A Court of Mist and Fury (Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)

by Sarah J. Maas

The # 1 New York Times bestselling sequel to Sarah J. Maas' spellbinding A Court of Thorns and Roses.

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.

• ISBN10: 1619634465
• ISBN13: 9781619634466
• Publish Date: 3 May 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Imprint: Bloomsbury YA
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 640
• Language: English

Reviews

[annie-flint]

BLUE BALLS

[Ashley]

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

This was my first time listening to a Graphic Audio and wow, they are fantastic! It was a slow start at the beginning, but it picked up toward the end. Hearing the characters' emotions, along with subtle details like footsteps and background sounds, made me feel fully immersed in this world.

This book did a wonderful job introducing more characters and revealing more of the story. I really enjoyed seeing the different character dynamics develop and feeling the tension build.

I post reviews for Graphic Audios once I've finished all parts, as that’s when I consider the book complete. This review applies to both parts of ACOMAF.

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

This is my third time reading A Court of Mist and Fury; I swear each time I read it, I love Rhysand and Feyre even more. These two will always be one of my favorite couples in a Fantasy series. Rhys was a villain in the first book, but in this one, the truth comes out on why he is that morally grey character that everyone loves to hate. 

Storyline/My Thoughts: If you read the first in the ACOTAR series, you would understand why Feyre didn’t act like herself in this book. She had been through so much underneath the mountain with Amanrantha, and she did die, which didn’t help. She became something else after the High Fae helped her live. At the end of ACOTAR, she goes back to the Spring Court with Tamlin, and he has changed since watching Feyre die. He becomes way too protective and overbearing. He doesn’t allow Feyre to do anything except paint. He doesn’t care that she has nightmares, throwing up every night and withering away. It takes her calling out for help during her wedding with Tamlin for someone to save her. Rhysand has called in the bargain he did with her when she was held captive underneath the mountain. Thank goodness because I didn’t particularly appreciate how Tamlin was treating Feyre, although I was a little skeptical with Rhys at first until truths are revealed in this book.

Yes, many will say he seems to be a villain, especially after what happened in the first book, but I’ve grown to love him more after reading this one. He’s the character everyone hates (the morally grey character) because he shows a different side of himself to others, making him the villain. That is what Tamlin and Lucien have both Feyre until she discovers Rhys has a different side that is hidden from everyone else but his family and friends. He has a sweet side.

Feyre would’ve been considered an annoying character on how she turned a 360 in this book, but I adored her even more. She’s not frail anymore. She was made to be a High Fae, and all she wants is to be included and learn how to fight her own battles. She doesn’t want to be treated as a child, and she wants to understand the High Fae world because now she’s a part of it. I understood her frustration with how Tamlin treated her and felt her pain.

The second book takes the reader from the Spring Court to the Night Court, where Feyre will learn everything she can about the real Rhysand. Oh, yes, Rhysand is very dreamy in this book. He is the bad boy that can be a good boy too. There are far more adventures than Feyre will have to go on because a fiercer villain is coming to change the world as they know it. You thought the first villain was terrible; you haven’t met the King. Don’t even get me started with what Tamlin does to Feyre at the end of this book. If he were entirely erased after this book, I would be happy. I couldn’t stand him in this book.

I did love getting to know Rhys’s inner circle too. Cassian, Azriel, Mor, and Amren. Amren scares me with how she is described in this book, but I’m intrigued to learn more about her. Mor is Rhys’s cousin who has been there for him and is his third in command. Cassian and Azriel are Illyrian warriors, and both have unique qualities. Cassian and his smart mouth, especially when he tells Feyre, they won’t bite. Azriel is interesting, too, with his shadows and Truth Teller (the dagger he carries around.) He’s also Rhys’s Spymaster. I can’t wait to learn more about these characters in the third book (I’ve already read the book before, but I’m rereading it.)

I was not prepared for where this story was going, but Sarah J. Maas had me constantly turning the page to find out what happened next to the characters. The best part was the ending of the book. I won’t give it away but be prepared for some shockers—lots and lots of shockers.

(I’m going to say it, and I know other readers have noticed, but Sarah J. Maas never has the female MC stay with the first love interest. (I’m praying that’s not true with another series she’s written, but we’ll see.) It’s true in ACOAR and TOG, though, and I’m glad. Feyre was never met to be with her first love interest. She’s meant for someone who challenges her and lets her be free.)

I give this book five stars. If I could give it more stars, I would. It’s my favorite of the series (so far). Chapter 55 will forever be one of my favorite chapters in the series. If you haven’t read this series, what are you waiting for?

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the ACOTAR series, and I highly recommend reading in order.

Steam/Spice: ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫

Cliffhanger: Yes.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I highly recommend this series to fans of New Adult Fantasy. If you enjoy stories with Fae characters, characters with wings that will unalive you, magic, and secrets galore, this series is for you. This book does have spice in it, especially in Chapter 55, which is why it’s categorized as New Adult and not Young Adult.

