Review: A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J Maas

SPOILERS AHEAD

My rating: 4.5/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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.

My thoughts

I couldn’t write this review without spoilers so that I can fully explain my points of view.

If you haven’t read my review for A Court of Thorns and Roses (the first in this series), just know that I absolutely loved it. Because I loved ACOTAR so much, I think this is where my small problems lie with this novel as the second in the series.

The novel starts three months after the end of ACOTAR and you can tell how much being Under the Mountain had affected Feyre. She had no fight left in her and I was disappointed because she wasn’t the fierce and strong character that we had left behind. As much as I understood that as a character she shouldn’t be expected to be the same after her ordeal, it made the novel harder to get into as I was annoyed at Feyre’s lack of fight.

Once Rhysand came into the novel the whole dynamic changed for the better and it became a much easier read. Feyre’s fight came back and she ended the novel being the same powerful character from ACOTAR. I was rooting for the two of them even from their first meet in ACOTAR, Rhysand is my favourite kind of character and an enemies to lovers romance is my favourite romance trope. Their romance was so well written without being cheesy and I enjoyed every moment reading about it.

Rhysand’s character was extremely well written and I loved him instantly. In fact, all of the new characters that were introduced throughout this novel were dynamic and rich with unique characteristics. The characterisation throughout this series so far has been something of a marvel, however, I struggled with Tamlin. Tamlin’s character had such a turn from the first novel to the second that I was left confused. It was roughly explained and yet for me it felt like it was almost an easy way out from Sarah J Maas; it seemed it was almost too easy for Feyre to pick Rhysand.

All in all, I really enjoyed this novel. It has been the longest book that I have read in a while and yet I was never bored. The pace was well matched for the length of the novel and the new characters were brilliant additions to the world. However, I struggled with the change from the first novel to the second. The changes seemed to almost come from nowhere and I would have liked some more explanation so that it didn’t just feel like something that was done for convenience.

Overall, I would still highly recommend reading this novel if you loved ACOTAR. A Court of Mist and Fury is still an excellent book with some amazing characters that you will fall in love with instantly. The romantic elements to this novel were very well written but I can see why this should not be marketed towards Young Adult audiences.