A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, 2); Sarah J. Maas

I’m going to start by saying that pretty much everything “big” about this series has been spoiled for me long ago because of how insanely popular this series is, and all the incredible art that gets done for it. That’s no one’s fault but my own because I have no chill about those kinds of things. But, despite nothing really being a mind-blowing surprise, and considering the beast this book is in terms of length, I still DEVOURED it. Really, that should tell you everything you need to know and it’s all I’m really letting myself focus on when it comes to “A Court of Mist and Fury”.

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Look, if you think too hard and long about this book (or most books, lets be honest) the issues will start popping up. Like I could go on and on about how Rhys never really made up for the part he played in Feyre’s PTSD, how Tamlin and Rhys both have massive trauma but the readers are told that only one version of “over controlling and secretive” is the acceptable way of dealing with it, that both of these High Lords have serious unresolved daddy issues, how High Fae d*ck solves all mental issues, and how Tamlin’s becoming “the villain” feels a bit tacked on because really he had PTSD and wasn’t “that” bad until the end. Like, there are ISSUES is what I’m saying. But the pacing of this big book… I don’t know how, but even with knowing how things end between Feyre, Tamlin, and Rhys, I had a hard time putting this book down. It was so well paced that it was like cotton candy—super fluffy and pretty and very saccharine, and really, that’s all I want from this series. There are a lot of parallels to this series and Maas’ ToG books, especially with the love interests, but I found ACoTAR to be much more enjoyable for me than ToG, so take that for what it’s worth.

I didn’t want to read this book critically. I’m mentally exhausted (thanks, baby brain) so I stuck pretty surface level with this series and these characters, and that’s where I’ll stay, thanks. Despite the trauma and the amount of just dark sh*t that happens in this book, it’s also a really fun lite fantasy, action-adventure romance. The magic system is just vibes, let’s be honest, and that’s perfect for someone who doesn’t want to think too hard or too much right now. Hell, I even really liked Nesta in this book despite her never even trying to apologize to Feyre for anything. And the amount of growling and snarling all these boys do made me giggle rather than annoyed me. Chances are, if I had read this book at a different time under different circumstances, I’d have felt vastly different. But since I didn’t, I’m giving this book 5 stars simply because it kept me from getting into a reading slump, I had FUN, and I enjoyed not reading this critically, and that is enough of a reason for a high rating.