A review by francestal
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous emotional mysterious tense

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

4.0

Now this… this is is finally a book in the ACOTAR series that I can get with. My friend warned me that the third book was very history heavy and I thought it would be a drag to read this book. Since finishing this one, I’ve realized that I eat up history and and world building in fantasy books and I loved how SJM writes crumbs of it throughout the plot line until it builds up at the end. This is the book that got me wishing that this series gets made into a movie franchise just for a movie of ACOWAR specifically. Long story short, this book was very Avengers: Infinity War. 

*CONTAINS BIG SPOILER, DO NOT OPEN IF YOU HAVEN’T READ*

Now, because I related this book to Infinity War and because there is a literal war going on in this book, I expected high stakes losses to occur. Imagine how confused, annoyed, and frustrated I was when those so-called “high stakes losses” were brought back to life in the end. Like yeah, of course I love Rhys and want him to live forever, but SJM kills off beloved characters just to resurrect them in the end… so it’s technically not even a loss? The only notable person that died was their dad and while it was heartwarmingly cheesy, I didn’t feel that much attachment and loss from his death because he came so late in the book, we only learned about his true adventure trip and reasons secondhand from Lucien, and he never actually got to reunite with his daughters. So yes I was sad, but also… meh? I love all the characters and want them all happy and alive, but it leaves me wondering if the characters will ever truly experience a permanent and irreversible high stakes loss.

 

Thank you to whoever voiced the same sentiments about SJM’s rushed third act curse back then because it finally seems like she listened and properly built up her story. Because of this, I was able to enjoy one of my favorite things about SJM: how she never fails to make my jaw drop nonstop at the most unexpected times in the book.