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I gave a Court of Thorns and Roses 5 stars but this is better...so much better. Brilliant series so far, can't wait for the final instalment.
Feyre manages to be a strong female lead without being cliched. I think this might be because her looks are so rarely even mentioned, except from Rhys' point of view and even then only in passing. She is vulnerable and powerful in exactly the right measure and more importantly her development is believable.
Rhys, likewise, is the antihero male lead I've been waiting for. Not cliched. Vulnerable in believable ways. Hecka powerful but not infallible. He's written beautifully and the relationship between him and Feyre develops in a really believable way. Maas deserves serious credit for her ability to create multifaceted, interesting characters which feel absolutely real and alive. She also handles development arcs masterfully, I'm genuinely very impressed. I hold out hope that in the last book Lucien will become the last member of the main cast to receive that same treatment, because he's so interesting and I'd like to see one member of the Spring Court developed in that way too.
Also, the swoon factor doesn't hurt. I honestly didn't expect such forthright and gratuitous sex scenes in a YA fantasy, but they're there and they're GOOD. I appreciate the adult and mostly believable language used.
Overall, brilliant. Best series I've read this year, hands down.
Feyre manages to be a strong female lead without being cliched. I think this might be because her looks are so rarely even mentioned, except from Rhys' point of view and even then only in passing. She is vulnerable and powerful in exactly the right measure and more importantly her development is believable.
Rhys, likewise, is the antihero male lead I've been waiting for. Not cliched. Vulnerable in believable ways. Hecka powerful but not infallible. He's written beautifully and the relationship between him and Feyre develops in a really believable way. Maas deserves serious credit for her ability to create multifaceted, interesting characters which feel absolutely real and alive. She also handles development arcs masterfully, I'm genuinely very impressed. I hold out hope that in the last book Lucien will become the last member of the main cast to receive that same treatment, because he's so interesting and I'd like to see one member of the Spring Court developed in that way too.
Also, the swoon factor doesn't hurt. I honestly didn't expect such forthright and gratuitous sex scenes in a YA fantasy, but they're there and they're GOOD. I appreciate the adult and mostly believable language used.
Overall, brilliant. Best series I've read this year, hands down.
I didn't hate this as much as I thought I would given all the negative reviews, but then because I read the reviews maybe I didn't have high expectations. This is a character-only book, there is virtually no plot - it's a brief snapshot of life post-war in Velaris, and not much more than that. While I really enjoyed the Court series I'm really not that invested in this world at this point, so I found it a fluffy and enjoyable-enough light and fluffy novella for a brief reacquainting with the characters, but likely completely unnecessary to the story and very skippable if you just want to move right to the next main book, whenever it comes out.
Powerful, poetic, culturally immersive, challenging. SpoilerNot everyone likes the way the child abuse is explored and ultimately responded to in this book, but as someone who works with abused children and therefore by extension, at times, their abusers, I need people to start to understand the complexity of child abuse. This book asks you to look at the systemic, societal ways we shape people into violence, and demands that you immerse yourself in the complexity of people and their environments. You're not supposed to excuse the child abuse (and the ending may leave some people feeling that's the point, though I disagree), but you are asked to do more to try and understand it which, when we are all complicit to a degree, is an admittedly uncomfortable experience.
