It’s later in the month again, but I’ve been pretty busy for the past week or so, and haven’t had a lot of time. But now I do have more time, so I’m finally posting my May 2023 birthstone book covers.
Leslie @ Books Are the New Black created a fun monthly post called Birthstone Book Covers. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.
May has one birthstone – Emerald.
Rules:
📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black) and link back to her so she can check out your post. 📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone. 📚 HAVE FUN! 📚 Nominate people if you want!
Happy Sunday everyone! This is a new post that I’ve decided to do, most likely bimonthly. It’s called Popular Books That I’ve Read Never!
(And I know I worded it a bit odd, but you can probably still figure out what this post is about, lol.)
Now, it’s not that I only read unpopular books, it’s that I don’t only read the popular books. I also don’t read hardly any of the really popular books, because those are usually nonfiction or memoirs (which I don’t usually like), or they have a TON of romance (which I also don’t usually like).
This post is primarily going to focus on SFF novels, mostly because SFF is primarily what I read. It’s gonna be of five books, because I don’t want it to get too long. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!
In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not come to kill him. She has come to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three murderers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King’s Champion.
Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a faraway country will befriend her. But something rotten dwells in the castle, and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying mysteriously, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival-and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.
Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.
They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death.
Three-thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella’s village to be their Human Queen.
To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she’s dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town’s only healer.
That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives… for her.
Everything Luella had thought she’d known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save.
The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart, her home and people tug on another… but what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted.
So that’s it for Popular Books That I’ve Read Never. For now at least. You can get that it’ll return, though. I haven’t read nearly enough popular novels for that to be the case.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and have an amazing day/night!
It’s a new week once again. And not only that, but April is also upon us. Yay for a month (possibly) filled with rain, lol.
Last week was a bit all over the place. Totally not my fault – I got sick on Thursday morning and couldn’t bring myself to do anything! Even watching something streamed on our TV was too much for me, I was that fatigued.
But that’s neither here nor there. Let’s go over the last week.
Monday 3/27: A Court of Frost and Starlight Review
Last Monday, I was finally able to post my review for A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas, which I did in lieu of a Majestic Monday. I gave it ★★✫☆☆.
Wednesday 3/29: A Court of Silver Flames Review / WWW Wednesday
On Wednesday I double posted. Firstly, I posted my review for A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas, finally capping off the ACOTAR series. I gave it ★★★★☆. I also participated in WWW Wednesday, a weekly feature hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.
Sunday 4/2: The House in the Cerulean Sea Review / March 2023 Reading Wrap-Up
Yesterday I was finally feeling better, so I was playing catch up. I double posted to help with the process. (It didn’t help that the weekend was the start of a new month, haha. How convenient.) I posted my review for The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, which I gave ★★★★✯, as well as my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for March.
I kinda wanna just keep doing what I’m doing. Aside from being sick last week, I think that it’s been working out well for me.
I definitely want to get my Most Anticipated Books for 2023’s second quarter out by tomorrow, since that’s the first Tuesday in April, and Tuesdays are when new books are released, so… yeah. Other than that, I’m not sure. More book reviews, obviously, but I’d also like to participate in my favorite book blogging features, too.
Anyway, thanks as always for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!
I’m on a reading roll lately! I’ve already read more books than last month and I’m still going strong.
WWW Wednesday is a meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
Sarah J. Maas’s sexy, richly imagined series continues with the journey of Feyre’s fiery sister, Nesta.
Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.
The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.
Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.
Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance—and healing—in each other’s arms.
Power lay in her hand. Death gripped her by the other.
As I’ve said many times by now, I have a complicated relationship with this series of books. I think some are good. And I think that some others… aren’t.
A Court of Silver Flames was one of the former. It’s definitely one of the better books in this series, though I still preferred A Court of Mist and Fury a little more.
The Characters: Pros
Once again, I hated almost all of the characters. The exception this time was almost solely Nesta, with the exception of Eris. Sure, he’s an absolute a-hole, but I’m definitely sensing character development in his future. (He’s also done some despicable things, but considering the horrible things that the main cast has done and deemed acceptable behavior, I’m not sure how much those things matter, particularly in the long run.)
