The mother of all sequels!

Take my breath away..

Last week, I experienced a phenomenon which I have rarely encountered in my book-reading journey - an author, whose series I had almost given up on, managing to completely surprise me by coming out with a game-changing sequel! To top it all, I have a sneaking suspicion that I felt exactly what the clever author had wanted me to feel - dissatisfaction with the first book's characters and their motivations only to realize in the second book that there were valid reasons for that dissatisfaction! 

Take a bow, Ms. Sarah J. Maas. I had skimmed through the first book "A Court of Thorns and Roses" taking it as a typical representative of the young adult fantasy genre. When the second book "A Court of Mist and Fury" was released this week, I picked it up only because I was intrigued by a certain villainous character who despite having an almost guest appearance in the first book, managed to steal every scene in which he appeared. Imagine my surprise when every chapter in the lengthy sequel turned out to be a revelation, with the main characters undergoing unexpected transformations and the story taking a turn I had never foreseen while reading the first book! The talented Ms. Maas kept me glued to my Kindle for seven continuous hours at night, without food or sleep! So here comes a joint review of both the books because one is of course  incomplete without the other.

The series revolves around Feyre (pronounced as "Fay-ruh"), an independent and beautiful young girl belonging to an impoverished merchant family - how her destiny takes her from a simple human village to powerful faerie courts, the hardships and deadly trials she faces, and the alliances and relationships she forms along the way. At the start of "A Court of Thorns and Roses", Feyre has given up her own dreams and taught herself to hunt so that she can support her crippled father and two sisters. They live in a village on the outskirts of a dense forest which borders Prythian, the faerie land. Prythian is supposed to be ruled by the courts of seven powerful and immortal High Fae Lords.  Humans are forbidden to cross the wall in the forest that separates the human and Fae lands. 

One day, while hunting a deer, Feyre inadvertently kills a wolf, not realizing that the wolf is a high-ranking faerie in disguise. Soon a ferocious beast arrives at her house demanding revenge for the murder of his friend, the shape-shifting wolf. Feyre agrees to go and stay with the beast to atone for the murder and keep her family safe. After crossing into Fae territory, the beast brings her to a beautiful palace in a land of eternal spring. Feyre soon discovers that the beast is actually Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court, who is young and handsome but somehow cursed. Tamlin always wears a mask that hides his face and can take the form of a beast whenever he wants to. He gives Feyre wonderful gifts and makes her feel pampered and protected. Feyre, who has always been the one making ends meet for her family, slowly starts falling for Tamlin's charm. Tamlin never really reveals the full details of his curse to Feyre, though he confesses much later that the curse can be broken only if a girl falls in love with him. This part of the story is reminiscent of the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale and the Scottish folk tale of "Tam Lin". 

In a bid to protect Feyre from the evil fairy queen Amarantha and her imminent attack on the Spring Court, Tamlin persuades Feyre to go back to her family. Feyre however realizes that she does love Tamlin and comes back to confront Amarantha. The evil queen has  by this time captured Tamlin and taken away his powers, to add his court to the six faerie courts she has already enslaved. She tries to break Feyre's spirit but Feyre is determined to rescue her true love Tamlin at any cost. Amarantha sets three seemingly impossible and dangerous tasks for Feyre, promising that if Feyre wins these three trials, the curse on all Fae lands will be lifted and Tamlin will be free. Through sheer willpower, Feyre transforms herself into a Katniss type huntress, and receives help from a surprising ally, Rhysand. Rhysand is the powerful, devious and ruthless High Lord of the Night Court who is pretending to be Amarantha's supporter but seems to be actually plotting her downfall. Rhysand makes a bargain with Feyre that he will heal her wounds in exchange for her spending one week of every future month at his Night Court. Feyre agrees reluctantly and through her bravery and intelligence, eventually manages to win all the three challenges.  But Amarantha goes back on her word the moment Feyre wins and kills her. The curse on Tamlin and all of Fae is nevertheless broken and Tamlin kills Amarantha in his rage. All the seven High Lords are freed and in gratitude, they give a drop of their magical essence to Feyre and she is reborn as an immortal High Fae, though her heart remains human. 

So that was how the first book ended, with Feyre and Tamlin together at last and true love seemingly triumphing over evil. I didn't care much for either of them or their romance which lacked depth. Though the YA blogosphere was going into raptures over it, the book seemed nothing out of the ordinary to me (the reason why its review didn't grace my blog before today). Feyre seemed to be a bit immature and infatuated with Tamlin solely because of the attention he bestowed on her. Tamlin, on the other hand, came across as weak, ineffectual and over-protective. The only character who appeared interesting was the mysterious Rhysand, whose motives for helping Feyre remain questionable till the very end. I was wondering whether there was the possibility of a love triangle in the future (the kind I hate) or if we would see Feyre and Tamlin happily wedded by the beginning of the second book (true to a  saccharine-sweet, predictable fairy tale ending). 

