A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2) by Sarah J. Maas
Genres: NA, Fantasy
Pages: 640
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 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.
I finally read A Court of Mist and Fury and I have some thoughts.
Quick background: I was actually not a huge fan of A Court of Thorns and Roses. Unfortunately, I read it at a time when I didn’t bother reviewing books GASP! Yeah, I didn’t really review books all that often prior to having a blog. So, with that said, I can’t actually pinpoint why I didn’t like ACOTAR as much as other people. Either way, I went in with low expectations for A Court of Mist and Fury. Below are my thoughts.
Some foul language ahead.
AND LOTS AND LOTS OF SPOILERS!!
“By the cauldron,” I snarled.
Literally, my first note while reading was “oh yeah, I forgot how annoying this crap was”.
- I hate the ‘by the cauldron’ thing. I get that it’s supposed to be a saying relevant to the world, but it always got on my nerves. It was uncomfortable on the lips. It wasn’t a phrase that rolled off the tongue like ‘oh my God‘. I cringed every time it was used.
- Why is there so much snarling? I wish I would have counted how many times this was used because I remember that being something that irritated me in ACOTAR. Everyone fucking snarls at each other. Instead of using “he said” it’s “he snarled”. At first, I thought it was just a Tamlin thing because of his shapeshifting, but nope, other characters did it too. It annoyed me so much.
Where is the plot, yo? Oh, right, sexual tension.
No, seriously. The plot was so thin. This book is the perfect example of why sometimes I hate sequels because they feel like fillers in a series. And this one is over 600 god damn pages.
It is more sexual tension than anything else. Here is what I feel happened:
- Feyre goes to Rhysand. Rhysand makes her part of his inner circle.
- Feyre sits around and waits while everyone else plans some big infiltration of Hybern that you get no details of.
- While she waits, she has some sexual tension at a horny-50-year-old-single-woman-who-lost-her-vibrator level.
- They go to Hybern, executing a plan Feyre wasn’t involved in creating and are outta there in 15 minutes.
Hmmm….yeah, no. The beginning was incredibly slow until she finally goes with Rhysand, where it speeds up a little, but then it just turns into that.
Also, the sex scenes are definitely not Young Adult. I’m not saying that young adults can’t read this, but for a YA, the sex scenes were nowhere near what is usually contained in YA and should have been classified as either NA or “for older YA readers” just in case. Not everyone wants to read such detailed sex scenes in a YA fantasy.
I need more water wolves
This kind of goes with the point above, but I wanted to give it its own section. When we finally get to see Feyre use her powers to defend people in Velaris, it’s less than a chapter. Less than a page for her water wolves. LESS. THAN. A. PAGE. As previously stated, this book is over 600 pages. If there isn’t at least three damn chapters about her using her powers in full force, what the fuck are we reading the other 595+ pages?
Then, the last battle all she does is this weird white light thing. Really, with all of your powers, literally a portion of power from every single high lord, and all you can come up with is a bright white light then cowering to Tamlin to save your friends?
No. Just. No.
Oh, and hi Jacob and Renesmee…oh no…I mean Lucien and Elaine.
Tamlin v Rhysand
This seems to be the biggest disagreement where this book is concerned. I’ve seen fights on social media over these dudes. So, why not put in my two cents?
Tamlin wasn’t my favorite love interest in ACOTAR and in this one he just creeped me out. Tamlin and Feyre had such a father-daughter type relationship that it was awkward to read. I understand he wanted to protect her but it got a bit ridiculous when she was asking for permission and he basically grounded her. I can’t get on the Tamlin train.
Rhysand is obviously the better choice to me. He actually gives her freedom and the right to choose what she wants to do. I do find that Feyre overreacts about his omission about them being mates. However, she redeems herself by realizing she’s doing just that, overreacting.
The ending, really bro?
WE DON’T EVEN GET TO EXPERIENCE THEIR CEREMONY.
WE GET THE DETAILS AS A GOD DAMN PROLOGUE TYPE CHAPTER.
THEN SHES BACK WITH TAMLIN.
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
And yet, I liked it
Personally, once I realized that this is basically a romance and not a fantasy adventure, I came to terms with it. It’s an excellent romance, but I don’t think it can even compare to some of the more action-packed fantasies out there that still contain romance. i.e. The Grisha Trilogy, The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder and Scarlet, specifically), The 5th Wave trilogy, The Young Elites, Legend etc.
I wish there was more plot to fill the pages, though. For a 600+ book to be mainly a romance is a bit discouraging. Do I want to even bother with the next book? I don’t know because I really don’t want to read about her with Tamlin again.
| Rating Report | |
|---|---|
| Plot | |
| Characters | |
| Writing | |
| World Building | |
| Romance | |
| Overall: | 3.5 / 5 |
17 Comments
“While she waits, she has some sexual tension at a horny-50-year-old-single-woman-who-lost-her-vibrator level.”
