Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Release Date: May 2nd, 2017
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit—and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords—and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
• Lesbian and bisexual supporting characters
• Death
• PTSD
• Emotional abuse
• Allusions to rape (off-page, descriptions)
• Does have OM drama
– Heroine pretends to be in love with her ex-fiancé for strategic purposes in the war.
– There is no physical intimacy between them-the Heroine is disgusted by him.
• No pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 3.75/5 stars
Note: This is a review of the third book in the series; therefore, there will be spoilers from the first and second book below.
•••
Feyre is now entrenched in the Spring Court, playing the sweet, naive, beloved of Tamlin. Not many people have the patience… or I guess, appreciation for slow parts of books. However, I have a sweet spot for Maas’s slower sections as they usually conclude with a reveal of masterful and quite brilliant plans created by the main character(s). I loved watching Feyre getting her revenge on Tamlin and exposing his weaknesses to his people, but I think the best parts were how she beat Ianthe at her own game. Feyre was just so clever that it made me want to cackle evilly and stick out my tongue at Tamlin and Ianthe.
A Court of Wings and Ruin was underpinned by the relationship between Rhys and Feyre; the devotion and partnership between them and the fact that they were each others’ equals in rank. Their relationship was amazing. One of my favourite scenes in this book is the reunion of Feyre and Rhys after Feyre leaves the Spring Court with Lucien.
This whole book is obviously leading up to the big battle between Hybern and the Fae. As I consistently mention in each one of these reviews, I am a massive fan of the Throne of Glass series, but have yet to read a series completed by Maas. Therefore, I was incredibly intrigued as to how Maas favoured ending this trilogy. Similar to Throne of Glass, there are many characters… some are main characters, others secondary, tertiary, etc. But, they all serve a purpose, as seen with Feyre’s father in this book. None of her characters are introduced or mentioned just because; they all have a purpose, which means you grow attached them (at least to the ones you like, and/or the ones your character likes/loves… ahem Nesta). This makes the list of possible people to lose quite a lengthy one, which adds an edge of realism to the story: this is war, and not everyone survives (whether that’s physically or emotionally).
Feyre’s cleverness is heavily underlined in A Court of Wings and Ruin. However, having just learned to fight and never having fought in a war, she is both ill-prepared and uncomfortable being a soldier on a killing field. But, Maas makes sure not to exclude Feyre from the war efforts by getting her to help with planning; the people (or things) she recruits to fight for her court are quite ingenious.
As mentioned previously, one of the parts of A Court of Wings and Ruin I really enjoyed was Feyre’s subtle attack and takedown of the Spring Court. It was utterly badass. However, it was ruined for me later on in the book when it was revealed by Tamlin that Feyre’s actions made the Spring Court easier for the Hybern King to infiltrate it. It turned Feyre’s act of political savvy and ingenuousness into a petty revenge scheme that put the continent at risk; it made her look spiteful instead of clever and smart, which sucked.
On the other hand, I really liked Feyre’s relationships with Mor, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren in this book. She was no longer just Rhys’s mate to them; she’s their High Lady. Feyre was no longer only Rhys’s mate… she belonged to all of them.
We get to understand each person of Rhys’s Court, and it made me love Cassian even more (although I don’t quite get his fixation with Nesta), and I loved Amren in A Court of Wings and Ruin… especially her relationship with Varian (I loved them together). But it also made me pity Azriel as his past with Mor was revealed. Mor is seriously the most selfish person ever. Fundamentally, I can understand her reasons, for not telling Azriel the reason. But there is no excuse for leading your best friend on for 500 freaking years. She could’ve bluntly said they were never going to happen because she doesn’t feel that way about him. I felt very disappointed with Mor after she told Feyre her secret.
A Court of Wings and Ruin was a fitting conclusion to Feyre’s story arc, but this final book brought in many new characters, which expanded the number of questions needing answers. The ones that are–for me–begging resolution is the mate bond between Lucien and Elain. Even though Lucien was kinda wishy-washy this series, I felt awful for him. He had a horrible life at home, only to think he found a place in the Spring Court with his best friend Tamlin, to discover that Tamlin isn’t really emotionally stable. And then he’s lucky enough to find his mate, only to find out that she wants to still be human because she’s in love with her human fiancé.
There’s also Cassian and Nesta’s question mark of a relationship: Nesta is seriously the most confusing person ever because she cares but doesn’t. She’s selfish, but not. I just want Cassian to be happy, and if that’s with Nesta, then OK. I sincerely hope that Azriel gets a HEA… with someone 10x better than Mor (because I’m petty like that). Mor deserves happiness but man… I just cringe when I think: 500 years of leading on a person. So not cool.
The ACOTAR series will continue with three companion books (she just has to finish the Throne of Glass series first). So in 2018, look for my next review of this series!
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