“Whatever you need to throw at me, I can take it. I won’t break.”
Nesta was a breath of fresh air after reading first person Feyre. She’s sassy, and she’s processing stuff in a relatable way. I loved reading about her journey of her grief and trauma, and how she healed and grew stronger from them. And everyone goes through grief and trauma differently, so it pissed me off how some of the other characters expected her to get her act together. Like, come on, you can try to help a little, but please let her process on her own?!?
The Characters: Cons
Rhysand once again wins the award for Most Awful Character. Everything he does in ACOSF sucks. He’s too overprotective of Feyre (nearly Tamlin levels), and he shows Feyre no respect and takes away her agency by keeping crucial information from her (worse than Tamlin levels).
Feyre already had a shield around herself courtesy of Rhys.
Feyre sucks just as much as she always has, but SJM seems to be trying to retcon a few things. These are regarding her relationship with her sisters. In the first books in this series, her relationships with Nesta and Elain weren’t very defined. Even so, it really didn’t seem like she cared about them. At all.
But here, she just won’t shut up about how much she loves and cares about Nesta, and how much she wants to help her get over her trauma. Like, where the hell did this come from? In the first book, Feyre only took care of her family because of a promise she made to her mom on her death bed, but now she’s always cared? What?!?
Anyway, Feyre sucks, that’s not new. But this time Amren sucked too, which is something that surprised and disappointed me. She was such a great character that I really liked. But no, she has to side with Rhys with his keeping of critical secrets from Feyre.
Not to mention, Rhys and Feyre’s absolutely stupid promise to die together no matter what. Guys, you have a small country to run. And people are considering appointing you guys the equivalent of an emperor and empress. What the heck is wrong with you people!?!
The Voice
“I’m talking to the House. Which is a considerable step up from talking to you.”
“It doesn’t talk back.”
“Exactly.”
The voice in ACOSF – and the POV – was much better than in all of the other books in the series. Maybe because it was third person and that’s harder to eff up, but it was definitely better.
Nesta and Cassian both had distinct feeling voices, especially compared to Rhysand and Feyre in A Court of Frost and Starlight, both of whom felt like the same character was narrating. Nesta’s and Cassian’s personalities both shone through their POV chapters pretty nicely.
The Setting and Plot
There was no answer in Nesta’s heart except one.
For the ACOTAR books, I’ve decided to combine this section from here on out. (Hopefully I’ll remember this by the time the next one comes out. Whenever that is.) There’s never much to say about either, so I thought it’d be easier.
I liked some of the world building that Maas decided to add. Though it was kind of expisition-y (as usual) it was still nice to have. And there’s a lot of interesting things revealed here.
There really didn’t feel like there was a ton of plot here, especially for a 750+ page book. (SJM had to make room for all the smut, I guess.) I added a specific colored tab to the book every time something plot relevant happened, and there were very few of them until the very end of the book.
I also hated how A Court of Silver Flames completely dropped the ball on any plot hintyed in the last book. There was definitely some potential with those plot points introduced, but I guess Maas decided on a completely different story in between releases. So most everything that was set up the last book was pretty much resolved off screen which sucked.
The Romance
It was… meh. I guess that Cassian and Nesta had some chemistry, but it really wasn’t clicking for me. And they were ridiculously horny. I have 43 tabs for every time something horny or porny happened. FORTY THREE!! That’s nearly twice as many tabs I had for marking plot stuff! Take a cold shower, you horndogs!
Az took a bite. “You let her suck your 🐓 in the middle of the dining room. At a table I’m currently using to eat my dinner.”
Thank you, Azriel! I haven’t said it before, but I’m tired of the characters banging on the table. Particularly the kitchen table, you know, the one that people eat at? Yeah, please stop.
I felt Nesta had more chemistry with her new friends, honestly. And the freaking House of Wind, which is alive I guess?
