A Court of Wings and Ruin
Ratings1,087
Average rating4.2
Even after my third reread, I still really love the ending of this series. Maas planned it all out perfectly, except for one single solitary thing that still (and probably always will) bother me. Spoilers about death under the cut. Amren should have stayed dead. Bringing her back to life minimizes her sacrifice, and makes the whole ending feel cheap. Rhys coming back from the dead also does this, but I think I would have literally set my book on fire if Rhys and Feyre didn't get to have their happy ending. I still cried at the same spots I did before. I still yearned for the peaceful Prythian for our heroes. I still want to live in Velaris.
I think this series is worth the hype. It's not perfect, and no one should claim it to be, but for what it is, it's a helluva lot of fun. After three huge books, you really get to know the characters and their motivations. You fall in love with them bit by bit, and then once you get to the last final battle, your heart is in your throat watching them fight against death itself. Yes, there are cheesy parts. Yes, there are really steamy scenes. Yes, there is bloodshed, and all sorts of horrible things in almost every character's past. But Maas weaves a world where you want to be, with enough momentum in the plot that you absolutely must keep reading. ACOTAR will be a favorite for a long, long time for me.
This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Tamlin refuses to believe Feyre could fall in love with Rhysand. Blinded by his love for her, Tamlin takes Feyre back to the Spring Court where she begins to unravel everything around him. All Feyre wants is to go home to the Court of Dreams, but Tamlin has betrayed them to the King of Hybern and for that, he must pay.
While A Court of Mist and Fury focused on building Feyre's personal relationships with those around her, A Court of Wings and Ruin is going to put those relationships to the test. Feyre walks a thin line as she does all she can to deceive Tamlin and create distrust in the Spring court. To watch Feyre work, readers will be on the edge of their seats waiting for the one moment that would give everything away. Will her temper snap? Will Lucien see through her deceit? It certainly is a page turner.
As Feyre does what she can from the Spring court, Rhysand and the others plan for the larger picture. War is coming to Prythian, led by a King who would rather see the humans once again enslaved. And he has the Cauldron to do his bidding. With the war growing closer and closer as the story progresses Sarah J. Maas ramps up the tension and creates a wonderful mix of angst and anticipation.
And Sarah J. Maas does not let her secondary characters fade into the background. Mor, Cassien, and all the others will have their own parts to play in the war. Readers will feel just as connected to them as they do Feyre and Rhysand. But that also means that if anything happens to them, readers will feel it just as deeply. A Court of Wings and Ruin is a great addition to the series.
aayyy siempre me cuesta puntuar estos libros... parten tan mal (lentos y aburridos) y la segunda mitad siempre mejora (son libros innecesariamente largos
This book was way too long and I did not care for the pages and pages of people telling their whole life stories to Feyre for no reason like they were drunks who just met on a Nightclub's bathroom, or the laziness of Feyre magically seeing stuff she wouldn't otherwise know inside other people's minds. However, this was a pretty good conclusion to the story, it was entertaining and the final conflict wasn't rushed or glossed over (looking at you The Queen of Nothing and Rogue Princess).
Me ha gustado y he sufrido mucho. Al principio me costó engancharme, no por el libro sino porque yo quería leer otra cosa y me “forzado” a leer este y aún así lo he disfrutando y me he muerto un par de veces XD
It's hard to put into words how much I love this series. It has everything I love...growth, love, comraderie, treachery, spies, war, healing and peace. I love the world they are trying to build...where everyone is free and living together harmoniously despite their ‘status' and lineage. I cannot wait to see where this goes next.
This was SUCH A GOOD SERIES. I loved it so so so much, I will definitely re-read it in the future. Amazing.
I loved this, I think.
Like, there were some things that made me roll my eyes and want to mock the book, but when I didn't feel that? Y'all. That was some good shit.
I can tell that Sarah's idea of good shit is basically the same as my idea of good shit because she really likes to give all that good shit and I like to get it.
(And by that I mean, I love happy endings; romance; relationships; twists, even when I see them coming a mile away (and especially if I don't); and when the cranky, mean, short-tempered person gets with the easy-going, witty, and charming person, I just like that, okay, don't @ me.)
