Right off the
bat, I have to say that while I absolutely loved A Court of Thorns and Roses for the most
part, I sadly thought that A Court of Mist and Fury was a
rather disappointing follow-up to it. That being said, I have to admit that I
was really surprised by the aspects of the book that I ended up liking the
most.
While I ultimately
thought that A Court of Mist and Fury was a rather
disappointing book, I did think that the book started out on a relatively
strong note. I thought that Sarah J. Maas did a pretty good job of showing at
the beginning of the book how the events that happened “Under the Mountain” in A
Court of Thorns and Roses had definitely traumatized Feyre in a
variety of ways. For example, it was established that she had apparently been
getting sick and throwing up during the night on a regular basis, and it was
also established that she had been hiding that fact from Tamlin. While I
thought that the trauma that Feyre was experiencing at the beginning of the
book was all very interesting, I really wish that Maas had explored that more
than she did. I especially wish that Maas had really delved into how the trauma
that Feyre was experiencing affected her relationship with Tamlin in more
detail.
One thing that
really bothered me about the beginning of the book is the fact that much like
Maas had the tendency to give what I viewed as being important conversations
that took place between Feyre and Tamlin in A Court of Thorns and Roses the
“Yada Yada” treatment, she also kind of did the same thing when it came to
giving the details about how Tamlin proposed to Feyre. I was really surprised
by the fact that Maas kind of glossed over the story of how Tamlin asked Feyre
to marry him. That’s something that I really thought that Maas would have
wanted to flesh out more than she did since Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship was
such a central element of A Court of Thorns and Roses; and Tamlin
proposing to Feyre is also something that I personally think that Maas
definitely shouldn’t have glossed over like she did.
One thing that
really surprised me about A Court of Mist and Fury is that it
really made me hate Tamlin in a lot of ways. While Tamlin did do a few things
in A Court of Thorns and Roses that bothered me, I ultimately
thought that Tamlin was a very nice guy, and I was rooting for Feyre and Tamlin
as a couple. However, as I was reading this book, I really started to feel like
Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship was rather problematic, and I couldn’t entirely
blame Feyre for not wanting to go through with the wedding. Given the way
Tamlin was written in A Court of Mist and Fury, I honestly felt
like Maas almost completely assassinated him as a character, as well as the
relationship between Feyre and Tamlin.
That being said,
I’m not entirely against the idea of Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship ultimately
not working out, and Feyre and Rhysand becoming romantically involved with each
other. It’s actually rather refreshing to read a book series where the romance
between two characters that began in the first book of the series ultimately
doesn’t last for the duration of the series. That being said, I do think that
Maas could have done a better job of handling the disintegration of Feyre and
Tamlin’s relationship in a way that felt more organic; rather than handling it
in a way that felt like it was almost entirely reliant on making Tamlin seem
unlikable to the readers like she did in this book. It just felt rather forced,
in my opinion.
Honestly, the
more I think about both A Court of Mist and Fury and A
Court of Thorns and Roses, the more I think that the shift in the writing
for Tamlin and his relationship with Feyre in this book doesn’t feel completely
out of character for Tamlin. There were times when I was reading A
Court of Thorns and Roses where I felt like Tamlin was being overly
protective of Feyre, and as if he was basically keeping her locked away in his
home by insisting that she not go off on her own during the times that he had
personal business to take care of that took him away from his manor; rather
than just letting Feyre be independent. That was definitely kind of creepy and
frustrating at times.
When I read A
Court of Thorns and Roses, I was admittedly really dreading the idea of
Feyre having to honor the deal that she made with Rhysand; which basically
involved her having to spend a week with him every month, because I didn’t like
Rhysand very much at all in that book. In terms of how Maas continued that
storyline in A Court of Mist and Fury, it really seemed like Maas
was trying ruin Tamlin as a character in order to help prop up Rhysand in this
book, and make the readers like him, and root for him and Feyre to become a
couple. I didn’t really like that Tamlin and Lucien basically interrogated her
for information about the Night Court whenever she would return to Tamlin’s
manor, after having spent a week with Rhysand. I get that Tamlin and Rhysand
are enemies; but I just found the fact that Tamlin basically tried to use Feyre
in order to get information on Rhysand and the Night Court incredibly messed
up, considering the fact that Tamlin supposedly loves Feyre. It all felt like a
rather forced way to turn the readers against Tamlin, and make them like Feyre
and Rhysand as a couple.