But yeah, I loved the bromance between Nesta Emerie and Gwyn. Their friendship was so sweet and one of my favorite parts of the novel.
Closing Thoughts
“I like to read. I cannot survive without reading.”
When I finished reading A Court of Silver Flames I had:
43 pink tabs for smut/horniness or whenever something remotely sex-related occurred or was mentioned.
29 orange tabs for whenever something made me angry or just when characters were being annoying in general.
18 yellow tabs for whenever “like calls to like” was used along with a few other repetitive phrases, that I noticed.
25 green tabs for whenever something plot related happened. (And that’s pretty much it.)
30 blue tabs for whenever I read something I liked of varying degrees. It could’ve been a phrase or character interaction.
So in total, I had 135 tabs in all!
A Court of Silver Flames was a fun, wild ride, and is definitely a step up from the last couple books in this series. Nesta had a strong voice, and was a much better character to follow than Feyre.
I definitely recommend reading this one if you’ve read the other ACOTAR books. It’s one of the better ones, and I think that it’s worth reading, despite its length.
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!
A tender addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas, bridging the events of A Court of Wings and Ruin and upcoming books.
Feyre, Rhysand, and their friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly altered world beyond, recovering from the war that changed everything. But Winter Solstice is finally approaching, and with it, the joy of a hard-earned reprieve.
Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, her concern for those dearest to her deepens. They have more wounds than she anticipated–scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court. Bridging the events of A Court of Wings and Ruin with the later books in the series, A Court of Frost and Starlight explores the far-reaching effects of a devastating war and the fierce love between friends.
To the blessed darkness from which we are born, and to which we shall return.
As I’ve said before, I have complex feelings about the ACOTAR series. Some of the I like. And some of them I do not. A Court of Frost and Starlight is a book that belongs in the latter category.
To be clear, I have definitely read worse books. But ACOFAS still wasn’t all that great. It just felt so… bland and unnecessary. (And this is coming from someone who very recently finished the next book in the series!)
This is a short book, so I’m just gonna split it into pros and cons. I’ve started marking my print books with tabs (because I just can’t mark up a book with a pen or highlighter!!), so as to somewhat mimic what I can do for e-books. (It also beats having to page through the book again to hunt for quotes – I’m so tired of doing that!)
Stuff I Liked
Stars flickered around us, sweet darkness sweeping in. As if we were the only souls in a galaxy.
First off: the cover. Very pretty. And I mean the second edition one; I was never the biggest fan of the original set of ACOTAR covers. I just prefer abstract and nonhuman designs, which the 2nd Ed. has. (Nothing against the original covers, I promise!)
Secondly: this book was short. Longer than other novellas that I’ve read, but short nonetheless. I really appreciated that. (Especiallywith how boring this thing ended up being. *cough*)
And lastly: I really loved Nesta and Amren’s friendship. Two tough bitches against the world. What’s not to like?
(Also, still stanning Amren/Varian over here.)
This is also kind of unrelated, but I wanted to put this here, because I did kinda like it a little. There’s a quote from the book that goes like this:
We’d wanted yellow, but then decided that it might not display the art well enough. Black and gray were too dreary for the atmosphere we wanted, beige could also clash with the art… So we’d gone with white. The back room, at least, we’d painted brightly – a different color on each wall. Green and pink and red and blue.
Notice anything…? (I thought it was a little clever of the publisher, honestly.)
Anyway, let’s get on with the tirade.
Stuff I Didn’t Like
I just… didn’t like the plot, okay? There were some mildly interesting set ups for the next book, but we didn’t see those plots even start. (And Spoiler Alert: These plots go absolutely nowhere!)
Otherwise, this book didn’t really feel like it had a plot. ACOFAS mainly seemed to focus on Feyre adjusting fully to her position as High Lady. And it was also a slice-of-life Hallmark Christmas special. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that – I enjoy slice-of-life stuff and Christmas specials. They just don’t work in the ACOTAR setting without feeling very out of place.
