After my third reading of A Court of Thorns and Roses, I had pretty much made the assumption that I would hate the rest of the series. I hated the first book so, so much (yes, all three times I read it) that there didn't seem to be another possible outcome. I was wrong.

Some of my main problems with ACOTAR were the manipulative and abusive actions of the male faeries (namely Tamlin, but I really hated how evil Rhysand was as well), the gullible, overly-willing nature of Feyre, and the way the storyline was drawn out.

In ACOMAF, I experienced a full range of emotions. Feyre seemed to realize really early on that Tamlin was as awful as I sensed he was. She worked to remove herself from the situation, with the help of Rhysand. I wasn't sure about him at ALL until he proved himself to be an actual good person. Not only did he open up about his own insecurities and imperfections, but he worked with Feyre to improve her confidence, strength, and self-preservation. There was a LOT of character development in this book. I found the initial book really lacking in that department, and I do still wish that there had been more of it to entice me to continue the series without the pushing and prodding from everyone else, but I was glad it at least found its way into this story.

I found myself relating to Feyre, in that she had to fight through her PTSD due to an emotionally abusive relationship in order to find herself again. And while chapter 55 didn't do *anything* for me (faeries and vampires are both apparently able to have endless sex and not get tired)... I did prefer the slow burn of the story a lot more than ACOTAR.

After finishing this one, I actually found myself looking forward to the next book. So that says a LOT.