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

Sarah J. Maas

Start date: June 1, 2016

Finish date: June 30, 2016

Discussion: Series

Why we're reading this: Won the poll for the series BOTM
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What Members Thought

Mar 30, 2021 Rachel rated it really liked it

*fans myself*
Yowza. The steam level on this book definitely took a sharp rise into Smoky Town. Feyre, in the aftermath of escaping Under the Mountain, realizes things have changed between her and Tamlin and her bargain with Rhysand to spend a week with him each month may actually be her saving grace and key to finding her true self.

Maas did an excellent job of navigating Feyre's healing from the PTSD she suffered after Amarantha's torment in the first book, including realistically shifting her a ...more

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Sep 18, 2016 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-teen-new-adult, library-has-a-copy, favorites, fantasy-sci-fi-romance-romantasy, romance, fantasy-science-fiction, best-books-read-in-2016, book-boyfriends

5 beautiful, shining stars to infinity and beyond! For all that I was expecting from this book, an extremely thorough and thoughtful examination of love and what it means to be loved wasn't on that list. But that turned out to be 100% okay with me because of just how awesome this book is. For all that love is vaunted and rightfully so as this thing of wonder, beauty, joy, freedom, peace, hope and happiness, for all that it has inspired works such as "She Walks In Beauty", "Pride and Prejudice," 5 beautiful, shining stars to infinity and beyond! For all that I was expecting from this book, an extremely thorough and thoughtful examination of love and what it means to be loved wasn't on that list. But that turned out to be 100% okay with me because of just how awesome this book is. For all that love is vaunted and rightfully so as this thing of wonder, beauty, joy, freedom, peace, hope and happiness, for all that it has inspired works such as "She Walks In Beauty", "Pride and Prejudice," "Unchained Melody," The Kiss by Gustav Klimt and for all that it has driven people to make sacrifices, to reform their lives, to better themselves, we often forget that love has an utterly terrifying other side. That it can be a thing of fear, manipulation, pain, control, madness, deception and that it can be hideous. That it can be as much bladed weapon as blooming flower. And that it has driven people to insanity, it has driven them to kill, it has inspired people to do horrific things. The riddle from the first book came to mind and I don't know if it was deliberate or not on Sarah's part, but it seemed to fit the themes of love being explored here. “There are those who seek me a lifetime but never we meet. And those I kiss but who trample me beneath ungrateful feet. At times I seem to favor the clever and the fair. But I bless all those who are brave enough to dare. By large, my ministrations are soft-handed and sweet. But scorned, I become a difficult beast to defeat. For though each of my strikes lands a powerful blow. When I kill, I do it slow... ” (view spoiler)[At the end of the last book, we were left with Feyre and Tamlin together and everything all happy. This book picks up a few months after the events in A Court Of Thorns and Roses and has Tamlin and Feyre now engaged and everything seems good. But we quickly learn that it's not. Due to his extreme fear for her safety, Tamlin has keeping been Feyre a virtual prisoner in their house. Feyre is attempting to deal with the aftermath of what she did and what happened to her Under The Mountain, but she is broken and in so much agony and Tamlin can't see it and she is slowly, metaphorically, withering and dying because of it, but tries to bury herself in wedding planning with a new friend, Ianthe and by painting and ignoring how she's feeling. It's expected that she'll basically become an empty headed court lady who plans parties and such and is concerned with shopping and running the house and the like, but she'll have no real power and it's expected automatically that she'll bear his children. I think a big part of Feyre and Tamlin's problem was that they had lust and sexual chemistry in spades, but they had too many conflicts outside of that. Book one was definitely their honeymoon phase and book two was, well, the ugly divorce after Feyre realizes that they don't have what it takes. This culminates in her wedding day with her about to walk down the aisle and her feet getting colder and colder to the point where she mentally screams for someone, anyone, to get her out of there and Rhysand shows up and spirits her away to the Night Court for a week per the bargain they struck in the previous book. She returns after a week and things just get worse. Rhysand can see how she's suffering and eventually has Mor bring her to the Night Court and that's where things get really, really, really, really good! Rhysand and Feyre have the most delicious enemies to friends to lovers relationship. It's a very delightful slow burn. They start as just that, enemies, though much more so on Feyre's part than Rhysand's. He doesn't seem to be affected by her one way or the other and is chiefly interested in teaching her to read and strengthen her mental shields. Otherwise, he leaves her to her own devices. Slowly, this blossoms into a sweet and caring friendship with Rhys teasing and taunting her to no end. And then, at long last, lovers. I really applaud Maas for making such a bold