Book Review | A Court of Mist and Fury

A Court of Mist and Fury

By Sarah J. Maas

Bloomsbury  |  2016  |  656 pages

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court – but at a steep cost. Though she now possesses 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, the mesmerising High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates his dark web of political games and tantalising promises, a greater evil looms – and she might be key to stopping it.

But only if she can step into her growing power, heal her fractured soul and have the courage to shape her own future – and the future of a world cloven in two…

Oookay so I now see the hype in this second book. Compared to the first one, this was miles better for multiple reasons. I still had a couple of little niggling issues but overall, Acomaf trumps Acotar in my opinion. I am now super interested in what I think of Acowar as that’s the other one that I have seen people raving about.

Anyways, let’s get onto my thoughts on A Court of Mist and Fury.

I need to talk about Tamlin. I just… I need to talk about him because I have such complex feelings on him at the moment. I don’t outright hate him… like I do but I still don’t class him as the villain in this series or anything like… I have seen proper hate for him on booktok and I feel like it’s overshadowed by people being so in love with Rhysand.

I find Tamlin interesting. Let’s face it, there is not one character in Acotar who is completely black and white; everyone has a hidden agenda or a backstory for the way they are. Tamlin is someone I find complex. Feyre is a bit of a hypocrite because when they talked about Rhysand’s mother and sister being murdered by Tamlin’s father, she is enraged and I get it like he’s your mate and everything but she conveniently ignores that Rhys’ father then went and murdered his entire family, including his mother who he swore to Rhys he wouldn’t touch and she was like yeah, acceptable. That made me pull some faces because she is very clouded in reasoning. When Rhys’ does something or one of the inner circle members, she doesn’t seem to bat an eyelid but anyone else, namely Tamlin, she is straight on their ass. 

Tamlin makes very bad choices and I’m not excusing them in the slightest and this is not to take away from Rhysand either because I love him more than anything - the layers of his character are so interesting and I’ll get more onto him later. For now, we’ll just talk about Tamlin. He clearly reacted out of fear and the trauma from his time Under The Mountain as well as seeing Feyre literally die in his arms so I can understand why his response was to try and protect her and keep her safe however, he definitely went about it the completely wrong way. The fact that even after she was turned into a faerie, he refused to include her in plans and information unfortunately was where he lost her, I fear. Locking her in the house against her will completely obliterated anything they had left between them. 

However, I cannot ignore that Tamlin has sided with the King of Hybern like what the actual fuck are you doing, Tamlin? In one hand, I suppose he was willing to allow that just to get back his ‘love’ which is somewhat romantic and admirable but on the other hand, you are willing to doom the lives of everyone in Prythian for one single person. That is the opposite of admirable. 

I do believe that Tamlin is just some idiot who has been blinded by his feelings for Feyre. I don’t think there is a malicious intent behind his decisions but my God, I do wish he would cop on. Even at the end of the story, Lucien was suspicious as fuck which he defo should be obviously but Tamlin was oblivious. 

I do think that Tamlin was what Feyre initially needed when shit kicked off and she first reached the Fae lands. I do believe that the whole relationship wasn’t toxic but it definitely reached a point of no return. 

But, I do hope that Tamlin doesn’t just continue to be a pushover with the King. I want some kind of redemption on his part, you know? If anything, I just wanted to reach through the book and slap him like c’mon man, please be smarter because at this point, Tam, baby, I can’t back you for shit. And when he stepped out after we learned he has been helping Hybern, I was like Tamling you little bitch. I was like dude you really are not helping yourself in the slightest.

However, I need Feyre to dial the attitude directed at Lucien fucking all the way down. As it stands, he has been a better and more loyal friend to her through the first two books than she has to him. I am not a fan of how pissed off she is with him. I understand that she is just lumping everyone in with Tamlin’s shitty behaviour and basically wants to set fire to the Spring Court but I hardly think it’s fair to blame anyone beyond Tamlin. Yes, they stood by and watched and as we can gather; if that sort of thing had happened in the Night Court, we know Cassian or Azriel would probably have gone against Rhys to get her out of that kind of situation. But, I think we can all agree that the way Rhys commands Velaris is different to how Tamlin runs the Spring Court. 

I can easily see why Lucien doesn’t speak out against Tamlin too much; he feels indebted to him as well as probably fearing him. I think it’s fair to understand that and I get that Feyre can’t really see through her own rage and feelings of betrayal at this moment in time and she’s clearly entitled to that. 

However, I think on the flipside, Lucien is a somewhat victim of Tamlin as well and is consistently shouted against and dismissed. Tamlin is a bit of a shit in terms of romance and friendship, let’s be real. 

Basically, I love Lucien with my whole heart and I’ll be damned if I will sit by silently whilst Feyre shit talks him or is a bitch with him. I want to see more of Lucien and I hope that Feyre gets off her high perch enough to realize that Lucien isn’t her enemy; Tamlin is. And even that, really, the real enemy here is the King of Hybern.

