A Court of Mist and Fury 5⭐️/5
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2)
5⭐️/5
** spoiler alert ** ⚠️SPOILERS BELOW, DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS⚠️
ACOTAR was good. Really good! The last 100 pages? I couldn’t move fast enough! But A Court of Mist and Fury was where Sarah J. Maas found her stride, and I could barely keep up!
My biggest hurdle with the first book was the writing, it felt exploratory, but not in a way that kept me hooked until the end. For such a complex world with a long history, political strife, and truly horrifying creatures (The Attor? The Suriel? The Bogge?), we didn’t get to see much of it.
ACOMAF was the exact opposite. It was a masterclass in keeping the plot moving and immersing the reader in new worlds. Maas gifts her readers generous and dazzling descriptions of Velaris, the Summer Court, and more creating a dizzying and intoxicating reading experience. Not to mention the additional characters we meet in this installment are wholly their own people with complexity and were easy to love.
And then there’s Rhysand.
You can tell Maas enjoys Rhysand, which is why we do too. Tamlin is too archetypal to have depth, an almost Disney prince. He’s a character we already know, in both physicality and in spirit: the handsome, blonde prince with meadows and soft smiles. He is kind, but he is also weak.
Rhysand is a character all his own, invented for this world with flaws specific to his experiences that make him valuable and captivating. He is cunning, crafty, charming, and he wears his mask of wickedness and power well, which already gives him more acuity than any Legolas-knockoff.
Also, I was completely expecting a love-triangle and was NERVOUS because I knew Rhys became a bigger character in book two. But this series isn’t an interruption of Feyre and Tamlin’s story, this series is about Rhysand and Feyre, plain and simple. Their banter, sexual tension (the slowest of slow burns!) and scenes together were always electric and thrilling to read.
I think it’s worth noting that Maas really worked hard to not give Tamlin’s character a 180 and make him an easy target to become a cartoonish villain. She established Rhys and Feyre’s bond and chemistry early in book one, which was no accident. Tamlin was never our hero, and Feyre had amazing character development throughout this book that created a sturdy foundation for her to grow and see who she really was, and who she wanted standing beside her.
This book is the definition of reading for fun, for pure enjoyment and entertainment. It isn’t a literary masterpiece, but it was beautifully done and I get the hype!