A Court of Wings And Ruin Book Review

A Court of Thornes and Roses #3

Brief Description from teh back of the book:

A nightmare, I’d told Tamlin. I was the nightmare.

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.







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I am broken and healing but every piece of my heart belongs to these books. 

My Review: 

 Just kidding...(well not really) but here's the real review....


***WARNING: SPOLIERS!! (Let's be honest... to properly review this book it's near impossible not to have a few spoliers here and there 😉 ***

~Have a cup of tea and ger comfy cause this is gonna be one heck of a review!~

THIS BOOK TOTALLY WRECKED ME (in the best possible way).

I'm entirely drained, emotionally and mentally, but it was well worth the price.

I love how Maas writes such complex characters who have has their lives shattered in a variety of ways, yet still keep fighting for each other and work to create a new life with the family they chose.

Feyre's growth from the first book where she had such low self-worth is beyond inspirational as she finds the ability to completely forgive and love herself and everything she's been through. She's still a flawed character who makes some sketchy calls and is continually healing. And that's what I love most about this book: every single character is broken and healing. Lucien, Elain, Nesta, Cassian, Azriel, Mor, Rhys, Amren, even Tamlin. EVERYONE. And the amount they care about each other is just so beautiful. Maas manages to juggle to a wide range of characters in this book, add in even more, and find really creative ways to show what's happening with other ships besides Rhys and Feyre. 

I also loved how everyone finds a different way to be strong (like in ways besides brute strength) and the story actually shows the horrors of war without glorifying killing but the difficult decisions that need to be made and the sacrifices required to be victorious. There's a theme of the choices and consequences of war and how one life can change the world:

            "What we think to be our greatest weakness can sometimes be our biggest strength. And… the most unlikely person can alter the course of history."

I was curious to see how Feyre would wield her new power as High Lady on her own rather than through Rhys. A lot of stories find ways to keep couples separated until the very end so you never really see them figure out how they work together, so I thought the scenes with Rhys and Feyre just talking strengthened their characters so much. There's a running thread throughout the story that Rhys would rather sacrifice himself than let others be hurt and EVERYTHING GETS SO EMOTIONAL.

I especially loved the scene where Rhys shows Feyre the library he turned into a refuge for women recovering from abuse and it's more than a side comment. Like Mor and Rhys genuinely care for their mental health and also seek refuge there themselves. Just when I thought Sarah couldn’t make me love Rhys even more.

·        The healthy relationships. Rhys treats Feyre as an equal. 

"the male who had always presented me with a choice not as a gift, but as my own gods-given right."

 

Another thing I love about this series is how well it shows depression. Yes Feyre and Rhys are together and happy and loved, but that doesn’t erase all the bad things that have happened to them. 
 

 I think Maas listened to her readers and made a serious effort to make this book more diverse overall. There are fae of every race in every rank now, there are several gay couples with new characters (one of whom is a High Lord), another High Lord who's either bisexual or pansexual, and a major character is gay. Maas also clarifies that Amren, the Illyrians, and a lot of other characters are definitely not white or simply "tan." And I know Mor's story didn’t work for some readers, but I've also seen others who are absolutely thrilled. 

And can we just talk about how Rhysand gave his life to repair the Cauldron, not expecting to be brought back. He let his magic and life drain away to save the woman he loved and the world she lived in, held on in death because she begged him to stay-

- and even in the midst of all that he still reached out and brought Amren back….

Motherf'in Rhysand! 

Rhys knew that he was super drained of all of his magic, and yet he still wanted to help reform the Cauldron. And he didn’t want his mate to realize that he was dying so he left his shields up, which might've drained him even faster. Then in the most heartbreaking part, he keeps telling Feyre that he loves her, repeating it until he can't, until he 'dies'. Feyre had no clue that Rhys was dying, until it was too late. Rhys wanted to see the Cauldron rebuilt and would risk everything to see that happen, even his life. And that's what I think is one of the most important morals to be taken away from ACOWAR; when you want something done, you risk everything. You can't just hang back if you really want to see something done. Many people aren't ready to take risks and sacrifice things, but in the end, that's what needs to happen.

Rhys telling Feyre, "I love you. I love you" as he's being drained of his magic, has to be one of the saddest parts of the book, because Rhys knows he's dying, but he's willing to die to ensure his mate and friends survive and have a peaceful life. And he just keeps whispering it over and over to her, because he just wants to make sure she knows that it's the last thing she hears before he dies. That he loved her. 