I also hated how self-righteous the members of the Court of Dreams kept acting. Like, okay SJM, we get it now: our main cast of characters aren’t bigoted a-holes like the majority of Prythian seems to be. You can stop mentioning it literally every other chapter. Ugh.
He had nothing. Had been given everything and squandered it. He didn’t deserve my pity, my sympathy. No, Tamlin deserved what he’d brought upon himself.
Also, I know Tamlin was an asshole, but can we please stop tormenting him. Feyre said that she “wished him well” last book (even if she never wanted to see him again), but it seems like she’s rescinding that. And quite a few scenes from Rhysand’s POV involve him taunting and provoking Tamlin. Like, just stop. Please. I don’t want to read about our virtuous main characters kicking a man after he’s lost literally everything. So. Irritating.
And can we please stop being mean to poor Lucien? Like, he literally did nothing wrong, and he’s been nothing but a total gentleman this whole novella.
And, I’m really curious about another thing. Why is Feyre so upset over Stryga/The Weaver?! Like, she and Rhys hated and feared her in ACOMAF, and reluctantly negotiated her help in ACOWAR, and then she died and suddenly Feyre is completely distraught and affected by her death. You barely knew her! Your relationship with this woman doesn’t even meet the qualifications for “acquaintance!!”
But I get it, I guess. Maas needed Feyre to be affected by one woman’s death, and this was the only named female character she was willing to off. Because Amren or Mor or freaking Viviane certainly weren’t allowed to die. That kind of stuff just frustrates me so much.
Speaking of Feyre, she and Rhys and most of the rest of their friends were just as annoying as usual. Once again, Amren and Lucien are the MVPs.
Annnd, that’s all of my criticisms, I think. Whoo, what a rush!
Closing Thoughts
To the stars who listen, Feyre.
I brushed a hand over his cheek to wipe away the last of his tears, his skin warm and soft, and we turned down the street that would lead us home. Toward our future—and all that waited within it.
To the dreams that are answered, Rhys.
A Court of Frost and Starlight is an okay book. It’s nothing to write home about – and I honestly feel like it’s an unnecessary installment to this series. Nothing in here really had any lasting consequences that either weren’t swept under the rug in A Court of Silver Flames, or that couldn’t have been squeezed in there.
If you like the ACOTAR series, then you might like this, but you really don’t need to if you don’t want to. You’re really not missing anything. You can understand ACOSF perfectly fine without reading this.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and have an amazing day/night!
Gosh, it’s a new week already. Time sure flies when you read a bunch of books, haha.
I got a ton of stuff done last week that I’m happy with, but at the same time, I didn’t quite get to everything that I wanted to get finished (or posted). But I’m reading a lot more and posting a lot more than I was in December and January, so I’m really happy with what I’ve gotten done (and read) in the past couple of months.
Without further ado, let’s go over last week.
Monday 3/20: Spring 2023 Equinox
Last Monday, I forwent a Majestic Monday post, and instead did special spring post. It was basically about whether or not I’m a seasonal reader, what I generally read, and some of the stuff on my immediate TBR.
Wednesday I was able to double post! Yay! I did a WWW Wednesday (hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words), and a Shelf Control (hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies).
Last Thursday, I finally posted my review for A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas. It was a big book, so it took me a couple days (and then I like to spend a day ruminating on what I read and getting my thoughts together). But I finally finished it and posted the review!
On Friday I participated in First Line Fridays (formerly hosted by Wandering Words). I had a lot of fun with the post. The eighth time I joined in, and it hasn’t gotten old yet!
I just want to keep doing what I’m doing. Aside from this weekend, I did fantastically last week. (I usually take Saturday off from blogging, and I was feeling under the weather yesterday.)
I was gonna post my A Court of Frost and Starlight review yesterday but… yeah, didn’t feel good. So you can expect that review later today! And I finished A Court of Silver Flames this morning, so I’m gonna try to post that review tomorrow!
Thank you for reading, and have an excellent day/night!
She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
BUT WHILE WAR RAGES, IT IS HER HEART THAT WILL FACE THE GREATEST BATTLE.
