Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 9781635575590
Synopsis:
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s actions and learn what she can about the invading king threatening to bring her land to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit. One slip could bring doom not only for Feyre, but for everything-and everyone-she holds dear. As war bears down upon them all, Feyre endeavors to take her place amongst the High Fae of the land, balancing her struggle to master her powers-both magical and political-and her love for her court and family. Amidst these struggles, Feyre and Rhysand must decide whom to trust amongst the cunning and lethal High Lords, and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
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Honestly, I don’t know how I missed these books as they were being released, but am I ever glad that I’m able to sit down and read these books back to back without stopping or having to wait for the next release. I am absolutely obsessed with the ACOTAR series and this book is no different. I DEVOURED this book. I had a day off early in the near year and I took time for just me: a work out, a walk, and most of the day spent on the couch with a hot chocolate, a blanket, and this book.
ACOWAR reads like a third book in a trilogy, though it’s only the third book in this series. Continuing to follow Feyre, it now sees her incorporated as an integral member of the Night Court, performing covert missions and learning to harness and channel her power with greater precision and strength. The world of Prythian has reached a pivotal point in the deterioration of peace and it is all Rhysand and Feyre can do to prevent their world from unraveling altogether.
I adore the Night Court, and this book sees them thrown even more tightly together as they work to ally themselves, the human world, and the world of Fey against a common foe. This is no easy task and failure lurks at every corner, with the threat of the next Great Wall so close, they can taste it. There are so many twists and turns in this plot and Maas does an incredible job of throwing in surprise after surprise as characters demonstrate themselves to be anything but what you think they’ll be along the way. I couldn’t put this book down at all. Its grip is just too good!
The characters themselves continue to be incredible. There’s so much love and banter between the core group that you can’t help but feel at ease and welcome with them. It’s so enjoyable to witness their joy together. I could read fluffy scenes with them bantering back and forth for days.
One pretty major criticism, but I’m refusing to let it take away from my overall love of this story: despite the violence, the war, the battles, and the evil at every turn, the main group of characters in this story makes it out totally unscathed, which is incredibly unrealistic. Given the challenges they face and the scope of the battles, every thing they set out to do is a success. While Maas is masterful at build suspense and danger, it really doesn’t culminate into anything and it lowers the stakes for survival when all characters live all of the time. As much as this sounds ridiculous, we need more characters deaths in order to up the ante in this world. There was so much risk and so much at stake in both ACOTAR and ACOMAR, that it is a bit of a letdown that we don’t get the high highs and the low lows of the plot.
I’m already ready to start this series right from the beginning again, but there are still 2 books to go. Stay tuned next week for my review of book 3.5.
Happy reading!
Worn Pages and Ink 