A Court of Mist and Fury
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher, Bloomsbury!
Feyre is immortal.
After rescuing her lover Tamlin from a wicked Faerie Queen, she returns to the Spring Court possessing the powers of the High Fae. But Feyre cannot forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people - nor the bargain she made with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court.
As Feyre is drawn ever deeper into Rhysand's dark web of politics and passion, war is looming and an evil far greater than any queen threatens to destroy everything Feyre has fought for. She must confront her past, embrace her gifts and decide her fate.
She must surrender her heart to heal a world torn in two.
Okay guys, I'm gonna need a minute. I'm trying to work out how the hell I'm going to review this book. I want to keep it spoiler free because spoilers would ruin the book, but I have a feeling this is going to be more of a reaction than an actual review! Everyone is saying that this is Maas's best book yet and they are 100% correct. It's the writing, the characters, the action, the plot...everything. Everything about this book is complete perfection. I finished it at like 3:30am and it took me twice as long to read because I had to keep stopping to freak out every few pages. You should definitely prepare yourselves for some completely shocking and heartbreaking plot twists, there's surprises around every corner. I had started to suspect at a couple of things and was right and completely blown away by how Maas wrote those scenes. There are SO MANY FEELS in this book it is insane. I would recommend chocolate and some form of alcohol when you at least enter the last 100 pages or so. I still can't even.
I've been left with that hollow book hangover feeling you get whenever you read a really good book ever since finishing the book. It emotionally exhausted me, in a good way, and I feel like I was dragged out of the world of that book kicking and screaming. I loved the Night Court and the new characters and the friendships and I really didn't want to leave, let alone wait a year to see it all again, see the characters again and no doubt undergo more pain and suffering because I am NOT looking forward to the beginning of the next book! I re-read ACOTAR before I started reading this and I'm really glad I made the time to do it because there is a scene in this book, and let's just say...you won't be able to read ACOTAR again and see things in the same way as you did before. Before ACOMAF you saw everything one way, but ACOMAF completely changes your perception of some scenes and characters and I was glad I'd re-read because it made it easy for me to think back to the first book and see the scenes through new eyes and I kinda wanna re-read ACOTAR already but I think I might not be able to handle it now!
The opening of the book is spine tingling and as we join the book it's been about 3 months since the last book, and as had been hinted at the end of ACOTAR, Feyre is struggling with what she did at the end of the book. Things are not good. I have to comment Maas for how she's written the beginning of the book, you felt for Feyre, I felt really angry on her behalf that no-one was helping her and ignoring what was happening with her. Maas has so brilliantly and realistically written Feyre's PTSD and depression, it's not romanticised, it's hard to read. You're right there with Feyre and it's just really hard to read and see her like that. Maas has perfectly written Feyres personal journey throughout the book as she overcomes everything that has happened and heals herself. It was beautiful to watch to be honest you guys. But Maas wrote it completely brilliantly and ugh it was perfect. You could see the differences between Feyre at the Spring court and Feyre at the Night Court and I wanted to thump Tamlin.
Maas perfectly continues the tale, and her writing in this book is just beautiful. It's rich and evocative and brings each scene and setting to colourful, vibrant around you and like I said...this is her best book yet. You will feel all the feels. There is action and romance and humour and emotion. Things aren't easy but seeing Feyre over the course of the book was beautiful. Seeing relationships grow between various characters was incredible. You see a completely different side to Rhys and your perspective of him changes, it changes how you see him in book one, how you view what he did and it some points it's like he's a completely different character, but then that is rather the point with Rhys and his masks. There are plenty more ships to be shipped, like I have 3 new ones and I'd tell you all about them but spoilers! Let's just say that Nesta has met her match and it's completely brilliant and just perfect for her.
There are tonnes of new characters, each as intriguing and full of depth as the last and you want to know more and more about them. The way they all work together and play off each other has you wishing to be a part of their group. I loved watching the interactions between Rhys and his Inner Circle. It's impossible to put the book down and I kept having to tear myself away from it, I managed to read it in 3 days, reading the last 200 or so pages in one go and being awake until 3 in the morning to do it. There's a quest like feel to some parts as they have to go in search of various things, you get to see not only the Night Court and plenty of it, but other bits of Prythian, expanding the world and leaving you still wishing for more.
