A Court of Wings and Ruin: Excuse Me While I Process Everything

The trilogy finale of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series has finally been consumed… mentally… by my eyes. And while I definitely felt huge satisfaction at the ending that A Court of Wings and Ruin provided, there are a lot of little tiny things nagging at me that prevent me from diving into a pool of 5-stars (like I did for A Court of Mist and Fury).

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

This review will contain no spoilers unless indicated!

What I enjoyed:

1. Their story. Feyre, Rhysand, Amren, Cassian, Mor, Azriel, etc. No matter how many little things bugged me about this book, I was invested-AF in their story and I needed to know how it ended! I Maas did a fantastic job keeping actions true to their characters and giving us a (semi) plausible ending.

2. The sisters’ roles and how their personalities developed was quite fun. I secretly hoped for more from them, but I’m very happy that Maas did what she did. And that’s all I’ll say because no spoilers!

3. The epic war scenes! While some of it was a bit convenient and cliche, I can’t deny that I ate up every war scene in that book. I loved the description of each army’s armor, their flags, their powers, etc. It was awesome.

4. A big highlight for me: Getting to see more of the courts and meeting their High Lords! OMG can someone just move me into the Dawn Court right now?! I want to live out eternity there.

What annoyed me:

(I’ll be honest, these things had little affect on my final rating. I was so invested  in the story that I wasn’t easily bothered by these things. BUT I still want to complain about them, so here goes.)

1. THE SHITTY EDITING. How may times can one person read the same sentence?! Apparently a lot. I am honestly flabbergasted that the editor didn’t pick these things up and change them! I read “sketch a bow,” “throats bobbed,” “vulgar gesture,” etc SO MANY TIMES that it started to be comical.

2. The big revelation with Mor. View Spoiler »I don’t care a lick about her sexuality, but that scene was terribly done. It seemed so forced and out of place. It definitely brought the story’s fast pace to a screeching halt. « Hide Spoiler

3. What happened with the girls’ father. View Spoiler »…..I’m sorry, from merchant to war leader?! WHAT?! That was so ridiculous I laughed out loud. Luckily, it was not mentioned for too long, so I just cringed and moved on. « Hide Spoiler

4. The insane twists when facing the King. View Spoiler »This scene was full of insane twists that it made my head spin a bit. First Amren and Feyre get to the cauldron. Then BAM Amren has lied to Feyre…  Nesta is going to kill the king but BAM now he has her father… and then in the knick of time BAM Elain shows up to kill the king (how did she even arrive there?).. BAM Amren is going to revert back to her old self and annihilate everyone in the war. It was just a lot of very convenient twists to happen all in the span of a few pages. « Hide Spoiler

I really liked this book, and I very much enjoyed this trilogy. I definitely think it peaked with the second one (A Court of Mist and Fury – click link to see my review), but it’s definitely still a trilogy I’d recommend to any lover of fantasy! 

Now I just need to take a moment while I process this massive book hangover I’m about to have. Goodbye my Prythian friends! I will miss you!

So, did you read it? What were your thoughts? If you haven’t read the series yet, click here to see my review of the first one, A Court of Thorns and Roses.

A.S. Thornton

A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.