Reviews with content warning for Slavery - A Court of Wings and Ruin

Honestly, after falling in love with ACOMAF, this next installment in the series fell a bit flat.

First and foremost, this is a book about war. While I felt the pacing worked well, the battle scenes did start to feel repetitive, and I felt myself eager to get past the action and on to some character development. Speaking of which, I felt as if the characters took smaller strides of development as compared to the last book. For instance,

Feyre made leaps and bounds in ACOMAF in terms of growing into someone who could accept love, who could love herself, and who was confident enough in herself to be powerful. I was hoping to see Nesta and Elain, who were also put through a traumatic transformation, have similarly dramatic character arcs, but it seemed they didn't change all that much by the end. Not only that, but Rhysand and Feyre seemed a little stagnant in their relationship in this book. As a reader who was invested in their relationship, I'm so happy to see them happy, but I was also looking forward to seeing they work through some real difficulties as a couple.

Essentially, this book seemed to be a bit more plot-driven than its predecessor, which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just wasn't what I was expecting.

However, what really let me down about the plot was the constant deus ex machina that seemed to be wrapping up the hardships of this book in a pretty bow. Instances such as

the seemingly unending supply of surprise armies that came to save the day, or that there were no really big sacrifices that anyone had to make. Sure, Rhys "died" briefly, but the entire main cast made it out alive. Even Amren after what was supposed to be a big sacrifice moment. That, and Tamlin being portrayed as this irredeemable villian, but he just so happens to show up as a good guy at all the right moments?

The convenience of it all really took me out of the story at times.

That all being said, I have to admit that I still enjoyed this read, and it had some lovely twists and turns that kept me turning pages. I felt invested in all the main characters, and I was cheering them all on from page one. This felt like a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. That, and it does leave room and intrigue for other spin off stories, which is a very exciting aspect of this in-process series!

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literallysam's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

THE REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

While reading this- I was transported to Prythian where I followed Feyre and her friends as they worked to save the magical land that I too had come to love. And after I finished it, I was just left feeling like, life without these characters is not worth it.🥲

WHAT I LOVED-

After UTM, we don’t see all of the High Lords together until this book. We're thoroughly introduced with them and we learn about the tensions amongst the courts. We get to see how their relationship with the Night Court & the Inner Circle.

And let’s not forget the multiple romances in the book. Besides my will-always-be-favorite couple, Feysand❤️, there's a growing romance between Nesta & Cassian. There is also a potential love triangle among Elain, Lucien, & Az. Personally, I don't ship Elain with Az, but we'll see how it plays out in the next books.

The development of certain characters over the course of the story, is my another favorite aspect. Feyre becomes more stronger and self-possessed. Nesta becomes a bit more likable and makes up for her repulsive behavior in ACOTAR. Tamlin also manages to atone for some of his past behaviour. Although, he is still way far from full redemption. Now Elaine.. though I was really sick & tired of her until the very end- but what she did.. god, I didn't saw that coming. It's always the silent & shy ones LMAO.💀
I also liked how our sassy Az was the one to teach Feyre to fly. They were finally bonding and I absolutely loved getting to know Az better.
Also, this book brings Lucien's character back from depressing springtime. His character is redeemable and I felt kinda bad how his character went from snarky & clever to timid & hesitant in ACOTAR. Jurian's redemption arc was weird bullsh!t and I didn’t buy it.

The book is action-packed, full of twist & turns, romance & is a rollercoaster of emotions. Every chapter ends with a cliffhanger- Something is always happening or preparing to happen.
The battle scene was amazing, especially when the last group showed up- *sighs* I had no Idea that I'd be crying If certain characters died but then there I was crying my heart out when the Suriel & the Bone Carver died.😩😭💔

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE-

It had to end.😭😭😭😭
But In all seriousness though, there is not much wrong with this book. The only thing I think could've been better was ~Rhys's death~ God I hate even writing that..😩
No matter how much I FVCKING SOBBED MY EYES OUT over that scene, it still had more potential and could be used in a more better way. It just felt bleh how he was brought back to life within minutes.

ACOWAR is every bit as entertaining as its predecessors, which in this series, is no an easy feat. So yes, I absolutely love this book. I love you Sarah for introducing us to this court of Dreamers.💘

Content Warnings