A COURT OF MIST AND FURY BY SARAH J. MAAS | Book Review

Well, that was a ride, amirte?

*this post will have a MARKED spoiler/discussion section for ALLEGIANT by Veronica Roth when I talk about my theories for the third book*

This is the second book in Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy (I'm like 80% sure it's a trilogy), and I have a review of the first book HERE if you haven't read the first book yet!

Believe you me, if I rated this book on how many feels I had alone, then this would have gotten 6 out of 5 stars for a number of reasons.

1) MY SHIP HAS SAILED. (kind of, sort of)

2) All of the other ships that I didn't know existed before this book are all there and beautiful AKA: the romance in this book is done really, really well and I'm a tiny bit in love. 

I am an absolute sucker for amazing side characters. I will fall over myself searching for them, and I have to admit that the side characters in ACOMAF are amazing. While Maas did an amazing job creating side characters that I am absolutely in love with, she almost got to an Eclipse-like problem. Every time that Feyre got one on one with a character, the plot would just come to a rapid halt so that we could get their tragic backstory, an info-dump of character history that wasn't needed to develop the character but contains one tiny snipet of information that we see later in the book.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good tragic backstory, but it just got repetitive and annoying.

We get a ridiculous amount of character development in this book, something that I felt was very lacking in the first book. Like, it was almost ridiculous how much character development. She almost made a complete 180 degree turn at one point in the novel, and while I do see why that happened, I would have liked to see more of a struggle to change because of how stubborn Feyre is as a character (this was a product of forcing the ship, in my opinion).

Either way, I was really happy with Feyre's development aside from the fact that all development (emotional and otherwise) came from other characters, especially from the men. I would have loved to see more self-empowerment and female-empowerment from a NA fantasy series.

Another smaller problem that I had was that there is a female friendship that ends up just getting tossed aside for the sake of the ship.

And as with my last ACOTAR review, we come back to my main problem with Maas and the reason that the only other book I will ever read from Maas is the last ACOTAR book, and that is her writing. It's one of the most important things to me when I am reading because it's the medium through which the story is being told. I'm spending my time reading words on a page, so I usually expect the words to be put together in a sensible fashion. I'm going to list the main problems I have with Maas's writing . . . now.

1) So many unnecessary ellipses (. . .) and hypens (--) that the prose doesn't even make sense half the time.

2) She tries to make it "stream of consciousness" and, for the most part, I think it works; however, at times that style of writing really hindered my comprehension of the story, especially when Feyre is in the Spring Court. 

3) Maas can vividly describe sex, breasts, and fingering, but she can't describe a) what "vulgar gesture" Feyre makes repeatedly throughout the novel or b) blood and guts and fighting. You gave me one, but I'm "too sensitive of a reader" to understand war? No, thank you. 

4) The info-dumps in this novel are absolutely ridiculous. There are two (Chapter 16 & pages 517-528, for those of you who doubt me) 10 PAGE INFO-DUMPS IN THIS NOVEL. This is simply unacceptable, lazy writing, and I demand better as a reader. 

5) Her character descriptions make 0 sense half the time. Try to exhale while talking. I'll wait.
Pretty impossible right? Well, somehow the people in ACOMAF do it regularly. Also, the amount of times that characters "bare their teeth" at each other had me LOLing.

I hate ending on a bad note; however, this book pissed me off quite a bit. 

 0.75

Okay, I think Rhysand is going to die in the third book. I don't want him to die because he is my baby, and I love him. However, I think that he will, and that is going to be my first thought if the book is in dual perspective. We all know how Allegiant turned out, and that is honestly where I am drawing this from. As soon as I opened Allegiant I knew (I mean, I didn't really know but there was immediate gut feeling that didn't go away) Tris would die because it was written in dual perspective. 

And if that doesn't get the point across, then tell me this is not foreshadowing:

"You think I don't know how stories get written--how this story will be written?" Rhys put a hand to his chest, his face more open, more anguished than I'd seen it. "I am the dark lord, who stole away the bride of spring. I am a demon, and a nightmare, and I will meet a bad end. He is the golden prince--the hero who will get to keep you as his reward for not dying of stupidity or arrogance." (421-422)

Um. Okay. *dusts hands and walks away* 

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (ACOTAR #2)
Published: 3 May 2016 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Format - Length: Hardback - 624
Source: Library
Genre: New Adult Romance, Fantasy
Goodreads | My Goodreads Rating

“Tell me what you see.” “A world divided in two.”

