A Court of Mist and Fury

Wow, this was totally amazing! Sarah Maas is a savant at world-building. I loved the intricacy that went into her expanding on our knowledge of the various courts, deepening the conflict, and building relationships between the characters. I ate up every word of her writing and absolutely loved it.

I especially loved learning about the Illyrians and their culture as well as the Night Court. Sarah Maas really has created an entire fabulous world that you can imagine yourself walking around in, tasting, hearing. It's just fantastic.

The relationships... this book has turned me into a Rhys/Feyre shipper. I love how slowly the relationship came on, and how much of a friendship it was at first, much more so than Feyre ever had with Tamlin. show more The slow revealing of Rhys' feelings and his motivations from previous actions was delicately timed and by the time they came together, it simply felt inevitable, like the two of them were made to be with each other. I still feel sorry for Tamlin, even though I believe he acted badly. But I pity him for what he went through in ACOTAR and the PTSD that would have surely followed. show less

Feyre can't sleep or eat since her horrific experience Under the Mountain where she defeated Amarantha, died, and resurrected as a High Fae. Her new state as an immortal with unknown power doesn't do anything to help since she no longer knows her own body or abilities. She tries to help Tamlin, who is almost as emotionally broken as she is, but he shuts her out again and again for her own protection. Time and time again, others in the Spring Court tell her to get in line and blindly obey even though her mental and physical state deteriorate daily. When Tamlin literally locks in her in the house with magic, Feyre loses herself in her powers until takes her to his realm, the Night Court. Their bargain to spend a week with him every month show more also interrupted Tamlin and Feyre's wedding, but this was an answer to her distress. Is Rhysand more than the depraved, arrogant High Lord that he appears to be? How serious is the incoming war and what can Feyre do to stop it?

Feyre starts out the novel as a shell of her former self, tormented by traumatizing memories of Amarantha and her minions. Every night, she wakes up terrified and sick to her stomach. Over months, her body is hallow and thin while her mind is tortured. Her relationship with Tamlin suffers because of her insistence on being free to go where she wants and being involved with every aspect of ruling, not just the parts Tamlin deems appropriate. I loved Tamlin's character in the last book, but his actions in this one are horrible. He slowly shows his true colors as an abusive person when he consistently refuses to allow her to have freedom of almost any kind. I understand his reasoning to make the tough decisions in order to keep her safe, but he treats her like an object instead of as an equal. His entire court falls in line behind him, making Feyre even more physically and emotionally broken with no one to even confide to except Rhysand. All of them tell her to simply follow orders to make Tamlin look powerful instead of doing what would be benefit her in any way.

Rhysand is arrogant and infuriating, but hides his dreams of a world where all elves and humans live in harmony. His past is full of trauma, violence, and abuse, but he never let it break him or turn him into a monster. His Nightmare Court of atrocities and sadism is a front to hide his idyllic city Velaris, where the people have been hidden safe for thousands of years and cultivated a society of art and music. He accepts his reputation as cruel and monstrous in order to preserve something truly good. Rhys holds Feyre to their bargain to save her from her wedding day, taking the time to teach her to read and how to protect herself from mental attacks. He's the first person to treat her like a person and teach her useful things even knowing she would report everything to Tamlin. When he saves Feyre a second time, he asks only that she keep his secrets about the city and his movements. She can do what she likes with no ultimatums or demands. Tamlin's treatment of her contrasts starkly as abusive, selfish, and thoughtless. Feyre starts to heal both physically and mentally, slowly learning how to harness her unpredictable new powers. She gains her agency back and helps with the fight against the King of Hybern, just as she always wanted.

