A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas - (mostly) non-spoiler review.

Hi booklovers

In my previous post I said that I reread ACOTAR so I could dive straight into A Court of Mist and Fury.

Beware, this will contain spoilers for ACOTAR.

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: NA, fantasy
Format: paperback

*Story:
The story picks up three months after the events that happened 'Under the Mountain'. We find Feyre and Tamlin trying to cope with everything they went through, but they're not doing a great job. They haven't heard from Rhysand yet, upholding his end of the bargain he made with Feyre. At some point, however, Rhys does come to the Spring Court and takes Feyre to the Night Court.

*Characters:
-Feyre: She is a complete mess after everything she did 'Under the Mountain'. I like her character a lot better than I did in ACOTAR. She really grows and comes into her own in this book. I like how she deals with her trauma's, not always head-on, but she tries to do something about them.
SPOILER:

I also like how she stands up to Tamlin and how she leaves him to go to Rhys. I think it's very cool how she discovers that she has powers from all of the seven High Lords who 'Made' her and how she gradually learns how to use them.

-Tamlin: I did not like Tamlin at all in this book. He was such a controlling, dominating, almost abusive basterd. I get that he's scared of losing Feyre again, but that doesn't give him the right to treat her like he does, locking her up and stuff. I also don't like his possessive nature in this book.
SPOILER:

I think it's unforgivable what he did when he went to the King of Hybren to form an alliance.

-Lucien: We don't get to see that much of Lucien is this book, which is a petty. He sometimes tries to reason with Tamlin to try and help Feyre, but usually he's not successful. It seemed to me like he had no backbone in this story.
SPOILER:

I never thought Lucien would find his mate after losing his lover in such a horrible way. I hope this will be explored more in the next book, since this only happens at the end of the book.

-Rhysand: Oh, Rhysand, how I love that character. In ACOTAR he's portrayed as a real villain, but he is so much more, such a complex character. I think he has one of the better character developments in this book.
SPOILER:

It turns out that his 'stumbling' at the end of ACOTAR was indeed the mating bond with Feyre snapping in place. I love the relationship development between Rhys and Feyre: how they go from Feyre not being able to stand him through his shameless flirting and finally their full-on relationship and mating bond. I do have to admit that I rolled my eyes when Rhysand said he was going to roar so loudly when climaxing while having sex with Feyre he was going to make the mountains shake. Modest much?

-Mor: I really liked her, I liked how badass she is, but also how loyal she is to her High Lord. I'm very intrigued by her relationship with both Cassian and Azriel.

-Cassian: Another very likeable, loyal, badass character. I love how he is the total oppossite of Azriel. I can't wait to find out how his story will develop.
SPOILER:

I am curious to see whether there will be a mating bond or just a relationship between him and Nesta.

-Azriel: I found Azriel to be as captivating as Rhysand. He is such a dark, brooding, but most of all fascinating character. I instantly loved him. I'm very curious to see where his story will go.
SPOILER:

When will he ever admit his love for Mor?

-Amren: I wonder what kind of creature she really is. At first I didn't much care for her, but she definitely grew on me. In her own peculiar way she is a very loyal character.

-Nesta: Even though she still hates everything fae-related, she comes across as a strong-willed person willing to stand up for her sister Elain. I loved her interaction with Cassian.

-Elain: She is such a gullible character. I hope her character will develop further in the next book.
SPOILER:

I'm counting on some further character-development because of the mating bond with Lucien.

-The King of Hybren: Such a despicable character, although he could have done with some more character-development as well.

-The Mortal Queens: Oh how I hate these witches!

*Plot:
This was the first Hades & Persephone-type of retelling I have ever read. I know the going back and forth between the Spring and Night Court doesn't happen that often, but I still found it interesting.
The worldbuilding in this book is so much better than in ACOTAR. The details with which certain places in the Night Court are described are so good. You really feel like you're a part of the world. Also, for most of the characters, the character-development is a lot better in this book.

*Overall rating:
I'm still debating between 4.5 and the full 5 star-rating. There were still some things in the story that were accepted a bit too quickly, but overall I was enthralled by it. It was an emotional rollercoaster. What I hadn't expected was the detailed way in which the sex scenes were described. They are definitely not suited for younger readers. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind the steaminess, I just found it surprising they were so 'explicit'.

I'm very curious so see how the story will unfold and which 'fairytale' retelling we will get next. I also sincerely hope the story won't be dragged out too long with all the books that Maas has planned for this series.

Have you read ACOMAF? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - non-spoiler review.

Hi booklovers

Today I'll be reviewing A Court of Thorns and Roses. I read this book for the first time when it came out last year and I reread it in July before moving on to A Court of Mist and Fury.

