A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

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

Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's

Genre: New Adult, Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Action, Romance, Retelling, Mythology

Publication: May 3, 2016

My Rating: 5/5

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.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Actual rating: 41739 falling stars from the beautiful city of Velaris.

This is definitely one of the best books I've read in my entire life. I have so many things to say about it, I'm so excited... And I just have to write a spoilery section (BECAUSE THERE ARE JUST SO MANY FEELINGS TO BE SHARED), but don't worry, I'll let you know when the spoilers begin.

And this is going to be a long one, God bless you if you read this whole thing. No, really.

So, I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses a lot, and I had very, very high expectations for this book... and it surpassed them.

"I had died, and there had been no one to protect me from those horrors before my neck snapped. So I had done it myself."

I've seen a lot of people not wanting to read this book, because, while the first one was about Feyre and Tamlin, this one's about her and Rhysand. For those of you who say they don't want to read this, because they think Tamlin is acting out of character so that Maas could pair her with Rhysand here and then maybe with another guy in the third book: Seriously, don't miss out on this, guys. Just don't. You don't have to compare this to Throne of Glass, everything has a reason and my mind has just been blown away. I really think that no one here is acting OOC, not even Tamlin... I've come to realize that he was already like this in ACOTAR, he was already very controlling, and when I wrote my review for that one, I actually said that he always wanted to protect Feyre... But too much is just too much.

"He'd been good—there was a part of Tamlin that was good—Yes. He'd given me everything I needed to become myself, to feel safe. And when he got what he wanted... He'd stopped. Had tried, but not really. He'd let himself remain blind to what I needed after Amarantha."

He did love her, but he's so very selfish. And love can't be selfish.

"I had let him convince me not to learn those things for HIS sake"

And not just that, but we were reading from Feyre's POV. We were young and naive, and so much in love... We meet him when he has no powers and no lands. Feyre didn't know him too well after all, but now she does. We didn't see it that well then. And, the side of Rhysand we see in ACOTAR is just one of his many masks. I know the only reason I didn't root for Rhysand was because I thought that he had hurt Feyre and that he was despicable, and that made me scared... But oh my God, guys... Rhys is just wonderful. He cares about Feyre, he loves her unconditionally, lets her be free and be herself and, most of all, considers her his equal in every possible way. The 500+ year old High Lord of the Night Court, the most powerful High Lord in history, considers a former human female his equal. Such humbleness... And yeah, I'm talking to you, Tamlin. This female is his equal. And she's even better than you (Omg where did this hostility come from? I'm so sorry, but I just needed to get that out of my system).

"I had done everything—everything for that love. I had ripped myself to shreds, I had killed innocents and debased myself, and he had sat beside Amarantha on that throne. (...) Yes, he'd fought for me—but I'd fought harder for him."

Sooo I feel so happy to have said that I didn't see any chemistry between Tamlin and Feyre... Because there's just so much of that between her and Rhysand!! And it all just makes sense now. Everything in ACOTAR had to happen for this book to be what it is. For it to be this wonderful. I'm just so, so glad I didn't come to love Tamlin before, Maas definitely knows what she's doing. She's not messing around.

Another thing that bothered me about Tamlin (Please excuse me for all the complaining haha) was that we were supposed to feel sorry for him and be patient, because he just went through so much with Amarantha... You see, he almost lost Feyre... Really, dude? Really?? If I remember correctly (and I do, I really do, we all do), Feyre did all the work, while you just sat there on your pretty butt next to the freaking woman.

"I don't believe for one damn minute that you're remotely fine with being a pretty trophy for someone who sat on his ass for nearly fifty years, then sat on his ass while you were shredded apart"

Boo hoo, Tamlin. Let me just shed some tears for your misfortune.

And it was very hard for her to get over what happened in ACOTAR, and Tamlin was not being helpful at all. He just made things worse.

