sells game to help them survive. (Various chapters)

2. Feyre now lives with Tamlin in a large, luxurious, and comfortable home with plenty of food. However, her family beyond the wall lives in squalor. Feyre feels as though she abandoned them, despite necessity. (Chapter 6)

3. The Spring Court is afflicted by “the blight,” a curse that caused many of its fae to have masks affixed permanently to their faces. Many have left the Spring Court to try to evade the spread of the blight. (Chapter 7)

4. Tamlin is a “High Fae,” a leader of the Spring Court, and he has additional talents, such as the ability to shapeshift into a powerful creature. (Chapter 9)

CHAPTERS 12-22

Reading Check

1. Literacy, the ability to read (Chapter 12)

2. The Suriel (Chapter 14)

3. He glamours their memories and gives them wealth. (Chapter 16)

4. Rhysand (Chapter 20)

Short Answer

1. Tamlin saves Feyre when she is attacked by the naga, alerting Feyre that the “High Lord” believes she is worth saving. Her affection continues to grow when he takes her to the pool of starlight and later bites her neck after Calanmai, sparking sexual attraction. (Various chapters)

2. Calanmai (also known as the “Great Rite”) is a fire night festival where the High Lord of the Spring Court (“hunter”) has relations with a chosen mate (“maiden”) via magical influence. (Chapter 20)

3. When Tamlin is under the influence of magic, he bites Feyre in a sexual manner without her consent. The next day, though he initially does not take the blame, Tamlin apologizes to Feyre for violating her bodily rights. (Chapters 21 and 22)

4. Behind the wall in the human lands, Feyre is taught that fae cannot lie and are repelled by iron. However, it is revealed that fae can lie (they are often masters of verbal manipulation) and only ash can harm them, not steel. (Chapter 16)

CHAPTERS 23-31

Reading Check

1. The head of a fae on a stick (Chapter 24)

2. Amarantha (Chapter 26)

3. Clare Beddor (Chapter 26)

Short Answer

1. Tamlin believes that Feyre is no longer safe in his home and would be better off with her family. Despite his love for her, he sacrifices his feelings to make sure she is free from harm. (Chapter 28)

2. Feyre is under the expectation that her sisters and father were glamoured to forget how Tamlin took her. However, due to Nesta’s acute self-awareness and steel demeanor, she is able to see past the glamour and remembers that she tried to save Feyre by traveling to the wall, to no avail. (Chapter 30)

3. Clare Beddor’s home is burned to the ground, and she and her family are killed. Feyre is overcome by guilt and believes Clare’s death is her fault because she gave Clare’s name to Rhysand instead of her own. She decides to go back to Prythian to make things right. (Chapter 31)

CHAPTERS 32-38

Reading Check

1. Jurian’s eye (Chapter 34)

2. A worm (Chapter 36)

3. He heals her wounds and fever. (Chapter 37)

Short Answer

1. Amarantha lusted after Tamlin, but he refused her advances. As punishment, Amarantha cursed Tamlin and his court, forcing them all to wear the animal masks for eternity if he does not find a fae-hating human to love him within 50 years. (Chapter 32)

2. Feyre must solve and survive three separate tasks created by Amarantha in order to free Tamlin and prove her love. However, if she is able to solve a riddle she is later given, this would also set Tamlin free. (Chapter 34)

3. Rhysand is initially introduced as an antagonistic character. While he continues with this tone, he heals Feyre and helps her complete unjust chores, demonstrating noble characteristics. (Chapter 37)

CHAPTERS 39-46

Reading Check

1. Drink drugged wine and dance suggestively (Chapter 39)

2. He uses his psychic abilities to tell her the correct level with his mind. (Chapter 40)

3. Kill two innocent fae and Tamlin (Chapter 43)

4. Love (Chapter 44)

Short Answer

1. Rhysand forces Feyre to dress suggestively and dance in a drugged condition in order to enrage Tamlin into eventually killing Amarantha. Conversely, Rhysand does not touch her inappropriately throughout the nights Under the Mountain. (Various chapters)

2. Amarantha lusted after Tamlin and was angered with Rhysand’s father, who murdered Tamlin’s father and brothers. Furthermore, they were her allies, and it affected her political strength. (Chapter 42)

3. When Tamlin was cursed, Amarantha also turned his heart to stone. Feyre, realizing this, is able to stab him in the heart without killing him. (Chapter 43)

4. The High Fae of the various courts each contribute a small piece of their life force and power to Feyre’s body, sacrificing parts of themselves for Tamlin’s love and as a demonstration of appreciation to Feyre for ending the blight. (Chapter 46)