Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2)
by Sarah J. Maas
Fantasy
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has 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, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Review:

I think it's safe to say that this book took the series in directions I could have never anticipated.  I love how Sarah Maas can completely change dynamics and relationships and reveal hidden depths about these characters you think you know from the first book.  As a reader it's nice to have these surprises.

I should say that at first I wasn't really happy with the way things were going.  I don't want to spoil things, but with A Court of Thorns and Roses, Feyre had to go through so much, that it almost felt invalidated in this book because of how things were changed.  Feyre also is recovering from the horrors of her time Under the Mountain, so I felt like the story took awhile to get underway due to how damaged she was.  It was chilling though to read just how devastated by those events our heroine was, and I admired how realistic it was for Maas to explore those things.  It also served to strengthen Feyre, and really showcase that fierceness in her that I loved to see.  The pace of the story was slow for me in the beginning, but the character development was stellar.

Rhysand was a favorite character in the first book for me, so learning more about him and his court was definitely a highlight.  Especially because there is so much depth to him that was only hinted at in the first book.  And he is still solidly a favorite character for me.  He's almost too perfect really, as a romantic ideal, and it's not fair, haha.

The world expands too, as more is revealed about the other courts, and the threat against the fae and the humans become more apparent.  The story really ramps up towards the end too, as everything in the story comes together for a pretty heart-stopping finale.  I was absolutely riveted.  It's crazy how intense this story became - it went from the characters sort of dancing around each other in uncertainty to so much being laid out on the line, and so many things going wrong.  It was brilliant.  And the last book in this trilogy will be glorious I'm sure!