In the cold mountains of The Night Court, things start to heat up!

Spoilers Ahead for A Court of Thorns and Roses – 

If you put me in a room with Sarah J Maas, prior to my reading of a second novel, I wouldn’t have had the words to question her decision to divert so far away from the premise prescribed to us in the 300 pages of the first novel. There most likely be a gaping look on my face, because if I’m being honest, there would not be a single part of me – having read book one – that would’ve supported this absolutely credulous active misdirection!

And yet, I actually found that I enjoyed book 2 a lot more than book one. Mist and Fury, the second book in A Court of Thorns and Roses series, is perhaps the most enjoyable that I’ve read so far (I am currently halfway through book 4) and has actually redeemed the series from being rather dull, and sometimes too timid, young adult series that skirted the edge between amateur and established fantasy world with romance its boiling hot molten core.

Book 2 is set a little after the end of book, one with the fairy folk free from Amaranthus’s wrath, and now the high Lords of Pythian, setting about to re-establish the courts that are fallen into ruin over Amarantha’s 50-year reign. Tamlin, lover boy, and Lord of the Spring Court, and Fayre, now reborn a high fairy, have been enjoying the relative peace and quiet of a well-earned victory.

Well… I did say relative! Fayre and Tamlin both experienced major trauma during their time under the mountain. Trauma that is shifted the nature of their relationship from two prisoners, locked in separate cages with only each other to hold onto to prisoners of the mind, trapped in their own internal suffering.

Tamlin is possessive and protective to the point of forcefully restraining his now fiancé. Fayre wakes up every night, screaming bloody murder. You would think things couldn’t get worse… But then Rhys comes back along. The charming Lord of The Night Court, he comes to claim Fayre as part of their deal for one week of each month, she must spend with him.

This fair further into Prythian than she has ever been, where she’ll discover some age-old secrets, that only darkness could keep. Fayre soon learns the peace lies only in the present moment and war is on the horizon of the future. Armed with the gifts of the Lords of Prythian, Fayre must not only save her new land and the people who are now her own, but also choose to whom does she owe loyalty – Tamlin, or Rhysand?

Fans of this series will be delighted to know that the book they started with might not be the best, but the second is, perhaps the redeeming outing that it desperately needs as mass is clearly a talented writer – both in her ability to create believable protagonist and leave each chapter with enough of a hook that you can’t help, but bite down to be reeled back in.

Book 2 introduces some interesting new locations and new concepts to the world that mass is built -it establishes that fairies are not the only creatures inhabiting this world giving much-needed lore which was not nearly established enough in the first outing. There is definitely a sense that mass wants this fictional reality to have the depth of something closer to high fantasy, though there is also a clear focus on the romance. Let us not forget that this is a romance series, and it gets much…much filthier in book 2.

Had very little to criticise about this book because it is the best in the series (so far) it’s perfectly demonstrates mass can do more than just build a romance between those characters that take a starring role. She can also introduce some great side characters, such as Morgan, cousin of Rhys who’s backstory is both tragic and inspiring, along with Amren, a creature much older and deadlier than fairy folk. There’s also the introduction of the Illyrians, a species of flying Fae, with Cassian and Azriel. 

Each of these characters, was not intrinsic to the plot, develop the world, and demonstrate that mass can write a wide variety of character types from humorous, to dead pan to stoic to old and ancient, and everything in between.

As with the previous novel, I do wish a lot more time was spent developing the character of the villain, the king of Hybern, however, the role he plays in the final act and the twists that take place there were riveting enough for me to continue into the third outing of this series. For anyone who doubts, Sarah J is a talented author, this book proves them wrong. And by them, I do sort of mean myself.

This book actually encourages me to read other works by maths and makes me look forward to exploring the world that she is created in those novels as well. I only hope they are as developed as in A Court of Mist and Fury.