I cannot stress enough how beautifully written this book is. How full of depth the characters are both main and minor. How stunning the settings are. I totally want to live at the Night Court, Maas creates some stunning images for it and it was such a magical setting. You can see the planning that has gone in to this series, Maas must have planned all of this from day one, it's so freaking intricate! There where certain things in book one that left you wondering, or that you didn't have an answer for and those things are solved for you and it's so perfect. There's one scene involving Feyre and Rhys and you can just see how perfectly planned out this has been and that freaking scene had me crying! There is a lot to be felt as you read, Maas makes you feel a range of emotions with her writing, sadness, heartbreak, anger, happiness, you sit there smiling as you read certain passages, crying as you read others, and angry at other peoples actions as you read what happens to Feyre.
The romance had me feeling the warm and fuzzies, it had me crying, and it had me squealing and it had me feeling all the feels is the only way I can describe it. As you enter the final few pages, well...I was scared to keep reading and I knew something bad was going to happen, and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I could feel the tension and suspense radiating off the page and the last few pages completely blew my mind and had me feeing so many emotions so fast it was insane. It is a rollercoaster of a book. A stunningly written one at that and it'll leave you desperate for the next book as well as a little bit scared.
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Now for the fangirling portion of this review......or rather reaction....CONTAINS SPOILERS.
Are you still looking?
In case the GIF didn't warn you enough I AM WARNING YOU....
HERE BE SPOILERS!
Spoilers incoming...
......right.....
.....NOW!
Like I said, Feyre is different from before, which isn't surprising after what she endured and how she was feeling at the end of ACOTAR. She is in a really, really bad place. She doesn't want to hunt, she can't paint, she has night terrors and becomes quite closed off and numb. Tamlin and Ianthe are trying to make her in to someone else. Tamlin is so determined to protect her that he's smother her and he is the only one who can't see what's going on with Feyre and that something is wrong with her and that really, really bothered me right from page one and made it hard for me to read. Like it reached a point, not very far in, like chapter two or three or something when I was waiting for Rhys to show up and sort everything like....is it Rhys time yet? What about now? .....now? I legit cheered when he made his entrance! But Tamlin isn't there for her and it bothered me. She did everything she did for him and he can't even be there for her. What bothered me even more? Not fighting Rhys, keeping things from her and most importantly....he locked her in the house.
He literally doesn't notice she's a husk of a person, doesn't realise what doing that will do to her or he does realise but just doesn't care. He annoyed the hell out of me and the more and more we saw of him and his actions, the angrier he made me. By the end of the book I pretty much hated him and Lucien wasn't doing much better. Because Lucien saw what was happening and went along with it and he as her friend didn't try to help her and at the end of the book....I didn't much like him either, which is sad for me because he was one of my favourite characters from ACOTAR. By the end of the book I was happy for him...but at the same time I felt like after what went on with Feyre he didn't really deserve it and he'd better to a damn good job of redeeming himself and apologising to Feyre but I have a feeling he won't because of his Court and Tamlin. Tamlin however....I doubt I'll be finding him redeemable any time soon, not after everything he's done and then the end of the book and how he spoke to her and everything. Dude....let it go.
If you loved Tamlin in book one then you're in for a very rude awakening my friends. The book does a complete and utter 180 and has your feelings towards the two main male characters completely changing. Like I said...I completely hated Tamlin. What he did to Feyre....you can see it throughout the book, see her struggling with it as she's with Rhys and I hated him a little bit more each time. You realise just how wrong things between them where when you see how right they are with Rhys.
Enter Rhys. Rhys intrigued me in the first book and I wanted to know more about him and I certainly got that this book. You get so much Rhys backstory it's glorious. You get to know him. And he is perfect. He does everything that Tamlin should have been doing throughout the book. He cares about Feyre and what she's going through and you see how much and why at one point in the book and sweet lord it broke me. He sees how Feyre is determined to protect herself and not be defenceless and he trains her and helps her, he doesn't shut her out, he lets her be involved and do whatever she wants and he doesn't keep things from her. He teaches her to read. Makes time for her.
He is completely perfect and as Feyre falls for Rhys, you fall for him too because he is everything that you where expecting Tamlin to be in this book and more. He saves her. I loved how he was trying to get some emotion out of her by snarking at her, and being like a puppy all "play with me!". He does everything to help her and it's him that helps her heal and it's beautiful to watch you guys.
