Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series? A Court of Thorns and Roses (#2)
My Rating: ★★★★★
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance, Fiction
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication: 3 May 2016 (Bloomsbury USA Childrens)
CW: emesis, abuse, PTSD, sex, trauma, sexual assault, violence
All book lovers know when they love a book.
You know that feeling when you put down a book and feel as though you must physically drag yourself out of the fictional world and back into reality? You have to rip yourself out of the pages, out of the plot, away from the characters in which you’re so invested—and somehow you’re expected to just go on with regular life? Yeah, that’s how I felt after putting down A Court of Mist and Fury.
A Court of Mist and Fury is the sequel to the acclaimed novel, A Court of Thorns and Roses, in which a mortal woman is stolen away to a faerie realm in a Beauty and the Beast-esque tale. Set three months after the events of the first novel, Feyre is back at the Spring Court, grappling with the horrors she faced Under the Mountain. She is locked up in the manor, left with nothing to do but plan her impending wedding to the High Lord, Tamlin. Meanwhile, she awaits Rhysand, who she is indebted to one week each month.
Everything changes in this novel. And frankly, I think it’s for the best.
At the start of A Court of Mist and Fury, Feyre is in an extremely fragile position. The events that occurred Under the Mountain physically and psychologically affected her. Now a High Fae, she has unidentified powers lurking within her, which Tamlin forbids her from exploring. Originally, I sympathize slightly with Tamlin who thought he could protect Feyre by locking her away from danger. However, I was quickly infuriated by this. You don’t help someone by imprisoning them.
As the first quarter of the novel unfolded, it became increasingly obvious that Feyre needed to get the hell out of the Spring Court. Even Rhys, who was initially painted as a “bad guy”, was horrified to find Feyre wraith-like in the manor. Soon, she was removed from the manor-turned-prison and brought to the Night Court—the most dreaded place in Prythian.
The Night Court is home to Rhys’s life and his friend group, quite frankly my favourite group of secondary characters ever written. It’s no small feat to write four secondary characters that equally grab the reader’s attention without one overshadowing or outpacing the rest. I must say, Sarah J. Maas nailed it. I’d enjoy reading a novel from the perspective of any one of these characters.
No one was my master—but I might be master of everything, if I wished. If I dared.
It wouldn’t be A Court of Mist and Fury without Rhys.
Rhys. High Lord of the Night Court. We were introduced to him back in A Court of Thorns and Roses where he was painted as a villain. However, the script is flipped entirely in this sequel. Rhys is everything you’d wish for in a love interest. He’s understanding and compassionate; he stands by Feyre and not in front of her; he’s charming and even quite funny. His support of Feyre—never forcing her to do anything she’s uncomfortable with while encouraging her to pursue things she’s interested in—is something I value in real life, as well as fiction. Rhys is a good partner for Feyre, a good friend to his Inner Circle, and a good High Lord to his people (well, obviously excluding his persona in the Court of Nightmares).
For me, the best part of this book was Feyre’s character development. At the start, she’s been through hell and back, and it shows. She doesn’t think she can recover. But she’s a bird in a gilded cage, bound to the Spring Court in invisible chains with no room to stretch her wings. By the end, she’s savvy, collected, and using her intelligence to outsmart anyone in her path.
While Feyre’s memories of Under the Mountain persist, the support of her friends and her own personal strength allow her to conquer her past and her fears. I’m in awe of what Feyre becomes throughout this novel. While I liked Feyre just fine in A Court of Thorns and Roses, she really becomes a protagonist that I feel I can root for in the sequel.
Goodbye, Spring Court. Hello, Prythian.
One of the more minor details I enjoyed about this book was that we travelled outside of the Spring Court and into the different courts of Prythian. In the first book, we were mostly stagnant in the Spring Court, only leaving to travel Under the Mountain. Even then, we only saw Tamlin’s manor—not the whole land. In this novel, however, we see different courts, including the Night Court, as well as other areas across the realm.
Not only was this book my favourite out of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, it’s one of my favourite books ever and I couldn’t recommend it enough.
Synopsis: Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.
With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.
Are you Team Tamlin or Team Rhys? Let’s chat about it in the comments!
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