58 pages 1 hour read

Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016

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Themes

Ignorance as the Root of Fear and Hatred

In the world of Prythian, a deep rift exists between mortals and faeries. The divide is both physical—a wall separates the two realms—and philosophical. Both sides distrust each other after a bloody war 500 years prior to free the mortals from their Fae enslavers. When Feyre returns to her old estate in the mortal realm as a reincarnated High Fae, her sister Nesta initially responds with scorn, unwilling to help those she considers her enemies. However, Nesta’s resistance softens when Cassian offers to protect the mortal realm, extending an unexpected offer of friendship. As she learns more about the faerie world and gains new information and experiences which challenge her assumptions, Nesta’s disdain gradually lessens. Throughout the novel, Maas portrays a similar pattern: prejudices mitigated by greater understanding, and fear and hatred born of ignorance. This pattern builds on the subverted expectations Maas portrays in the first novel of the series, as Feyre adjusts to Prythian and lets go of her innate hatred of faeries. In A Court of Mist and Fury, Feyre must reconsider even the little she has learned about her new home and confront the enormity of what she still does not know in order to transform hatred into true love.