Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - La Corte di Nebbia e Furia

This book is a stellar depiction of what it means to break, to be broken, to become different, and to learn to be loved in the midst of it. Of self actualization and growth. Of growing apart, growing together, and loving someone in a way that lets them have agency. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be tugged in another direction from the first book, but it worked so beautifully and hit many affective beats that I needed for it to work. It’s beautiful and I love it.

For gender nonconforming readers: the text uses “fe/male” as terms frequently enough to be annoying for me, and I expect to cause concern if that kind of language is squicky or triggering. It’s sometimes used where it doesn’t have to be as adjectival shorthand, but most often it’s a mechanism for differentiating between faeries (the way “man” and “woman” operate for humans in the text).

As for the sex scenes:

They were… fine, I guess. I understood them as walking a fine line between what’s acceptable in mainstream publishing and what might not be, so they alternate between vague and vaguely explicit, and are rather short. The mechanics of the sex are… interesting, for lack of a better term, in part because there’s a lot of heteronormative/heterosexual shorthand that allows for “vaguely explicit.” Good on Maas for calling a cock a cock, but I’ve read better and hotter scenes in fanfiction (and queer romance, for that matter, because it doesn’t/can’t depend on the same kinds of shorthand). People are very into Chapter 55 but I didn’t find it that mindblowing and there were some turns of phrase within that I raised an eyebrow at. Spicier scenes than ACoTaR for sure, which I liked, but I didn’t find that they lived up to the hype.

Content Warnings

abbybiegs's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

i absolutely loved this book. i felt every single emotion possible while reading it. i laughed, i teared up a little bit, i felt every emotion the characters felt. nothing could’ve prepared me for what this book offered. the way that this book connected and explained some of the plot points in the first book was literal genius. it made so much more sense! feyre’s character was so beautifully written, and her growth throughout the novel was unmatched! i truly enjoyed reading the entire book. i finished it within days because i just couldn’t put it down!!! (non-spoiler part) and don’t even get me started on the ending of the book. i had to take a breather outside when i finally finished it! absolutely phenomenal.

when tamlin and lucien walked out of the shadows at the kings castle… OH MY GOD!!!! i audibly screamed it was so unexpected for me. words can’t describe how much anger and hate i have towards tamlin for doing what he did, but i hope he redeems himself in future books. i hope everyone else felt the exact same way at that part as i did hahaha

Content Warnings