Review--A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's manoeuvrings 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.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

I finally, FINALLY, read Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Wings and Ruin! Don’t ask me what took me so long, or how I could wait so long to do so. I really don’t know! I blame insanity, and as a reader, I have plenty of that! Lol!! Diving back into this one, wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. True, memory presents an issue, though I did take some pretty good notes that I had the general idea of what happened in that last mammoth of a 600+ page book. Wow…really thought it was longer! Those super thin pages in ACOWAR definitely made me think so! Lol!!

Feyre has rejoined Tamlin in his court, playing the role of recovering victim. All so she can learn about why he teamed up with Hybern and any and all secrets that she can divulge back to Rhys in the Night Court. It’s hard at times, because Tamlin truly believes she still loves him and he’s done so much to bring her back. Yet, everything is about to crumble. War is coming. Hybern wants war more than anything it seems. The king plans to destroy the wall dividing humans and fae and Feyre is ready and willing to do anything to prevent that from happening.

This book was long! It was Harry Potter long at just under 700 pages, like legit, 1 page under! Lol! The story while it may not be the incredibly fast paced adventure I always long for, was still freaking amazing! There’s something to be said about a nice gradual buildup. I say gradual and not slow, because while things are not moving along at a clipped pace, it’s moving in a direction that is most definitely entertaining!

I feel like it’s no spoiler to say that Feyre doesn’t last long in the Spring Court. I believe it was roughly around 100 pages that has her readying to go home with a surprise guest in tow—a surprise to me, not for Feyre! Since I am likely the very last reader to read this one, you all know who I’m talking about! LOL!

I find that the acronym for this book ACOWAR was very fitting indeed, because obviously, war is a very big subject here! I mean, it’s the sole focus of the plot. Feyre and Rhys are working to gather the Courts to make a united front against Hybern, but as you can imagine, not everyone is too willing to join the Night Court bandwagon, Autumn and Spring at the forefront of that.

This book was just filled with surprises! It took me a great while to read, I am ashamed to admit, but at the same time I was really enjoying myself. Though if I had had the time binge it through on days off and whatnot, I would’ve done so in a heartbeat! Sarah was pulling no punches with this one! I also really liked seeing more of Feyre’s sisters, Nesta and Elain, in this one as well. It’s still primarily told from Feyre’s point of view, but she observes her sisters quite a great deal in this one. Both of them went into the Cauldron and came out changed, came out fae. Both Nesta and Elain are dealing with their new lot in life in very different ways. I love Nesta’s fieriness, especially with her interactions with Cassian! I mean that short story in the Target edition of ACOMAF was totally amazing even with it being too short! Always too short! And I enjoyed watching Elain as well, she wasn’t dealing with her new life as well as Nesta, or perhaps as vocally as Nesta. The mating bond that Lucien felt at the end of ACOMAF was enough to send me reeling and wanting to know more about what might happen with them, but alas this is Feyre’s story…though I am dying for more Nesta and Cassian too!

Which brings me briefly to the romance, holy freaking cow! I forgotten how steamy Feyre and Rhys’ relationship was! Man was I swooning. And blushing. Followed by more blushing! Lol! Got to be grateful for my nearly naturally red cheeks sometimes! Haha!! Needless to say that there were many romantic interludes with Feyre and Rhys that were spine-tingling, toe-curling amazing!

Things were wrapped up fairly well by the end of this one! In a way, it is like the end of the series, though we already know we’re not done with this world yet. That Feyre and Rhys will still likely be around, I mean the upcoming novella will still be centered around them, but it’s to help guide us towards the new novels which will feature these other characters we have grown to love and (maybe) hate! While I am super excited for that, I am even more excited about the actual novels to come! Plus, what’s with Goodreads saying there’s another novella beforehand too? Did I miss something? A Court of Wings and Ruin was basically everything I had been hoping for and so much more! Though it did leave me wanting more from a variety of characters, I am hopeful their stories are to come in the novels ahead!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars