A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses)

OMG OMG OMG - I can not with this book. I started as I was going to bed and fought sleep because I could not put it down. I’ve been through every wringer of emotion - all the highs and lows and screamed with joy and pain through it all. This book is amazing!!!! It thought I felt it all with ACOTAR but this took me to a whole other level and oh lord - I don’t know what to feel anymore! What are feelings compared to the bond of a mate? This book picks up straight after the conclusion of ACOTAR. It’s all about hoe the Hero deals with the aftermath of a winning by any means necessary. The trauma of abuse and pain and survivor’s guilt. What happens when the hero has crippling nightmares and can’t get past the trauma and abuse they suffered? What happens when the act of winning changes you irrevocably and makes you a different person? How will it test your relationships and your view of the world? SJM is brilliant in how she draws you in and build the characters. I loved the development of the relationships in this book. I kept fighting sleep as I waited and waited for the culmination of this central storyline and next thing I knew it was 9.30am and my eyes literally wouldn’t stay open. This is an absolutely breathtaking to an already epic tale and I’m racing to the next book.

Having survived the terrifying ordeal she went through Under the Mountain, Feyre is now safely returned with Tamlin to the Spring Court. Yet she is unalterably changed, and not just because she is now Fae. Night after night she relives the horrors of what she went through, an emptiness gnawing away at her, guilt at the blood on her hands consuming her. Will Feyre be able to find her way out of the darkness? I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series and was eager to see how the story continued in this one, and was glad to find that I wasn't disappointed. Maas' world-building steps up in this second volume, and where the first was very much a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, threaded together with this story of the Fae, I thought A Court of Mist and Fury very much had its own identity and lore. That being said, there were still elements of mythology entwined in to Maas' tale, the story this time loosely based on that of Hades and Persephone, and I enjoyed this nod to the Greek myth. I liked that we got to see much more of Prythian and some of the other Courts, specifically the Night Court, which was depicted so vividly. The scale of the story seemed larger too, and there were a whole host of new colourful characters introduced in this second book. Indeed, I think the characterisation was probably the best thing about the book. Beginning with our lead character, Feyre may now be High Fae, but Maas depicts her as humanely as ever. I thought it was really to her credit that she shows the impact of events that transpired at the end of the last book on Feyre, and that despite a seemingly 'happy ever after ending,' the horrors of those events are enduring. Not only has Feyre changed because of what she went through, but so too has Tamlin, and because both are struggling with their own separate traumas and neither can communicate it well to the other, the impact is also seen upon their relationship. I commented in my review of the last book that I felt in the last section, the bond between Feyre and Rhysand almost seemed to eclipse that of Feyre and Tamlin, though given the overall time spent developing the latter relationship in that book, it was still the one I was more invested in as a reader. I did wonder at how the relationship dynamic between the three would be developed in this book, however, I actually feel it wasn't even a question of that in the end. For me there was no love triangle in this story, rather Maas explores the now changed relationship between Feyre and Tamlin, a relationship that has become unhealthy and which breaks because they are no longer compatible. Through the course of the book Maas allows Feyre to grieve for what she has lost with Tamlin and come to a slow acceptance of it, even as she begins to find herself drawn towards Rhysand. I have read in others reviews quite a lot of cr...

