A review by semeyers
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

Okay, is it possible to have a toxic relationship with a book series? Asking for myself.

Because on one hand these books....just aren't that good. 

The plot? Fine enough to get through, but once you start thinking about it there are many plot holes.
Magic? Undeveloped, inconsistent, honestly confusing.
World-building? Mediocre.
Character development? Inconsistent/non-existent.
Actually, the characters themselves? Inconsistent in a baffling way, not a realistic way
1) So Mor was abused (understatement) by the ultra patriarchal Court of Nightmares. Rhys is supposedly a bastion of reason and feminist ideals, not to mention the most powerful high lord in history.....yet Rhys stands by while women in the Hewn City and the Illyrian tribes, both groups in his court and under his rule, are trodden down, abused, and brutalized because "that's how things are/they're too spread out to stop"? And everyone in the Inner Circle is just fine with it? Nah, I don't buy it.
2) Rhys is abused and traumatized for FIFTY years to hide the existence of Velaris....but gives it up almost immediately to the Queens when there were other options available to him? Too weird to overlook.

Villains? Not very compelling.
The dialogue? Eye-roll inducing, with overused phrases throughout. I think someone searched for it and the word "mate" is used over 200 times. The "offensive gesture" annoys me every time it shows up, which is a lot. On a related note, this is also one of those books where characters growl and purr and snarl and show their teeth. I can excuse this as them being non-human, but I know this really gets to some people.
The spicy scenes? Cringe worthy. The teasing/flirting scenes are 10x better, IMHO.
This book has a lot of tell and almost no show. You, as the reader, are told that certain characters are insanely powerful over and over again, but they aren't shown being powerful. If you miss any subtleties, don't worry, you'll be hit over the head with them in the last 100-200 pages of the book.

For these reasons, I really can't justify more than a 3.5-star rating.

But, all that being said? I am obsessed. Can't stop thinking about it. These books have taken over my brain. I can't get enough of Feysand and I need to know more about all of the characters, the courts, and the magic. I am invested in Nesta's storyline. I rarely buy books, but when I found out the wait at my library for ACOWAR was 16 weeks, I went and bought the entire series. Doesn't help that I've also thrown myself into all of the fan theories that would excuse some of the criticisms I have
Is Rhysand the big baddie after all? This would actually explain some of the plot holes and a lot of the inconsistency in his actions.
. I have heard that ACOMAF is the best of the 5 books out so far, with maybe only ACOSF overshadowing it a little, so I am interested to see how ACOWAR plays out! I have seen a ton of spoilers (thanks BookTok/BookStagram) so I already know I've got gripes with some of the tropes coming up.....
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