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A review by storyorc
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Entertaining again. If you are looking to shut off the brain, kick your feet, and giggle, this'll do it.
Maas is clearly trying to bring a layer more nuance than is traditionally typical for the romance genre in having Feyre struggle with her trolley problem murders and not end up with her original love interest. I welcome this. There were even a few lines that captured some real depth and wisdom. It's a step in a nice direction for younger readers, even if we never really doubt that Feyre will heal any more than we doubt that she'll end up with Rhysand. Even if Rhysand turns into a shining beacon of feminism while Tamlin speedruns villainy. Even if it's all as subtle as a bag of bricks to the dome.
Yet again, the side-quest fairies who most closely resemble their mythological counterparts are the most interesting. In contrast to Rhysand's Inner Circle of lovely but not terribly original friends (with the possible exception of Amren), the fairy-fairies are intimidating and otherworldly. We see my favourite Suriel again, and also two (original?) delightfully sinister creatures, the Bone Carver and the Weaver. Feyre's meetings with them are the most memorable and exciting parts of the book and the only time you feel real fear that the heroes are facing something that could ruin them.
The romance payoff works too. Feyre and Rhysand are cute together, dammit, but over 600 pages, even their snarking and flirting grows repetitive. By the sixth obstacle or missed opportunity, I started hoping she'd go yell at Tamlin again just for a change of pace. Even the ending couldn't stop me skimming until Maas finally kicked into high gear with theTamlin and Lucien reveal.
Other things that haunt me:
Maas is clearly trying to bring a layer more nuance than is traditionally typical for the romance genre in having Feyre struggle with her trolley problem murders and not end up with her original love interest. I welcome this. There were even a few lines that captured some real depth and wisdom. It's a step in a nice direction for younger readers, even if we never really doubt that Feyre will heal any more than we doubt that she'll end up with Rhysand. Even if Rhysand turns into a shining beacon of feminism while Tamlin speedruns villainy. Even if it's all as subtle as a bag of bricks to the dome.
Yet again, the side-quest fairies who most closely resemble their mythological counterparts are the most interesting. In contrast to Rhysand's Inner Circle of lovely but not terribly original friends (with the possible exception of Amren), the fairy-fairies are intimidating and otherworldly. We see my favourite Suriel again, and also two (original?) delightfully sinister creatures, the Bone Carver and the Weaver. Feyre's meetings with them are the most memorable and exciting parts of the book and the only time you feel real fear that the heroes are facing something that could ruin them.
The romance payoff works too. Feyre and Rhysand are cute together, dammit, but over 600 pages, even their snarking and flirting grows repetitive. By the sixth obstacle or missed opportunity, I started hoping she'd go yell at Tamlin again just for a change of pace. Even the ending couldn't stop me skimming until Maas finally kicked into high gear with the
Other things that haunt me:
- The idea of a fairy city having night clubs, lingerie shops, and bank accounts with lines of credit.
- The idea that Rhysand is overpaying Feyre when she literally
has every power and is the only one who can enact his plan to save the world . I deeply hate whenever it is brought up that he is paying her a salary at all. - "Licking" as a synonym for oral. This cannot be allowed to continue
- Rhysand's little speech about
shaking mountains with his roar if she gave him head turning out to be literal. Sir, you are a head of state. You cannot be terrorising the populace with both property damage and the knowledge of why it's occurring. - How no-one acknowledges that Tamlin and Lucien's concern that Feyre is being mind-controlled is extremely legitimate! Their personal enemy, who spent weeks publically sexually assaulting Feyre and is known for mind tricks, kidnapped her from her wedding and they're supposed to believe her letter that it's all good?? As far as they know, SHE CAN'T WRITE. They can't be the shitty control freak antagonists if their reasons are completely logical.
- Nesta, a human, was described as roaring and now I'm no longer certain if all the fairies snarling and growling and roaring are doing so metaphorically too or literally, as I had assumed
- Fairy diplomacy is WILD. I'm pleased they have different etiquette to humans but this is nuts. The Night Court's standard diplomatic strategy seems to be to show up and act like bored sluts. Heads of state talk about Feyre's chest and
practically fuck in the throne room. Consider my pearls clutched. This one's not a negative but it IS funny. - Morrigan, Azriel, and Cassian need to shit or get off the pot. Cassian makes the most valiant stab at being interesting but without the love triangle, they might all feel more like the powerful allies they're intended to be instead of teenagers.
- What is the significance of leaving the human queens nameless? It was done so pointedly there must be something. Why would Rhysand
reveal Velaris now, on hope alone, when 3/4 of his tragic backstory is about keeping it secret? - The >9000 power levels erode all stakes. It's not enough for Rhysand to be able to mind kill, he has to be the Most Powerful High Lord Ever; it's not enough for Feyre to have all the High Lord powers, she can also just
decide not to be affected by the King of Hybern's magic (persuading it was a cute idea, but immediately dropped?) ; it's not enough for Azriel and Cassian to match the strongest Illyrians by using siphons, they have to use SEVEN. - The knee tattoo idea is something you write in your notes app at 4am while listening to Broken Crown but it should have been nixed in the cold light of day
Mostly, I just wish some of the hard choices our heroes make were pushed and explored further as truly morally ambiguous. And that Lucien was in every chapter.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape