Ah, A Court of Mist and Fury. How dost I describe my feelings for thee?
I both loved thee with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.....and hated you with equal fervor.
Part of me is like this:
and then part of me is like:
So, basically, I am both Meryl Streep AND John Krasinski in this GIF
Okay, so I guess I should actually tell you why I feel this way.
WHAT MADE ME SQUEAL:
- #SquadGoals:
But seriously though. This book is ultimate #SquadGoals, okay? I have ALWAYS been a sucker for brotherhood, honor, loyalty, and making your own family. And this book has it ALL. I was rooting for them all and wanted to give them hugs (even though they'd probably attempt to gut me) and THEY'RE ALL PRECIOUS, OKAY?! These #squadgoals gave me feeeeeellings. The loyalty. THE BROTHERHOOD! S. J. Maas is QUEEN of making awesome, kick-butt friendships (ToG anyone?) and this book is no exception. - GIRL POWER FOR THE WIN:
Okay, this goes along with the above point, but it also needed its own. S. J. Maas is also queen of making awesome female friendships for the WIN! Forget the catty pettiness. She makes strong female characters, not solely in the physical sense, but women who are strong in who they are as a person. If that's not strong female representation, I don't' know what is. - Rhys - the tortured (quite literally) soul who secretly has a heart of gold *gasp*:
Okay, so weirdly enough he's also why I didn't like this book that much. But that's for later. Right now, here's why I absolutely adore him. I can't even lie, in ACoTaR, I was kinda feeling team Rhys. But this book. Guys, THIS. BOOK! Rhys is just like a tortured porcupine. All prickly on the exterior but its just hiding an ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS SOUL. He's the fiercely loyal, stoic, and kind-hearted type I adore. His self-sacrificial attitude is just beyond honorable and he'd do anything for those he cares about. Also, he really encourages and treats Feyre with the respect and dignity she deserves. IT JUST MELTS MY HEART, OKAY?! - Touched on Depression and trauma:
Let's face it - after all the crap that went down at the end of ACoTaR, it's is absolutely no suprise that Feyre is dealing with a LOT of difficult stuff. And this book represents. It doesn't gloss over it. No - it showcases it in a way that is sympathetic, understanding, and authentic. You can actually feel the emotions that Feyre is going through. The lack of interest, just going through the motions, lack of desire. I'm glad that it wasn't glossed over because it makes it realistic.
WHAT MADE ME SCREAM:
*Note: These may contain some *slight* overview spoilers. If you don't want to know anything, then don't read.
- Rhys the TOO. ANNOYINGLY. PERFECT. fae:
"'WHAT?', you cry. Didn't you just say how much you loved Rhys?" Why, yes. Yes I did. And I do. He has quite a few qualities I absolutely adore. The problem is 1) He does a complete 180 from the last book and 2) he is almost faultless. Yes, he is still the dark, brooding, sassy fae we all came to love in book 1 but *insert cliche tortured soul with a heart of gold here*.ANNNNNNNDDD he can basically do no wrong. Like, I don't mind a tortured fellow who is actually quite loyal and sweet, even if he is harboring a dark past, but he can in NO WAY be perfect. Rhys was portrayed as being bascially faultless in this book. Everything he did, everything he said, was PERFECT. No missteps, whatsoever. No accidentally saying the wrong thing. Oh, and everything he did was reasoned away. Look, I get that he did a lot of things out of selfless nature, but he also did some bad things and Feyre just reasons everything away. Like suuurrreee he did that, BUT HE'S OH SO SELFLESSSSSSS! I call bull-crap. - Book 1 is basically pointless:
This book basically makes book 1 utterly. pointless. Like, "HA! You thought it was Tamlin/Feyre for life? SIKE!" And, look, I kind of like the narrative of the first person you fall in love with, not being the right one. Cause look, it happens. And I also like the narrative of sometimes falling for someone due to circumstances. BUT I hate how the first book was all I LURRRRRVVVEEE YOU and then this book is like ummmmmm jk. This leads too...... - Same thing she did with QoS:
Okay, so without being too spoilery(ish), she did the same thing here that she did in QoS - she takes the love interest where they are so. totally. in love. and it makes you SQUEEEE then, again the whole 180 twist, and the MC falls in LURRRRVVVEE with someone else.The problem is there's not much...leading to the switch. I guess, in both instances, I feel like it was very sudden. Nothing really leading to the switch. (If you can't tell, I'm CHAOLAENA FOR LYFE). Like, something happens but instead of slowly leading to the switch in love interests its like 1) I LOOOOOVVVVEEE YOU 2) oh, you did something 3) NOW I LOVE ANOOOTTTTHHHEEERR! No steady transition here. One moment in love. The next, not so much. - I don't think Tamlin would do that:
Okay, I can't say anything about this part without giving something away, but I think what ultimately happens is WAY out of character for Tamlin. Like, no. He would NOT do that. - WHERE IS MY PRECIOUS LUCIEN?!:
I ADORED Lucien in the first book. In this one? Not so much. Not only is he basically non-existent, but none of his sass and sweetness was illustrated.
Honestly, the worst part is that the more I think about this book, the more I hate it. I just feel like it was a completely different book, a completely different series. Book 1 felt pointless. People did 180s without reason in my opinion and just......*le sigh*. I wanted to love it. I really, REALLY did. And this book had quite a few great parts (FRIENDSHIP!), but ultimately it left me frustrated. I guess if you're fully #TeamRhys, then you won't care. But even though I really liked him, I still didn't love this book.
Alright fellow readers - surely I can't be the ONLY one who didn't like this book. I am? *crickets* *Slowly backs away from ravenous horde of ACoMaF fangirls and hides in cave for rest of life*
This review was originally posted on Oh, For the Love of Books!