A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas

Hey there, fellow book lovers!

I have finally finished A Court of Mist and Fury and oh my God, I have so many things I need to discuss with you guys! I thought that the first book was good, but this one… this one is so much better. This book hooked me in, line and sinker, and now I want to become Fae and be a permanent resident of the secret city of Velaris, and become a member of the bad-ass Night Court.

I was so impressed about how this story started out as a re-telling of one of my favourite fairy tales, and then turned into an epic fae tale with steamy romance, great fight scenes, betrayal, awesome characters (and even more awesome character growth), and a dark world that you never want to leave. There are some things that I was a bit sceptical about and that I felt could have been better executed, but those didn’t make too much of an impact on my overall impression and opinion about the book.

“He thinks he’ll be remembered as the villain in the story. But I forgot to tell him that the villain is usually the person who locks up the maiden and throws away the key. He was the one who let me out”.

Blurb (Goodreads): Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be the key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

WARNING – SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Thoughts

World-Building – This story is so much more than a unique re-telling… it’s this whole new world that I would love to live in. Unfortunately, most of the Courts are very similar to what is normally seen in other monarchies – they’re misogynistic, constricting, and rely heavily on tradition. That is, besides the Night Court, which is on a whole other level. We get to see more Courts, new and terrifying creatures, and an intricate and complex political system. I was happy to see that the Courts themselves were still recuperating, and that relations between the Courts were still tense, and in some cases, quite fragile. Velaris is my favourite city and the Night Court is my new favourite place. The Fae may be seen as ruthless and cruel, but not all of them are, and you never really know who you can trust.

Plot – The overall story was quite thrilling. There was a good balance between the action and the more introspective parts of the book, and the fact that we got to see what happened after the “happily ever after” in the first book gave more of a realistic feeling to the story. Nothing is as it seems and remains that way throughout the book. There were some twists which I never saw coming (NESTA AND ELAIN ARE FAE NOW OMG), and some that were predictable, but still made the story enjoyable. Feyre’s powers being the key to saving everyone, human and Fae alike, from the imminent threat of King Hybern, was one of them; but the fact that she struggled to control these powers made me eager to continue and find out what happens. There were times when the pace dragged a little bit, as the focus shifted to the developing feelings between Rhysand and Feyre, and the other subplots (including the oh-so dangerous threat that was going to destroy them all) became stagnant. But when that subplot was settled, the pace picked up and things got very intense, very quickly! Elain being Lucien’s mate felt incredibly random, and did not make much sense to me, but in hindsight I can see why that was put in. Besides those minor inconveniences, however, a much better plot than the first book.

Characters – We see different sides and aspects of the main characters introduced in the first book and are introduced to great, new characters in this one.

Feyre turns into such a badass in the book. She crawls her way back from feeling like nothing to be a god-damn HIGH LADY, the first one ever in the history of the Fae, with powers from all the Courts. If that is not empowering, I don’t know what the hell is. I love how inquisitive and sassy she is, and strong. She really comes into her own and leaves everyone else trailing in her dust, but not without a few bumps in the road (no thanks to Tamlin).

Nesta’s and Elain’s (Feyre’s sisters) greater involvement in the second book, and the mix between the real and Fae world, also made Feyre’s character development more complex. She struggles to come to terms with her fate as a Fae in the beginning but learns to accept it.

Rhysand is a babe (I ADORE HIM AND I JUST TO HUG HIM ALL THE TIME) – I don’t know how you cannot love him after you read the second book. He sacrificed so much and is also so loyal towards those he loves and his dreams. I love that he’s also a trickster, and very mischievous. He seemed like such a bad boy in the first book, but he isn’t at all! That’s just how he wants to be seen.

The romance between Rhysand and Feyre took a long time to happen, to the point where it just got so frustrating and I had to put the book down because of it. Granted, at some point I just sped through the book to get to the flirty scenes (as well as their explicit love scenes because I’m a sucker for smut) like Winnie the Pooh with a jar of honey, and I loved every minute of it. I needed to see them get together! They push and challenge each other, and they bring out the best in each other.

Mor, Amren, Azriel and Cassian are new and amazing characters and I love them all. They encompass what the real Night Court is really all about in their own unique ways, and none of them blend into the background.

Tamlin is just… well… I REALLY don’t like him anymore. Some of his unhealthy behaviour was even hinted at in the first book, but I didn’t realize it until it was referred to by Feyre in this one, which is a little troubling, but makes it all the more real in a holy-shit-how-did-I-not-see-that way. It was there, but it was romanticized. He’s possessive, jealous, and so disrespectful towards Feyre and her trauma. The fact that Feyre was screaming into the void for someone to save her from being married to him ON THEIR WEDDING DAY clearly shows that they were never meant to get that far.

I also lost some respect for Lucien as he could have helped Feyre or talked some sense into Tamlin, but the fact that he just let Tamlin make Feyre miserable irked the hell out of me and didn’t make sense to me. Whatever backbone Lucien had, was gone in the second book.

And the other villains don’t deserve any attention. (You’ll find out why when you read the book  )
Rating: 4/5 stars

“No one was my master— but I might be master of everything, if I wished. If I dared.”

That’s it from me today! I hope y’all enjoyed my rambling about this book. I really enjoyed reading it and experiencing this new world!

If you’ve already read it, do you agree with my thoughts? Let’s discuss below!

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