A Court of Mist and Fury is just as addicting as its predecessor and even better. The world is explored beyond Tamlin's Spring Court and Under the Mountain. We see the beautiful Summer Court, the human world from a different perspective plus the powerful queens, Velaris, the actual Nightmare Court, and even the castle of Hybern. Feyre, Rhysand, and Tamlin are all much different than they were in the first book both due to events and changes in perspective. Much of the past is dredged up to show why Rhys and Tamlin hate each other so much and how Rhys came to be surrounded by his band of trusted friends, most rejected by their own homes and families. His confidants are a whole new cast of characters that I grew to know and love. They trust each other completely, but aren't afraid to call each other out when one is out of control or making the wrong decisions, another stark contrast to Tamlin's Court. The ending had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't believe what happened. I'm glad I waited so long to read it because the third book is out in about a month and I need to know what happens! show less

Unlike quite a few people, I actually enjoyed the first book of this series so I was expecting quite a lot from this book. Let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. In fact, as much as I enjoyed the first, it far surpasses it. I'm going to try to keep this as spoiler free as possible but I can't promise there won't be small things so read with caution.

1. Characters -
Tamlin - I'm starting with Tamlin because I like next to nothing about his character. From the first book to this one the way we are supposed to view his character changes drastically which is kind of hard to take in. I understand that people change but the changes to his character felt more drastic than normal, but then again, I've never gone through what he did so maybe show more it is normal. Some changes and choices he made did actually make sense but then something else would come along and ruin that. I can kind of see how most of the changes in his character could theoretically happen but they still seem like a jump. His character is thoroughly mistreated throughout most of the book because we are supposed to hate him now so he gets all the evil traits and choices. Luckily I never really liked his character anyway.

Rhysand - Another character with quite the personality jump from the first book to this one. His changes make sense to me though, everything that changed has a reason that I understood and could see actually happening. Much like Tamlin, my views on him didn't change much between books. I didn't like Tamlin in either book and I liked Rhys is both. The fact that I liked him from the beginning probably colors my of him a bit but regardless, I really really like Rhys. I think one of the main reasons I like him is that he's fun. He jokes around and banters with people in a way that I personally really enjoyed. I understand why people would be annoyed or mad about some the changes in his character but I seem to be a sucker for characters like him. His whole bad boy persona is a facade to protect him and his people, you find out pretty early on that he's really nothing like that which made some people angry but apparently I like characters like that. Basically I can understand why some people would be disappointed in him but I love Rhys.

Feyre - Feyre, in my opinion, grows a lot in this book. Her changes between this book and the first seem the most natural to me. I really enjoyed reading about her character development and seeing her grow throughout the book. Her depression wasn't downplayed and made sense, her relationship with Rhys grew pretty naturally, her reactions to Tamlin seemed normal to me (regardless of whether his actions were normal or not), she grew stronger mentally and physically throughout the book, and I just thought her character was well written. I really enjoyed reading about her and really liked her as the main character.

Minor Characters - I'm going to group these together not because I couldn't tell them apart but because I really enjoyed the vast majority of the minor characters. At no point did I mix any of them up or get confused by them which is saying something because I mix up characters a lot. I thought each was unique and brought something to the table in the story and to my reading experience. I thought that they were pretty fleshed out for minor characters and I was genuinely interested and invested in their characters.

2. Plot - I think that a lot of this story was dedicated to developing characters rather than a solid plot. There was a plot the whole time but it seemed to not be the focus of the book until toward the end of the book which was okay with me because I really enjoyed reading about the characters, but if you don't like that you probably won't like this. There were multiple plots throughout the story that got resolved and the main plot and action didn't happen until toward the end. Now just because they weren't the main plot or the main focus of some of the book doesn't mean I didn't like them. I actually liked all the small plot lines that happened. The main story toward the end of the book was a little hard to keep up with but once I wrapped my head around it (completely my own fault for being terrible at being able to follow a story) I really enjoyed it and liked the action. I do wish there had been a little more action though. Overall I really enjoyed the plot, I just wish they had gotten to the main plot a little earlier.

3. Romance - Let me start off by agreeing with everyone saying that they don't like how the author writes sex scenes. Not only that, but they're pretty dang graphic for the targeted age group. Luckily there was less than the first book and I thought they were slightly better written. I thought that the romance and the plot were pretty well woven together so that neither one fought for attention over the other, there was a good mix. I also really liked the pacing of the romance. It was great that there wasn't really a love triangle in this, that was refreshing. Instead we got to see Feyre move on and grow from her previous relationship and then move into a new one fairly naturally for the circumstances (again regardless of how the character of Tamlin was handled). I enjoyed the romance in this one more than in the first but again, that could be slightly colored by me liking Rhys and not liking Tamlin.

