A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Grade: B+
So I finally gave into the hype and decided to read A Court of Mist and Fury. I enjoyed this book. I really did. It was fast, it was entertaining and there’s good set up for the next book which I will definitely pick up. But I don’t get the overwhelming hype that surrounds this one.
There will be spoilers from A Court of Thorns and Roses:
We pick back up with Feyre at the Spring Court with Tamlin and suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. She’s broken the curse and now Feyre and the Fae are picking up with their lives. She also has to deal with the bond she forged with Rhysand (the most powerful High Lord that ever walked the land of course) to give him a week of her companionship every month.
It’s a deal that he definitely intends to keep and after rescuing Feyre from a sticky situation she winds up with him at his court, with his family, where she may very well be an intricate part in the war to come.
Like I said I did overall enjoy this. I appreciated the inclusion of Feyre’s (and well everyone’s) PTSD from everything that had happened to them. Feyre was a much better character this time around for me. She was trying to take control of her life and take a stand and that’s admirable. I also liked Rhys court for the most part.
But nothing was very surprising in the overall story. For me Rhysand goes from being a generally interesting character in the last book to a precious puppy dog in this one. Also (and this is just me) I kept seeing him as Tom Hiddleston as Loki. There’s an excuse for absolutely everything he does that paints him in a good light and it was just… Well, too much. Especially juxtaposed with Tamlin.
Tamlin and Lucien go full on ass. It seems in the beginning that Tamlin is also dealing with PTSD but then even in stuff about his past with Rhysand the author doesn’t seem to have a problem with painting him in the worst possible light and Rhysand in the best. It just felt like there was absolutely no shades of gray at in any way between the two at this point. Rhysand practically should have been sainted.
Plus, the so-called steaminess that some of my favorite Youtube people were hyperventilating over. Six hundred pages and I was like, “That’s it?” Probably the steamiest moment harkened back to a problem I had with Rhysand during the first novel where he basically puts Feyre on display for his own purposes. He has to do it of course. Not his fault and naturally she understands and they’re pretty much wild and groping each other in front of the entire court.
It was steamy. I found it steamy so I’m certainly not judging but it also felt off to me. Basically in both books it felt like they were saying it was okay for Feyre to be put on display and pretty much be all over her and all the rest of it to make Rhysand look powerful and of course she totally understands and is totally down with it.
Despite those issues I had with it the story did pull me in. I like enough of the supporting characters and this time around I even liked Feyre. I’ll definitely pick up the next one. I just think it’s a bit overhyped at this point and I will temper my expectations in the future.
Recommend: Yes.