I have such mixed feelings about A Court of Wings and Ruin. And this series in general. On one hand, it’s my favorite kind of trash (when I’m in the mood for romance and trash). On the other hand, I really hate a lot of things about this book, as well as quite a few things about this series in general.
But it’s been bothering me for years that I left the initial ACOTAR trilogy unfinished, and after getting my mom into reading as a motivation to finish it (my trash is her treasure), I’m gonna finish the other two ACOTAR books that have been released.
I Have Some Things To Say about this book, so without further hesitation I’m gonna start ranting.
The World
Once again, the most fascinating aspect of ACOTAR’s story is its setting. I really do like the world that Maas built, even if the Prythian landmass is just a fantasy UK.
I like a lot of the creatures that she created (but underutilized greatly). Also, I think the Court system itself is interesting, though Maas didn’t really take it in a direction that I liked. I thought that the High Lords themselves had a lot of potential as well, but Maas didn’t really make them interesting or unique aside from their powers. (And even that isn’t unique since Feyre has all of their powers combined.)
I also would’ve liked to know more about the other countries, but they only get name dropped and that’s it. We don’t even learn really anything about Hybern – the invading force – except that they were speciesist 500 years ago, and they’re still speciesist now. I felt like Maas could’ve done more with that.
The Characters
Oh boy, do I have Thoughts about the characters in this book. I hate most of them. Viscerally. But I will admit that I do like a few of them.
Let’s start with the ones that I like, since there are so little of them. First off, Nesta is still the best character in the series (so far), and I hated how much some of the other characters started to rag on her closer to the ending. She’s also one of the few characters in this novel with an actual, distinct personality and character. And it was very enjoyable to read her being bitchy.
The only other characters that I really liked were Amren and Lucien. Amren was fun to read about, and also unapologetically a bitch. And we stan Amren/Varian on this blog. My favorite couple in the series.
Amren and Varian didn’t even bother to join us.
No, she’d just wrapped her legs around his waist, right there in front of us, and he’d stood, lifting her in one swift movement. I wasn’t entirely sure how Varian managed to walk them out of the tent while still kissing her, Amren’s hands dragging through his hair, letting out noises that were unnervingly like purring as they vanished into the camp.
Rhys had let out a low laugh as we all gawked in their wake. “I supposed that’s how Varian decided he’d tell Amren he was feeling rather grateful she’d ordered us to go to Adriata.”
Tarquin cringed. “We’ll alternate who has to deal with them on holidays.”
Lucien was probably the most interesting male character in this book, and I hate that no one likes him (not even the author really seems to, lol). And he doesn’t really even deserve any of it. The only character that gets more hate is Tamlin, and Lucien doesn’t deserve to be that high on our group of MCs (s)hitlist.
Oh, and before I forget, I really loved the Suriel and the Bone Carver. But then SJM decided to do away with them (and the Weaver) (also SPOILERS), which really irritated me. They were the most interesting characters in the series, and definitely still had a ton of potential, but since Maas chose to get rid of them, I guess we’ll never see what could have been.
Annnd I didn’t much care for anyone else. Feyre was even more annoying than ever, and I hated reading about how spiteful and pissed off at everything. She wasn’t a character that I really enjoyed following, like, at all. And she was ridiculously overpowered and I hated it (and her) because she wasn’t even close to being a likable enough character to be fun to read being overpowered.
Also, it bugged me that she kept bragging about solving Amarantha’s riddle from the first book. 1) That was like the easiest riddle ever and 2) it took her months to figure it out.
My goal was bigger than revenge. My purpose greater than personal retribution.
Uhhhh, no it’s not Feyre… You’re lying to yourself.
Speaking of being overpowered, Rhysand also started to get super annoying here too. The author made him too secretly perfect under a veneer of bad-boyishness. And I both of those aspects about him. I also didn’t like how he was the most powerful of all the High Lords. Like, power couples can be fun, but that only works for me when both characters are very likeable, of which neither individual person in this couple is.