[aschlue96]

Things are getting very good…time for book 3

[ambiancereads]

Absolutely loved it. It really picks up pace here and I couldn't put it down. Loved all the plot twists and the character development. I would LOVE to have a book about the other members of the night court especially Az.

It was a lot better. But I thought the ending was a bit messy and I hated the fact that there was no communication in the beginning between Feyra and Tamlin. 

[Berls]

Original review (February 2017):
By the end I really enjoyed A Court of Mist and Fury and I’m super excited for the next one. But GAH!!! It started SO SLOW! Seriously! Feyre spent the first third of the book moping around, not standing up for herself, and literally wilting away. I think the point was to make sure that when she starts making the moves she makes, you feel it’s the right decision. And for some people, maybe it was necessary. For me, it really wasn’t.

Now I couldn’t remember how I felt about the sort of love-triangle characters from A Court of Thorns and Roses because I read it so long ago, so I looked back at my review. And as it turns out I did like Tamlin in the first book, but I wasn’t sold on him. In fact, I said, “at times I had a hard time because those I had decided I hated I was starting to seriously LIKE.” And I said that in reference to Rhysand… who only grows on you more and more in A Court of Mist and Fury. I personally love that Sarah J. Maas managed to take the bad guy and cast him in a new light.

And once Feyre starts to stop moping and return to the woman who had the guts to endure so much to save everyone from the curse, I started to love her again too. In fact, the characters turned out to be my favorite element of A Court of Mist and Fury, probably because they were so complex that you have to spend a lot of time with them to really see their true colors.

The plot was good, though sometimes it meandered a bit and lost me, to be honest. I think I probably needed to be better focused than I was at times. And I guess the loose connection it had to a retelling of Beauty and the Beast is entirely gone now…? I guess that’s kind of weird for me, that it started off as a retelling and now has taken on an entirely different life. I’m okay with it, but it was weird.

I feel like it’s also worth noting that I would NOT consider this young adult, but New Adult. I think I’ve heard it categorized as YA a few times, but there are sex scenes in this that make me blush… it’s definitely New Adult territory. I think I even categorized the first one as YA, but this isn’t!

I continue to enjoy Jennifer Ikeda’s narration, though I have a feeling her pacing must be really slow because I listened at 2.5x speed and it felt like my normal 2x. But that might work well for some people. And her voices are really good – I feel like the characters were all distinct and her voices definitely helped bring them to life. I’ll be continuing the series on audio, for sure.

All-in-all it was a great listen and I look forward to the next book!

Reread review (June 2021):
Okay, so from that review I guess I didn't sleep through the entire book last time, but I remembered absolutely NOTHING. I guess when I said "I think I probably needed to be better focused than I was at times. "I wasn't exaggerating. I felt like I was reading it for the first time. I'm so incredibly glad I decided to reread before continuing with the next book - which I leapt right into. Another note, I listened at 2x this time and it didn't feel slow at all. So maybe that was my problem last time... I think I was in a rush to read it (deadline of some sort maybe?) and pushed through too fast...

So I stand corrected, the plot wasn't meandering at all for me this time. And some of the action and magic were fantastic. But I do agree with my statement that the characters were great. I especially loved Rhysand's inner court. And that ending! It's not exactly a cliff, but close enough! I couldn't wait to start the next one and abandoned my plans to read something else in between.

[vagasker]

This book is much better than the first, mostly because the plot was not as predictable. I was not a fan of the spicy themes in this book and it didn't add anything to the story but I kinda just skimmed it. I still did very much enjoy this book as a whole.

[chillywilly]

The second book in A Court of Thorns and Roses series, what to say about it other than that this was by far better than the first. Of course, you can't have this one without that one. This book did make me dislike Feyre a little bit though (Chapter 51). I understand her anger, but not the way she went about it. My dad had anger issues and wouldn't speak to my mom for 3 days if he was really mad, so this really bothered me. If Feyre really loved him at that time, she wouldn't have just left him in the mud before taking off. She would have made sure that he made it into the house and was going to live. And really, I feel like the author wrote this chapter for her to get Chapter 55 (the one that everyone talks about). I think that really is my only complaint with this book. I like Feyre progression of healing that is taken after book one and you don't realize some of the things Tamlin did until reading this book. And I feel like I can't give a proper statement on that until I go back and reread book one. Rhysand is a complex character and I feel like Maas took her time with creating him. He clearly has issues and the way he's written makes the reader feel for him and want to help him. I can see why he's coveted as a book boyfriend to so many.

[herseriallife]

Just re-read but with the audiobook version to get ready for the release of A Court Of Silver Flame. ACOMAF is my favorite of the series so far and it was very interesting to rediscover the book in a different light. Still loving (and obsessing over) the ACOTAR series!