Book review for a court of mist and fury

Disclaimer: DO NOT read this blog post if you have not read ACOTAR! 
Book: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J Maas
Page Number: 656 Pages
Genre: Fantasy 
Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars

“When you spend so long trapped in darkness, Lucien, you find that the darkness begins to stare back.” 

Ok where do I start? I have so many thoughts on this book….to put it simply, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first one. Don’t get me wrong, I was hooked on ACOMAF from the beginning but despite it having a little bit more action than the last one, I found myself downright angry and frustrated to the max at some parts, which I will explain further down in this review.

Synopsis: Post Acotar and the war with Amarantha, Feyre has found herself still traumatized from the events that happened Under the Mountain. In addition, trouble is brewing in Prythian. Amarantha was only the beginning and there are much worse things in store for the Fae. Feyre realizes that she holds the power that may be the key to save them all. 

“I was not a pet, not a doll, not an animal.
I was a survivor, and I was strong.
I would not be weak, or helpless again
I would not, could not be broken. Tamed.”

This book made me so furiated at times so right off the bat, here are the things I didn’t like about this book: (Sorry if this comes off as harsh- no hate to those who love ACOMAF but in my opinion, here are the parts I didn’t like about this book)

1. SJM ruining characters: Can someone please tell SJM that she doesn’t need to ruin characters like Tamlin (And Choal in TOG)  in order for us to like her other love interests? It’s so not necessary! It was very obvious that the Tamlin in this book is a completely different character than the one in ACOTAR. Why? What was the need to ruin him? Falling out of love is perfectly normal… there was no need to demolish Tamlin’s character to get Feyre and Rhysand together. This just angers me. Authors should be able to make us fall for the other love interest without destroying the first love interest. This was just plain manipulation and left me with no choice but to ship Feyre and Rhysand (Still love Rhysand and Feyre though).
   
2. Feyre: Honestly I could rant about her all day. In the beginning, my heart pained for her and what she was going through. That sympathy vanished soon enough. First of all, did it not even cross her mind that Tamlin was going through PTSD from Under the Mountain as well? Rhys, Feyre and Tamlin all suffered and were reflecting on in their own ways. Tamlin’s first instinct was to protect Feyre because he couldn’t do so before. Rhys acted differently because he experienced something different. He let Feyre make her own choices because he understood what it was like to be unable to make decisions for yourself. Tamlin and Rhysand went through different things and so it is natural they responded in different ways after it. Then Feyre had the NERVE to compare them? I get one or two comparisons but she compared the two of the males once every page. Ugh Tamlin would never let me go along on this mission but Rhysand is perfect and he lets me go along! Sigh. It got so tedious… like we get it! SJM obviously put all those comparisons to show how much Rhysand is Mr. Perfect while showing that Tamlin is a piece of trash. The reader can make these comparisons by themselves…. 
   

 Spoiler: It was completely unacceptable for Tamlin to lock up Feyre and I would do the same thing Feyre did if I was her. But what I’m mad about is how much Feyre victimized herself while portraying Tamlin as the bad guy when both of them went through horrible experiences. 

1. Plot is nonexistent: If I thought ACOTAR had little plot, this one’s plot was nonexistent. At least in ACOTAR, I could give you a clear step by step summary of what happens in that book. ACOMAF was all over the place. First of all, where was the action? Where was the villain? There’s some awesome, powerful villain in Hybern and we only see him in the last 20 pages? And when we do see him, he just lets Feyre and everyone go as soon as they come in because that’s realistic. Excuse me? I was promised a very powerful King. Seriously, what a missed opportunity! I was expecting an epic fight scene with the King of Hybern. SJM writes fight scenes really well (Throne of Glass fight scenes are very well written), so it struck me as a surprise when there was no action. This whole book was basically Feyre realizing her feelings for Rhysand. (It was fun at first but when the whole book revolves around this romance, it became beyond boring.)
   
2. Mr. Perfect Rhysand: Ok, don’t get me wrong, I love Rhysand but where was the mysterious man from the first book. The Rhysand in the previous book was cunning and mysterious and interested me. The Rhysand in this book bored me in the second half. Gone was his deviousness and mysteriousness and in came his “perfect” qualities. In the effort to make us all love Rhysand and hate Tamlin, SJM made Rhysand too perfect, with no flaws. I wish he was just like the Rhys in the first book and then later in the ACOMAF, we get past his shells and see his true self. Instead, right away in the first hundred pages we suddenly got introduced to a new Rhys. 
   
3. SPOILERS (Skip this paragraph): The dream where Rhysand knew Feyre was his mate was disappointing. I just hoped that Rhysand had taken time to fall in love with her after he got to know her in ACOMAF. Instead it was kind of like he suspected the whole time she was his mate and it just felt less romantic…. (Also when does Feyre feel the mating bond? Rhysand felt it at the end of ACOTAR and doubled in pain because of it. Will this not happen to Feyre or will it happen in ACOWAR?)
   
4. Too Graphic: Uhhh chapter 55? Chapter 48? Chapter 2? Too graphic and I’m just going to leave this there as a warning for those who haven’t read the book yet.
   

Questions (SKIP FOR SPOILERS): 

1. Ash Arrows: In the first book I thought it made it clear that ash arrows kill the Fae no matter where it’s pierced. Yet, in this book when Rhys was pierced with one, he didn’t die.
   
2. Is having a Mate rare? I thought in the first book it said mates were rare.. But maybe I read wrong. If they are rare, it doesn’t make much sense to make Elain and Lucien mates….
   

Sidenote/ kinda spoiler : Unrelated, but was anyone else laughing every time Feyre said “my mate”? I found it funny because she said this every two sentences while longingly looking at Rhysand… haha.

I know it seems like I hated every aspect of this book but there are actually many parts I enjoyed, which is why I’m giving this book 3 stars:
“‘Smile again,’ he whispered. I hadn’t smiled for him. Ever. Or laughed. Under the Mountain, I had never grinned, never chuckled. And afterward … And this male before me … my friend.. For all that he had done, I had never given him either. Even when I had just … I had just painted something. On him. For him. I’d—painted again. So I smiled at him, broad and without restraint. ‘You’re exquisite,’ he breathed.” 

1. The side characters: I need more of Mor (haha get it), Nesta, AMRENNN (love her attitude and wished we got to see more of her fight scenes) and Cassian. (I left out Elain because she has the personality of a doorknob). I loved these characters and found myself more invested in their stories than Feyre’s.
   
2. Feyre’s PTSD: Hands off to SJM! This was very well written and I really did sympathize with Feyre (until she started acting like she was the only one who was allowed to feel pain and Tamlin was supposed to be perfect).
   
3. THE ENDING: The real reason for the three stars. AHHHH!!! Except I didn’t like how the King who was supposed to be a scary villain was really just a big flop and didn’t do anything.
   
4. Rhysand and Feyre: They were so cute in the first half of this story! And then it became boring after a while because this whole book was just about romance but I enjoyed  Feysand nonetheless.
   

“To the stars who listen—and the dreams that are answered.”

I know it sounds like I downright hated this book but I actually thought it was ok. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it completely (except for a few parts). ACOMAF is definitely worth a try! Most people love it and I really tried hard to love it too but I guess it just wasn’t for me. I’m still going to try ACOWAR and see if it’s better than this book. 

“‘You will feel that way every day for the rest of your life,’ Rhysand said. This close, I could smell the sweat on him, the sea-and-citrus scent beneath it. His eyes were soft. I tried to look away, but he held my chin firm. [...]“You can either let it wreck you, let it get you killed like it nearly did with the Weaver, or you can learn to live with it.’”

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