A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAF)

By Sarah J. Maas We continue our review of Maas’ ACOTAR series. The plot: Feyre is now back safe at the Spring Court and she is about to get married to the love of her life, Tamlin. Should be a happy ending, no? No! The evil is not yet fully defeated and Feyre has to face her own demons and decide what kind of life she wants for herself. Oh, and there is still Rhys. What agenda is he pursuing? JJ Steam’s review I didn’t hate this book, nor did I love it. I think the overall plot was entertaining but this book was a bit too long for my taste: there was a lot of going on without actually anything really significant happening. The main reason why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first one is very simple: I am too old for YA fantasy. And I don’t mean the number of times this third planet orbited our G-type main-sequence star. No, I am talking about feeling old, wanting some sort of average normalcy even in my literary escapes. After much reflection I concluded that this book and probably much of other YA fantasy literature isn’t for me: I am too cynical for perfect fairy tales, with faultless characters (even if there are flaws and shortcomings those are all perfectly justified in the name of a greater good) and the Prince Charming. So I can’t criticize this book for what it is. However, notwithstanding typical cliches associated with this genre, there were three major plot developments that I wish were done differently:

  1. what the author did to Tamlin. I loved the beginning of the book where Feyre was going through major PTSD. After all she went through in the end of the first book, the start of the second book was fantastic, as it further brought to life our protagonist - made her feel real and human. Tamlin failed to recognize and help with Feyre’s struggles was not surprising. If they had simply fallen out of love, that would be more interesting, imho. Instead, the author turned Tamlin into a crazy ex. Considering that Tamlin was Prince Charming in the first book such literary transformation was unwarranted, imho.

  2. what the author did to Rhys. In the first book Rhys was the best character: he was mysterious, with his own agenda, dangerous, unpredictable, basically, his personality was deep and complicated. In the second book, Rhys just turned into Tamlin - perfect in every way, all his previous complex actions were explained and there was not much ambiguity left in his character. Maybe others would love this walking, excuse me, flying example of perfection, but I, personally, love the small imperfections that differentiate us and make us special.

  3. mountains trembled... you know what I am referring to. Sigh, that’s not sexy in my opinion. All I could think after reading that passage was a) what a nuisance this must be to others, and b) what a turn off for Rhys and Feyre, knowing that every time they want to have some fun others will know, and c) causing earthquakes is endangering other people, so if Rhys and Feyre were responsible adults from now on they would live a life of carnal abstinence. Or at least Rhys. Feyre can have all the fun she wants :)

To sum up, if you love YA fantasy this may be a book that you may enjoy. While it has some serious plot issues, overall it is entertaining. 3/5 stars

Emmy Grant’s two cents

The second book takes whatever the first book had built up at the very end, starts with great promise, and then spirals down. And that downward trend continues for the rest of the series.

The Good:

  • The book starts with a great concept, and with interesting character developments - the main characters suffer from PTSD, as can be expected of people in the circumstances. They suffer. They fight.

  • The scene where the main heroine throws a shoe at her kidnapper - very entertaining.

  • The song of the Weaver in the Woods was hilarious. A++

The Bad:

  • The book is so fucking long! Most of it was filled. Any author whose book is over 300-400 pages should ask him/herself whether all of it is truly necessary. The answer is usually that no, it is not. 

  • The first-person narrative makes the heroine sound like a fucking narcissist when she claims she had saved everyone, etc.

  • This is a repeat of the same story we had in the first book - but a cheesier version: the main heroine feels unappreciated and trampled on, she hates her new love interest for no reason at all, just because she was told by others this is what she has to do… Then she discovers his true nature and falls head over heels. Have we not been exactly here before?!

  • The MATE concept. I hate it. Same goes for the tedious sex for hours. As Lily Wolf said, just reading this gives you a UTI. This is of course paired with the tiring over the top love confessions, many of which take place during sex, of course, and of course, make the heroine climax violently. What also makes her orgasm is her own name, obviously… Who the fuck enjoys their partner screaming their name during sex?

  • The unnecessary conflict between the characters that adds absolutely nothing to the plot. Like the fight after the heroine discovers her lover didn’t tell her he was her mate. So fucking what?! This fight also took place right after said lover almost died. You’d think she’d have more important stuff to focus on.

  • The nuance of the characters and their relationship dissolving, and all of them becoming slightly modified version of essentially the same thing. What started with a complex relationship turned bad by trauma, as well as two people growing and growing apart and desperately trying to salvage what they had by fucking non-stop quickly turns into a one-dimensional “my ex is eviiiiil and crazy” type of narrative. The same goes for Rhys, who started off as a morally ambiguous and interesting character, is reduced to a flat one-dimensional caricature of pure good. And every goddamn fart he made during both books is explained in long, painfully convoluted monologues. None of his motives remain unexplained, none of his feelings left to the imagination.

  • The unreasonable reactions of characters to events: i.e. how dare you turn my sisters into beautiful immortal strong creatures?! How dare you?!!

The entertaining:

  • When the heroine’s first love interest tells her “soon you will be my wife and it will all be OK” -well, we all know what happens to relationships like that. Clients. My clients.

  • The love interest’s statement to the effect that, isn’t it every girl’s dream to have a high lord buying them shit, which is meant to sound like an affront to an angsty teenager, becomes surprisingly more appealing as you get older and have to pay your student debt from law school.

Review by Lily Wolf 

I absolutely loved Rhys and Feyre! I cannot get enough of them. Their relationship kept me on my toes for the entire 700 pages! The only criticism: super unrealistic sex sequences. We know what this genre is about but sex 12 hours straight without breaks? Come on. I got a UTI just by reading that chapter lol 4.75/5



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