Turns out I was wrong on all counts! I had found the relationship between Feyre and Tamlin too shallow because that's what it was! "A Court of Mist and Fury" starts three months after the events of the previous book and there is no happy ending in sight. We find Feyre an emotional wreck, unable to forgive herself for killing two innocent faeries as part of Amarantha's last challenge. She has nightmares of being trapped in Amarantha's prison again which Tamlin ignores, instead of helping her cope with them. Tamlin becomes more and more controlling and treats her like a prized and decorated possession, allowing her no freedom of movement or thought. On top of that, she feels latent powers brewing within her, perhaps as a gift unconsciously transferred from the seven High Lords who gave her life back. But she doesn't know how to harness these powers and Tamlin once again refuses to help her. On the day of her wedding to Tamlin, when her inner self screams to be saved, Rhysand suddenly appears and claims her week as part of their earlier bargain, and so begins her introduction to the infamous Night Court. This part has similarities to the tale of Persephone who was carried to the underworld by Hades, the lord of darkness.

However, there is a surprise waiting for Feyre as well as the readers - Rhysand's Night Court is not full of depravity, torture, suffocation and death, as touted. Instead, it's called the "Court of Dreams" - the most beautiful place Feyre has ever seen. Feyre is treated as a guest and feels carefree for the first time - staying in Rhysand's wonderfully open houses surrounded by snow-capped mountains, with no walls or windows but just the spectacular night sky and sparkling stars above. The world-building is awesome and some interesting new characters are introduced. Feyre meets and forms surprising friendships with the four powerful members of Rhys' Inner Court - his beautiful cousin Morrigan (or Mor), the otherworldly being of untold powers Amren, and the winged Illyrian warriors Azriel and Cassian. She also tours the entrancing rainbow city of Veralis which Rhys had managed to keep hidden from Amarantha and realizes how much he has sacrificed to keep his family, friends and people safe.  

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Through Feyre's eyes, the different dimensions of Rhys' complex personality are revealed. Her bargain with Rhys has created a telepathic bond between them where each can hear the other's thoughts. Hence Rhys seems to be aware of every trauma she has been through in the last few months. He always treats Feyre as an equal and never patronises or tries to control her. He keeps encouraging Feyre to emerge from her cocoon, to overcome her nightmares, to learn how to read, and to explore her newfound powers. He flirts with her and teases her and their snarky banter is delightful to witness. Yet the reader becomes increasingly aware that underneath it all, Rhys is gently taking care of Feyre's every need. He does not coddle Feyre but leaves her to fight her own battles - be it with the spine-chilling Bone Carver, the deadly Weaver or the cunning Attor. Feyre slowly starts believing in herself again, regains her fiery spirit, and vows never to go back to being a puppet in anyone's hands:

I was not a prey any longer, I decided....And I was not a mouse. I was a wolf... And I bit when cornered....

I had let them make me weak. Bent to it like some wild horse broken to the bit...

I was not a pet, not a doll, not an animal. I was a survivor, and I was strong. I would not be weak, or helpless again. I would not, could not be broken. Tamed.

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Rhys is one of the best fictional heroes I have ever read, one who comes across as an anti-hero initially, only to gradually display every personality trait a true hero should have. His and Feyre's slow-burn romance completely redeemed the series for me. The depth of emotion that was missing from the first book (maybe deliberately) is present in its most believable form here. Rhys and Feyre become friends first, comrades next and lovers only towards the end. The bond that they share is beyond words - they each realize how similar they are at their core. They are both warriors forced to protect their worlds, though they are dreamers deep inside their hearts.

But what I liked was that the romance was never the pivot of the story. The focus is always the transformation in Feyre - brought about first by Tamlin, then by Amarantha and lastly by Rhysand. There is also a lot of action happening in the background. There is a war brewing in Prythian - the tyrannical King of Hybern is about to attack the Fae lands, resurrect an ancient warrior and annihilate all human settlements. As the story progresses, unexpected friendships are formed while former friends turn traitors. Feyre, Rhys and their friends have to form appropriate political alliances, find magical artefacts, fight evil beings and keep their beloved city of Veralis safe. 

The book sets up the context nicely for the penultimate book in the series to be released next year. While many questions were answered and resolved in this book, new questions have now emerged. Will Feyre and her friends succeed in defeating the King of Hybern? Who can they trust as their allies? Will Feyre ever know the fullest extent of her powers? Will she and Rhys get to stay together in the end? I hope so, because they have endured a lot and are willing to ceaselessly fight for their dreams. Keeping my fingers crossed :)

The lesson learned:

Do not judge a series solely by its first book. The author may be surreptitiously planning to throw a googly at you in the sequel! :)