"The voice was at once the night and the dawn and the stars and the earth, and every inch of my body calmed at the primal dominance in it."
I finished Sarah J. Maas'
A Court of Thorns and Roses on December 31st, 2023 {a full
three months after beginning it!}; and,
to be quite honest, I didn't know if I wanted to return to the world - which is why
A Court of Mist and Fury sat untouched for the past few months.
Tamlin was a character I couldn't so much as
tolerate in book one; and
Fayre...she was so helpless and needy that she
drove me mad. Nevertheless, I
adored Maas'
House of Earth and Blood; and since the two series are said to
intertwine and overlap, I decided to reach for
A Court of Mist and Fury, and
thank God I did.
This. Book. Is. Flawless. The characters, the tone, the romance...
perfectperfectperfect.
Feyre is back at the Spring Court alongside
Tamlin and Lucien; however, the darkness that she just survived
Under the Mountain, and the
terrible acts she carried out to save Tamlin while there, still haunt her every waking
and sleeping moment - so much so that she is nothing more than a
shell of her former self,
mentally and physically. And Tamlin? He seems to be
oblivious to it all; or perhaps he simply doesn't want to see it. After all, Tamlin is in the throes of rebuilding the Spring Court, creating the illusion that it is on strong footing by bringing back the
tithe requirement for residents, while planning his upcoming nuptials to Feyre. Everything, to Tamlin, is for appearance sake - so much so that Feyre begins to see a side of him that she cannot tolerate; and, on the day of their wedding, as Feyre sends up a
silent plea to be saved,
Rhysand returns to make good on the bargain he made with Feyre while under the mountain, whisking her away to the
Night Court before she can say
I do.
Though initially angry at Rhysand for reappearing on such a momentous day for her; when she returns to the Spring Court following her week away, she finds herself questioning Tamlin's behavior towards her. Suddenly, she is
locked away, a veritable prisoner in what is said to be
her home, and she longs for nothing more than to escape. A feat she is assisted in accomplishing with a group of friends dispatched by none other than Rhysand.
Once back at the Night Court, Feyre is introduced to the individuals Rhysand loves the most -
Mor, Amren, Cassian, and Azriel; a motley crew of characters who would lay down their lives for Rhysand and vice versa. While under Rhysand's watch, Feyre is finally able to come into herself - exploring the powers of the seven High Fae that now
live within her, training to use those powers successfully, and finally coming to terms with the fact that Tamlin was no good for her.
But war is coming. In between introductions to the beauty that is
Velaris, a political war is raging - one that places Fae and human alike in danger; and Feyre will have to put her newfound powers, confidence, and training into action in order to save herself, and the people she loves the most.
Y'all,
I have no words. If you had told me, after finishing
A Court of Thorns and Roses and being so disappointed in it, that I would
adore A Court of Mist and Fury this much, I would have literally laughed. This book just got me, and it wasn't necessarily the plot so much as the characters. Like to see
Feyre morph from this
weak bore into this
Buffy-esque badass turned this series on its head. And when you toss
Rhysand into the mix?
Le sigh. Talk about a power couple! NGL, I do still have
love for Lucien, but Rhysand's Circle is just
straight fire. Maas drew these characters
so beautifully and idk if I'll ever recover from their level of amazing. When I tell you that I am looking
so forward to snatching
A Court of Wings and Ruin immediately, I am
not playing. Book 3, imo, is
going. to. slay. Period.
Star Rating: ****1/2
xx