I don't know where to start from with this review. After finishing this book, my feelings and my thoughts were literally all over the place. And, I finally knew for certain that I did the right thing by stalling in starting to read this book until my exams had passed. Because, when I started it, oh boy, I just never seemed able to put it down. Like, ever. Again. Ahh. Anyway, I should probably stop rambling and start a proper review. I would like to begin from a comparison with the first book in the series, ACOTAR*. This book, I really didn't care for it for about the first 200 pages, as I explained in my review of it. And, I wasn't entirely at fault there, if I say so myself, because, honestly, it was like a prologue to the whole epic-ness that followed in ACOMAF**. Like, literally the lengthiest prologue I've ever read, but still. The thing is that I didn't particularly care for almost anything for the biggest part of the book, and what bugged me the most, was that I did not really care for the protagonist, Feyre. When that happens, I find it really hard to love a book. In fact, I only really liked Tamlin. I might even say I loved him and found him utterly adorable. Oh boy, was I wrong... oh boy... ACOMAF came and just flipped my whole world around. And, trust me, I had seen how much everyone raved about Tamlin, and Rhysand, and Feyre (I mean, ACOWAR*** and even ACOFAS**** are even out, and I just finished the second book, so...). So, I was already suspicious that something is going to happen, and I was extra ready to defend Tamlin and protest against anything that attempts to prove my feelings for characters wrong. I am not sure as to whether the following could count as spoilers, as I detail a bit the beginning, but it might spoil an important aspect of Feyre's romantic relationships, so proceed with caution! I realized something was wrong between my previous couple, Tamlin and Feyre, right from the very first pages (if not the very first lines). When the heroine woke up in the middle of the night to vomit, after another horrible nightmare, and noticed that Tamlin did not even stir, even if she was not certain that he was asleep. When similar behaviour continued, where they just shoved everything under the rug and refused to acknowledge their individual, as well as interpersonal, problems, I knew that this relationship was doomed. Any similar relationship would be, not jut Tamlin and Feyre's but just saying. And then... then... So many conflicted feelings, so much inner turmoil, so many questions about everyone's behaviours and motivations, and mostly? So. Much. Adorableness! And, well, sexiness, too. And, I won't even talk about Velaris and the fact that I felt my heart being ripped out and then put back into its place at the end... I really really do not want ...

I love this book! The young women who read this book should pay very close attention to the difference between the love that Rhys has for Fayre and the "love" Tamlin has for her. Too many young women today think that a jealous and controlling man just loves her too much. Tamlin's "love" is selfish, controlling, and unhealthy He does what he thinks is best for her (never listening to her needs); he becomes violent when he is angry, but he always apologizes after (like that makes it okay); he compromises his own people to take her back to his estate against her will. He doesn't care that she doesn't want to go with him; he doesn't care that she is mated to Rhys; he doesn't care about anything except possessing her. This is not love, this is obsession. Contrast this type of love with the love that Rhysand gives her. He places her happiness always above his own. He is willing to be her partner in life, not the controller of her life. He urges her to make her own decisions, and he supports her in every decision that she makes. They walk side -by-side, neither trying to control the other. This is love.

I’m in grad school now and I don’t get much time for leisure reading, but this book has reminded me of why I love Young Adult fantasy…and then some. I didn’t read it just once, I read it TWICE because it was just that satisfying. In ACOMAF, we see Feyre faced with the shattered pieces of her heart and identity caused by what was done to her as well as by the decisions she made while “Under the Mountain” (in ACOTAR). Maas does an excellent job developing Feyre’s character in a believable way – one that worked really well with the storyline. Throughout the book, the reader goes on an emotional journey with Feyre as she grows into her power and demonstrates strength that comes from respecting herself and what she is now (a pretty damn strong High Fae) – an excellent thing for any young woman to read. I was also SO excited to see the twist on the Hades/Persephone-like plot (Rhysand/Feyre) that Maas weaved in there, not to mention the introduction of a pretty epic team fighting the bad guys together. Maas also does an excellent job in expanding the universe of this book. In summary, ACOMAF is emotionally charged, touching, and serious, but it is also funny and wildly entertaining. The ending leads me to believe that there will be a pretty IMPRESSIVE conclusion to the trilogy. Note to the parents: This book can get pretty steamy/descriptive in terms of romantic scenes. (I’m just alerting you if you are very cautious about the types of books/scenes you want your kids to read given their age range.) If it helps, I feel like the author was very purposeful in including those scenes, and if anything, I think things are described in a way that is healthier than what’s in a lot of teen fiction nowadays (ie: destructive relationships).