Anyway, I will move on. I just wanted to point out thoughts about Tamlin and how I don’t think he is simply a bad or malicious character; he is just a character that makes very poor decisions and choices.

So, as it has been made fairly clear, my shipper heart changed up real quick when I got a fair way into this book. I love Rhysand and Feyre together; I think they work much better than her and Tamlin, aside from the obvious reasoning being the mating bond but they are more equals; they are portrayed as being a team rather than Feyre being a lesser role like she was in Tamlin’s court. 

I love the whole vibe up there in Velaris with them two. I love the pace of their relationship; it didn’t take long but it also didn’t feel super rushed either which I am a fan of. And I feel that their relationship very much so is the exact opposite of Feyre’s relationship with Tamlin. Rhys trusts her, involves her, values her opinion and is very open with her. He rarely hides anything from her. Even his reasoning for hiding the mating bond from her is justified and understandable.

Rhysand himself is so much more likable in this book than the last one. In Acotar, I only really started to like his character towards the end of the book whereas this book, I loved Rhys. I loved his whole personality rather than the one he presents to the rest of Prythian and the other high lords. And the level of sacrifice he has endured for his loved ones is admirable. I do really love his character, unsurprisingly.

On that note, I frickin’ love the found family vibes of the inner circle. I love how close Rhys is to each of them and how the trust is so clear at all times between them. It is such a mirrored difference to the Spring Court where you have a clear cut level of hierarchy with Tamlin at the top, then Lucien followed by his household staff like Alis and then his people.

On the other hand, you have Velaris and how no one really bats an eyelid at seeing Rhysand around the town. The Hewn is obviously the front they put up for what the other courts see the Night Court but the fact that they actually live in a city that is so equal for all is very different to Tamlin’s court. 

I love the inner circle. I love Rhys’ relationship with each one of them. I love Cassian and Azriel; they really do feel like brothers, the 3 of them. There are so many moments that had me grinning and laughing just because it felt so natural and I think that is a testament to how this book is written. SJM did an amazing job of going in depth to show us this court and the characters to the point, I know things about the inner circle characters but I’m still wanting to know more and so it is already drawing me into Acowar. 

I am most curious about Amren like girl, what are you? They skirt around it a lot and whilst I can probably imagine it, I am hoping we get more of a look into it. Same with Mor; they describe her as being Rhys’ last line of defence and I’m like why though and I am really hoping to see more of what these ladies do in Acowar. 

Cassian and Azriel are also just as interesting and I am praying Cassian’s wings can be saved. The end of this book had me stressed tf out. Azriel had a hole in his chest, Cassian’s wings were shredded and Feyre went with Tamlin back to the Spring Court. Like jeez.

This book was so much more action packed than Acotar. It was straight into things and I don’t think there was a single chapter where I was bored or where I felt like I didn’t want to pick the book up again. It was straight into the plot and it was such an adventure vibe since we were in the Night Court and we got to learn of all the new people and the new areas. We also got to learn more of the plot in terms of the war threat from Hybern and I love that. I am also now interested to see how Nesta and Elain will factor into things now that they have been turned into fae too.

I have very few cons but I do have a couple and I will now go into them.

Feyre… my girl. I love her, I really do and I get her anger and her trauma etc but sometimes in this book, I felt that her newfound confidence came across as her thinking herself as above others. She does have a bit of fae superiority and I wasn’t a fan of that. 

Like I get that she is now High Lady of the Night Court but she also just comes across like she is just so much better than others and I can’t help but think like listen missy, you are still brand new to this immortal business so reign it in just a tad or at least humble yourself a small bit.

I don’t love how she talks about hating and destroying the Spring Court either. I no longer love Tamlin like I did in the first book but you cannot forget that he still did a lot for her, as did his court. As much as Rhys? Maybe not. I don’t know as she does seem to at least acknowledge that and goes back and forth with it. But, she talks of ruining everything and everyone at Spring Court and I’m just like… are you not then just acting exactly in the way that everyone expects of Night Court? You are literally proving them right by talking like that.

Her only real anger should be at Tamlin and Ianthe to be honest but everyone else in Spring Court just acts under what Tamlin says, even Lucien. I am obviously biased by they do all as Tamlin says out of fear.

Like, try to understand Feyre considering you did that too and would have continued to had Rhysand not come and taken her to the Night Court. Like when Tamlin made decisions, very rarely did Feyre defy him to his face? I don’t know, I just feel this I am better than any other court vibe from her towards the end of this book and it’s just like please simmer down. Be powerful as well as humble, Feyre.

The only other thing I disliked was Lucien’s mating bond with Elain?! It just feels weirdly out of place as if it was just shoehorned in for the sake of things. I don’t know how to explain it but I just was not a fan of that being added in. It also makes Lucien look weirdly desperate considering Elain is barely acknowledging him or this so called bond? I don’t know; guess I’ll see how I feel after Acowar but for the minute I am not a fan.

Overall, I loved this book so much. It felt well rounded and had lots going on. No page felt like filler and I definitely see the hype in Acomaf as I’ve seen across booktok for months. It is definitely worth the read.