"Rhys stepped off the stairs and took my hand. Night Triumphant- and the Stars Eternal. If he was the sweet, terrifying darkness, I was the glittering light that only his shadows could make clear."

***brb I need to curl up in a corner and cry a river of tears😭😭😭😭😭😭*** 

Now I've seen a lot of people hating on ACOWAR and saying that it's horrible compared to ACOMAF... well let me say something in regard to that: 

ACOWAR and ACOMAF are two different books with two different purposes. ACOMAF was a character driven book. The whole purpose of it was for character arcs and development. It was supposed to be a bridge for something to come. Rhysand and Feyre's relationship drove the book, which made it so enjoyable. ACOWAR was a plot driven book. Its whole focus was on the war with hybern. The entire point of the book was to find a solution. The WAR drives the book. And for a book focused on war, it was pretty darn good. Of course ACOMAF was better than ACOWAR in the character sense, but the characters were already developed in ACOWAR. ACOWAR needed to be plot driven if anything was gonna get done in this world.

On a side note:

I just realised, that Hybern had some serious forces. Like, this tiny island in comparison to the entire continent of Prythian. The fact the Rhys had to use the alliance of ALL of the High Lords plus their armies as well as his own, Vassa and her people, then he also had Papa Archeron coming outta nowhere to help AND Miryam and Drakon. All against Hybern and there was a point where they were struggling….damn. 

Now in Regards to Nessian: 

I think the most powerful thing about Nessian in ACOWAR was that they refused to leave each other. Cassian climbed up to the House of Wind every day when his wings healed. Just to see Nesta, to make sure she was okay, because he couldn’t stay away. During Feyre's dinner with them all, Nesta looked only at Cassian when she spoke. When she was attacked in the library, and Cassian came for her, she ran to him and he couldn’t help but hold her. Because this woman everyone called a viper was someone he couldn’t help but protect.

 Nesta worried for him and when he didn’t come back from the Summer Court. She feared him dead. When they winnowed for the High Lord meeting she was hurt that he didn’t say hello. Because she worried that he was hurt. When Cassian was insulted she defended him without a second thought. When he came back from the first battle she looked for him. She worried over his sprained wrist, she tended to it. She let him run that thumb along her hand. She let her softness show that people forgot she had. When she felt the Cauldron begin to work she screamed his name and he heard her. Across a battlefield, across shouts and screams of the dying, he heard her and flew to her quicker than he could think.  When his wings were broken, she refused to leave his side. When he kissed her she didn’t reject him. When the King almost killed him, Nesta wouldn’t leave his side. Cassian who she seemed to hate, who she always kept guessing, she knew that if he died, she wanted to die too. She would leave this world with him and no one else.

 Nesta who was proud. Cassian who was stubborn. Nesta who felt too much. Cassian who saw everything. Nesta who was forced to his knees, wings broken and unable to reach her. They wouldn’t leave each other. They would bicker, they would tease, and yet in the months they knew each other, Cassian wouldn’t let her die when she could live, and yet Nesta felt like she couldn’t live, if he died.

Say what you will, about the lack of the Nessian we got. That it wasn’t what we expected. But we got so much more than we thought. Because we got to see that you do not need to have fucked someone, you don't need to exchange any major words of love with someone, to know when you have found someone you can’t live without. 

Another Side Note:

I've been thinking that Ed Sheeran's "I See Fire" is such a good ACOWAR/ Nessian/ Feysand song and now I'm drowning in my pool of feels.

As for Azriel and Elain: 

 

The way Azriel reacts to Elain makes me think Elain is his mate. SJM said the fae could have more than one mate back when the fandom was asking about Aelin and Rowan. So what if she said that knowing she was going to write a character that had more than one mate. What if because the way she was made the Cauldron crossed some kind of metaphysical line and she ended up being matched for both Lucien AND Azirel. Or maybe not but it was mentioned that sometimes the Cauldron is not always right and that some mates were not right for each other (like Rhys's parents). That all aside…. I'm definitely and Elriel shipper after ACOWAR.

Can you just imagine a shadow falling in love with a flower?!

