Paradise in Disguise - A Court of Mist and Fury

I started reading A Court of Mist and Fury on April 3, basically as soon as I had closed A Court of Thorns and Roses. I finished it on April 5. As this is the second book in the series, this post will contain spoilers for the first book!

If you missed the intro to the last book, the second book in A Court of Thorns And Roses takes place in the same world - in the land of Prythian, ruled by seven High Lords in seven Courts. The High Lords are all of the High Fae - a species considered (by themselves) to be 'superior' to other faeries, or 'lesser' faeries. Humans do not inhabit Prythian - there is a wall separating faerie realms from human realms - the wall the Feyre crossed in the previous book.

After reading A Court of Thorns and Roses , I thought I knew what was up with the plot, the characters, and the world that was set up in that book. I wasn't sure what was going to happen in the following books, as Feyre seemed to already have saved the world, but everything I thought I knew was turned on its head in this book. It's one of the best plot twists I've ever encountered.

WARNING! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY SPOILERS FOR A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES, TURN BACK NOW!

Summary

A Court of Mist and Fury follows Feyre after she has been made High Fae by the seven High Lords after she saves them from Amarantha, the evil queen who had been enslaving their people. She is living with her love, the man for whom she sacrificed everything - Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court. They are free, she is immortal, they're planning a wedding. It's perfect bliss ... Right? But the deal she made with the High Lord of the Night Court still haunts her - a promise to visit him for one week every month.

Feyre seems to be suffering from PTSD due to her experiences Under the Mountain, and Tamlin isn't much better off. Feyre fears being trapped. Tamlin fears losing Feyre, and becomes seriously over protective of Feyre, practically confining her to the house - which does not at all help with her fear of being trapped.

I did not create this meme, I just love it.

When Feyre begs Tamlin to let her go out to the villages where their people live, to go with him to the Wall, anything - he traps her in the house. She freaks out, understandably, unleashing a power she didn't know she had.

Now she is in the Night Court, seemingly for much longer than a week. Does she stay there, where she is free, or go back to the Spring Court with Tamlin?

New Characters

This book has some new characters for us to meet, mostly members of the Night Court. I found them all really intriguing to read so I wanted to introduce you to them here.

Rhysand

Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court. Art: taratjah

Rhysand ("Rhys") is the High Lord of the Night Court. He is half Illyrian

(a warrior race of Fae with bat-like wings) and half High Fae, and the most powerful High Lord in many years; possibly the most powerful in all of history. He comes off as arrogant and presumptuous, but that's a mask - wait until you meet the real Rhys. It was he who helped Feyre in the previous book to complete her tasks, and in this book, he helps her learn to read.

Cassian, Illyrian General. Art: Charlie Bowater

Cassian

Cassian is an Illyrian Warrior and a member of Rhys' Inner Circle. He is the general of the armies of the Night Court, both Illyrian and High Fae. Like Rhys, he comes across as very arrogant. He basically raised himself, as his mother was unwed and bastard children among the Illyrians are treated with contempt. This is part of what led him to fall in with Azriel and Rhys. The three of them are ridiculously powerful.

Morrigan, Third-In-Command of the Night Court. Art: Charlie Bowater

Morrigan

Morrigan ("Mor") is the third-in-command in Rhys' Inner Circle. She is a

High Fae and cousin to Rhys, and has some rough history with her family. Her father rules in the Court of Nightmares, a sort of off-shoot of the Night Court that presents the terrifying face to the rest of the world, hiding the secret city of Velaris and keeping everyone out. Mor doesn't fit in there, spending most (if not all) of her time in Velaris helping Rhys run the Night Court.

Azriel

Azriel is an Illyrian warrior like Cassian, but he was kept a prisoner until the age of 11 and abandoned by most of his

people. He, Rhys, and Cassian are all outcasts among their people, and so banded together as brothers. Azriel (also known as "Az") has the mysterious abilities of a Shadowsinger, which I do not fully understand, but it seems that he can command the shadows around him to his will (sometimes unconsciously). He is quiet and reserved.

Amren

Amren, Second-In-Command. Art: Charlie Bowater

Amren is Second-In-Command of the Night Court. She is High Fae - kind of. As far as I can tell, she used to be something completely different, a creature from another realm of the universe and immensely powerful. She bound herself to a Fae body in order to escape from the Prison, an Alcatraz-like island that serves as an impenetrable dungeon for the most dangerous creatures and criminals the Night Court has ever captured - which at one point included Amren. It is not clear how she escaped. She's pretty terrifying - she drinks blood and everything.

What's Important?

This book turned everything I thought I believed on its head. At the end of A Court of Thorns and Roses, I was all over Team Tamlin. Rhys was a jerk and I thoroughly disliked him for making that stupid bargain that would take Feyre away from her love for a week every month. A small part of me thought that Rhys might have something deeper under that facade, but I couldn't find it. A hundred pages into A Court of Mist and Fury, I freaking hated Tamlin. To get me (and other readers, I would assume) to change my attitude so completely and deeply was a great accomplishment, in this blogger's humble opinion.

The new characters were also a big part of what pulled me into this novel. Building them up and showing their individual characters and personalities set them up for the future novels. Even with the ones that we didn't get to know too much in this book, you can tell that there is depth there, and it makes you want to pick up the next book to continue to get to know them.

New lore also played a part in this novel. After building the world in A Court of Thorns and Roses, Maas was able to start building on that knowledge that the reader already has and adding in new, deeper details - like the Illyrians, Azriel's abilities as a Shadowsinger, and the powers of the other High Lords and their Courts. It's a clever way to avoid lore dumping, and even at the end of this book I felt like there was much, much more lore to discover in the next books.

Rating

Dun-da-na-NAAAAAHHHH! Another five star read!

I really couldn't wait to get the next book - I made my husband drive me there at the soonest opportunity and then devoured that one. So look forward to my review of A Court of Wings and Ruin!