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

Release Date: May 2nd, 2017
Read: May 3rd-6th, 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3
Format: Indigo Exclusive Hardcover, 705 pages
Source: Bought

Description from GoodReads:

   A nightmare, I’d told Tamlin. I was the nightmare.

   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.

Review:

Contains Minor Spoilers:

   Only you can decide what breaks you, Cursebreaker. Only you.
   I knew two things when finishing A Court of Mist and Fury one year ago; one, being that the wait for A Court of Wings and Ruin was going to being even more unbearable than the one for A Court of Mist and Fury was, and two, that I would never be able to prepare myself for what was to come in the final book of the trilogy. Of course where Sarah J Maas is concerned, I was not wrong.

   The year leading up to ACOWAR's release was certainly a hard one, from the long countdown of its release to trying not to predict too much of what I thought might occur in the book. Doing so to avoid being disappointed if what I predicted or wanted to happen didn't occur.

   A Court of Wings and Ruin was everything I could have wanted, but in the end I still couldn't help but feel a little unsatisfied with the ending. My major problem with the book, one that I still think about a week after initially reading the book, was that Sarah J Maas left too many loose threads and unfinished plot lines. A little while after A Court of Mist and Fury was released, the publishing announced that Maas was to write three more novels in the same universe as the characters in the series, as well as two novellas. These novels and novellas were to be set around secondary characters from the originally series. If you went into A Court of Wings and Ruin knowing this little bit of information like I did, then you understood why Maas left the loose threads like she did. But it still didn't stop me from feeling extremely dissatisfied. When reading a final book in a series, I would like to have finished the book feeling like the story has been completed and everything resolved. I never got that feeling from A Court of Wings and Ruin, and thus can't help but be angry with it. This being the first final book in a series that Sarah J. Maas has written, I had high hopes for how she would wrap up her book series. But now I don't know how I feel about her ending her Throne of Glass series in 2018, will she actually end her series like she said she would, or would she leave us unsatisfied again and continue dragging on the series for the sake of it being popular? In the end, the unsatisfied feeling remains on my shoulders a week after completing the book.

   The book brought back all my favourite characters from A Court of Mist and Fury, and even gave me a bunch of new characters to love. We were finally introduced to all of the High Lords (officially anyway), and were able to to see a few more of the courts that we were not able to experience in the previous books. In particular, I loved the High Lord of the Day Court, Helion, with his charisma and humour. We also met the High Lord of Winter and his mate, Kallias and Viviane, who I think will both have a part one way or another when it comes to the continuing novels or novellas. Their stories felt as if they still had much to say, the same went with many of the other characters. These were the loose ends that appeared continuously throughout the novel. Along with Kallias and Viviane, it was clear that Maas still had a story to tell for Drakon and Miryam, Vassa, Nesta and Cassian, Elain, Lucian and Helion, and even Mor and Armen. Although I am excited to be able to experience their stories later, I couldn't help but be disappointed with the bare mininmun that we got in A Court of Wings and Ruin. I wanted their stories to end with Feyre's, happy and free, but now we must suffer with questions until the next books release.

   With how A Court of Mist and Fury ended, it was clear that Tamlin was to be apart of the next book, and of course he was. Unfortunately for him, Maas tried to redeem his character in this book. I never liked Tamlin, from the second I met him in A Court of Thorns and Roses, I could never connect with him and as the series continued, I learned why. With him in this book, there was bound to be tension and hate surrounding his character, but in the end Maas decided that she wanted to redeem him which personally made me uncomfortable as well as make me wonder why bother? His character was ruined already, so why bother trying to fix him? If anything, I think Maas just didn't feel like having to introduce a solution if he died with out having living relatives to rule the court. Even with so low standards in the first place, I was disappointed even further with his character.

   I felt as if A Court of Wings and Ruin was a completely different sort of book when compared to its siblings. With the first two books being about Feyre finding love, as well as herself, it didn't leave any windows open for this book. Having already found happiness, the intense connection we had to her in the previous books just wasn't there. Of course swooning still occurred when Feyre and Rhysand were together, but it felt like the book was more of a book of plot than anything else with all the characters already having been established.

   With that being said, the plot itself was very thought out and keep its audience compelled to continue on with the book. From living in the Spring Court, to returning home, and then the war. Every little detail planned out, and necessary in one way or another, making it a true Sarah J Maas novel. From discoveries made with the Bone Carver and the Weaver, as well as perhaps even some connections to her Throne of Glass series.

   There have been many books where the lead up to "the final battle" have been hyped to the point where the final battle feels small and practically nothing. With the war in the book, I was very satisfied with how it ended, even blown away in some cases. With just the right amount of death, blood, surprises and destruction, you couldn't have hoped for more.

   I have many different favourite parts from the novel but the ones that stood out the most for me were when the Court of Dreams were reunited with Feyre, the meeting of/meeting the High Lords, as well as when the three particular human ships sailed in to help the battle. The last one being one of the few different scenes that left me emotionally unstable throughout the book.

   A Court of Wings and Ruin wasn't what I was expecting from the third book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. There were many cases where I was very unsatisfied, but then there were also many cases where I don't think Sarah J Maas could have done better. The series has been apart of my life for two and a half years, and has certainly become a large part of it. A Court of Wings and Ruin may not have become my new favourite in the series, but I am still sad to see the series go. Now the countdown begins for when Maas can bring us back to the beautiful world that she has written.

Rating:

Favourite Quotes:

"Be happy, Feyre."

"You belong to all of us, and we belong to you."

"Remember that you are a wolf. And you can not be caged."

"When you erupt, girl, make sure it is felt across worlds."

"Night Triumphant - and the Stars Eternal."

"Kindess can thrive, even amongst cruelty."

"Leave this world.... a better place than how you found it."

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, New Adult, High Fantasy, Fae, Magic, War, Battles, Intense Romance