8.13.2016

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas




Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Page count: 640 
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Date published: May 2016
Format: Hardback
My rating: 5 amazing stars!! 


Blurb: (from Goodreads)

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.

"I was not a pet, not a doll, not an animal.
I was a survivor, and I was strong.
I would not be weak, or helpless again.
I would not, could not be broken. Tamed."



A Court of Mist and Fury begins after the events that took place Under the Mountain. Amarantha is now dead, destroyed, and Feyre is now a High Fae. She has unspeakable powers, strength, and beauty. She should be content. The Spring Court is now free from Amarantha's turmoil and able to move on. But she can't. And neither can Tamlin. 


"That girl who had needed to be protected, who had craved stability and comfort... she had died Under the Mountain. 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. And I would not, could not, yield that part of me that had awoken and transformed Under the Mountain."


Feyre is not the only one who transformed Under the Mountain. After watching Feyre's neck be snapped, Tamlin thought he'd lost her for good. When the High Lords had given her a piece of their power, she'd been resurrected. Given a second chance with her, Tamlin is obsessed with keeping Feyre safe. He's hellbent on making sure that no harm comes to her whatsoever, and so he's deluded himself into thinking that keeping Feyre locked away in the castle will keep her from getting hurt. This combined with the looming pact Feyre made with Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court, to come with him for a week every month to spend in his court, has brought a strain onto Feyre and Tamlin's relationship. So much so that when it's time for Feyre to say her wedding vows, she is unable to speak, saved only by Rhysand, who cashes in his week with her at that moment. 

This only makes Tamlin more angry when she returns to the Spring Court. He is battling his own demons from Under the Mountain, and he seems to be losing control, as he begins to become violent. 

"I'm sorry," he said again. He didn't stop murmuring it for minutes.

You've given enough, Feyre.

Perhaps he was right. And perhaps I didn't have anything left to give, anyway.
I looked over his shoulder as I held him.
The red paint had splattered on the wall behind us. And as I watched it slide down the cracked wood paneling, I thought it looked like blood.


Their relationship crumbles even more and, is finally destroyed, when Tamlin locks her up once more after promising that he wouldn't. This sends Feyre into a fit of all-consuming rage and fear. Because of the bond that Feyre and Rhysand share, he feels her terror and has his cousin come to her aide, bringing her back to the Night Court. 

Personally, this is where the book gets great in my opinion. I love the Night Court, I love Rhysand, and I love his circle of friends. I especially love the friendship and trust that blooms between Feyre and Rhysand. Now that Feyre is away from a toxic relationship, she is able to grow in power and and strength. What I love the most is that Feyre learns to love herself, trust herself, and believe in herself. While she was meek and scared before, she is fierce and full of spirit now. 

Feyre becomes a part of Rhysand's inner circle, an elite group of people whom the High Lord trusts completely. There is Mor, his cousin, Cassian, who commands Rhys's armies and also has a sense of humor, Azriel, his spymaster and the quite one of the group, and Amren, a creature in woman form who is not from this world. The group is fun and I love it when they're all together. They are a big family, albeit a weird one. Each one plays a significant part in the story, each one has an interesting past, and each one makes the story better. 

As Feyre becomes a part of the group, she learns that Rhysand isn't as bad as the world thinks he is. He holds a front, a show for the rest of the world, that he is evil and enjoys hurting others. But the more time Feyre spends with him and his friends, the quicker she realizes that it's not all black and white with him. 

Their relationship blossoms. There is plenty of sexual tension. Plenty. I thought I was going to die from it. Feyre is reluctant to be with him, especially after what happened with Tamlin. But as she grows to care for Rhysand, she realizes that Rhysand may be her equal. 

I agree that Feyre belongs with Rhysand. Some of you may not. I am well aware that Maas did the same thing that Tahereh Mafi did in her Shatter Me series with Adam and Warner. Maas changed some aspects of Tamlin to make him into a person that Feyre could no longer love so that the path to finding love with Rhysand would be easier and without guilt. However, unlike with the Adam, who suddenly turned from nice guy to bad guy suddenly and randomly, I felt that the personality change in Tamlin was not as abrupt. I had already felt that he was controlling in the first book. The trauma that he faced Under the Mountain only made it worse, and he became paranoid after all that he went through. Tamlin got progressively worse, and as time went by he got more paranoid and delusional than before. So I'm not pissed that Maas switched Rhysand to end game. 

“He thinks he'll be remembered as the villain in the story. But I forgot to tell him that the villain is usually the person who locks up the maiden and throws away the key. He was the one who let me out.”


She gradually falls in love with Rhysand. He knows that she is not a china doll to be kept locked away but instead revels in the fact that she is a strong, capable woman who can put her mind to anything she wants to. And he loves her. Without fault. Without any barriers. He loves her more than anything in the world. And I admire their relationship - how it goes from an unshaky alliance to friends and, finally, to something so much more. Their relationship is solidified when Rhysand explains that they are mates, that he has known for a very long time, and that he was giving her the time to find her way to him. Despite all odds, Feyre did, and they were able to come together into this magnificent power couple. Things only get even more serious when they become Inked, or married. 

