A Court of Mist and Fury
⭐ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, Book 2) by Sarah J. Maas
What even is this?! 😕
I went into this book hoping it would improve on the flaws of A Court of Thorns and Roses, but instead it managed to feel even more meandering and frustrating. 😠 Sarah J. Maas, in my opinion, struggles with the two things this series leans most heavily on: action and romance. The action scenes are clunky, overlong, and devoid of tension, while the romance is forced and melodramatic. Scenes meant to highlight the “maturity” of the book (the ones written to be steamy or edgy) felt gratuitous, and tacked on more for shock value or fan service than for character or plot development.
And speaking of plot… I honestly couldn’t tell you what it was supposed to be. Thorns and Roses took its sweet time before finally landing on a clear conflict, but at least it eventually got there. I’m not convinced this book ever did. Characters flitted from place to place, engaged in endless conversations, and made dramatic declarations, but I never had the sense that anyone was working toward a coherent goal. The narrative felt more like a string of loosely connected events than a story with purpose.
By the last fifth of the book, I found myself skimming just to reach the end. It wasn’t that the book was long, it was that it felt long. Every scene dragged, every interaction stretched thin, and by that point, I no longer cared what happened. Reading Thorns and Roses was already a chore, but Mist and Fury was a full-on grind, and not one that paid off. 😞
For me, this book was a disappointment on nearly every front: pacing, plot, characters, tone, etc. I know this series has a passionate fanbase, but I can’t say I understand the appeal. 🤷♂️
