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A review by elysium260
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.75
in hindsight, this was my favorite in the series. i think a lot of people share this sentiment. it's thirty, flirty, and thriving. it builds the world up, and introduces a fun cast of characters. i think the word "foreplay" would be the best way to describe the feel of this book. it prefaces action, feels well-paced, introduces a greater issue, and... well...
the whole thing IS foreplay for feysand, ultimately. sometimes, literally.
i think book one made it pretty obvious that these two would end up together, so it's not like... some grand surprise that they do. BUT. but. i'd like to think that i'm pretty good at predicting events in a book before they happen, and i DID NOT clock the plot twist revealed by rhys towards the end. the one that leads us all the way back to before the series where feyre paints the night court on her drawer of the sisters' dresser. the soup chapter before the mountain-shaking-'o' chapter (lol) melted my cold heart. the repetitive use of the word 'MATE' put it back on ice, but at this point, i still shipped them.
the reason why i can't give this 5 (or even 4 stars), however, is because i think feyre is so. excessively. dramatic. i get it -- she's had a tough life and is traumatized from the events of the previous book... but some of her responses just gave me the ick. she comes off very "omg im so sad and edgy no one gets sadness like me," and i had a real problem with the way she villainized tamlin. THAT IS NOT TO SAY what tamlin did to her was okay by any means, but some of her gripes with him felt like things that could have been worked through with real communication? it's like she needed this man to read her mind. so we're thrown through this ringer of "i would give up my life to save tamlin" to "I HATE THIS GUY HE'S AWFUL" and i just... didn't feel like that was fair? like, how are you gonna ghost this man and get mad at him for freaking out because he DOESN'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, AND THINKS YOU'RE WITH SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO HURT YOU? personally, her note saying "i'm fine" would lead me to think her hand was forced into saying that, so in tamlin's shoes... yeah, i might do some crazy things not knowing what's happening to the person i love.
on top of that, the whole... sisters becoming beautiful, immortal, better versions of themselves and getting to live in this perfect world... was too convenient. they're sad, they had their choices taken from them; true. and that IS sad. but, imo, it really did not make sense why THEY were used to test the cauldron's capabilities..? like, okay, test one, sure. but... both? it just felt like the only way the author could figure out how to make nesta and elain perfect fae with crazy powers. and the whole... nesta pointing thing? i know that's hyped up, but i can't envision a scenario where i get chills down my spine because it's so badass. idk.
overall, yeah. enjoyable. would recommend to the people who are hesitant to continue the series because of the first book. it's this one and nesta's POV that made my reading experience worthwhile. and, honestly, it's just fun in a way where you can kind of mindlessly enjoy it? i'd reread.
i think book one made it pretty obvious that these two would end up together, so it's not like... some grand surprise that they do. BUT. but. i'd like to think that i'm pretty good at predicting events in a book before they happen, and i DID NOT clock the plot twist revealed by rhys towards the end. the one that leads us all the way back to before the series where feyre paints the night court on her drawer of the sisters' dresser. the soup chapter before the mountain-shaking-'o' chapter (lol) melted my cold heart. the repetitive use of the word 'MATE' put it back on ice, but at this point, i still shipped them.
the reason why i can't give this 5 (or even 4 stars), however, is because i think feyre is so. excessively. dramatic. i get it -- she's had a tough life and is traumatized from the events of the previous book... but some of her responses just gave me the ick. she comes off very "omg im so sad and edgy no one gets sadness like me," and i had a real problem with the way she villainized tamlin. THAT IS NOT TO SAY what tamlin did to her was okay by any means, but some of her gripes with him felt like things that could have been worked through with real communication? it's like she needed this man to read her mind. so we're thrown through this ringer of "i would give up my life to save tamlin" to "I HATE THIS GUY HE'S AWFUL" and i just... didn't feel like that was fair? like, how are you gonna ghost this man and get mad at him for freaking out because he DOESN'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, AND THINKS YOU'RE WITH SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO HURT YOU? personally, her note saying "i'm fine" would lead me to think her hand was forced into saying that, so in tamlin's shoes... yeah, i might do some crazy things not knowing what's happening to the person i love.
on top of that, the whole... sisters becoming beautiful, immortal, better versions of themselves and getting to live in this perfect world... was too convenient. they're sad, they had their choices taken from them; true. and that IS sad. but, imo, it really did not make sense why THEY were used to test the cauldron's capabilities..? like, okay, test one, sure. but... both? it just felt like the only way the author could figure out how to make nesta and elain perfect fae with crazy powers. and the whole... nesta pointing thing? i know that's hyped up, but i can't envision a scenario where i get chills down my spine because it's so badass. idk.
overall, yeah. enjoyable. would recommend to the people who are hesitant to continue the series because of the first book. it's this one and nesta's POV that made my reading experience worthwhile. and, honestly, it's just fun in a way where you can kind of mindlessly enjoy it? i'd reread.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Rape