I loved the romance between Rhys and Feyre and watching it build up and watching her realise her feelings for Rhys and then there's that scene where you realise everything with Rhys and his feelings and it had me in tears because of how far back it goes. Their romance was perfect, it's my favourite of all the romances I've read recently and it had me feeling warm and fuzzy, it made me smile and it made me cry with happiness. Although there was some despair at the end. It's slow and adorable and everything it should have been and I had the stupidest smile on my face when reading a lot of the book. Rhys truly sees Feyre as his equal and at the end of the book you see how much and it's SUCH a contrast to Tamlin. I loved that I was completely right about them and the mating bond...but also wrong in how it came about and how long it had been going on for. I TOTALLY KNEW IT THOUGH. I am so Team Rhys it's insane. I'm not sure how I'll get through the beginning of the third book with Tamlin being a creeper.
Like I mentioned in the spoiler free part of the review, there are a tonne of new characters and new ships. I loved Mor, she was the perfect friend that Feyre needed. I loved Cassian and Azriel, how they interacted together and with Rhys and how they became Feyre's friends too.
SUCH a contrast to the Spring Court where she was treated and kept almost like a prisoner. Where she had only the few friends. But in the Night Court, Rhys, Mor, Cassian and Azriel and Amren are like a family to Feyre, they are true friends who care about her and if she was in the situation she was with Tamlin...but with Rhys, they wouldn't have done what Lucien did, they would have helped her. The contrast between Spring and Night was shocking, especially as Tamlin likes to act like he's all high and mighty and Rhys is nasty and horrible like dude.....look in a mirror. What Tamlin did to Rhys? I'm surprised Rhys hasn't killed him.
Now.
Az and Mor....I SHIP IT SO BAD YOU GUYS! SO BAD! And like Feyre I was trying to work out what the deal was with those two and Cassian. I can't even. Mor at the end with Az....TOO CUTE. JUST KISS ALREADY! Literally I wanted to scream that at the book SO MANY times! So many.
Nesta...I had always kind of pictured Nesta with Lucien, but Cassian is SO MUCH better. SO MUCH. I shipped it as soon as Nesta was like "What are you looking at?". I can't even with the two of them and then again at the end, with Cassian trying to get to Nesta. MY FEELS.
Lucien. I'm glad Lucien has found his mate, really I am. But at the same time this book has made me dislike him intensely and I'm like why the hell are you side eyeing Feyre. Could you blame her for wanting to destroy the lot of you? I want him to apologise to her and redeem himself but I'm not entirely sure he will or if he does it won't be for Feyre but we'll see. I'm so pissed at him it's not even funny. I feel like nothing he does that's good will be done for Feyre and it should be in part, because he should be making it up to her because you could see at parts that he knew what Tamlin was doing was wrong but he went along with it. Refused to listen to her. I kinda feel like he doesn't really deserve his mate to be honest. It irks me to no end that Tamlin and Lucien don't see how they're in the wrong. Don't believe about the bond and Tamlin think she owns Feyre like property or whatever like when can Rhys and Feyre hit him?
I liked getting to know Nuala and Cerridwen, Feyre's handmaidens from the first book as well! Tarquin was interesting and I'm sad for Rhys that the friendship they might have had has been destroyed but I'm kinda hoping it might be able to be salvaged! I loved seeing so much of the Night Court and getting to see the Summer Court and some other bits of Prythian and even getting to see Hybern. Maas brings them so perfectly to life and you can practically see the place right in front of your eyes. I loved the Night Court SO MUCH but I could be persuaded to hang out at the Summer Court. I'm loving the world being expanded, we've been so confined to the Spring Court I imagine you feel how Feyre does. OH and I completely hated Ianthe, even before Rhys showed Feyre that memory and the whole selling out Feyre's family. I love how Tamlin is just going to basically have a word with her. Like dude....if it was Rhys he'd kill her don't be such a pansy. I'm betting Ianthe and Tamlin are going to be a thing, if they haven't been already. Stupid Tamlin.
Ugh. The feels where real you guys. The feels where real. Rhys being behind the music, and the whole "thank you for finding her for me" and his past and I LITERALLY DIDN'T NOT FEEL FEELS AT ANY POINT. There was so much to squeal over. Except Feyre leaving Rhys in the mud all injured. I was like nO NO NO NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Go BAAACCCKKK. Like I understood how she felt but like...poor baby Rhys.
I'm probably forgetting like a million other things that happened but I'm just....drowning in the perfectness of that book. I'm so sad it's over for another year. I did manage to avoid spoilers though, despite reading it later than everyone else! Feel free to fangirl with me down in the comments, there is much to be discussed! I know I've missed loads but my brain is fried a little bit haha!
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