A Court of Wings and Ruin
by: Sarah J. Maas
4 stars
I really did love this book. I don't think a book in this series can top ACOMAF, but this book had the thing that I think SJM does so well--character development. This is Feyre's story. But SJM is a master at bringing so many supporting characters to life with limited space. She shares their stories at the perfect time and then their reactions to events, their words--however few--mean so much more with how she sprinkles them in.
I read this book thinking there was a fourth, and it wasn't until I was done that I realized what was coming is going to be more of a novella and that the future books will be based on other characters. And while I'm excited, I'm a little sad because I thought I had more of this adventure to go, especially because it felt like some of these characters didn't really get an ending (but maybe those will be the focus of future books so there is that hope...). Regardless, I'll be fine*, I just need time to adjust.
(*still crying a little over this fact)
I just finished reading so I don't know if I can write a coherent review. So I'll just list my favorite and least favorite parts/people.
*****SPOILERS BELOW*****
+ Nesta/Cassian dynamic. LOVE.
- Elain. Bored with her.
+- Lucien. LOVED, at first. Then he just kind of disappears and all the love I had built back up for him just fizzled out. In the end, I just didn't care about the Elain/Lucien combo.
+ Elain/Azriel. Intrigued. I think this is the ONLY dynamic that would make me want to read anything else with Elain--unless SJM brought the old Lucien back.
+- Mor/Azriel. After the Mor revelation, I just felt sorry for Az and wanted Mor to speak her truth and let him fully go.
+ Tamlin. LOVE how SJM wrote him. So bitter, but also realistic. And ultimately doing the right thing, wanting the best for Feyre because he loves her.
+ Feyre destroying Ianthe, twice!
+ The moment Feyre's court comes to save her from Eris--all I could think that whole scene is: It's about time!
+++ Meeting. All. The. Courts. And the dynamic between them all. So. Good.
+ The Suriel. So yeah, I cried.
+ Jurian. What a surprise he ended up being!
+- Miryam/Drakon/Jurian. Loved that we learned more about all of them and actually saw these characters interact but I wanted more out of this. There was a lot of set up for one moment that we didn't even really get to witness.
+ Amren. I can't give her a - BUT I will say I wasn't exactly happy about her rebirth, I thought the ending she had would have been perfect.
- The Mortal Queens. That's it??? Nothing?
- Lack of Rhys perspective. Really wanted more of that.
+++ Strong females and their friendships. Feyre, Mor, Nesta, Amren, Viviane (I feel like I'm forgetting someone...)
+++++ Feyre/Rhys because obviously.
xo Sara
Curious about how I rate books? Read about my scale here. Warning: it's super scientific.
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