Caroline about A Court of Wings and Ruin

"Sarah J Maas is usually the queen of being able to find the right balance between talking about plot, and creating amazing characters. This book was more plot-driven, which is something that wrapped up this trilogy nicely!"

Hey all! 

I just finished reading A Court of Wings and Ruin, by Sarah J. Maas! 

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.

So so so, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this book. This was one of the most highly anticipated books of 2017. When an excerpt was published, people freaked out, both positively and negatively. This book has the biggest amount of hype surrounding it. 

But once it was published, the buzz kind of fizzed out around bookstagram, booktube, and blogs... 

I read this, curious about why the hype vanished. And now I kind of get it. 

This book was really good! But I think the problem was that people were expecting something more explosive than ACOMAF, but they were a bit on the same level in my eyes. 

Okay! So now for my review! 

Sarah J Maas is usually the queen of being able to find the right balance between talking about plot, and creating amazing characters. This book was more plot-driven, which is something that wrapped up this trilogy nicely! Since book 1 we know that there is this war coming up, between Hybern and, well, the rest of the world. This book is mostly war preparation, but partially epic battle. 

As always, SJM's writing style is glorious. While most of her books are YA, this one definitely takes a new adult/adult vibe, both in writing style and what happens through the story. There are so many new characters, crazy detailed descriptions, and it just felt more mature altogether. 

My only concern is that Sarah could have taken some characters and events in a deeper direction (this will be explained more in the spoilers!). Also, I had quite a hard time getting into the book. I kept thinking 'oh it's the beginning, it's slow', but then the beggining feeling dragged on until the end ^^. I still love the characters she creates, as well as the world she puts them in! It is incredibly elaborate and I believe would be amazing to visit! 

That's it for my non-spoiler review! If you haven't gotten around to reading A Court of Thornes and Roses, what are you doing? Put that book down, go to the bookstore, and pick up a copy! It's super worth it, SJM is a new huge author in YA/NA fantasy! 

Now I'm going to be writing a whole bunch of notes that will contain SPOILERS! I have a lot to talk about with you guys! 

Alright! Let's get into the juicy stuff. 

So we start off here with Feyre back in the Spring Court, acting as some kind of double-agent. I absolutely loved how she was acting every single line she said. Nothing was honestly said to Tamlin, and it was some kind of nice, snappy attitude between the two of them. And Lucien is still one of my favorite characters! 

About favorite characters, the ones that stand out to me more than the others are Lucien, Cassian, Nesta and Azriel. Oh my goodness, these characters are a part of me, they're my favorites, my babies. When Cassian was practically dead and broken I almost cried, especially when Nesta just was willing to sacrifice herself for him! And then Elain sneaks up behind Hybern and stabs him in the neck, and it was the most amazing scene ever! 

The whole battle scene was epic! It reminded me of the Lord of the Rings movies, with a bad guy here, a hero there, with a whole bunch of beasts scattered around, with constant back-and-forths between battle and camp. I loved the tensions it created just as much as the bonds that were made, the way characters turned out (Tamlin went from sketchy and rude to wishing Feyre's happiness!), and just every bit about it! 

Except for one point - I know it's awful of me, but I think that this book could have played a bit more with my emotions if one of the inner circle didn't make it through the battle. Yes the Suriel died, and Feyre's father, which was all sad. There were plenty of emotional parts - when Rhys 'died' I freaked out! But I feel that the ending could have been stronger if one had not made it. I almost thought Cassian wasn't going to. Cassian is my favorite and it was crushing, but it would have fit better? They thought they would all die and none did? I usually hate it when people die in books, it's shattering! But I feel like such a high fantasy world, with such a huge battle, should have ended with a loss. 

ALSO! I absolutely loved the Bone Carver - he was so dark and mysterious and strange! I love how he took the image of Feysand's son, and made Feyre get the Orobouros just to see if she was worth helping. But, there's one thing I wish could have happened in this book that didn't. 

A few times in ACOTAR/ACOMAF, it's mentioned that fae children are rare. I would have loved for the book to finish with a future Feysand baby! Am I the only one who thought that that should have totally happened?! 

There was so much amazing banter between characters in this book, which made me love the inner circle even more! I'd love to be a part of that, every character brings a new depth, history and perspective to the group and to the story overall! I'd love to have more about Cassian, Azriel and Mor! Even if it's the same story from their perspective, I think it would be super interesting! Or maybe their backstories? Oh and I'd love a story or novella that would tie up the Nesta/Cassian and Elain/Lucien loose ends. I totally ship Nessian, and in a sense, Lucain too, but I want more about that! 

I. Love. Characters!

I also quite liked that we got to meet all of the high lords in this book - they were all very unique, fit their courts, and had different alliances. Super cool to read about! Oh another idea! How about a novella with short stories or histories about each of the high lords and their courts?

I'm going to cut this review a little short and end here! There's still so much I didn't talk about - if you want to know what I thought about something, let me know! 

I'm giving this a 4/5 crosses! 

Have a great day, everyone!

Caroline