Overall I really really enjoyed this book. I thought it was well written and I really liked watching Feyre grow. I loved the romance and I was really invested in the vast majority of the characters. I was really close to giving this 5 stars because I enjoyed myself so much while reading it but, I couldn't quite get there mostly because of the mistreatment of Tamlin (which really was unfair), the sex scenes, and the plot being slightly confusing. Other than that I loved this book and the author's writing style. I love that it's based on Hades and Persephone. I would recommend this book to almost anyone. I'll definitely be waiting for more in the series because the ending left me wanting more. Happy Reading! show less

Omgggggggg

I flew through the first book in this series in only a day or two, and immediately headed to the library to check out the sequel. It took me a bit more time to finish this one, closer to a week, in part because it's unfortunately more difficult to binge read during the week but mostly because the middle section of this book draaaaaaged. A Court of Misty and Fury did NOT need to be 625 pages long.

Excessive length aside, I had just as much fun reading this one as I did with A Court of Thorns and Roses. This book picks up only a few months after the events in its predecessor, but we missed a major event: Feyre and Tamlin are engaged! Then, at the couple's wedding, Rhys shows up to claim fulfillment of the bargain he struck with show more Feyre in the previous book.

I appreciated that Feyre seemed to be suffering from PTSD throughout the book. Fantasy authors tend to write these horrific battle scenes and place their characters front and center as the hero. That's fine, and a glorious battle is central to most fantasy books, but what about the aftermath? Maybe the closest fantasy authors get is letting their characters grieve over fallen comrades, but PTSD? Nah. It's like in these fantasy worlds, the psychological effects/aftermath are nonexistent.

Even in the first book, I liked Rhys more than Tamlin, but I was uncertain where Maas was going with the plot when Rhys swooped in to steal Feyre away from her own wedding. At first, I was annoyed that the sexual tension and romance came out of nowhere (okay, the sexual tension between Feyre and Rhys was definitely there in the first book). The romance between Feyre and Tamlin seemed to be a pretty solid plot point, and I was irked that Maas pulled a deus ex machina, creating a relationship between Feyre and Rhys where there wasn't a whisper of one before. But I was wrong. Maas takes us back through some choice moments in the first book and combs through them to show us that this new romance was already there. And it's always been there. For a long, long time. Sigh.

I really, really loved Feyre and Rhys' relationship and the end of this book JUST BROKE ME. Give me the next book right now.

As was the case with the first book, there were a few little things in this one that irritated me:
-The word "hissed" was almost on every page. Why can nobody just talk? Why is everyone always hissing at each other?
-There were two sex scenes, one in the beginning and one in the last 3/4 of the book, that were almost identical. Sorry, you expect me to believe that two different men (ahem, males) have the same procedural technique?

Regardless... why must the third book be checked out of my local library?! I need it NOW. show less

Nothing says love like trauma bonding with the High Lord of the Night Court who just wants to make sure you have eaten and know how to read.
Chapter 55 ladies and gentlemen.

I’m back…No I don’t DNF Series and yes, I kept reading this series because at this point…It’s way too fun to talk about and argue. However, it’s just simply not good. Again, this is getting 2 stars. (Note this took me 5 months to finish because I had to keep stopping to process. Also, this is me being nice).

Tamlin and Feyre have PTSD…I mean who wouldn’t? UTM was a very serious thing, but what failed them here is that Tamlin is trying too hard to take care of a court he needs to rebuild, handle his own issues, and attempt to live life. He does this…rather poorly. It doesn’t help that Feyre is also handling trauma rather poorly and refuses to do any form of communicating. This generates an overall toxic relationship show more between both. (Not that their relationship before UTM wasn’t already toxic.)

