hardcover, 640 pages
Published June 2, 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing.
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 cleaved in two.
I LOVED IT. This is such a build on book number 2. It twists and turns in ways I never expected - particularly the ending. I am at a loss of words and instantly ripping into the third. Wow
Oh, I have so many thoughts. Too many. Hey, it’s a huge improvement from the first book!
Clearly, Maas is doing something right. I like a lot of what’s going on here. I think the politics are fun and the ending hook promising. There’s a handful of characters here that I enjoy, particularly Mor and Lucien. Nesta as well! What a glow-up!
But the writing is just so, so blah. As repetitious in its diction (how many dogs does Feyre have in those bones of hers?) as well as its blocking. Maas has a really bad habit of having her side characters trauma dump and Feyre have some sort of physical reaction to it. And that’s a shame! Because there are parts that I think are written well. She just needs a tighter editor to reign it all in and cut a good couple hundo pages from the manuscript.
I …
Oh, I have so many thoughts. Too many. Hey, it’s a huge improvement from the first book!
Clearly, Maas is doing something right. I like a lot of what’s going on here. I think the politics are fun and the ending hook promising. There’s a handful of characters here that I enjoy, particularly Mor and Lucien. Nesta as well! What a glow-up!
But the writing is just so, so blah. As repetitious in its diction (how many dogs does Feyre have in those bones of hers?) as well as its blocking. Maas has a really bad habit of having her side characters trauma dump and Feyre have some sort of physical reaction to it. And that’s a shame! Because there are parts that I think are written well. She just needs a tighter editor to reign it all in and cut a good couple hundo pages from the manuscript.
I also feel the need to point out, and I don’t think she did this on purpose, but Maas absolutely took the concept of the dying stars and the house of mist from the first and third books of the Howl’s Moving Castle series. If I wanted to be a little catty, I’d extend that to the dreamlike castle in the sky imagery as well.
Eh, the gender essentialism is ever-present. I guess Maas is just allergic to the words ‘man’ and ‘woman’ but what can you do, really? I found myself getting used to it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. It’s omegaverse lite, is what it is. I won’t even go into the ham-fisted milady feminism by way of Rhysand - many others will and have probably done a better job of that than me.
I had fun though, you know? And that’s the point at the end of the day. Having fun. A good, light time. Escapism?
My two cents: Feyre needs to step back from relationships for a long while and work on herself. Girl spends way too much time letting men consume her thoughts and define her. Does she really have that many more choices with Rhys? He is still pulling the puppet strings of her "destiny".
I was so ready to give this 3 stars for being better than the first book, but that ending ruined it again. Not to mention the absurd amount of vomiting and purring. Quite looking forward to seeing who Feyre thinks she's in love with in the next one.
was it actually better than the first one or did I just really not like the book I read before this, making it seem better by comparison...
WHAT DO I DO NOW
