Monday, October 2

[Review] A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas

Author: Sarah J. Maas
Original Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016
Finished Date: June 5th, 2016
Pages: 624
Read in: English

“Tell me what you see.”

“A world divided in two.”


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.

Source: GoodReads

Rating

I did not particularly enjoy the first book in this series, A Court of Thorns and Roses (Is it a series? Is it a trilogy? I've no idea). I didn't even write a review for it, because I didn't feel like I had anything interesting to say about it. The characters seemed bland to me (with one peculiar exception, the mysterious Rhysand), the magic system was ambiguous and unexplained, and the plot felt too dramatic.

I had no intention of picking this one up, at all, especially since the ending of the first one was suggesting a love triangle. I mean, it seemed a bit contradictory to have the first book end like it did only to present a new love interest. It was as if the first book was completely invalidated.
But, after hearing much talk about it, I finally decided to pick it up and read a few pages to see if it grabbed my attention.
I must say, I'm very surprised with this book. First, because this was the first Sarah J. Maas book I really enjoyed. Second, because the characters that seemed bland to me on the first book, now were unique and compelling enough for me to not only keep reading, but to actually start caring. And lastly, because I really liked the way depression and abuse and PTSD was handled.
The magic system continues not to impress me. Everything seems unexplained and circumstantial, and we are never really told the extent of it or people's powers, which makes for poor tension in climaxes since the characters just use a new power that was never mentioned before to solve that particular problem. I understand some people might enjoy this kind of thing, but to me it just seems like lazy writing.
This book is not perfect, there are actually some really cringeworthy situations, especially the sex scenes. Still, I gave it four stars purely for my enjoyment while reading. It was a page-turner, and it didn't really feel like a 600+ page book.
I will say though that this is not YA. There are some sexy and steamy scenes in this book, and if you don't feel comfortable reading that kind of things, I would avoid this.

«Demons are made of shadow. Don't look at the shadows too long or a demon might look back

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