Queue Rhysand…I knew going in this was going to be some sort of fest to bend over backwards and make the “shadow daddy” love interest be Feyre’s love interest. What I didn’t expect was the miss handling of trauma where he suddenly cures her PTSD and most of her triggers in like a day. An example of this is that it’s shown over and over how red is a trigger. But the SECOND she goes to Velaris…it’s not anymore? Also, the fact that Tamlin offered to teach her how to read and write in the first book but nah…she can get it from Rhysand in the second? Aside from the retconning and trying to make us like Rhysand…quite the opposite happened for me. Rhysand was so triggering to me and honestly, I had to take so many breaks because of him.

But back to the PTSD...Feyre gets over it so fast because of like…love? No…and why is her PTSD more so than Tamlin’s? Why does he not get the same pass and care that she gets for trauma they both are struggling with? Why does Rhysand get a pass but not Tamlin?

(Do not take this the wrong way…I do not like Tamlin either!)

I hate that this book is portrayed as some strong female character. Feyre COULD easily be a very very strong female character if the author allowed her to be her own person. We see her jump from Tamlin and what he wants to being manipulated and molded by Rhysand. I want to see her OUTSIDE of a man.

I get this is a romantasy but if a FMC can’t hold a story without the MMC or without thinking about the MMC then it’s just not good for a strong case on feminism.

Rhysand’s trauma is valid. What is not valid is him being excused for what he did to Feyre and others UTM and the fact it is so glossed over because he was traumatized too is so sickening to me. Everything is always about HIM and honestly…I couldn’t stand it. Along with the fact of him offering choices that weren’t informed or actual choices to Feyre. That and the constant hiding things from her when she said no. OH! And yeah, he’s training her but when she says stop or no he keeps going…that is NOT okay. He would have been better if he was kept as a VILLIAN that she fell in love with. Not just a guy with a “villain mask” who is a good guy.

Moving on…the magic…how did a kernel of magic equate to her being uber powerful? How did she master all her abilities so quickly? With little training? Where’s the struggle? Why is she literally doing an act of war by stealing from someone who would be willing to help her? How is it she can literally shapeshift into a whole other person, and no one blinks an eye?

Anyways, in this book Feyre became a worse character than she was in ACOTAR. She was talking about being selfless, but then immediately turned around to be selfish and self-centered. She is all about instant gratification for HERSELF rather than others around her for the long run. (Yes, I am mad about her BREAKING IN to the Weaver’s place and STEALING from her because like…Rhysand said so and it’s a test for her magic, but also for her engagement ring and there was really no reason to do that.)

The way this book ignored the heart to heart the sisters had in the first book. I don’t even blame Nesta for being upset and Feyre absolutely put them at risk by going to the estate KNOWING humans in that area HATE the Fae. But oh doesn’t matter cause war and we’ll protect you…JK didn’t protect you AT ALL.

The ending was wild. Ianthe was trash from the beginning and proven to be trash at the end for giving up Feyre’s sisters like that. Jurian is just crazy. The King of Hybern doesn’t even get a name…still don’t get that seeing as how he’s clearly a prominent issue. Amarantha got a name so why not him? Anyways everything went to hell…and Feyre is just going to destroy the spring court because no one else is allowed to have PTSD, Trauma, Toxic handlings, EXCEPT for her and Rhysand…

Bite me. show less

In the wake of defeating Amarantha, Feyre has returned to the Spring Court as High Fae, but the trauma both she and Tamlin have suffered threatens to tear them apart from the inside. The only thing keeping Feyre from completely falling apart are her trips to the Night Court with Rhysand, where she slowly discovers who she is now that she has become Fae and the role she can play in this world where larger threats still loom.

Well, at the end of book two I'm now in the same place as my friend who convinced me to read this series: annoyed that I'm interested enough in what happens to keep reading. Maas' writing has its flaws (and I send snarky texts about them to my friend throughout) but she can put a solid plot together. Am I a hardcore show more fangirl for this series? Absolutely not. Will I keep reading the whole series? Probably. Will I be salty about it the whole time? Absolutely. show less