The entire scene with Cassian and Feyre is so f'in important to me, I have wanted more about this ever since Feyre's first dinner at the House of Wind in ACOMAF when she sees Cassian's face, the way he looks at Rhys as Rhys mentions UtM and Amarantha. I have wanted more about Cassian, his reaction and thoughts.

And seeing it happen like this is beautiful because, not only does he explain what that felt like and that frustration, fear and live, but also validates Feyre. Ever since ACOTAR her greatest fear and weakness had been to be irrelevant. That she is irrelevant to the people she loves and that she doesn't matter. And my gold hearted bat just smashes that thought right out from under her. Their friendship just kills me.

I think it's funny how much Tamlin blamed Feyre for his court falling apart. Feyre's entire plan depended on Tamlin being an abusive bastard. If he hadn't exploded with rage and hurt her and knowingly punished an innocent guard, Feyre's plan simply wouldn’t have worked. His people turned on him because of his capacity for hurting the innocent; Feyre just catalyzed the process.

 

So we know Feyre kinda already 'forgave' Tamlin but is anyone else disappointed that Tamlin 

didn’t outright apologise for his Tool-ness? I really wanted Feyre to lay out every prick thing Tamlin had done to her all smug as Rhy watches her proudly. But I guess he made her seem like the bad guy when HE laid out her mistakes in front of all the High Lords… but I really appreciated that he saved her and Az and Rhys…maybe he did have a bit of redemption but I don’t think I'll ever truly forgive him until he outright says he's sorry for how he treated Feyre and Rhys as well.

And OMG that High Lord meeting just toyed with my emotions...

Every time someone calls Rhys Amarantha's whore or comments on their relationship like Rhys had a choice, my soul leaves my body and I become a creature of pure rage.

 

Now I'm not trying to call anyone out, but….

If you're offended by the SJM fandom's "hyper-sexualzation" and you're trashing on other people for it then maybe you don’t belong in this fandom. SJM's books are written for young adults+ and is very sex positive with multiple sex scenes, it's just a part of the fandom and it's one that we willingly embrace. It's cool if you don’t like it, but it's also very easy to avoid smutty pictures and posts. I'm so tired of this fandom's negativity, we need to stop trashing other people and their views or mistakes they have made. 

Sarah J Maas: 

• doesn’t kill anyone in the inner circle

• gives us exponentially more bi characters than we have ever had in her books, clearly listened to what the fandom wanted, and made one of the main characters bi (or gay depending on how you view it)

• starts using other words for skin colour besides tan

• one of the main characters is biracial

• explores other courts and fills them with poc (people of colour) 

• does world building and addresses specific questions the fandom had

• doesn’t force either traumatized Archeron sister into a relationship with an over eager mate
  

• makes sure this book is still Feyre's book

• also consciously sets up plot lines to be explored in the spin offs and introduces unresolved conflict to ensure the series has somewhere to go

• gives us smut like the fandom clearly wanted

• tells us about Amren's back-story and makes it count in the end

• introduces a ton of new characters, most of whom are wonderful

• writes a lovely conclusion to Feysand's arc that had me weeping……..

And yet y'all are like "this was the most trash book I've ever read, it was horrible, she didn’t do anything I wanted, there wasn’t enough of MY ship, she's a terrible writer, wtf…"

EXTRA BITS: 

 

"When he brushed his wing against mine, just because he could, because he wanted to and we'd have an eternity of nights to do this, to see everything together…

A gift.

All of it."

~ ACOWAR, pg 699.

This series is a gift Sarah. All of it

Just a Friendly reminder:

Feyre started her story by hunting a wolf, but in the end she became the wolf.

 



Overall this book deserves 5/5 stars. Although the series will continue in 2018 im still heartbroken that this is the end for Rhys' and Feyre's story. however, they'll still live on in our hearts [and of course countless fan-fics on tumblr 😉 ]



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 I was contemplating whether or not I should add this but oh well, what the heck! I had the honour of meeting Sarah J Maas back in May at a book signing event in Canada. Words cannot express how much she has impacted my life in a positive way. She's an incredible role model and such a down-to-earth person. A big thank you goes out to Sarah for creating such an phenomenal story with empowering, badass female characters and male characters that are feminists and treat their partners and the women in their life as EQUALS. She has taught me so much about healthy relationships (friendship wise & romantically) and finding that light when it is needed the most.
It is a memory I will cherish forever and never forget 💖

And please ignore how crappy I look 😂 I was up since 4am😂