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Genre: YA/NA, fantasy

Format: paperback

*Story:
Feyre is a mortal huntress who - like almost every other mortal - fears everything faye and fairy-related. One day, while she is out hunting to feed her starving sisters and father, she encounters a wolf. She doesn't hesitate to kill it, but she'll pay a high price for it. As punishment she is taken to the Spring Court, one of the 7 kingdoms of Prythian to live with her captor Tamlin and his emissary Lucien.

*Characters:
-Feyre: I both liked and loathed Feyre. On the one hand she is a determined character that goes to great lengths to help her family although they don't really appreciate it. She goes through a bit of character growth, which is good, but it's not a major growth. One thing I did like was that she wasn't a virgin. Sometimes the heroin in a story becomes more human because of that. I don't really know how to explain it, but I thought that was one of the strongpoints of Cleo in Falling Kingdoms too. Maybe in ACOTAR it was because it shows that even though Feyre usually only thinks about taking care of others, she sometimes lets her own needs and wants be more important. Another thing I liked a lot was her bantering with Lucien.
On the other hand she made some really, really stupid decisions. How many times can you put yourself in harm's way by doing things or going places you're not supposed to? A great many times, apparently!
SPOILER:

The summum of her stupid decisions was when she leaves Tamlin, even though she has been warned not to. There was only one occasion where you can applaud her for risking her own life and that's when she goes 'Under the Mountain' to save Tamlin.

-Tamlin: Talk about a fickle guy! One minute he comes barging in Feyre's hut to take her to the Spring Court and the next he's trying to make Feyre like him by giving her compliments.
SPOILER:

I get why he's trying to be friendly to her and wants her to love him, although I don't like that we find that out very late into the story. (More about that later.)

I have to admit I was rather intrigued by him and his permanently attached mask and the curse that was put on him and his entire court.

-Lucien: I liked Lucien from the start. He is such a feisty character and like I said, I really enjoyed his bantering with Feyre. I also liked how his sympathy towards Feyre goes from absolutely loathing her to actually caring for her and being her friend. I would, however, have liked to get more of his backstory.
SPOILER:

We find out that he left his scheming father and brothers behind in the Autumn court after they killed his lover. We also only find out how he lost his eye until very late in the story.

-Rhysand: At first I thought he was a true villain because he is portrayed that way. He sometimes is an absolute prick, but you soon realise there's so much more to him.
SPOILER:

Why did he 'stumble' when he left Feyre behind at the end after Amaranthe was defeated?

-Amaranthe: Even though I hated this character with a passion, she was also very interesting character. I kept wondering why she was so evil. Unfortunately, we don't really find that out.

*Plot:
I find the idea of a world divided into a mortal and immortal realm fascinating. I also really enjoyed the different courts. However, I would have liked to see more of the courts, and it that regard I found the worldbuilding to be lacking and that's a pity. Even the Spring Court isn't shown completely.

It took me about 100 pages to get into the story the first time I read it because I found it to be a bit slow at first.

SPOILER:

The last part of the story, when we are 'Under the Mountain' was very captivating, however. This was an emotional rollercoaster with Feyre being beaten up, almost dying, striking the bargain with Rhysand, having to kill those faeries. My heart almost broke at that point.

*Overall rating:
When I read this when it first came out last year I rated it 4.5 stars, but now I'm giving it 3.5 stars, because this time around Feyre got even more on my nerves at times. I also felt like some things didn't add up: Feyre is illiterate - she only knows her letters - but Maas sometimes uses words that I think Feyre would never use or think of.

I have to admit I wasn't expecting the steamy scenes. I didn't mind them, I just found them unexpected and rather explicit for a YA book. I only recently found out that ACOTAR is sometimes categorised as NA, so beware of that.

Have you read ACOTAR? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon Wrap-up.

Hi booklovers

I just wanted to give you a quick wrap-up for the Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon.

I epically failed at reading Queen of Shadows. I needed to put it down after reading only 27 pages, because I could feel a slump coming on. I had just finished reading two very fast-paced books, so QoS moved along really slow for me. Even though I'd read the summaries for the other books in the series, it still took me too long to get into the story. I think I might need to reread all the books so I can get into the atmosphere of the story a bit easier.

I decided to pick up ACOTAR instead because I really enjoyed reading it last year. I've also seen a lot of raving reviews for ACOMAF and I really want to read that one, but I needed a reminder of ACOTAR. In the end I read 116 pages.

I'm not sure if I'm cut out to do read-a-thons - although I did enjoy the Anti-Bully-ReadAThon and the Author-A-Thon.

Did you participate in the Fantasy Favourite Read-A-Thon? I hope you did better than me.

Bye for now

Annelies