I also don’t like Mor anymore, as (SPOILERS) she’s apparently been stringing Azriel along for 500 years. And that’s just irredeemable to me, regardless of the reasons. Stringing someone along for 500 years is just morally reprehensible.
And Azriel and Cassian (and Mor) all just kept acting like college frat boys and a sorority girl, and it just got insufferable to me after a while. They’re all supposed to be over 500 years old and I can’t take them seriously because none of them act like it. Rhysand doesn’t either – he’s a frat boy too!
The Romance
Night Triumphant – and the Stars Eternal.
If he was the sweet, terrifying darkness, I was the glittering light that only his shadows could make clear.
The romance in A Court of Wings and Ruin was… meh. Most of it was average at best. And I hated the smut. Not because it was bad (though I’ve heard it’s not very good), but because I don’t care enough about it to make that call.
I just don’t like smut in general. I skip all the sex scenes in every book I see it in. And yes, I’m aware that the majority of A Court of Silver Flames is smut, but I’m still gonna read it so I can say I read this whole series.
The only relationship that I liked in this book was Amren and Varian, and that’s mostly because I just like Amren’s character.
The Plot
“Leave this world… a better place than how you found it.”
I didn’t much care about the plot until the last third, and even then it wasn’t that engaging, for the most part. SJM used a bunch of plot and character conveniences, which I despised, and when they’d had their use (in her eyes) she just dumped them for good. Ugh.
The plot also didn’t really start to move until close to the halfway point. Sure, a couple of things happened closer to the beginning, but not all that much occurred until about 40% of the way in. And Feyre was just so angry for the first 20% – it was just really annoying to read.
Also, Nesta’s powers. Maas built them up so freaking much and then, in the end, she hardly did anything with them. Literally all Nesta did with them was throw the King of Hybern into some trees really heard (which didn’t even kill him, let alone slow him down!), and nothing else. It’s like SJM couldn’t figure out what to do with her or something.
And before I forget, Feyre running off in the middle of battle without telling anyone was about the stupidest decision I’ve ever seen her make. And just to go find the Suriel who she didn’t even get any useful information from. Ughhhh!
Also, Lucien did a ton of stuff off screen, and it was the most interesting plot stuff in the book. I wanted to read that!
Final Thoughts
Even as an immortal, there was not enough time in life to waste it on hatred.
So yeah, I had a lot of thoughts about this book. And this series (so far) in general. I’m feeling pretty bland about the last two novels in this series, but I have to finish it now since I’m buddy reading it with my mom and she’s enjoying it a lot.
If you like the other ACOTAR books, you’ll like A Court of Wings and Ruin. Also, probably if you like fantasy with romance (and smut) too.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day/night!
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve taken part in this, but last week I just happened to be in between books and I didn’t know which one I’d read next. But this week I’m locked and loaded with a plethora of options!
WWW Wednesday is a meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
Current Feels: 🤔 (unsure, but definitely willing to read and finish!)
I’m currently buddy reading this series with my mom in a bid to get her into reading (and to give me some motivation to finish the ACOTAR books). I know what shows she likes, so I knew what kinds of books she’d like. (I was right. Lol.)
Depending on how I feel after I finish ACOFAS, I’ll either read this next and finish off the series, or take a break and read it next month. (My mom’s barely started ACOWAR, and it’ll probably take her a month to finish a big book like that, so… yeah.)
This series is what I’ll read next if I choose not to go for ACOSF right away. It’s a series that I originally read over a decade ago and never finished. (Inheritance wasn’t even out yet!)
I’ve always had a desire to finish The Inheritance Cycle, though, and it has a special place in my heart. So it’s getting read no matter what – whether before or after ACOSF, not withstanding.
What books have you been reading lately? What have you thought of them? Do we have any overlap?
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a retrospective book review, and since my next non-retrospective book review isn’t quite ready yet, I thought it was high time I posted another.
Retrospective book reviews are basically book reviews, but they’re on books that I read before I started this blog. So, in order for them to get their day in the sun, I go back through them and see if my opinion when I originally read them holds up. So yeah, that’s basically it.