That being said,
I was incredibly surprised by the character development for Rhysand in A
Court of Mist and Fury, and how this book radically changed the way I felt
about him as a character. When it came to the writing for Rhysand and his
relationship with Feyre in this book, I thought it was very interesting that
Rhysand really pushed Feyre to better herself by encouraging her to learn how
to read, and I love that he helped her with that. I really like that he also
encouraged her to learn how to develop a mental shield, so he wouldn’t always
be privy to all of Feyre’s thoughts. While Rhysand’s motives for helping Feyre
learn how to read and develop a mental shield ultimately proved to be somewhat
self-serving as the book continued, I still like that he was encouraging Feyre
to better herself and grow as a person. While Tamlin did treat Feyre well and I
do believe that he genuinely loves her, it’s definitely rather frustrating that
he never really encouraged Feyre to grow as a person like Rhysand did in this
book. Finally, I have to admit that I absolutely loved the chemistry between Feyre
and Rhysand in this book. In a lot of ways, I thought that Feyre and Rhysand
had a lot more chemistry with each other than Feyre and Tamlin did. Feyre and
Rhysand’s interactions with each other throughout the book were an absolute
delight to read.
Much like I
thought that A Court of Thorns and Roses was pretty steamy,
and I really did think that it was steamier than Fifty Shades of Grey,
the sex scenes in A Court of Mist and Fury were also pretty
steamy. I honestly thought that the sex scenes with Feyre and Rhysand in this
book were even steamier than the sex scenes with Feyre and Tamlin in A
Court of Thorns and Roses were.
While I thought
that the overall plot of A Court of Thorns and Roses was very
well paced and altogether handled very well, there were definitely times when I
felt like the plot of A Court of Mist and Fury kind of
dragged. At times, reading this book felt like more of a chore for me than
something I actually enjoyed doing. I honestly felt like the whole thing with
Feyre, Rhysand and his friends all going on a mission to find the Book of
Breathings, which tells how to control the Cauldron that the King of Hybern is
collecting, wasn’t all that interesting. Since Feyre, Rhysand and the others’
mission was ultimately a huge part of the book’s plot, my lack of enjoyment
regarding that aspect of the book’s overall plot definitely had a very negative
affect on my enjoyment of A Court of Mist and Fury as a whole.
One final thing
that I want to mention is that I honestly didn’t know that A Court of
Mist and Fury is apparently somewhat of a Hades and Persephone
retelling until after I had finished reading the book. I’m actually not
familiar with the story of Hades and Persephone; and while I wasn’t a huge
fan of this book, I definitely want to read the story of Hades and
Persephone at some point in the future.
All things
considered, while I absolutely loved A Court of Thorns and Roses for
the most part, A Court of Mist and Fury sadly proved to be a
rather disappointing follow-up to it; and I definitely have a lot of problems
with this book. While I really like that Sarah J. Maas showed a different side
of Rhysand in this book, and I love the character development that he got; I
really hate how she pretty much ruined Tamlin as a character for the most part
in this book. If Maas didn’t want Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship to last, and
if she wanted to have a romance between Feyre and Rhysand in this book, that’s
fine. I just felt like she could have a done a much better job of handling the
disintegration of Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship in a way that felt much more
organic; rather than having Feyre and Tamlin growing apart feel as forced as it
did.
While I didn’t
think that Feyre and Rhysand’s whole mission to find the Book of Breathings was
all that interesting, their interactions with each other throughout the book;
and the evolution of their relationship was definitely the biggest highlight of
the book for me personally. I’m really surprised that Maas was able to handle
the development of Feyre and Rhysand’s relationship in this book so well, and
yet she handled the deterioration of Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship very
poorly.
Despite the fact
that I didn’t think that A Court of Mist and Fury was all that
great of a book, I did think that the ending of the book was incredibly
intriguing. The ending of the book definitely got me excited to read A
Court of Wings and Ruin, and I’m really looking forward to finding out what
happens next. While I know that there are going to be more books in the A
Court of Thorns and Roses series after A Court of Wings and
Ruin, I’m really excited to see how Maas is going to end Feyre’s story in A
Court of Wings and Ruin.
That being said,
my final score for A Court of Mist and Fury is 6 out of 10.
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