He also kept a lot of information from her about what was going on in Prythian. But, to me, the worst of all was that he didn't let her be herself and wanted to change her, without even really knowing her. It's an awful thing when someone you love does that to you.

And I did wonder how Feyre and Rhysand were going to be together after the whole thing Under the Mountain, after everything she went through just so she could be with Tamlin. But Maas did a great job at showing us how relationships actually work in real life. Feyre wanted/needed Tamlin once, but, you know, things can change, or you can also get to know the other person better and realize that they're not who you though they were. Tamlin's still being himself, but he just got a little bit out of control after what happened.

He's also all "it's tradition, it's what always has been done" about a lot of stuff... You know what else had always been done, Tamlin? Sexism, racism, slavery... So those things need to be done still, because that's how things were before?? Ridiculous... Oh and what was going on between him and Ianthe? No, really.

Ok, I think I sound very angry talking about this guy, I'm not that mad at him. But let's just move on, enough about Tamlin, let's get to Rhysand.

Wonderful, caring, adorable Rhysand.

First of all, I want to thank this guy for FINALLY teaching her how to read, because the High Lord of the Spring Court was obviously too important to do so. And I loved the way he taught her, making her copy sentences like "Rhysand is the most handsome High Lord" and "Rhysand is so smart". Gotta love the guy.

And he also teaches her other useful things, like how to control her new powers, even against him. Which, by the way, always made me worry. He can easily break your mind without too much effort.

But Rhys is seriously SUCH a good guy. We misunderstood him, he's just been misunderstood.

Well, not exactly, he lets people see what he wants them to see. And he plays the bad guy pretty well. If we had met this Rhys sooner, I would've blindly chosen him. Again, thank goodness I didn't come to love Tamlin.

"And I realized—I realized how badly I'd been treated before, if my standards had become so low."

I also like how he wants Illyrians to change their sexist ways. Another bonus point for Rhys, go him! And his Inner Circle really says a lot about him, they're INCREDIBLE. I love them. And they've all been through so much pain, so Feyre can definitely relate to them. Well, even Rhys has been through so many things it's heartbreaking, and yet he can still be so sweet. Oh and can I point out what an amazing job Maas did playing with all those mythological stories and characters? So well done.

And the city of Velaris is such a wonderful and magical place. Please just let me live in Velaris. What do I have to do to be taken there?

There was just so much beauty in this book, I felt like crying more than once reading this (and I did cry, who am I kidding?), it's such a magical story, which includes great characters, beautiful places, bloody action and sweet romance. Pretty much everything you need.

And seriously, I think my heart stopped every time they went on an adventure. There are just so many enemies to be aware of. So much blood to be shed. I loved all the tension, it kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time.

We also get to see her sisters again... Ugh... Whyyyyy?!!! I still don't like them. Well, maybe I don't care too much about Elain, she's just a frail little thing (but was it that difficult to at least help Feyre cook when she went out to hunt for them??!!), but Nesta... She's infuriating... And I think they're going to play bigger parts in the next book. I just hope they start being nice to Feyre for a change. And I hope that Feyre still gets to be the savior of Prythian (again). Step back, Nesta, I don't want any crazy plot twists here.

"Someone who let her youngest sister risk her life every day in the woods while she did nothing. Someone who let a fourteen-year-old child go out into that forest, so close to the wall."

And in all seriousness, Sarah J. Maas did an AMAZING job here. She blew my mind.

Because it's not only that she really understands the idea of great world building, character development and knows how to write her action scenes pretty well. But I seriously believe that she gave us one of the greatest love stories ever told. I kid you not.

"I'm thinking, that I look at you and feel like I'm dying. Like I can't breathe."

I was a complete mess when I finished this. There were just so many feelings.

Rhysand and Feyre are such a great couple. Every time they were apart for even just a bit, I couldn't wait for them to get back together!! Their bantering, their flirting... It was just so entertaining. And when things start to get more serious and feelings are shared between them... That's EVERYTHING.