This time I’m gonna go over another book in a very popular series that I’ve already gone over before. That’s right, I’m going over A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses.
“To the stars who listen—and the dreams that are answered.”
Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court – but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms-and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future-and the future of a world torn apart.
I have a complicated relationship with the books (that I’ve read) in this series. With ACOTAR, it was that the book started off pretty slow and ended up being just a generic YA fantasy novel. With A Court of Mist and Fury my feelings are a bit more complex than that.
A Court of Mist and Fury is an NA (formerly YA) high fantasy romance novel written by Sarah J. Maas. It is the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses and is therefore the second book in the eponymous series. ACOMAF was also originally published on May 3, 2016 by Bloomsbury.
Stuff I Liked
The Court of Dreams.
The people who knew that there was a price, and one worth paying, for that dream. The bastard- born warriors, the Illyrian half breed, the monster trapped in a beautiful body, the dreamer born into a court of nightmares
…And the huntress with an artist’s soul.
Though this book had a similar problem to its predecessor – that being, it started off slow – it didn’t feel nearly as bad to me; likely because it wasn’t slow for as long. And once ACOMAF got going, it got going.
Also, even though Maas doesn’t focus as much on her world building as I’d like (she chooses instead to focus on… other things), I did like the bits of world building that she did decide to show. I also enjoyed some of the strange creatures and monsters she added and opted to give page time to.
I also quite liked many of the characters introduced in this book.Mor was a great friend for Feyre, and I liked Cassian and Azriel. I really liked seeing Feyre’s sisters – Nesta and Elain – again, as I didn’t expect it at all. (Cassian and Nesta’s sexual tension was also amazing.) Amren was the MVP character-wise though. She was so cool.
The new places that the characters travelled too were also really cool. I loved seeing more of the Faerie Courts of Prythian, and I can’t wait to see more.
There you are. I’ve been looking for you.
His first words to me— not a lie at all, not a threat to keep those faeries away.
Thank you for finding her for me.
I’m more on the fence now on the romance than I was when I first read ACOMAF, soon after it was originally released in 2016. I’ve decided to put it in the Stuff I Liked section, however, because when I first read it I absolutely adored it. Rhysand and Feyre had so much more chemistry together than Tamlin and Feyre ever did, and I really liked Rhys and Feyre as a couple at the time.
The climax and the ending were also heart pounding. When I finished this book, I was immediately chomping at the bit for the next book. It was sooo good, and I needed to know what happened next!
But that’s pretty much all that I liked about it, even if this stuff made me rate the book very highly when I first read it (and why I can’t bring myself to rate it that much lower now).
Stuff I Didn’t Like
When you spend so long trapped in darkness, you find that the darkness begins to stare back.
I absolutely despised what Maas did to Tamlin’s character. Now don’t get me wrong – I didn’t particularly like Tamlin in ACOTAR. But I didn’t hate him either, and after his cardboard cutout personality in the first book, I was looking forward to seeing his personality develop in book two, as well as his and Feyre’s relationship.
But that never happened. Because Maas decided to assassinate Tamlin’s character.
Now this is something that I’ve always hated. Even way back when, when A Court of Wings and Ruin hadn’t even come out yet, and everyone was praising A Court of Mist and Fury for being a perfect book and how perfect Rhys and Feyre were for each other and just fück Tamlin. I hated this even then. Because I absolutely hate things like character assassinations – as it indicates bad writing. And I still stand by that.
I also didn’t really, really didn’t like the smut. But I just hate smut in general, so that’s probably just a me thing.
Final Thoughts
Truth is deadly. Truth is freedom. Truth can break and mend and bind.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maaswas a fantastic read when it first came out, but its near perfection has definitely weathered some over the years.
I still like it to some degree, and recommend it to fans of fantasy-romance, but I don’t like it nearly as much as I did when I first read it. It’s not a bad book (though if you’re looking for it, you can see the cracks starting to show in the narrative in ACOMAF).
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!