“She is my mate. And my spy,' I said too quietly. 'And she is the High Lady of the Night Court.'
'What?' Mor whsipered.
I caressed a mental finger down that bond now hidden deep, deep within us, and said, 'If they had removed her other glove, they would have seen a second tattoo on her right arm. The twin to the other. Inked last night, when we crept out, found a priestess, and I swore her in as my High Lady.' (...) '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.”


CAN I JUST FANGIRL AT THAT QUOTE. UGH. GOALS, PEOPLE. GOALS.

Anyways, romance isn't the only thing that happens in this book, I promise. There is an actual plot line but I'm so hung up on the Feyre and Rhysand that I can't think past my fangirling. There's badass action scenes, death, maiming, betrayal, desperation, grief, sacrifice, and lies. The ending is intense, sad, great and awful at the same time. We learn some pretty crazy things. Tamlin is also not going to go down without a fight. He thinks he deserves Feyre, that she belongs with him, and that she needs to be protected from all harm. 

*rolls eyes*

Crap goes down. In order to save her friends and the man she loves from an ancient evil, Feyre must go back to Tamlin. She must pretend to be the weak, silent girl that she was before. She has to do what must be done to hold up the ruse, but how far can she go before Tamlin sees through her lies?

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


NOW I PATIENTLY WAIT FOR BOOK 3

                                                                             Until next time, 


Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas










Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Page count: 418 pages
Date published: August 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Hardback
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars!


Blurb (from Goodreads):

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."


From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.



My review:

"But death was her curse and her gift,
and death had been her good friend
 these long, long years." 
- Crown of Midnight 

I plunged back into the world of Adarlan and the king's castle with ease. Back into the thoughts and emotions of Celaena, the King's Champion, and I must say that I  missed it. Being in Celaena's head is easily one of the most entertaining experiences a reader can have. Celaena is so stubborn and rude. She can even be vicious and barbaric at times. She is in no way how a lady should be. But Celaena isn't just a lady. She's an assassin. She's killed many people; some in even gruesome ways. Her cleverness and quick-to-anger personality is fun to read.

I missed her.

Not only did I miss Celaena but I missed the other characters as well. If you've read Throne of Glass (which I hope you have or otherwise this will review will contain spoilers) then you know that this book is broken up into the POVs of Celaena, Chaol, and Dorian - plus the occasional other character. I missed Chaol just as much as I missed Celaena. There is just something about him that draws me in. I was so glad to be back into this world with characters I enjoyed and a plot that I liked.

 This book doesn't disappoint. I can now say why fans rave about this series. The characters aren't the only thing that makes this series great - the world building, the plot, the mystery, the romance, the pacing, the tension - all of it makes for a great read.

Now that Celaena is the King's Champion, she must submit to killing anyone that the King deems fit to die. While Celaena has killed many people, she doesn't believe that all of the people the King orders her to assassinate deserve it. Instead she gives her targets another option: run far, far away and never come back. In return, she'll fake their deaths. She knows that if the King finds out she'll be dead. The King will have her murdered. Even so, there is a soft side to Celaena, a moral code, so to speak, and she acts upon it.

Not only is she stressed from keeping these secrets from the king but she's dealing with a demonic force inside the castle. Unsure of what or who it is, she only sees the creatures shadow. It was definitely interesting to go along with Celaena as she tries to figure out what this creature is and what it wants, all the while trying to figure out what the king is hiding.

She's also trying to keep her friendship with Nehemia on good terms as well. As Celaena struggles to uncover the truth, her relationships begin to suffer from it - her relationship with Nehemia included. She and Dorian were already on rocky terms and it continues to get worse as the book goes along. Celaena is determined to figure everything out on her own and she will lie to do just that.

The only relationship that seemed to prosper instead of grow worse was Celaena and Chaol. We all know they had chemistry from the beginning of the first book. The tension between the two doubles and eventually they act upon it. I'm not complaining. I love the two together and want them to stay as a couple. However, it doesn't seem like that's going to happen.

A character in the book is murdered and Celaena is unable to save them in time. This makes Celaena crazy with guilt and anger. She becomes the true assassin that I always wanted her to be. She becomes ruthless until she finds the killer. Even then, she is forever changed. There is no going back from that. That is a major turning point in the book. It changes the dynamics of some of Celaena's relationships with others and characters with other characters. This death will rock them all to the core, whether they were close to the person or not.

Those few chapters when Celaena was trying to save the person was heartbreaking. It had me standing on my feet, eyes racing across the words, desperate to know what was going to happen. And when it was tragic, I turned to my fiancee's sister and said, "This book is soooo good!"

Reactions like that are what I live for. It's why I read books. When I can get so invested in the characters that I care about whether they live or die... that means the author has done a great job.

I won't give away the ending but I will say that the ending leaves the reader wanting to know what's going to happen to the characters and if they can ever forgive themselves and each other. It leaves me wandering if the characters will ever be able to become friends again and care about each person as they used to.

You'll learn a lot about Celaena and why she has such unspeakable power. You'll also catch a glimpse into the major plot line of this series, which I feel will be a main focus until the last book. There is also a special something going on with Dorian that I found very interesting. It changes things up quite a bit and I like the difference.

The ending hints that the reader will be seeing different lands in the third book. I can't wait to see what is going to happen to my favorite characters in the next installment. I feel the third book is going to be quite different than the other two. I'm not sure how I feel about this but I'm looking forward to the third book.

                                                     Until next time,