A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas – book review

Everyone said ACOTAR 2 – A Court of Mist and Fury – was amazing and the book to truly convert me to this Sarah J. Maas fantasy series after I was left feeling a little underwhelmed by the first book, A Court of Thorns and Roses. Turns out, they were right – this book was brilliant!

Opening sentence: Maybe I’d always been broken and dark inside.

Feyre and the Cauldron

Picking up where we left off, A Court of Mist and Fury follows lead character Feyre as she navigates her new life as High Fae (no longer human).

Feyre is described as a ‘huntress with an artist’s soul’ – it’s an interesting blend and we are learning along with her as she develops her powers.

‘Because you were resurrected and reborn by the combined powers of the seven High Lords. If I were you, I’d be curious to see if anything else transferred to me during that process.’

Feyre’s main concerns are her budding relationship with Rhysand – High Lord of the Night Court – and preparing for war with Hybern. The enemies of Prythean, where Feyre lives.

The King of Hybern wants to tear down the wall that separates the faerie and mortal lands, reclaiming it all for himself. He has something pretty powerful to do this with – the Cauldron – (stay with it, yes it’s true fantasy plot-wise!)

We then learn the myth of the Cauldron – and The Book of Breathings – and the world building element of ACOTAR gets nicely padded out.

The Most Powerful High Lord in History

Rhysand is the reason a lot of people are obsessed with this series and I’m starting to see why. He has more POV chapters in A Court of Mist and Fury and discovering more about his history gave him depth.

Feyre and Rhys’ love story does a little dance before it develops which makes it very enticing to read.

Rhys’ chosen family are also described in far more detail, with the males (not men as they are not human) Cassian and Azriel often being described as such:

Both of them were tall, their wings tucked in tight to powerful, muscled bodies covered in plated, dark leather that reminded me of the worn scales of some serpentine beast.

Yes, romantasy is known for worlds where literally everyone is hot and muscled – but also damaged in some emotional way. And I’m here for it. I’m never gong to be on board with the wings though. One step too fantasy world for me!

Amren and Mor, his female friends, are both interesting and Elain and Nesta, Feyre’s sisters have a much bigger role in this book.

A fantasy trope

The more I read of the ACOTAR series, the more similarities there are with Fourth Wing. With Fourth Wing taking inspo from this, as these books were written years before.

I’m not sure if they are all general tropes of fantasy though, as I don’t read enough in the genre to know. But it feels wild to be reading about wards, runes, shadow wielders, fighting leathers, priestesses with forehead tattoos, tattooed muscle men, bonds that mean the lovers can speak to each other through their minds, armoires and it not to be Fourth Wing but ACOTAR. That’s a lot of similarities!

There is one thing that does get to me about the writing style though, characters are always ‘clicking their tongues’, ‘purring’, ‘chuckling’ and making ‘vulgar gestures’ and these phrases give me the ick a bit, especially when they are used so much.

It’s also so rogue when Feyre is described as wearing leggings and sweaters – just regular chill clothes in a fantasy realm. Takes you out of it a little bit.

But, that aside and despite this book being over 600 pages, A Court of Mist and Fury felt so easy to read, Sarah J. Maas’ writing style is very lyrical and the very dramatic, cliff-hanger ending had me reaching for the next book immediately.

• Get your copy of A Court of Mist and Fury here;
• First published 2016. This edition Bloomsbury 2020;
• 656 pages;
• Book review rating: