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A review by erincaroline
The High Mountain Court by A.K. Mulford
2.0
Edited to say: Listen. Main point is, if you've read Sarah J Maas's TOG and ACOTAR series, you've already read this book. A majority of elements and even characters are copy-pasted from them and mashed together without the time/length for the developments to have impact like the originals. It's a fun read, but it's copycat central. I expand on this down in my original review below
This book could definitely have benefited from a better editor. A lot of repetition only a page or so after the first instance of something being stated. Some punctuation and tiny formatting issues that make someone like me twitch, but that seems to be more and more common lately, especially for smaller publishers.
But the main thing is it might have received a higher rating if it weren't for the fact that it directly copies multiple elements and plot points from ACOTAR and TOG. Not just general Fae things but very specific things from those series' versions of Fae worlds and important plot points and characters. Although a surprise or two were not-so-subtly hinted at consistently enough that, even if you haven't read either of those, you could probably infer what was going on if you're a big YA fantasy reader in general.
Do I kinda want more like ACOTAR and TOG (that are NOT Crescent City for many reasons) and how they made me feel when I first read them? Yes, if how much I adored them originally before I got deeper into the online book community is any indication. But the extent to which this felt like an abridged copy mashup was a bit disappointing. I'm not saying it was that entirely. It had its own flavor, etc. There are just too many direct comparisons to too many elements without as much of the time to develop their depth in a single book, although hopefully that will change for at least some of them as the series continues.
TLDR: ridiculously strong SJM copycat vibes are the sin I take issue with. So if you don't favor reading what can be whittled down to a shorter mashed up version of ACOTAR and TOG, you should probably give this one a pass?
But again. Don't get me wrong. It's a fun book. And there were a few things that I didn't completely predict. I enjoyed it, and I may pick up the next one, which follows some different characters and some more familiar ones in the same world. So hopefully it'll be more original?
Spoilery critique underneath :
.
.
.
.
.
I really don't appreciate the gay mates being the ones where one died. If you know anything about lgbtq+ media, tragedy was the only thing gay couples were ever allowed for the longest time. So when they're the only one that happens that way, I get a little peeved. Not that I think it was purposefully or maliciously done. And not that I generally like books where that happens to any couple because I'm hardcore HEAs only.
This book could definitely have benefited from a better editor. A lot of repetition only a page or so after the first instance of something being stated. Some punctuation and tiny formatting issues that make someone like me twitch, but that seems to be more and more common lately, especially for smaller publishers.
But the main thing is it might have received a higher rating if it weren't for the fact that it directly copies multiple elements and plot points from ACOTAR and TOG. Not just general Fae things but very specific things from those series' versions of Fae worlds and important plot points and characters. Although a surprise or two were not-so-subtly hinted at consistently enough that, even if you haven't read either of those, you could probably infer what was going on if you're a big YA fantasy reader in general.
Do I kinda want more like ACOTAR and TOG (that are NOT Crescent City for many reasons) and how they made me feel when I first read them? Yes, if how much I adored them originally before I got deeper into the online book community is any indication. But the extent to which this felt like an abridged copy mashup was a bit disappointing. I'm not saying it was that entirely. It had its own flavor, etc. There are just too many direct comparisons to too many elements without as much of the time to develop their depth in a single book, although hopefully that will change for at least some of them as the series continues.
TLDR: ridiculously strong SJM copycat vibes are the sin I take issue with. So if you don't favor reading what can be whittled down to a shorter mashed up version of ACOTAR and TOG, you should probably give this one a pass?
But again. Don't get me wrong. It's a fun book. And there were a few things that I didn't completely predict. I enjoyed it, and I may pick up the next one, which follows some different characters and some more familiar ones in the same world. So hopefully it'll be more original?
Spoilery critique underneath :
.
.
.
.
.
I really don't appreciate the gay mates being the ones where one died. If you know anything about lgbtq+ media, tragedy was the only thing gay couples were ever allowed for the longest time. So when they're the only one that happens that way, I get a little peeved. Not that I think it was purposefully or maliciously done. And not that I generally like books where that happens to any couple because I'm hardcore HEAs only.