This was a re read with matured eyes and tastes and it was great in allowing me to really take in the story and see if i liked it for what it is or just because it was hyped at the time and now.

First up, its too long. There are some largely unnecessary bits namely at the end in regards to the trials that could have been omitted.
The trials themselves made no sense to be dragged out that long if Amarantha really wanted her dead. Why give her so many chances to save herself?

On the subject of Tamlin, the dude was useless and this is before the events of book 2. He bows to another man in his own house. No big dick energy there. He did nothing to try and save Feyre from the trials but did try to bang her one last time. Major loser points. And rather than fight for Feyre, he begs Amarantha like a lil bitch. Im sorry but there was just no alpha male tendencies going on for him to ever be endgame.

Feyre is a rare one in that she got less interesting the further we got into the book. Shes like a broken record stuck on lyrics that only talks about painting and colours and shit. The illiteracy aside which wasnt her fault, shes just not very smart or intuitive and too stubborn, always thinking she knows best.

Amarantha was useless. Other than raping Rhys for 50 years, i didnt understand how she held this much power over them if she still had to use them to control other faeries anyway. Yes, its explained, it just doesnt make real sense.

Overall, this first book is very tame but works well at setting up a world that readers want to visit. With hindsight this is obvious but by setting crumbs of courts and faeries beyond the wall, its a decent set up book even if the characters and plot themselves dont hold much weight.