A Court of Wings and Ruin

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).

5/5 ✧･ﾟ:

“I would have waited five hundred more years for you. A thousand years.”

Plot

a lot

Characters

Feyre

High Lady of the Night Court

Rhysand

words of affirmation

Cassian

Nesta

Elain

ice cold

World/Setting

Pacing

Enjoyment

╔═════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ═════╗

score card:

╚═════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ═════╝

₊˚⊹♡ reading log

09/05 9:30am ୨ৎ

09/05 6:53am ୨ৎ

08/05 6:50am ୨ৎ

07/05 8:10pm ୨ৎ

07/05 4:31pm ୨ৎ

I was hesitant but curious during the first book. I was wary but determined for the second. But the culmination of all 3 at the end of this one blew me away. I found myself much more emotional than I anticipated, and found the long ride to be worth it in the end. I'm very glad I stuck with it. I wouldn't call it perfect either, hence the 4.75, but after everything is said and done, I was thoroughly entertained, which is perhaps the best test of what makes a good story. 

the first part was enjoyable, and i loved the focus on Feyre and Lucien because i missed their friendship, but the rest of the book was a convoluted mess and the main characters started to get very annoying.
what i loved mostly is the development of Nesta's character, she and Cassian were more delightful to read about than others.
That being said, the author knows how to keep the story entertaining despite being a long book.

So much crying.

First off, I loved Feyre in this book - unercover boss b*tch, sly cruel High Lady of the Night Court, so powerful and hell bent on stopping the war and Hybern as a whole.

Second, I was heartbroken watching everything with her sisters. It is devastating seeing it from her perspective.

The war was written so so so well, and again, so.many.tears. This is my third reread and I still cried through like half of this book. It was so powerful, so full of emotion, it just got to me every single time.

We got to see the Suriel again, we saw war, we met with the high lords, we loved and lost, just so many things and emotions happened in this book.

Ill say it again in this review, but I think Tamlin deserves a redemption arc. I also think Lucien deserves so much more than he has now.

I would absolutely go feral for novellas about the other high lords, especially a super spicy one about Helion! Can we please have this?

This book has so much packed into it I don't even know how to coherently write my review.

The one negative thing I have to say about this book is that I hated that Rhys died and we did the kernel of power thing to bring him back. I don't think he should have died at all! It could have been Feyre putting it back together and loses a bunch of her powers, or Nesta and Elaine come help her, or all the high lords work together with her to close it. I just think he was 1 person to many to die and come back to life. I don't want him to sacrifice like that, and it was unnecessary. The dad coming and then dying was enough sadness.

Everything else was oh so good!

I am now off the ACOTAR high and I am disappointed. This book was 99% diplomacy and war and 1% of the words SJM uses in every other sentence. We get it, the eyes are violet, the single eye is russet, they are mates, her throat bobbed, her knees buckled. I was either very bored, or felt like I got whiplash by a ton of things happening at once. Like, surprise! Dad's back! Oh wait, he's dead! Oh yeah, and Elaine? Perfectly fine now. Remember when she only spoke in riddles? Also, if she's a see-er, why didn't she just see stuff that happened in the war? What happened to Lucien's ~mating bond~ with her? Also, are we gonna even say anything about Baron not being his true dad? Why was that even mentioned? Congrats, Mor is a lesbian, what's gonna be done about it?

The first book was my first high fantasy book in ages. I had to curb my grievances with the whole absurd magic thing and weirdness and just enjoy it for what it is. I was able to fall hard into Feyre's story with Tamlin, and then dive deeper once it was with Rhys instead. But anything outside of that was left bland and odd. I hope the rest of the series is not like this book.

Very meh. There was so much that happened but also felt like nothing happened at all. Characters seem very juvenile, which didn't make sense for 500+ yr old beings. Some interesting plotlines were hinted at but never explored. Wouldn't have known how powerful the characters beside being told every other chapter. Most of the book was just repeated events and dialogue.

I have mixed feelings about this one. There were parts I didn't like and parts I loved but by the end I was ready to move onto something different. I think I'm gonna take a break from this series and read something different instead of forcing my way through. PS the Archeron sisters are getting on my nerves 😅

4.5 stars.
What a wild ride.
I had to put the book down around the 50% mark, as I simply couldn't continue reading. Not because the book itself was bad, but because over the span of these three books I couldn't accept that some might have to die (I've heard Maas is good at that).
From around 60% and to the end there's much more action than the beginning of the book.

Ugh, you have to read this book. It's so good! I can see why people love the 1st 2 books so much because you get to see Feyre interact with her beaus one-on-one. Book 3 is very much, let's explore what lies beyond Feyres knowledge and dive more into the war, the Fae alliances at large, and historical accounts of the courts and individuals in this story.

Girl this book is so long and it's so dense with new characters and these unique relationships we get glimpses of.

I feel like I need a family tree at this point with a glossary of who is who. We dive into how large this world is and it is overwhelming in a way I can't keep up but I enjoy being introduced to new characters.

Not to throw shade, this book feels like it's trying to give LOTR, but if certain characters don't keep popping up in the story and we just see them in passing, the lore between the characters feels like fluff. Right? Again, no shade, just acknowledging how large this world is and what characters may matter more down the road.

I love the messy relationship entanglements!!! It's so sad who all has lost loves, and we see so many layers to the High Fae. Who would've thought there was LGBTQIA+ representation here?? Okay ally!

Also, the ending, SHUT THE HELL UP!! I can't believe you would do that Sarah J Maas!! You are sending me!!! NOOOOOO!

But I love it!

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/

–

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.