I remembered this book differently. Not to say that my opinion has shifted all that much. The aspects that I have detected and delved deeper into that didn’t catch my eye before replace the mistaken points that made up my initial assessment of Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Mist and Fury. I have discovered the core of this tale though, the thing that I could never put my finger on before but now that I have it I suddenly understand everything. Please note: this review contains SPOILERS for both ACOTAR and ACOMAS. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE INTENDING TO READ THE SERIES.

Let’s start with objective mistakes and issues with this. Some of this enquiry and a lack of clarity, perhaps some uncertainty on my part I need dissected. First, let’s address the bargain. You know, that bargain between Feyre and Rhysand that was made after she won the first task Under the Mountain. The bargain that grants, and I quote from the man himself, “one week with me at the Night Court every month in exchange for my healing services after her first task…for the rest of her life.” (ACOTAR, page 349).

What’s the problem you ask? Well, while I am well-versed with the notion of semantics and multiple interpretations for the same quote or phrase, I can’t help but bring up the fact that we have a little issue with that last part. The part about it lasting for the rest of her life. You see, Feyre died. I read the entirety of A Court of Mist and Fury to ensure I caught all the dialogue and explanation about this bargain. I even made sure to catch the fact that both of them noted that she had died. I know, I know, there is the matter of her being in the in-between state where she could have chosen to go off into that peaceful darkness as she says to the Bone Carver. But thing is that she has to have died in order for the rebirth to have occurred so, in theory, the bargain should have been broken with her death.

There were a couple of minor issues with repetition or incorrect wording of physical descriptors, such as the unfortunately incident of Rhysand’s eyes being straight up blue on page 145. We have exposition dumps where we shouldn’t such as the Attor’s interrogation and in conversations between Feyre and Rhysand where the subject of the exposition wasn’t even the discussion point. The repetition of physical descriptors is more of a subjective take, I completely understand that, but it has got to a point while I was reading this that I was genuinely getting annoyed that the same things were being said about the exact same features or aspect of a person. Azriel either has cold eyes or a shadowy voice (whatever a shadowy voice means), and we have yet another book where every Archeron sister, Feyre included, needs to be described as having brown-gold or golden-brown hair. Feyre, after twenty years you would think you would’ve grown tired mentioning the same shade of hair colour but I guess once a painter, always a painter (yikes, too soon?)

Another subjective take – I don’t think Feyre is a strong female character and I don’t think that A Court of Mist and Fury is a book about a woman gaining female empowerment. In the nicest, least critiquing way possible so that die-hard fans don’t try murder me in their sleep, Feyre is a narrow-minded, self-absorbed pick-me who victimises herself and is learning to not be co-dependent for the first time in her life. I mean she can’t even be observant for five seconds to see if those around her are almost done eating and offer to take their finished dishes up to the sink with hers. She’s also incredibly selfish and speaks before thinking. So many things could have been dealt with if she had simply thought for another three seconds before shouting about whatever was contesting her preconceived notions and prejudices. All jokes aside, learning to seperate yourself from a co-dependent mindset can be a huge challenge and I’m not bashing her for being in that position nor trying to get out of it. She has been in extremely negative co-dependent relationships for most of her life, especially in recent years where she’d given so much time and energy into providing for others and received very little in return. Tamlin is the first romantic relationship where there was a smidgen of mutual feelings and devotions. Was is a good relationship? Absolutely not. Is Rhysand as god-like and angelic as many think he is for doing the bare minimum and treating her like a normal person who needs social interaction and care? No.

Now we reach my biggest issue with this book and the series as a whole. The Tamlin and Rhysand issue. The first time I read ACOMAS, I must have soared through the first part because I found Tamlin’s attitude was a huge 180 from how he was at the end of ACOTAR. He had the love of his life back. They had just gone through the most horrific, traumatising experience under the hand of Amarantha. They were home and things were going to repair themselves. What I will say in regards to my more analytical reading of it this time around is that I understand how Tamlin’s trauma is coming through in his behaviour and actions. I can see that clearer than I did the first time. Do I think it’s completely accurate to the character? No. He has everything he could want at this moment and he is approaching the date of his wedding to Feyre. They bone on a regular basis and his people are safe for now. There are the unspoken elements of tension, of course, such as his trauma and nightmares and the uncertainty and unstable emergence of Feyre’s gifts given by the High Lords. Things he wishes to wash away and address at a later time, or never. In my opinion, I think his paranoia and controlling tendencies could’ve held off until the first time Rhysand arrives. He is smart enough to know from how he was treating her in ACOTAR that stopping her from doing things creates arguments. He could’ve, and I believe, would’ve tried to find compromises with Feyre in order to appease her and keep her from wriggling around. Then, with Rhysand’s swift arrival and exit with Feyre on the day of their wedding, it would have sparked that controlling behaviour that would be fitting for the situation, one which would descend into a crazed belief that she is his to control and keep and he’s protecting her for her own good. It helps with his redemption arc in ACOWAR.

Back over to Rhysand. Again, I don’t think Rhysand is all that. He’s doing the bare minimum. He’s got his own trauma he’s working through and the fact that he has to adjust back into the role of High Lord of the Night Court means he has a lot on his plate. He was also a dick to Feyre even though he had a decent feeling she would be his mate. I forgive the verbal dialogue that he would have to have conveyed in a specific way in order to keep from garnering suspicion, but the daemati mind conversing would be shared with no one. Why be such a dick? I guess the enemies-to-lovers trope has to slide in somehow. I’m not against the trope, but some better separation between the two, or at least some more definitive stages between them, would have made the transition feel more fluid and less like Feyre was needing a rebound (the co-dependency really came back guns blazing).

Which brings me to my discovery. The revelation that suddenly made things clear. The reason I can write this review at 12:45am and not want to leave it until the morning. This series is so reminiscent of the Wattpad YA Alpha Werewolf romances where the female character is with one alpha who wants to control her and use her for children and he doesn’t care about her and she escapes only to bump into a different alpha who ends up being her mate and the two alphas, along with all the packs in the area because numbers means importance, figt it out to see who gets the girl. Tell me I’m wrong. This series has Alpha Werewolf energy all over it – the pissing contests to see who is better in bed, the inability for Tamlin to convey basic wants and reach mutual agreements through civilised discourse because he has to be the hot-headed, controlling beta of the two alphas. The fact Rhysand is gassed up from the get go as being the good guy, the knight in shining armour who unlocked the prison and set her free. Why Feyre has so little common sense and grounding, being unable to function without a strong male to support her even though she’s an adult and has had to grow up sooner than she maybe would have had her family not fallen into poverty. We won’t comment on the fact she is the most powerful female across the lands. I feel like that has been ripped to shreds enough.

A Court of Mist and Fury solidifies my belief that not only is this series most definitely a romantasy (did initially write that as romanasty and considered keeping it) but it is a YA fantasy through and through. I give it a 3.5 based on my dislike for the repetitive detail, thoughts and descriptions, the lack of engagement I have with the narrative perspective and style, and the lack of depth it the minor characters who, in my opinion, are far more interesting than the main character. The Wattpad 2013 energy is wafting off this book – no shade at all by the way. We all went through that phase and the supernatural phase is having a renaissance, is it not? I personally would just like to keep it as a pleasant flashback to simply days and the juvenile joys of reading rather than in the books I have on my shelves that I find myself thinking about on a regular basis for the purpose of inspiration for my own works.