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.

HAVE YOU READ THIS? Tell me down below what you thought of the book if you have!

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A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - Review // Where I Have the Same Problem with Ms. Maas

Okay. Let me briefly say why I had a problem with Throne of Glass. The writing and story-line was very fanfiction-y. I knew the exact story line as it was happening because I had read it a thousand times. I knew Celeana as the all-perfect female lead that reflects the author's own desires about herself. The writing style wasn't anything special, and I had frankly read better fanfiction.

The first thing I noticed about A Court of Thorns and Roses was that Maas's writing style had much improved. Check.

The second thing I noticed about the book was that Feyre wasn't all-perfect. Check.

I was really, really glad about this. So glad, in fact, that I gave it five stars upon finishing it.

And then . . . I took a second.

If you noticed, I only mentioned two of the three (main) things that I didn't like about Throne of Glass. Albeit, this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but the Beauty and the Beast plotline wasn't what bothered me. It was a mix of the first two combined . . . kind of (mixed with a few popular series).

Feyre wasn't near annoying as Celeana (in her perfect, perfect-ness). However, she was annoying in her own way. In a Bella Swan way . . . wait . . . a . . . minute.

There are a lot of weird Breaking Dawn things happening in this book. And in Bella Swan fashion, Feyre doesn't understand. I would love to talk to you about it, but I can't do it here in a non-spoilery setting.

Okay, let's move on. 

All of the male characters are super fleshed out, which was amazing and unexpected and really, really welcome. Like I love all of them (and I love some of them more than others).

This isn't a straight-up Beauty and the Beast retelling. There are cool twists and turns and Sarah wonderfully weaves the original story while making it very much her own with the awesome twist of the Faeries (which I know nothing about FYI).

Feyre has her flaws and it's wonderful. While she is a sort of mash up of Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen, she is her own character.

I love Lucien. I love Alis. They are amazing, but as the friendships of our main character . . . they were really weak. There are no real female (or any) friendships in this book, so that's what I am hoping for in the sequel.

Let's talk villains.

This will be vague because it doesn't come up until a little later in the book, but I adore our villain in this story. Like pretty much all of our other characters, our villain is incredibly well fleshed out. Like, she's a wonderful, wonderful villain.

And I will leave you with this: #RysandIsEndgame (And I know it's supposed to be Reece-and, but it will forever be Rye-sand in my mind.) I can see myself, however, being swayed towards Tamlin.

Content: PG-13 to R

Language: Not Really

Violence: Definitely There

Sex: Not explicit, but there

YES. YES. YES.

I am eagerly anticipating the sequel.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Published:
Format - Pages: Hardback - 416
Source: Library
Genres: Young Adult, New Adult, Fantasy, Fairytale Retelling
Goodreads - My Goodreads Rating
Buy it! - Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Timesbestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

 Have you read ACOTAR? What did you think? Who was your favorite/least favorite character? Tell me down below!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - Book Review

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

Published: 7 August 2012

Pages: 416 (Hardcover)

Genre: YA Fantasy

Goodreads Rating: 4.19/5.00

Buy it: Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

My Rating:

85/100 ~ 3.5/5

Goodreads Synopsis:

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My Thoughts:

Initially, I was very disappointed with this book. Now, I want to explain myself. I've read a lot of online stories. This felt like a physical version of one of those stories. The writing style wasn't (to me at least) anything outstanding, and I feel like this book could have gone a lot deeper than it did. 

I loved the story. An assassin, whose character is very mysterious, is dragged out of a death/slave camp and into a competition to be the assassin to the king (Celaena's sworn enemy). The world was very intriguing, and I want to know more. The world felt very underdeveloped, which is what I expected from the first book in a fantasy series. Also, there is a love triangle in this story that isn't completely overdone, which is a rarity in YA lit, but I still didn't overly enjoy it.

But going off of that, there's also like an additional live triangle attached onto this one that I don't really understand at this point, and seemed almost like unnecessary drama. There is so much of the plot that happens in the last fifty pages, and to me it almost seems info-dumpy. 

I plan on continuing on with the series very, very soon because I don't want to mull over negative feelings on the first in a series for too long. This book does have a lot of set-up for the next books in the series, so I look forward to continuing with the series. 

My Goodreads Review // Team Chaol