Reviews with content warning for Lesbophobia - 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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ashlyncherie's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

4.5

Finished my second read through a year after finishing the series, and I cried again at the end. The SJM ending might have raised the rating for me as it is always so emotional and fast-paced! The politics is something I personally enjoy, and the IC is so lovable. SJM doing again what she does really well: character development and relationships, especially platonic ones. What keeps it from being perfect for me is just her sometimes lazy writing style and the really crappy smut scenes. I’m not against smut, but SJM really did not do it well in this series.

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indigo_fox's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Honestly, when I first started this series I wasn't sure I'd like it but I was happily proven wrong in the 2nd book. Waiting my turn to check out this book from the library was a nightmare but it was well worth it. I could hardly put it down as I wanted to learn more about the Court of Dreams and the little family that ran it. My concern for the characters and the dangers they were facing also spurred my desire to just devour this book.

I find the writing very easy to just fall into to, it just pulls me into the books world. The sex scenes seem a bit weird sometimes, I don't get some of the wording used. Google tells me that other people have the same opinion so its not an ace thing. The writing is solid when it comes to character voices, I feel like I can see each of their distinct personalities shinning through. The characters themselves are easy to fall in love with, and I've added a few others to my list of favorites. There are so many new characters that get introduced in this book that its a bit hard to keep track of them all.

Overall, it was a fun read and I'm glad I gave the series a chance.

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lqne's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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readwithria's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

**2023 REREAD**

A Court of Wings and Ruin takes the threads of the previous books and weaves them together into such a good conclusion to Feyre’s story.

Do I love this book? No, not really. But I definitely had a good time with it. ACOTAR does a better job of mixing the politics with the romance, and ACOMAF does a great job with the romance with just a sprinkle of the politics, but this book struggles to balance the two well. The plot is kinda meh, and the romance has already been established so there’s not a lot of time spent on it, which makes complete sense.

I wish the war plot had been better entwined into all of the books so that it doesn’t feel so out of place. I think that SJM doesn’t fully understand the difference between “putting on a mask” and being a situationally bad person to the people you don’t like. But I also knew all of this going into the book, so it didn’t surprise me.

I know this is her most beloved series, and I really do like it, but it’s just not my favorite.

Anyway, if you go in with the expectation of fae vibes and steam you won’t be disappointed.

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redheadsuperpowers's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This series has just gotten better with every book. I love the way Feyre uses her new skills in this. The small comedic moments between the major plot points. Her snark to everyone. We get to visit more Courts, and get heavy amounts of description, and it's beautiful. There was a lot of drama in this one as Feyre's sisters feature heavily. I love the way secrets are built and then revealed. I also really liked the bit of redemption we see for some of the people the main cast pissed off. I am not a huge fan of battles being heavily described. The battle scenes were very to the point, which I enjoyed. I struggled with Tolkien due to the battle scenes. I appreciate that though most of the plot for this is War, it's not like, heavily gorey.

I did not like some of the twists. Stop making me cry. Ugh. That was pretty much my only dislike.

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josiee's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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