move here in jettisoning Tamlin as a love interest and even turning him into a villain (more on that later) and using Tamlin and Rhys to explore love. I do believe that Tamlin's love started out being true and pure with no intention of harming Feyre. But after what happened Under The Mountain with Amarantha and Feyre's death, his love morphed into something twisted, dark and controlling. A quote from City of Bones by Cassandra Clare come to mind here, "to love is to destroy" and that's what Tamlin's love, no matter how well intentioned, was doing to Feyre. And then comes Rhys. I utterly adored the character journey that Maas took him on. How at first he seems like this arrogant, cold, brutal, menacing, evil jerk ruler of the Night Court without a care in the world. And Maas slowly peels his layers back and shows that he's actually a really loving, caring, sweet, charming, considerate and all around awesome guy! Even though he was in love with Feyre and knew from the beginning that she was his mate, he never once tried to pull her in his direction or force her or rush her or influence her in any way. He told her that he would have let her stay with Tamlin and love him if it made her happy, no matter how much it may have hurt him. He let her get to know him, the real him, and befriended her and let her fall for him naturally. Their love felt extremely natural and organic. And when she finally admitted that she loved him, it was, I have no words. It was just beautiful. And I may have actually gasped when Feyre accepted the mating bond. Maas writes some of the utter best and most delicious sexual tension that I have ever read. And given just how many romance novels, both YA and adult that I have read, that is really saying something. Rhys flirts with Feyre in the most delicious and enjoyable way and when Feyre finally starts flirting back? It gets even better. She really draws it out and it works so, so, so well. There's nothing better than slow burn sexual tension. And when Rhys and Feyre finally give into that tension? What follows is a very steamy and well written sex scene. I actually fanned myself. With how well Maas writes sexual tension and sex scenes, I'd love to see her turn her eye to adult romance one day. The contrast of the love that Rhys has for Feyre versus the love Tamlin has for her is nothing short of astonishing. For however pure and good Tamlin's love may have started out as being, it had truly become something ugly and controlling and I question if he ever viewed her as an equal. In comparison, Rhys unequivocally viewed her as an equal, so much so that he declared her High Lady of the Night Court. That's right. His queen and equal in every single way. And though he loves Feyre deeply and abidingly, he never wants to control her or suffocate her or harm her in any way. Her well being and happiness always come first for him. He lets her make her own choices, even if he disagrees with them. It's funny in a way. How Tamlin is High Lord of the Spring Court, presumably a seelie or light court, yet his love is a thing of evil and darkness. And Rhysand is High Lord of the Night Court, an unseelie or dark court and yet his love is beautiful and wonderful and everything that love should be. It's pretty cool how Maas flipped the script so thoroughly there. Maas writes about love in an incredibly beautiful and profound and poetic way that is breathtaking. (hide spoiler)] But, all that love does not come at the expense of the plot by any means! The plot is killer!! (view spoiler)[Maas introduces four new characters here. Amren, Cassian, Mor and Azriel. And I loved them all! I adored the friendship that Feyre developed with them all. It was so great watching Feyre get to know them all and slowly accept their friendship and for her to finally have people who she can truly trust and who truly have her back. Mor was one of the most fun female characters that Maas has written so far. She has this delightful sense of joie de vivre and is such a nice foil to Feyre and Amren who are far more serious. But don't let that lightness fool you, she's also incredibly intelligent and lethal and very much lives up to the legend that Maas took inspiration for her character from. I liked that Maas teased the very beginnings of a romance between Mor and Azriel, I look forward to them getting together. They're such opposites, she's all light and happiness and he's all dark and broody and that's usually, when written correctly, a great combination. Azriel was a very interesting and mysterious character who I can't wait to learn more about, what little we know of his past and what we do learn of him really caught my attention and I'm excited for Maas to peel back his layers. His role as Rhysand's spymaster fit him and the story very well. Cassian was loads of fun, if Azriel is all dark and broody, Cassian is the opposite. He's inclined to joke around and he doesn't seem to take life so seriously as Azriel does. He was an all around delightful character. And I thought that making Nesta his mate was a very interesting choice. Especially with how they spend most of the novel sniping at one another and locking horns. I predict fire and a lot of it between them and a delicious enemies to lovers relationship. The ending with his wings having been shredded was heartwrenching and I hope that they're fully healed in the next book. What we did get of both Cassian and Azriel's respective pasts was brutal and terrible, their time in Illyrian war camps and their training was perhaps somewhat reminiscent of ancient Sparta