A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, 2016
(Spoilers)
Bear with me while I attempt to summarize and comment on ACOMAF in 1500 words or less.
A romantasy girl’s bible, welcome to the world of Sarah J Maas’s A Court of Mist and Fury.
The masterpiece which is A Court of Mist and Fury is to blame for why booktok insists Maas’s first installment, A Court of Thorns and Roses, lacks. My take is that ACOTAR’s criticism comes not from the book’s actual writing or the plot of the novel itself, but from the impressive progression of plot in ACOMAF, which refurbishes our perspective on ACOTAR’s Tamlin as one with SCORN.
A Court of Mist and Fury is the death of Tampon Tamlin (nickname here is an ongoing booktok joke), and the birth of Rhysand (rhEEsand not rhICEand; clarification necessary because initially mispronouncing his name is a universal experience for us all)—and here’s why:
After Amarantha’s defeat at the end of ACOTAR, the characters are in fact ready to live happily ever after, as is implied. Feyre, Tamlin, and Lucien return to Tamlin’s manor in the Spring Court with all of Tamlin’s power intact, and with all of his inhabitants newly freed from their masks. Despite three months having gone by, Rhysand, oddly, has yet to claim what’s owed to him through his bargain with Feyre—that is, saving her life in exchange for her presence one week each month at the Night Court. Although Feyre insists she very much does not want Rhysand to call in their bargain, it starts to seem as if she wouldn’t mind it, as she is MISERABLE in her new, “peaceful” life as Tamlin’s subject (or at least that’s what it feels like) in the Spring Court.
Feyre’s luxurious life now consists of sitting around and looking pretty. Literally. She wears gowns of fancy Spring Court colorful tulle (to nicely accent the literal death of her heart), she takes the occasional stroll around the garden, wakes up retching from trauma-induced nightmares, plans her upcoming wedding (which she harbors no excitement for), and spends the majority of her time begging Tamlin to let her do something of importance, like, you know, rebuilding Prythian after finally being released from Amarantha’s rule. Tamlin repeatedly dismisses her insistence that she needs to do something of purpose, and he instead keeps her prisoner to the manor.
On her abhorred wedding day – in a theatrical “speak now or forever hold your peace” sort of moment – Rhysand (our LOVE) finally shows! He demands Feyre immediately come with him, shoutout to their bargain, so although Feyre won’t admit it, she is essentially saved by the bell. Horrified, she is transported to Rhysand’s horrible domain, the Night Court.
Although, much to Feyre’s surprise (and to OURS, as Miss Sarah did a fantastic job leading our perceptions astray during ACOTAR), the Night Court isn’t horrifying at all?? In fact, Velaris, Rhsyand’s home town, is the only city in Prythian which remained untouched through Amarantha’s reign (Rhysand’s main motive for yielding to her as her play-toy for 50 years).
In a somewhat funny twist of events, the first thought Feyre has after being winnowed (transported) to the Night Court is “it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.” Like ok girlie you weren’t even gonna try to act displeased??? (Of course not; I probably wouldn’t either, Rhysand is hot).
Here I must say… the tension… the banter!!! It begins. Feyre HATES Rhysand at first, as she doesn’t yet realize his bad boy persona is merely a political ploy. But she begins to be suspicious of his villainy quickly, after seeing how Rhysand acknowledges her powers and encourages her to master them (with his help and training), where Tammy, on the other hand, has trapped her in his world where she is to stay idol and afraid.
Rhysand makes clear that her week in the Night Court will not be used as a despotic way to waste she and Tamlin’s time; he intends to teach her how to read (did I mention in book 1 that she’s illiterate) and how to shield her mind (with the burgeoning powers both he and Tamlin notice) against those who may intend to violate her through her thoughts. This awareness of Rhysand’s desire to help her illustrates to us (and Feyre) how Tamlin only intends to diminish her powers and (maybe inadvertently) control them himself. In fact, both she and Lucien (Tamlin’s second in command) suggest Tamlin train her powers, but Tamlin refutes the idea on the logic that it will make her a target. Excuse me sir, she is already the BIGGEST target in Prythian: Defeater of Amarantha! Let’s keep her at a first grade reading level and with an unarmed mind! Yeah okay buddy.
The worst of it comes when Feyre begs Tamlin for a ride with him and Lucien through Prythian to defend an unrevealed threat (which she has mostly learned about through Rhysand and his cousin Mor rather than Tamlin, who will not share any information with her). To make sure Feyre doesn’t follow them, Tam puts a shield on the manor to keep her trapped inside. She is mid panic attack, betrayed by her lover, when Rhysand hears her through their magical bond (in Prythian, a bargain binds one another) and sends Mor to save her. She is once again at the Night Court, and this is where she stays – by choice – as she does not want to be trapped with Tamlin any longer.
YOU GUYS, NOW WE MEET THE INNER CIRCLE: Morrigan, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren. This is what makes ACOMAF the roman empire for so many of us. These people become OUR people (fae, rather) and Sarah doesn’t skimp on complexity while characterizing ANY of them.
We now have the plot of the rest of the series—Feyre’s found family within Rhysand’s inner circle, her EPIC love with Rhysand, Tamlin’s villainy, Nesta and Elain’s involvement with Prythian (remember I had said in ACOTAR’s review that I hope the sister storyline is more explored!), and of course the threat of war with King Hybern now that Amarantha (his right hand man) is defeated.
