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

I enjoyed this book a lot more as a re-read, which could've been due to either my lower expectations (in comparison to my first reading of it back in 2020) or a willingness to get swept up in Maas's story despite all the redundant scenes

–e.g. three visits to the Bone Carver in the Prison. Was that really necessary or interesting? I think not.–

and convenient resolutions

–at least 5 different heroes attempt to/succeed in saving the day during the final battle in the final 50+ pages, including Feyre's father, Vassa, Drakon and Myriam, and Amren (who is conveniently unbound from her (im)mortal body, turns out to be this otherworldly angel, then is presumed dead, and finally is reinstated & reborn into her former body by the powers of the Cauldron?...come on, I was trying hard not to roll my eyes at that!). The stakes were so low for this war given that no major characters died (and stayed dead) and the main villain, the King of Hybern, was such a one dimensional mustache-twirling character that the resolution ended up coming across as anticlimactic and not believable

.

Anyway... to go over some of the positive things about this novel, my favorite character interactions or scenes took place between 1) Feyre and the Suriel

–his passing still guts me (excuse me while I wipe my tears), especially as Feyre realizes that he was such a big help to (and dare I say fan of) her. He was definitely a dreamer!

; 2) Lucien and Feyre (only at the beginning of the novel)

, I thoroughly enjoy how she makes it seem like they are having an affair and how she sets her multiple traps up for Tamlin's downfall. Her entire revenge scheme upon the Spring Court is epic, if slightly short-sighted hehe, but fuck ~~Tamlin~~!

and finally, 3) Nesta and Cassian

–all their reluctant but mutual pining (slow burn much?) and Nesta screaming for him in order to save him from the Cauldron's deadly blast. Although I need a moment of silence please for the 1,000 Illyrians that did not make it. And later, how Nesta held the King's head after the killing blow (*chef's kiss*), thus enacting the promise she made him earlier–with that accusatory finger–right before she was transformed into High Fae by the Cauldron. I was definitely here for that entire scene!

.

I confess, I really do hate Elain. Can somebody explain to me the point of having this inane character??

P.s. My use of the many ellipses, mostly in the spoiler bits, was in Maas's honor ;)

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kjm19's review

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-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

3.75

Not as good as ACOMAF - I feel like the war at the end is a bit rushed and hurried considering how many characters were involved. If it was split into two books so that the final third could be more flushed out then it would’ve been much better. But I appreciate the continued character development, I thought that the first part in the spring court was very interesting, as well as the development of characters such as Elain, Bryaxes & the other death gods and Amren. Azriel & Mor also shone in this book. Feyre’s character continued to grow (although I think it’s weird that she didn’t fight much at all? I know she had other things to do… but all of that power. Rhys was also a continued ledge, but didn’t have as much page time as expected as the book went on.

I would've liked to hear more about the different courts and their own magic/practices as well as about the beast forms of the High Lords. I also really liked the idea of this book being more class driven like with Feyre’s scheming at the beginning, but because the war was so huge it became impossible to make that a really integral part of the story. C’est la vie!

The plot wraps up really nicely, so it’s a great general closure to this light escapist fantasy series. Intrigued to see where the next two books take us.

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devynvma0508's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

This book has the most plot development in the series but it is very long. The beginning hooks you in, the middle can be a little boring, but the end of this book is amazing.

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luna_lovelace's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

There's a lot of war in this book. I'm not a huge fan of it, but I was entertained when Feyre

made friends with 'monsters'.

Fearless as ever!

I feel like we didn't get enough of Rhysand, but maybe I am just being greedy because I want him in EVERY chapter.

SO MUCH DEATH! I got a bit teary-eyed and had to close the book for a few hours before I could open it up again. So many secrets were revealed too!

I can't believe I am saying this, but I can't dislike Tamlin anymore, not after what he did

for Rhysand

, that doesn't mean I like him! He said so many hurtful things!

This may be very unpopular, but I just couldn't stand Feyre's sisters. It was so hard to read when they came up because they were infuriating. Alas, they won me over in the end, but I don't necessarily love them.

What a great book, not sure what happens after this, seemed like a finale to me but I know there are more books to this series. I can't wait to read them!

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