Review: A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court Of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas

Heart breaking romance and evocative world building

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Publisher: Bloomsbury Books, UK
My ratings: 3 out of 5 stars
Released: 2nd May , 2016
This is going to be my difficult review to date. And furthermore, this will contain spoilers for the previous book and this book. So if you don’t want to be spoilt, look away now.This could have possibly been the best book I've ever read but I have such mixed feelings about the events that took place in this book.

So in this edition, our newly changed Fae, Feyre is back in Spring Court but still reeling from the events in ACOTAR. She is suffering from PTSD and unfortunately so is Tamlin. While they are suffering the threat of Rhys coming to make good on this bargain with Feyre looms over them.

*Start of Rant (spoilers ahead)*

Right now comes the rant, so while Feyre and Tamlin are struggling, instead on talking they start drifting away. Feyre being the whiny person she is, starts resenting Tamlin his happiness of being reunited with his family and friends. He tries to protect her from dangers around her, which I admit he goes about the wrong way of doing, pisses Feyre off and she decides to leave for the Night Court.

My rant aside, the rest of book from this point is beautiful. I think S. J Maas is an author who really listens to her readers and tries to fulfil their requests. Unfortunately in this case, she changed the love interest. I had suspected something like this may be pulled off in this series as hints were scattered in the first book, but the way it was done, so quick and brutal that it left me feeling jarred. In the book, it occurs in the course of 5 months but while reading the book, it all happens in the first 15% of the book. For readers who loved ACOTAR, which was more romance than fantasy and especially if you reread it before ACOMAF, then it hurts. S. J Mass sold the whole story of the first book on the romance between Tamlin and Feyre and suddenly both of them behaving so out of character was not only disappointing but made me angry. SO angry that I had to stop reading for 2 days to give myself time to get in terms with it.

ACOTAR was sold to me as the TRUE LOVE story based on the Beauty and the Beast and it was delivered. Then it takes a U turn and goes in a completely new direction. Needless to say, I was really annoyed. In fact I was more than annoyed. Secondly , the new love interest is portrayed in a holier than thou light and it takes away all that mystery and edge that I loved in the first place. Worst of all, it was achieved but putting the first guy in a negative light. This is what annoyed me the most. Why does Tamlin have to be suddenly the bad guy? Why can’t they just drift away rather than make Tamlin act in way he never would have! At one point, I was ready to give up but with the hype surrounding it, I gave it a try and didn’t regret it.

*Rant Over*

It was everything and more I could have asked in a fantasy adventure. It was so beautifully written, with nee exciting characters and old characters given new dimension. Rhys was portrayed in a completely new light and the romance of utterly toe tingling. The chemistry between Rhys and Feyre was OFF. THE. CHARTS. The flirtations, the sexual tension, the interaction, the little notes, I died with pleasure each time (even if a little part felt unfaithful to Tamlin).

The new characters introduced added a wonderful layer to the story and as the story unfold, so does Feyre’s world and the Fearie World unveils more of it’s secrets. I also enjoyed how much more background information was included giving every character nuances which were lacking in the previous book.

If I’m honest most of the book lacked a solid plot and until the very end, not much really happens unless you count the amazing sex scenes. Yes, ACOMAF is not a YA and I’d definitely call it NA. S. J Mass outdid herself.

Regardless of the above issues and Feyre’s annoying habit of changing her mind and turning Rhys into another tortured hero who needs the right woman, the book was fabulous. It was excellent, addictive, exciting and delicious. It was book which compelled me to keep reading and while I wasn’t I occupied my dreams. How I wish, Tamlin was not declared the ‘True Love’ in ACOTAR.

ACOMAF is a must read for all fantasy fans. Hell, it’s a must read for all reader who love a great story which will have your running to the bookstore to the next book.

Review copy provided by the publisher, Bloomsbury Books, UK

Ostentatious Tête–à–Têtes #2 (New Adult-The New Fad)

Disillusioned by New Adult

New Adult is the new genre which has taken the book world by storm. I say 'new' but it is a relatively loose terminology to use it has been around for the last 5 years already. The reason I am writing this post is that I AM SICK of it.

Let me explain what New Adult is. It is a genre aimed at readers who are no longer young adults or older readers who like young adult but want something more mature to sink their teeth into. Sounds like an excellent idea. And it is. But now it has become as stagnant as the pool in my back yard. When this genre burst into the reading scene, it took the world by storm. Me along with many readers were blown away by the winds which were kicked up my the likes of Jamie McGuire and Abbi Glines. These are seriously talented authors who write great stories which are addictive and unputdownable. When I first came across the legendary Beautiful Disaster, I was mesmerised and hypnotised by its pages. I could not look away to the extent that I locked my self in my room until I finished that bad boy. This book still holds a piece of me and will do for a long time.

After watching the success of these authors reaching sky high many more authors took it upon themselves to bring us stories for readers who are sick of reading YA. So now it has become a genre full of clichés which keep getting used again and again and the donkey has been beaten to a pulp.

Cliché No.1- The girl is an innocent/virgin

Cliché No.2 - The girl is struggling with her past for hidden history

Cliché No.3 - The guy is a man whore

Cliché No.4 - Cannot get enough of the girl and after having sex with her just once declares it the best he has ever had in his life

Cliché No 5 - The guy is almost always left behind by the girl or vice versa

Argh. The same regurgitation over and over again. Why? If this is YA for older reader then why not write something at par with the outstanding authors in YA? Why does New Adult always have to be contemporary and set in college? I simply cannot relate to it. I went to college to and believe me my life was no where near like theirs. Why are there so few offerings in New Adult in the fantasy genre? Learn from S. J Mass's Throne of Glass which should technically be a New Adult title but is being sold as YA.

There are a few New Adult titles which have caught my eye eg: Rival by Penelope Douglas but they are few and far in between.

New Adult is such a great idea. I loved the concept of it and I still believe it has oodles of potential in it but only few authors are making any effort to keep this refreshing and interesting. The above clichés keep recurring and I simply cannot take it any more. I have already DNF'd a few New Adult as this is not offering me anything new. What it has become in reality is a book for young people or for YA fans who want sex in their book to spice it up.

Cover Changes: For or Against

As we all know, I suffer from cover lust. Show a pretty book cover and I'm all over it.

So when a publisher decides to change the covers half way through the series, it annoys me to no end. A prime example will be the Sookie Stack House series. It has many versions of the covers and I like the last version the best because, well the whole series will be available in the same theme.

However, it may result in cover awesomeness that is the Shatter Me series. IT started with a very typical cover but mid way through the publisher decided to change it and then the covers resulting from it was pure genuine pieces of art dripping with heavenly elixir. High priase, yes but just check out the beauties and then point fingers.

Anyways, the point of this post is that I recently saw a change in covers mid way through the series which has left me out of sorts. It is the Arcana Chronicles, the new offering from the PNR goddess, Kresley Cole. The Immortals After Dark is the only PNR I read and the praises she gets is well deserved. Her young adult series is not less addictive. I think it is one of her best so far but more on it later as I will be writing reviews on them soon. 

Today, I realised that the US publisher, Simon and Schuster for Young Readers has decided to change the covers in the series.  The first cover in the original book was really good and while the second cover was not great but it went with the general theme and hinted at the story line beneath. However, they have been changed to the ones below to match the third cover in the series. I don't want to delve into the various marketing reasons publishers chose to do so, as long as they change them for the better, but these cover simply look lack lustre. In fact they remind me of old historical romance/highlander books by Julie Garwood.

Here's hoping that the UK publishers don't decide to go down the same route and if they don't, I wonder how the cover will look.