Book Rave

I feel so sick today.

Ok to be honest I'm not THAT sick - a bit of a sore throat, my head hurts, and my nose feels stuffy and uncomfortable. But because I rarely fall sick, I just feel comparatively worse even if it's a teeny bit of sickness.

Not to mention I've a dentist appointment tomorrow so I have to recover by today.

I also have to go to a friend's birthday party later. 😵 Please let me recover in 2 hours...

Anyway I recently read a book on Monday - and I couldn't put it down. I stayed up til 3am to read it, decided that I'd better sleep, and then somehow woke up at 7+ and was unable to sleep. I spent the whole of Monday trying to finish it.

Anybody heard of Sarah J Maas? The book's called A Court of Mist & Fury (ACOMAF for short) and is the sequel to a 3 part series. I first read book 1 (A Court of Thorns & Roses - ACOTAR) last August and I was dying for book 2.

I stayed up til 5am to finish this book last year. I know, I'm crazy.

The story is about Feyre, a mortal girl who's thrust into the fey world after killing a fey wolf in the forest. She's kidnapped by Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court, and brought to the fey world in the hopes that she will break the curse upon the Spring Court - they have been cursed to wear a permanent mask. This is a Beauty & the Beast retelling, which is RIGHT DOWN MY ALLEY.

The Spring Court was cursed by Amarantha, a commander of the King of Hybern. After Feyre breaks the curse, Amarantha places a spell on Tamlin and commands Feyre to perform 3 tasks to break the spell. 3 tasks which are near impossible for a human. (This sounds very Hercules and the tasks from Hera.)

Throughout the tasks, the High Lord of the Night Court (aka Amarantha's lackey), Rhysand, helps Feyre to survive, but at a price: she must live in the Night Court for 1 week every month.

It was very Persephone & Hades, which I loved.

In Book 2, the story touches on depression and abusive relationships. Tamlin loved Feyre so much that it became an obsession - she finally snapped when he locked her up. And she realized how low her standards had gotten when she thought about how her weeks of freedom in the Night Court felt more like a privilege than a right. Tamlin locked her up; Rhys taught her how to read.

I really like how Sarah J Maas touches on all these important elements.

She writes such an amazing heroine too. Feyre is headstrong, plucky, and she's not afraid to sacrifice for the people she loves. She's also powerful when she's reborn as one of the High Fae after she dies. That's what I love.

I must say the book is not without it's cliches, she's a brilliant storyteller. In that night as I lay in bed reading, I visited Prythian, the fey world. The sparkling night sky of the hidden city in the Night Court, Velaris; the warmth of the balmy Summer Court.. Etc.

Ending off my book rave with my favourite line in the book. Give it a try if you're a fan of fantasy novels! It's been my no. 1 genre to read since I was a kid (always living in the clouds). I must say I love book 2 more (I've been team Rhysand from book 1, bleh to Tamlin LOL) and I don't know how I can wait until May 2017 for the final book in the series. 😭 I need to know what happens!

Heading for my friend's birthday party now! Totally in no mood to do anything fancy so just a basic eye and Brink on the lips will have to do.

Also my data is really exploding this month, so I'm going to disappear after posting this! See y'all in a bit.

Currently at Meat & Chill (Sixth Ave) for the party! It's really crowded and dark and the menu is all meat. As the name suggests I guess. 😂

Finished dinner and am waiting for the cake cutting which I hope won't be much later because I feel more sick now. I need to get home and rest so I can recover before tomorrow's dental appointment!

I love these star fairy lights gosh. How apt that I just talked about ACOMAF and Rhysand and the Night Court (in the first book, Feyre painted different decorations for each sister's drawer. Wild flowers for the pretty and calm sister, flames for the fiery and hard one. And a brilliant starry night sky for herself. Still not over the book, I know.)

The girl's birthday cake! She got a friend's friend to bake this for her. It's a standard chocolate cake and she said it cost her $90 haha.