I’m laughing so hard, omg.
hahahahahah >.< I'm glad you appreciated that part lolol
THIS. I completely agree. I just wished there was more plot and less focus on the romance. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
Yeah! I really wanted to have more of Feyre using her powers! That was so disappointing 🙁 Also, thank you <3
Too much snarling, lol. I love it when an author decides they love a certain phrase and use it to death. Ugh. And I won’t touch the sexual tension comments- ha ha. But I did laugh. Sounds ridiculous. 🙂
Tamlin sounds like a creepazoid but I haven’t read these so I can’t say. I do see a lot of debate on this book though. 🙂 Fun review.
They all snarl! It is frustrating when there is a repeated phrase over and over.
There is a ton of debate on this series. I guess now its going to be an eight book series….I don’t know if its worth it for you to check it out ha
ACOMAF is classified as NA, but I think because Maas has written YA in the past and has YA fans, it’s gotten lumped in, but it’s absolutely NA. It’s like how Vicious is an adult novel but lots of YA fans end up reading it because that author has written popular YA books. Cause those sex scenes are definitely not for YA genre lol
I agree with hating the by the cauldron thing. It was like hating all the slang in Maze Runner, but I endured it. But definitely this series is not about plot. I think after the first book I realized that, and in reading this one it’s even more obvious. It’s a romance first. I mean, nothing really happens plot wise. They spend the entire book on a mission that lasts all of 15 minutes like you said.
Yeah, some people have told me its classified as NA…but its still in the YA section of the book store and online. There should be something that gives people a heads up. I mean, I don’t care about the more mature scenes, but sometimes people don’t want to read that and thats why they’re reading a certain genre, you know? So there should be something to give the reader, just a little FYI haha
YES. The slang in The Maze Runner! Like, I get that its to create this world, but it gets SO annoying hahah & yeah, I think thats why I didn’t really enjoy ACOTAR — the lack of a real plot. I love good romances, but if i’m picking up something classified as fantasy and its 600+ pages, i want more than just romance lol
Aaah it’s a shame you had such mixed feelings! Glad you enjoyed it to some extent though. I’m hoping there’s more action in the way of Feyre’s powers in the next book – like you said, there’s not really any in this one considering its size!
Yes, I really hope we get to see more of her powers! I was looking forward to that SO much but was so let down by it. * sigh *
You’re the only person I know who didn’t love this and it makes me so sad!! I understand your points though! I definitely agree about Tamlin. I was never #teamtamlin, but I didn’t hate him either. I was kind of reserving judgment until I read book two. I agree about the sex scenes, but I actually think this is an NA book. People just assume it’s YA because Maas wrote it. 😉 Did you hear that this is going to be an EIGHT book series now?? Are you planning to see it through to the end? Great spoilery post!
Tracy @ Cornerfolds
hahah I liked & didn’t like. IDK its so hard to explain. >..<
Loved your review, Molly! 🙂 I only read half of the first book, and I had planned to go back to it eventually, but EIGHT books?! Yeesh. I got mad when I say this in the teen section at the store, too. It’s rather misleading. I know my 15 year old daughter doesn’t like reading about that kind of content. Wish there was some kind of warning like there is for movies/tv shows. Ah well. Lol.
RIGHT!?!?! Eight books is too much.
Also, I agree. People are saying that “it’s not YA, it NA” but when you look inside it says “juvenile fiction” and it is placed in the YA section of bookstores. So regardless of what the author says, if you don’t follow her on social media, you’ll go to the store and assume its for teens. And those sex scenes are….questionable for younger teens haha
OH MAN! I absolutely ABSOLUTELY fell in love with this book. I didn’t like ACOTAR like you, but I do love the TOG series, so I decided to read ACOMAF! I guess I wasn’t expecting much, but I did fall SO IN LOVE. I shipped neither Rhys or Tamlin with Feyre at the end of book 1 but RHYS OMG!
I’m so sad that you didn’t like the book. I do hope you pick up three and fall for that one’)
Great review!
I mean, I liked it and didn’t like it. I wanted a little more magic and kickassery from Feyre. I feel like she just sat there most of the book lol. I’ll most likely continue with the next one, but I probably won’t be in too much of a hurry to read it when it comes out lol
Haha I never realised, but there IS a lot of snarling isn’t there?
Arghh I agree about the fact that the plot was hardly there. It was all dialogue and thinking about ripping clothes off of each other, blah blah blah. I was bored through those moments, I wanted more story and more plot. Not a lot happened!
It was kind of annoying when you find out at the end they had a secret wedding, but the ‘OMG WHAT?!’ factor was awesome. I wonder if they’ll have a second ceremony with their friends later?…