We begin hearing news that King Hybern is planning to strike, essentially picking up where Amarantha left off. He plans to use the god-like Cauldron to overthrow the 7 Prythian High Lords, conquering Prythian and destroying the human lands. To use the Cauldron’s full power, however, one must get ahold of the Book of Breathings, which, according to legend, has been split between the mortal Queens in the Human Lands, and the Summer Court. This is what brings Feyre’s human sisters into the mix, as they are asked (and accept, much to Nesta’s dismay) to allow their home to be the neutral meeting ground between Rhysand’s inner circle and the mortal queens as they attempt to force an allyship with each other against Hybern.
The majority of the plot follows Rhysand’s inner circle (which now includes Feyre) as they track down the Book of Breathings and travel through the fae world to make sense of the war which they know is coming, and get information on how best to beat it.
Truthfully, the fantasy/world-building/action aspect comes second to the sexual tension, life or death build-up between Feyre and Rhysand who are naturally undergoing the most perfect, faultless, unmatched, enemies-to-lovers storyline known to man. They are falling in love—but, no, that isn’t accurate, as “love” (that fickle, fickle thing) as we humans know it is NOTHING compared to the transcendent, primordial mating-bond tie between Rhysand and Feyre. This “mating bond” is essentially an infinite soul-connection between 2 Fae. I guess humans would call them soulmates (though that term is so overused here in the human world that it’s lost its meaning) or twin flames, and not just purportedly—I mean this in the greatest sense of absolutes. It is beautiful. It is so so beautiful, and it makes me yearn for existence in any realm but this one.
Anyway.
Around chapter 40, you should probably stop reading in front of your parents, though it isn’t until chapter 54 that Feyre and Rhysand officially transition from enemies to lover, the longevity of build-up being a skill Sarah J. Maas has GOT to run a class on. I mean, COME ON!! To write a fantasy romance and have the first three fourths of the book be without romance is impressive. Greatest love story I’ve ever read and it takes 54 chapters to get there.
The last 100 pages (as we know Miss Sarah does every time) is where shit gets real. The mortal queens never end up allying with the inner circle; they request Rhysand prove his goodness first, and he does so by allowing them to see Velaris, his beloved home. They then betray Rhysand (for, may I add, no good reason) and reveal Velaris to Hybern, earning Velaris an attack! Only one of the Queens repents by sneaking them the half of the book they were looking for. The other half had earlier been retrieved from the Summer Court.
Now the Night Court has the full book, which Amren has decoded (it’s in an ancient tongue which only Amren, who was around before the Fae, knows), and they plan to use it to sneak into Hybern’s homebase and nullify the Cauldron (which they know Hybern has). They fail. Miserably. They are captured (by Jurian, Amarantha’s eye-ring in ACOTAR; the human who betrayed and killed Amarantha’s sister and is now seemingly working for Hybern, who is waging war against his kind? Weird), and they are brought to Hybern, where they are met with Feyre’s poor human sisters – collateral damage – captured with the help of none other than, you guessed it, the Spring Court.
Of course Tamlin and Lucien think Feyre has been forced to stay with Rhysand all this time, so they agreed to work with Hybern in order to save Feyre’s life. So so unfortunate and quite embarrassing for our Spring Court friends because, well, Feyre hates them. And now she really hates them. And Nesta and Elain too, who are used as guinea pigs, by request of the mortal queens, who want to be made immortal but don’t want to be the first to step into the Cauldron.
Elain goes into the Cauldron first, and then Nesta. They are both killed and reborn again, made immortal. And here is where the power of Nesta is made—debatably more powerful than Feyre, though that’s talk for novel #5.
In order to save what she can for those she loves, Feyre plays into Tamlin’s narrative of her capture and Rhysand’s villainy; she pretends she’s been manipulated through Rhys’s mind powers all this time. She begs King Hybern to use the Cauldron to undo her bargain with Rhysand, which he does, but little do any of them know their connection has not been wholly due to the bargain, but mostly to their mating bond. This allows her and Rhys to still be able to communicate after she’s back at Tamlin’s manor. Hybern thinks Rhysand’s loss of Feyre is enough for now. Rhysand and his inner circle escape back home to prepare for the now imminent war, and they take with them Feyre’s now Fae sisters.
Feyre returns to the Spring Court with Tamlin, acting, once again, as his lover.
5/5. These characters are so well written. It’s actually amazing the way the ACOTAR fandom online knows these characters so well. We know them SO well. The creative fandom has created images of each of them, and while scrolling through tiktok I have the honor of seeing it all. And what’s truly notable is that without labels I always know which image is of which character. We all do. We have inside jokes about them. We have nicknames for them. We have moral debates about them. We theorize about them. These characters are intangible but they feel so real.
In the next novel, A Court of Wings and Ruin, we know we are sure to get a lot of action, as the war with Hybern is definitely near. We also know there will be more tension between Tamlin and Rhysand, as Feyre is back at the Spring Court where she doesn’t belong since she, OH YEAH, was made HIGH LADY of the Night Court alongside Rhysand. And we know the sisters saga will continue to be explored, as both sisters are now Fae.
Definitely not less than 1500 words. Sorry guys, it’s just too good. I would have written the whole novel here if I could. I can’t, but I can write some of my favorite lines!
Content Warnings: SA, suggestions of domestic abuse, battle
Quotes:
‘Please.” I’d never hated a word more.
“You are my salvation, Feyre.”
We strolled along the riverside walkway, past shops and cafés, music spilling from them. And I thought – even as I hung back from the others, my gloved hands stuffed into the pockets of my heavy blue overcoat – that the sounds of it all might have been the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard: the people, and the river, and the music; the clank of silverware on plates; the scrape of chairs being pulled out and pushed in; the shouts of vendors selling their wares as they ambled past.
It’d just been a relief to think that for a moment, he might have been as lonely as me.
Love—love was a balm as much as it was a poison.
