Today I wanted to share a couple of things with y’all. I recently finished reading A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas and was blown away by how much more it was than A Court of Thorns and Roses. So much so, I wanted to share my thoughts on my website today. First thing’s first, though. Here’s the latest teaser from Scarred Beauty, sequel to Craving Beauty. Happy Reading!
Before the castle walls had glowed with some strange otherworldly floating lights. But out here the land was the pale amber and rose hues of a golden sunset. Snow fell peacefully rather than violently and she could hardly feel the bitter sting of cold. The brisk wind was refreshing rather, welcoming her. She looked down to find the roses the Prince had given her. Blood red petals had been replaced by pure and glowing white. She reached down slowly to touch them and the feeling was euphoric in a way only her mother could have understood.
These were her roses, forged by the earth and cold and her blood. They were as much a part of her as she was them. She felt in her skirts for her dagger and frowned when she found nothing but silk and velvet pleats. Where was her dagger? She looked around for the tools Hvalla often tucked away for her when she was careless. But there was no stash, no wooden chest to protect their things from the elements. And Hvalla was nowhere to be found today.
Vynasha dug her fingers in the earth but it did not feel as solid as it had before. In fact the world seemed to blur and contort shape, so the stone walls faded away and a dark silhouetted stood vigil over a virgin sun. That was when she knew this was a dream, one of his dreams.
“Grendall?” she called. He kept his back to her and she could not help but to trace his frame with her eyes. It felt like forever since she had seen him. Had it been days or moons?
“You came back,” he whispered and the sound carried clear as if he spoke beside her.
She flinched and turned her focus to the roses. They needed tending, whether this was his dream or no. So she pruned them with her fingers. The thorns pricked her skin and unveiled the violet hued blood beneath her fingertips. She stared in wonder as she touched the white roses with it and the liquid only made them shine like stars.
“You came back even though I told you not to,” he continued roughly, stronger now. “I did not ask you to invade my dreams, Vynasha.”
“It’s not as though I wanted to come,” she practically snarled back at him and then sighed.
That is not the truth, but lies are easier, aren’t they?
…
to be continued
My Review for A Court of Mist & Fury
(spoiler alert: if you haven’t read A Court of Thorns & Roses, you may want to stop here)
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Painted in shades of the classic myth, Hades and Persephone, A Court of Mist and Fury shines high above its predecessor, A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Now that Feyre is immortal, she is left to deal with the bloody consequences of what happened Under the Mountain. Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court and her lover has his own demons to battle. Between planning for their wedding and the new High Priestess in residence propping and puffing up Feyre like a puppet, both Tamlin and Feyre tuck their troubles under the rug.
This is one of the things I love best about Sarah J. Maas’s stories. Rather than settling for a happily ever after, Maas takes you beyond the ending you expected and makes her characters face consequences for their actions. She made me fall in love with Tamlin and Lucien in the first book as they introduce Feyre to the world of Prythian. And then during Under the Mountain, she had me aching for the High Lord of the Night Court, Rhysand. Something about the way Rhys treated Feyre Under the Mountain made me love him maybe a bit more.
In A Court of Mist and Fury, Rhys makes his reappearance with a classic dramatic entrance, subsequently pissing everyone off and then doing his best to make Feyre and us the readers fall in love with him. The Night Court was just as terrifying and dreamlike as I could have imagined and the sort of place I would happily live (partially thanks to the plumbing). As Feyre meets Rhys’s inner court, and the High Lord’s many masks begin to unfold, she slowly begins to piece herself back together. As they travel to other fae courts and realms, both achingly gorgeous and frightening, Feyre slowly becomes the immortal Fae she chooses to be.
An adult fairy tale about the darkest and brightest shades of the soul and the loves that break and remake us, A Court of Mist and Fury is addictive in its prose and ephemeral as stardust.
Jennifer Silverwood 