Category: Romance

My heart is not okay.

I’m at a point in my reading journey that if you tell me a book even vaguely resembles A Court of Thorns and Roses, I’ll shamelessly pick it up. When I saw Elise Kova, who is one of my most favourite writers, was coming out with a book with the words “[…] for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses[…]” I was ecstatic. 

And when the opportunity arose for me to apply for an ARC… well, can you blame me? And let me tell you, I devoured it. Devoured it. I literally had to delay this review for two days cause I needed to recover from reading this book emotionally. 

Kova is definitely a master of making her readers overwhelmed with anticipation. She is one of the few authors that can have me so enraptured that I forget to breathe. I don’t know how many times I had to take a break, even over the smallest developments. This book, in particular, throws you headfirst into the story, not giving you time to prepare for the coming events. You know how the book ends, but the journey is what makes it worth it. Kova is undeniably talented when it comes to making you fall in love with her characters quickly, making it impossible to complain about the predictive nature of her writing. It’s one thing to know what is going to happen, but another to actually watch it unfold with all the excellent character development and swoon-worthy relationship development. 

Picking up this book, you can tell A Deal with the Elf King is a passion project. As a writer and reader, you can feel the love that went into this story. It was written as an escape and subsequently worked very well in letting the reader escape as well. This book, while having essential themes, A Deal with the Elf King, manages to be a feel-good read; something you can snuggle under the blankets and escape with. 

I’m inclined to call it a guilty pleasure, but the thing is: I’m not guilty whatsoever. 

Ms. Kova, if you happen to stumble upon this, let me tell you: if you write it I’m buying it. 

And you should too. There really isn’t anything to complain about with this book. As mentioned, the romance is absolutely swoon-worthy, and the magical world-building is fun and does its job well. These books aren’t hard to read, and that’s what makes it so wonderful. All the fun of fantasy without the overwhelming amounts of world-building information. 

I truly recommend checking out this book, whether it be for a little escapism, or just to have something to read. And while you’re at it, check out other works by the author as well.

Final Rating

Okay, I’m going to be completely honest… I’m total Maas trash. I’m absolutely in love with the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and will accept any opinions that follow. This is a series I can read over and over again. 

A Court of Mist and Fury marks A Court of Thorns and Roses official departure from the retelling-realm as it pushes the series in its own unique direction. Now our protagonist is a resident of the fairy realms and we follow her as she becomes a more reliable narrator as she becomes more knowledgeable of the world around her. We watch a sort of coming-to-self story with relativity relatable internal struggles (of course, no matter how abstract you look at them some of the experiences are not relatable.)

Oh.. and Rhysand. He’s annoyingly perfect, but let’s just be real, he’s so damn loveable. He still manages to make my queer heart swoon. 

You can’t talk about A Court of Mist and Fury without mentioning the covet-worthy friend circle depicted throughout. Maas does such a good job creating a diverse (albeit racially stagnant) group who are truly complementary to each other. With witty banter, realistic disagreements, and a tight knit found-family the characters are to die for. 
You can already tell that I love this series and at some point, I plan on writing an in-depth analysis of the original trilogy. Until them, I’m going to be (im)patiently waiting for the upcoming A Court of Silver Flames.

Subjective Rating

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Final Rating