and it really helped to show how it morphed them into the incredibly strong and dangerous warriors that they are today. I loved all of Cassian's training scenes with Feyre and it was awesome watching her slowly morph into this amazing warrior. Feyre's character journey all around was amazing. Watching her fully embrace her powers and become this incredibly strong person who embodied the Nietzsche quote "that which does not kill me, makes me stronger." She emerges from everything she's gone through a true warrior. And I thought her powers in general were amazing and so well written and described. Amren was perhaps the most mysterious of all the characters and I definitely really want to find out more about her in the next book. The little that is revealed about her is so interesting. Maas teased the absolute barest hint of a love interest for her, Varian from the Summer Court. I think that they would make an interesting match to say the least. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The choice to have Hybern make Elain and Nesta into High Fae as a display of the power of the Cauldron was very interesting. I would not have expected Elain and Nesta to obviously be intended to play such a big role in the next book. I think that Nesta will end up being a positively deadly and lethal High Fae and will make good on what that finger she pointed at the king promised before being shoved under the waters of the Cauldron. And making Elain Lucien's mate was a very bold play. Especially in light of the fact that Tamlin and by extension, Lucien, are now on the top of Feyre's hit list. I guess that Maas has some very big plans for Lucien in the next book because I don't think she'd have Lucien meet his mate only to have him be irredeemable and die in the end. Given what we know and have been shown of Lucien and Elain, I think they'll end up a great match. And I'm really glad that Maas is going that way with Lucien's character, he's not Tamlin's toady or sycophant and doesn't agree with everything that Tamlin does by a long shot and I've always liked him and felt he deserved love. But I did find Elain and Nesta's being made into High Fae to be a little bit of a deus ex machina. It was almost like, of course they are. To get around the fact that Nesta and Cassian could never have gotten together otherwise and Lucien would have ended up being more tortured than he already is if Elain had been his mate, only for her to be mortal. But in the sea of awesomeness that is this book, if that's the biggest quibble I have? I'll take it. And I have complete faith in Maas as a writer and I'm sure she has something truly epic and great for Elain and Nesta in store. Moving onto the king of Hybern. Nasty does not even begin to describe him! His plan to destroy the border between Prythian and the human world so that his forces can enslave everyone and destroy the peace of the Courts and make them all bow to him? Evil, evil, evil! Having Tamlin decide to ally himself with the king of Hybern and let the king march through his lands to Prythian and destroy the wall in exchange for the king handing Feyre over to Tamlin in some extremely twisted attempt to get Feyre back shocked me. I would never have expected him to do that! I literally gasped out loud when he stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself. It really goes to show just how twisted his love for Feyre has gotten if he's willing to do something like that. It blows my mind that he would ever think that she would be willing to be with him after doing something like that. And when Feyre, in essence, sacrifices herself and makes like the king was able to break the mating bond between her and Rhys so that everyone can go free and she goes back to the Summer Court, I did find myself wondering what she'll do if Tamlin wants to sleep with her. I'll be interested to see how Maas addresses that. But I digress. Although, to Tamlin's credit, he does step in and tell the king to stop when the king makes Nesta and Elain into High Fae, saying it wasn't part of their agreement. And Maas has stated that he's still got his own journey ahead in this world. If anyone can redeem him after all of that and have it be believable and have it work for the story, Maas can. But I suspect it will be an extremely long and torturous journey. Maybe that's what she'll be covering in books four, five and six. As for why the king does that to Nesta and Elain? It's because the four human queens, whom Rhysand tried to court as allies earlier in the book, even showing them Velaris, sold Rhys and Velaris out to the king, resulting in a horrific attack by Attors on the city earlier in the book. But it also gives us a chance to really see Feyre in action and it is something. Her battle scenes are awe inspiring! In exchange for selling out Rhysand and Velaris, the king promises to make them High Fae and Feyre's sisters are the proof that one can do it and survive. I couldn't believe it when it was revealed that they'd done that. How stupid can they be? If they honestly think that the king of Hybern with the Cauldron in his arsenal won't utterly destroy them and the human realm the minute the wall is down... Well, even my cats are smarter than that. And Ianthe also turns out to be a big ol' Benedict Arnold. She's been allied with the king for who even knows how long. That was a surprise, but it also fit very well with Rhysand had previously revealed of her character, such as her attempts to seduce him in what was little more than an attempt to manipulate him into having children