2.5/5
It took me eleven days to read this book. Let's discuss.
Overall: I didn't like it. It was boring, badly-written, and barely avoided contradicting itself a lot of different times. Was it better than the first book? I guess it depends on how you define "better." I think the pacing in this book is much more of a slog, and the world-building seems malleable from moment to moment and book to book. The characters are flat, even though we're assured over and over that they're complex, and the various tasks they have to complete during the story were mostly boring. I occasionally liked some of the moments between Feyre and Rhysand, but never for long.
For the record, I know a lot of people like this book. How should I put this? I genuinely, neutrally, do not care. And I think that if you like this book for whatever reason, you shouldn't care that I dislike it. After I finish this review, I'm hoping to never think about this book again.
Now begins me thinking about this book and its problems for what is hopefully the last time.
I think the largest and most overarching problem this book has is that SJM is an over-writer who doesn't trust her readers to infer anything. Everything in this book is heavily implied, and then stated outright for good measure, just in case you missed the implications being hammered into your skull. This makes it very easy to read this book with your brain off or not fully paying attention; if you miss something, chances are SJM will restate it 200 pages later when and if it becomes relevant again.
Here's an example from page 293 of what I mean with the over-writing:
Azriel, surprisingly, had returned from the mortal realm by lunch. Mor had intercepted him first, but I'd gotten a secondhand report from Rhys that he'd found some sort of barrier around the queens' palace, and had needed to return to assess what might be done about it.
Assess—and brood, it seemed, since Azriel had barely managed a poilte hello to me before launching into sparring with Rhysand, his face grim and tight. They'd been at it now for an hour straight, their slender blades like flashes of quicksilver as they moved around and around. I wondered if it was as much for practice as it was for Rhysand to help his spymaster work off his frustration.
That last sentence is what really gets me. It's incredibly obvious from the two preceding paragraphs that Azriel is sparring with Rhysand because he's frustrated. Why did we need Feyre to tell us that directly?
Because she's going to tell us everything, no matter how obvious it is, and we just have to deal with it. Or not pay attention, since there's literally no reason to.
As for the romance. Like I said before, it occasionally had its moments. These moments were mostly strung between long periods of Feyre "bantering" with Rhysand, flipping him off, and musing about how He Wears So Many Masks (His masks never felt super distinctive to me, for the record). In concept, I think them being friends before they get together romantically is interesting, but I don't think it's executed well here
(Me thinking things aren't executed well is an ongoing theme of this review, if you couldn't tell. The TL;DR version is basically: "Some interesting concepts buried in bad execution and way too many words.")
Rhysand is, of course, totally absolved of any and all responsibility for everything bad he's ever done by both Feyre and the narrative. We are often reminded that Rhysand is also traumatized by Amarantha; interestingly, Tamlin literally never gets the same consideration, outside of Feyre musing that maybe she and Tamlin were "too broken" to make things work. So remember, it's okay for Rhysand to break all of someone's bones as a trauma response, because that guy was an asshole anyway, but it's not okay for Tamlin to lock Feyre in the house, because that actually impacts Feyre in a way she doesn't like.
I don't even like Tamlin, and I don't think he should be absolved of his actions, for the record. But I think if we're going to fully absolve Rhysand of everything up to and including drugging Feyre repeatedly for months (even if it was supposedly for her own good), I think we can extend a little grace to Tamlin, who is a dick but also genuinely traumatized by seeing Feyre die last book. Plus some of his actions seem genuinely nonsensical when compared to how he was in the previous book. I feel like I remember Tamlin not liking his dad, so why is he so determined to uphold his dad's traditions of subjugating the masses via punishments for insufficient tithes?
I did think the scene where Rhysand has an approximately five-page monologue explaining his side of the whole story while Feyre stirs soup was funny, although I don't think I was supposed to. And I was surprised (though perhaps I shouldn't have been) that we somehow managed to squeeze the one-bed trope into this story.
Speaking of tropes, I really don't understand the usage of fated mates in ACOTAR. Like, first of all, are mates fated? What are mates? What is the purpose of the mating bond? Rhysand and Tamlin's parents were BOTH mated pairs, and they both apparently had bad relationships. Rhysand says outright that despite being mates, his parents weren't right for each other. But then when Rhysand and Feyre are mates, we're supposed to believe fate drew them together and they're 100% meant for each other. So...which is it? And why is the guy always the one who feels the mating bond "snap into place" first? (I'll be honest, it reminds me a lot of imprinting, from Twilight).
Another thing I wasn't particularly into is how much misogyny and patriarchy and violence against women SJM decided to include, particularly since narratively, most of the it serves either as Dramatic Backstory or as opportunities for Rhysand to say that "Sexism is Bad, Actually." I think if you include things like fairy women getting their wings clipped in a way that feels like a thinly-veiled allegory to female genital mutilation, you should have a reason for including it that goes beyond, "This will make my hero look good when he says this is bad." And I was really irritated at how impressed Feyre gets when Rhys tells her that Amren and Mor are his second and third in command. Is the bar really that low?
In conclusion, despite all odds, this is a book. Despite all odds, I read all 624 pages. I do not want to continue :)
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