A review by acogna
A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I would definitely say I enjoyed this more than the last book, mainly because it dangled the Hades and Persephone dynamic over my head and expected me not to go absolutely buckwild over it. I'm an absolute sucker over the arguments the main couple had through the book and how their relationsip developed over time. Feyre is a stronger character here, Rhysand is by far one of the most interesting characters Sarah has ever written with his double-faced morality and interesting view of selfishness versus his selflessness, and the Inner Circle other than Cassian are all really unique and interesting characters in their own right. The worldbuilding expands here too and the Summer Court and Velaris are some of the most vibrant and beautiful places I've ever seen described.
And now, let's fucking complain.
This book suffers from a plague of overwriting and I swear that if Sarah actually had an editor, they would cut like two-thirds of the material here because everything is so described to the point where intense and detailed-focused scenes lack meaning and importance because they're treated the same way everything else is fucking treated in the prose. The sudden dump of the Inner Circle was particularly difficult to get through the first time too; if you're going to introduce us to a whole new cast of characters, do it in a way where I would be able to tell apart Cassian and Azriel with ease, next time.
Info-dumps are also a plague o' both your houses and is a problem I'm pretty sure will extend into the next book. That is to say, Sarah is a good writer, great even sometimes . But it's easily outnumbered by dumb shit like character past dumps and rushed explanation bullshit that I didn't have the time to appreciate it.
Another thing I hate immensely was how MacGuffin-y the plot was. One test leads us to another object which leads us to another object which will lead us to the final goal. It's like The Rise of Skywalker but way more convoluted and confusing. Like, first there's this magic Cauldron that has three legs and each of the three legs was guarded by High Priestesses. It can only be nullified by a Book which is split into two different parts. We're going to have to test Feyre to see if she can get the Fae half of this magical book from the Fae area and we're going to ask the mortal queens for their half. But in order to get their half, we need a magic orb that allows them to see Velaris and we need to get that from the Court of Nightmares, like holy shit, enough with the piece leading to a piece leading to another piece. Like any of those were the strongest parts of the novel. No, they weren't, and the high rating of this book definitely shows that. Admit it, you're not rating how high this book was for the fucking plot. What plot?
Compared to its predecessor, A Court of Mist and Fury has a lot more to offer its audience. Rhysand is a way more interesting and compelling and interesting love interest in comparison to Tamlin, and the dynamic between him and Feyre was one I enjoyed way more as a Hades and Persephone narrative than Tamlin did as a Beauty and the Beast story. The worldbuilding (is sometimes) stronger and Prythian is expanded in unique and interesting ways. But the overwriting, clumsy prose, rushed and confusing plot, and the extreme focus on stuff that doesn't need it makes the interesting and downright good premise of this book boring and a crawl. Just admit this was a romance book and move from there. None of us were reading this for plot.
And now, let's fucking complain.
This book suffers from a plague of overwriting and I swear that if Sarah actually had an editor, they would cut like two-thirds of the material here because everything is so described to the point where intense and detailed-focused scenes lack meaning and importance because they're treated the same way everything else is fucking treated in the prose. The sudden dump of the Inner Circle was particularly difficult to get through the first time too; if you're going to introduce us to a whole new cast of characters, do it in a way where I would be able to tell apart Cassian and Azriel with ease, next time.
Info-dumps are also a plague o' both your houses and is a problem I'm pretty sure will extend into the next book.
Spoiler
There's this particularly telling scene where Amren tells the Inner Circle to cut to the goddamn chase of the story regarding Miryam and get to the point and she herself doesn't; she goes on for literally half a fucking page continuing to info-dump this absolutely unnecessary piece of information that contributes nothing to the story. The scene where Feyre and Rhysand finally imprint on each other (that's basically what it is, honestly) is also a worse example of this, because Rhysand fucking spills his backstory like its red bean soup and it goes on for pages and pages and while I cared because his story was compelling, it was such a slog to get through such an oversaturation of character information. It was almost as if Sarah knew people were writing a fucking fandom wikia about this and knew she had to put this in there lest the fans speculate, or something. (Also, Chapter 55 or whatever the shit it is, was so full of sex and kept going and going that it made me uncomfortable the fourth time in.)Spoiler
as in the scene with the Bone Carver was one of the most chilling and well written moments of worldbuilding in any fantasy story I've readAnother thing I hate immensely was how MacGuffin-y the plot was. One test leads us to another object which leads us to another object which will lead us to the final goal. It's like The Rise of Skywalker but way more convoluted and confusing. Like, first there's this magic Cauldron that has three legs and each of the three legs was guarded by High Priestesses. It can only be nullified by a Book which is split into two different parts. We're going to have to test Feyre to see if she can get the Fae half of this magical book from the Fae area and we're going to ask the mortal queens for their half. But in order to get their half, we need a magic orb that allows them to see Velaris and we need to get that from the Court of Nightmares, like holy shit, enough with the piece leading to a piece leading to another piece. Like any of those were the strongest parts of the novel. No, they weren't, and the high rating of this book definitely shows that. Admit it, you're not rating how high this book was for the fucking plot. What plot?
Spoiler
Also, was it me, or was that ending rushed to hell? Like, so much goes on in the last fifty pages or so that could have been stretched out to the rest of the book, but no. We need sexytimes and family bonding that goes on for fucking ever, I guess.Compared to its predecessor, A Court of Mist and Fury has a lot more to offer its audience. Rhysand is a way more interesting and compelling and interesting love interest in comparison to Tamlin, and the dynamic between him and Feyre was one I enjoyed way more as a Hades and Persephone narrative than Tamlin did as a Beauty and the Beast story. The worldbuilding (is sometimes) stronger and Prythian is expanded in unique and interesting ways. But the overwriting, clumsy prose, rushed and confusing plot, and the extreme focus on stuff that doesn't need it makes the interesting and downright good premise of this book boring and a crawl. Just admit this was a romance book and move from there. None of us were reading this for plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Child abuse