with her. Redemption may potentially be waiting for Tamlin, but I sincerely doubt there will be any for Ianthe. At least I hope not. I think I'm finally done talking about characters and betrayals, lol. I'll now turn my attention to the parts of the plot I didn't discuss above. The bulk of the plot is given over to, of course, Rhys and Feyre's romance, her training with Cassian, her developing friendship with all of them and their attempts to find the Book in hopes of nullifying the Cauldron's power. Starting with a very creepy visit to the Bone Shaker in an infamous Prison that no one can escape from. The Bone Carver tells them what they want to know in a very interesting and well done scene. And creepy as he was, I do hope we'll at least learn a bit more about him, if not see him again. Why is he in Prison in the first place? And there's a visit to the even more mysterious if that's possible Weaver to see if Feyre is able to sense magical objects in preparation for her finding the book, which, yep she can. She retrieves a ring for Rhysand in a very harrowing and well done scene. Whatever the Weaver is, she's terrifying. And then it's onto the Summer Court to retrieve the first half of the Book. I'm glad that Maas introduced and explored another Court. I haven't touched on Sarah's worldbuilding yet, so I will now. Her worldbuilding is nothing short of excellent. It's very fully realized and well done and original. And her descriptions are beautifully written and make it very easy to picture the Summer Court, Night Court, Velaris, etc in your mind. She gives loads of details and though I know that's not everyone's thing, it sure is mine! The retrieval of the Book does indeed happen, but it is one suspenseful scene! Then it's onto the human realm to bargain for the other half of the Book, but the queens initially say no. And they say no the second time and it seems like it's over until it's revealed that one of the queen snuck the Book out and gave it to them. Now it's Amren's job to decode the language it's written in and indeed she does and she finds the spell that Feyre must say in order to nullify it. And after the attack on Velaris, it's onto Hybern to try and nullify the powers of the Cauldron. It does not go well to say the least. (hide spoiler)] Pretty much all of my review is behind the spoiler tag, but suffice it to say that I absolutely, positively love this book and that I thought it was excellent on every level! I'm not kidding when I say that I actually hugged this book when I finished it. It's that good. I haven't read Empire Of Storms yet, but so far, I honestly think that this is the best book that Maas has written to date. It will go down as quite possibly one of my favorite books ever. I will sing the praises of this book and Sarah's writing to the moon and back. Her writing is killer and has gotten better and better with each book. And that's saying something given how strong of a writer she's been from onset of her career. Her plotting, her characters, her worldbuilding are all superb and out of this world. She's one of the few hype authors I've read where I can say that I 100% get the hype and where I think it's absolutely and richly deserved. I am officially a fan of hers for life. I'm not kidding when I say I'll probably pass these books down to my future kids when they're old enough. And speaking of age, this is definitely not a book for younger readers. There's several extremely frank, graphic and erotic sex scenes. This is most definitely new adult. In conclusion, I cannot recommend this book and the entire series highly and enthusiastically enough to anyone and everyone who likes well written fantasy, new adult romance, romance in general or just a plain good book! Please don't be put off by the new adult tag, I'm 23 at the time of the writing of this review and I obviously greatly enjoyed this book!
And I cannot believe I have to wait so long to read the next book! I needed it yesterday! ...more

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Jun 25, 2020 Kirsten rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is an excellent series. And this second book is even better than the first.

The continuing exploration of fae/fairy society. The further depths of Feyre's relationships with the fae. This book has a lot of depth and has you turning the pages for more. The ensemble cast in this book was excellent and the love story has you thinking this book isn't really YA.

I can't wait for book #3! ...more

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Oct 21, 2016 Melanie rated it liked it

2 1/2 stars
Plot: The plot was fine the characters strong, but the sex scenes were WAY too graphic for my comfort. That being said I love the depth of emotion that Sarah puts into her characters. They are always so strong and so tormented in a very cathartic way.
Language: She writes so well, there is a natural flow to her story telling and an ease with which she describes moments.
Engaging: despite the length the story was engaging. I would give it a 1/2 star though because it did drag in some spo ...more

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Jul 21, 2017 Rebecca added it

Shelves: adult, female-author, fantasy, 2000s

Vulgar gesture.
Prick.
Vulgar gesture.
Prick.
Vulgar gesture.
Prick.

These are definitely Maas's cinnamon words.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this series. It can get incredibly exciting, then it'll bore me to tears. I'll read the next book, though.
...more

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