I can't help but compare it to the finale of Throne of Glass, which I read before this, and while I thought that was a great finale, I actually liked this one better. It might be because it's a shorter story arc and also focused on a smaller group of characters, as well as written from one POV rather than 3rd person, but I felt the story flowed more easily. The 1st person POV that this series is written in has in some ways been my gripe with the other books, but here I think it centered in the story and made it feel less overwhelming (even though some parts were very conveniently seen by the main character).
Oh and I also know that technically it's not a finale because there's more books, but you're not going to be able to convince me that this wasn't written as a fucking finale, like shut up, i don't care.
I really liked how the first act of the book was centered on this revenge/spy-plot, and how Feyre got out of it, and how much she really has grown from the first book. I think character-arc wise, it would probably have been better to have the events of the previous book set over a longer period of time, but it still works even if she is conveniently good at things at times. I actually think that was one of the biggest things that annoyed me about this book, Feyre being conveniently good at everything. I'm much more lenient toward convenience when it relies on others than the MC because then there's usually been planted some clues for that to make sense. But you know, considering my rating of the book, you'll realize it wasn't THAT big a gripe.
I enjoyed seeing much more of the sisters in this book and how they played into the story, as well as the trouble of getting all of the high lords to work together, and at that, meeting all the other high lords because we've really only met two before this. I can certainly see how plot points for future books are sprinkled in here, but it's not enough for this to not still be a conclusion, like you could definitely stop here if you wanted.
Anyway, it was great, I loved it, I love Rhysand, I love Amren, and I really found myself adoring Azriel in this one, he really stepped forward and became more than a shadow of a person.
All in all, it was really great.
HO. LEE. SHIT. This mother loving book. This is the best one in the series. I laughed. I cried, several times, both happy and sad tears. I squirmed with excitement as I read. I. Loved. This. Book.
I've been avoiding writing the review for this book for two days. Well, it's time I'll do it.
So, this book is a bit different in atmosphere than the previous one. Of course, it could be understandable with so many things coming to the end. But I did expect just a bit more of something from it. It definitely wasn't boring, there was always something happening and I couldn't put this book down, even when I knew that I need to prepare for my exam.
The first part was not easy for me to read or at least, I thought that it would be that way. Feyre had to do a lot of things and in a lot of books that I'd read prior to ACOWAR, the characters in such situation disappointed me. But not Feyre. She did it impeccably.
After that, the book just flowed for me. I can't say that there are some big plot twists or even one, but that's okay. Instead of that, I've got a lot of scenes, where I thought that it will go one way, but something different happened. Anyway, I loved the characters and relationships between them (with a couple of exceptions, but that's just in my head, I guess).
As for the end of one arc, we certainly got a finale for a couple of characters and I could've stopped right here. But there are enough kernels for continuation of the series and I do want to know what happens next with other characters.
update 6/18: hell ya, recorded a horny podcast on this topic
http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-99-a-court-of-wings-and-ruin/
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LOL THESE FAIRIES ARE SO HORNY I CAN'T HANDLE IT
On one hand I'm glad that this book acknowledged that fairies can be non-heterosexually horny (I thiiink in book 2 it might have come up briefly? these are all a blur to me) but this book had some of the most...unusual bisexual representation I've ever seen?
like first of all there's the bi High Lord who, it seems, is SO bisexual that he generally prefers to always have a threesome or more with at least 1 man and 1 woman?? and then there's the reveal that one of the fairies is bi but PREFERS women but has been in the closet for OVER FIVE HUNDRED YEARS like what? also at the end of this book she is still MOSTLY IN THE CLOSET BUT TOLD ONE PERSON ABOUT IT, like yes coming out is a personal decision and people/fairies should do it on their own schedule/level of comfort but it's been LITERALLY OVER FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, I do not understand the priorities of these horny fairies
also this book is off-the-rails and so weird about raising the stakes and then instantly resolving problems as they arise, like “oh no, insurmountable obstacle...jk don't worry I have a new magic power/friend/creature/spell”. like every chapter.
also I can't believe there's going to be another book in this series bc it seems like this pretty much resolved everything? Is the next one just going to be fairy erotica with no plot because that seems to be what's left to do here. also I will read that.
I love this series. Experiencing a serious book hangover from it. Absolutely love the characters. The ending had me kind of confused until the very end. I kept on having to read backwards, I think the issue was me not wanting it to end:). Loved reading about all the different fae species. Awesome. Anyone who hasn't read this loves fantasy romance, what are you waiting for?
