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laerkefugl 's review for:

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
3.75
I don’t have a ton to say about A Court of Wings and Ruin. It was definitely better than the first book, but it didn’t quite surpass the second one for me. With a book this long, the pacing is tricky to get right—and at times, I found myself bored when not much was happening. It seems to be a trend with this series that most of the action is saved for the final hundred pages or so. There’s a lot packed into this installment, and that sometimes left side plots feeling either rushed or unresolved. Some parts of the final battle did, sort of, seem to come out of nowhere. That said, the series as a whole isn’t finished yet, so I’m not judging too harshly on that front.

Once again, the characters were the most enjoyable part of the story. I’m personally not too invested in the war plotlines. Maybe because I found it hard to follow what was going on at times. I still don’t fully understand how the magic system or the Cauldron actually works, and it occasionally felt like new rules were being added for the sake of convenience. But despite those issues, the characters kept me engaged and curious, which made up for some of the lacking world-building.

I also want to talk about Tamlin for a moment. I’ve seen a lot of negativity about him from book one onward, to the point where I was expecting him to be basically the devil incarnate. But I didn’t really feel that way. I actually felt bad for him. Sure, many of his problems were self-inflicted, but at the same time, he lost everything that mattered to him. I’d be pissed too. Feyre also manipulated him quite a bit in the beginning of the book, and while I get why she did it, it still made me feel for him.

Side note: I was kind of shocked by Feyre’s behavior early on. When did she become so cunning? I know she’s been around Rhysand and the others for a while, but she seemed to know exactly how to dismantle the Spring Court from the inside with very little effort. It felt like a sudden leap in her abilities. Still, I think Tamlin redeemed himself well enough by the end. I genuinely hope he gets a happy ending too.

Overall, A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas gets 3,75 stars.

|—TL;DR—|

Focus Genre: Romantasy
Nostalgia: Disqualified
Personal Enjoyment: 4⭐
Plot: 4⭐
World-Building/Setting: 3⭐
Characters: 5⭐
  • Relationships: 5⭐ (Includes romantic and non-romantic connections)
Romance: 5⭐
  • Chemistry: 5⭐
  • Fluff : 5⭐
  • Steam 4,25⭐
Magic: 3⭐
Writing/Prose: 4⭐
Pacing: 3,5⭐
Ending: 4,5⭐

=Overall=
3,87-stars⭐  ≈ 3,75-stars⭐

~21/05/25~
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