"We were a song that had been sung from the very first ember of light in the world."

He is admirable. The way he treated Feyre, especially after all that happened between her and Tamlin, was really great. And he never forces her to do anything she doesn't want to do, even if it pains him. She makes her own choices, and he supports her. He cares about her. He likes to protect her, but knows that she can do it herself.

"What is it you want, Feyre?"

And it just breaks my heart to little pieces to see that everyone thinks he's an awful guy. When he is SO much better than everyone else. SO much better to his court than all those other High Lords. He's sacrificed so much, and he would sacrifice anything for those he cares about.

I just want everyone to read this and see this wonderful relationship between these two. See how hard Feyre fought to get over what happened Under the Mountain, to get over what happened between her and Tamlin... This is a great story about recovery, self-empowerment and learning to let things go. And it's also a story about sacrifice, and not caring about what others think of you. We all have a lot to learn from Rhys and Feyre.

Feyre is also getting so many titles, Daenerys would approve.

And now for the spoilery part...

------- SPOILERY SECTION -------

I can't believe Tamlin never told Feyre about how his family killed Rhys's mom and sister first!! That just made me so freaking mad!! (No, wait, I can totally believe he didn't tell her).

And I really, really love Rhysand. One of the best parts is when Feyre is making the soup for him and he starts telling her everything about his life. His very sad life. Especially those last 50 years. And I just cried like a baby when he told her how he started to see this human girl painting (THE NIGHT SKY HE MADE HER THINK OF) and having a better life (well, compared to him at that moment at least) while he was Amarantha's whore. My emotions were out of control. That's the exact moment I told myself that this was one of the best love stories ever. Everything he did to keep her safe, everything he went through to let her be happy, even if it wasn't with him... AND HE'S THE REASON SHE'S ALIVE. HE'S THE REASON ALL THOSE HIGH LORDS SAVED HER. EVERYTHING FITS TOGETHER.

"And then–then I learned your name. Hearing you say it... it was like an answer to a question I'd been asking myself for five hundred years."

And when it's revealed that Feyre is his High Lady... I just couldn't. It was perfect. Perfect.

" 'Not consort, not wife. Feyre is High Lady of the Night Court.' My equal in every way; she would wear my crown, sit on a throne beside mine. Never sidelined, never designated to breeding and parties and child-rearing. My queen."

Like I mentioned, he's so much better than most people. He's just so compassionate, and thank goodness he made Clare feel no pain while she was being tortured. I always felt so bad for what happened to her, it was very awful.

But oh my God, Feyre now probably has to share her bed with Tamlin again. It makes me feel sick. Poor Feyre. Poor Rhysand.

Or maybe she can trick his mind to make him think that they did share a bed every night. I don't know! Everything is possible!!

"And so Tamlin unwittingly led the High Lady of the Night Court into the heart of his territory."

And that ending. THAT ENDING, YOU GUYS. I'm just so excited. I need the third book. And I hope there's an awful lot of Rhysand and Feyre being together, because I don't want an incredibly long book with them being apart for like half of it, even if they have their bond (I LOVE how they can communicate with their minds, it's so precious). I need them together.

I just hope Lucien turns out to be more useful in the next book. He has to get her mate back after all. Oh and that the mortal queens die a painful death. Pretty please.

I'm also scared about Nesta's involvement. I hope she doesn't resent Feyre or whatever. Or maybe she doesn't blame her for what happened? I don't know, I don't know. I'm just going to let Maas surprise me here.

------- END OF SPOILERY SECTION -------

Now there are just two things left to be said:

1. I need both of these books in physical, especially ACOMAF.
2. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT FOR A WHOLE YEAR?! HOW?!

God help me.

But I also feel like I want to celebrate having read this wonderful masterpiece.

I really, really recommend this book. I actually recommended it to a bunch of people before I even finished it, I did. Beautiful, beautiful book.

Thank you for reading! Bye-Bye! ♥