I think I'll never be able to express my thoughts on this in a rational and objective way.
I doubt that all the feels will ever let go of me. And I don't really want them to.
I'm just so grateful to Sarah J. Maas for creating this world, this story and above all these characters.
Please, do yourself a favor and read it. I hope it will leave you in awe as well.
Not as awful as the second book; much closer to Book 1 in terms of quality. But still deeply flawed.
“Secrets no more we shall have,” declared the radiant, sparkling, beautiful queen!
“Agree says we!” Shouts the assembled court.
The queen then proceeds to tell lies and have secrets. Just these next fourteen times because she really, really, really neeeeeeeds to.
I find these books so deeply flawed, and yet I'm entertained. I had to take away a star for what I feel was a cop out. I think Feyre and Gang are too fortunate too much of the time, which lowers the stakes. I care about them, and so I don't want bad things to happen, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't still happen. Joss Whedon once said that he doesn't give the viewers what they want, he gives them what they need.
What I'm saying is that I hated like hell that Amren died, and cried, but I felt the death was "fair." That raised the stakes. Only Maas "took back" the death, making me feel cheated over the reversal of something that made me sad. She did the same with Rhys, but I get why that one didn't stick. Next time, I'll be slower to cry or care.
I also think the relationship with Rhysand is too perfect. Mates or no, they need to argue. He will tell her she makes her own choices (even when her choices are really dumb) and then be angry at someone else for choices that are a whole lot smarter (and no more risky) than those of his mate. Within paragraphs of one another.
I was sure that no book could match up to ACOMAF and I wasn't wrong, especially so soon after I finished it. I started ACOWAR immediately after because I didn't want to let go of the amazing characters, not yet.
ACOWAR starts exactly after ACOMAF ends. Feyre is now the High Lady of the Night Court living in the Spring Court, waiting to wreak havoc on the people who betrayed her. After this part, most of the remainder of the book deals with building alliances among the various Courts, Feyre mastering her powers and finally forging unlikely bargains with monsters to take on the King of Hybern and his massive army.
I absolutely loved the first part of the book when Feyre was in the Spring Court. Her sly planning and cunning to take down Ianthe and Tamlin and destroy the court from within was awesome to read. I also loved that Feyre started to trust Lucien a little because I have always liked his character. Most of the other parts of the books are either full of planning or filled with action packed moments. My love for Feyre and Rhysand only grows and grows and their relationship and trust is stronger than ever.
My absolute adoration for the dreamers is still intact and their fighting skills during the war take badassery to a whole new level. I somehow could never warm up to Nesta. Even if she did everything to protect Elain and did finally fight in the war, I can never forgive her for the way she treated Feyre. I don't know where her story goes next but I am never going to be one of those Nessian shippers. I really like Lucien with Elain because they both deserve a love which is more sensitive rather than fierce.
The ending felt a bit rushed because too many things happened in too short a time. But I liked it, cried buckets of tears and then jumped with joy when everything turned out okay. On the whole, the book packs a lot of plot and action and is a fine finale to this wonderful series. I really hope the upcoming novellas feature my favorite dreamers but I also hope I will still get a glimpse of Feysand.
Actual rating: 4.5★
Rounded up cause it's a great finale to Feyre's story, though it seems like we'll get to see her and Rhysand again before moving on to the spinoff books. This one kind of drags somewhere in the middle and it takes a while before it picks up again, but once it does, it really gets things going.
I wasn't really impressed by Feyre's sisters in the first two books, but they've grown on me after finishing this one because we finally get to see the depth of their characters. Kinda not sure how to feel about Elain and Lucien's relationship though, as I personally think there are better matches for both of them.
Oh, and as for Tamlin... he kinda redeemed himself. Somewhat. Just a little bit. It's still hard to like him again after all the crap he threw at Feyre in this book, but at least he sincerely cares about her well-being. Ianthe got what she deserved though.
Can't wait to see more stories taking place in this world. ❤
God, I love this series so damn much.
(also, side note: do not listen to EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE MALEC SONG War of Hearts by Ruelle while reading this because you will cry in the real)
ACOMAF was better, but ACOWAR is a great book too! Very engaging, full of plot twists and amazing characters. Can't wait to reread this series and to read the novellas