By Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Wings and Ruin is the third book in the ACOTAR series. This series was originally published as YA Fantasy, but was later changed to NA Fantasy due to content in one of the books later on in the series.
This series will be converted into a TV show on Hulu, but it is still early on in the development process and has no known release date as of yet.
Synopsis
"Night Triumphant- and the Stars Eternal."
War is on the horizon, and Feyre wants vengeance. Back in the Spring Court, Feyre is forced to play a part in order to destroy her enemies from within. She won't just stand by and watch as Tamlin cozies up to the invading King of Hybern. Feyre must weave a web of lies in order to uncover both Tamlin and Hybern's plans, but one slip could mean the destruction of everything she holds close. As armies form and fight for power, Feyre must decide who she can trust as an ally before it's too late.
No Spoiler Review
"It is the family you make, not the one you are born into, that matters."
Okay, let's get into this. I rated this book a 4.25/5 stars (maybe 4.5, I haven't fully made up my mind yet). This book was pretty massive, and I had a lot of feelings while reading this book. The ending of Mist and Fury left me with a lot of questions, and I was utterly dying to know what was going to happen with the characters that have come to mean so much to me. Here's a quick recap for anyone who might not remember how Mist and Fury ended: *spoilers, duh*. Mist and Fury ends with the Court of Dreams going to Hybern for Feyre to nullify the Cauldron's magic, but the King of Hybern was anticipating them coming. After a struggle, Cassian and Azriel are injured, the human queens betrayed them, Tamlin and Lucien arrive having been working with Hybern, and Feyre's sisters Nesta and Elain are put into the Culdron and turned into High Fae. To top it all off, Feyre pretends to "break the spell Rhys put on her" and leaves with Tamlin in order to save her friends. So yeah, a lot happened.
Now that we've covered Mist and Fury, let's get into the review of Wings and Ruin since that's why we're all here! The book starts off with an amazing prologue told from Rhys' POV depicting a scene during the war with Hybern 500 years ago. Here we see Rhys weary from the battle that has just taken place, sifting through the dead and injured Illyrian warriors, trying to make sure that Cassian and Azriel aren't among them. It is a heartbreaking scene, but very fitting considering the war that's about to take place. I really loved this glimpse into Rhys' past from his eyes and while I love him and Feyre, I could read an entire book solely about his past.
Speaking of Feyre, she was the strongest we've ever seen her in this book. Gone are the days of the human struggling to get by, or the days of the newly turned Fae, struggling with PTSD and her new reality. This Feyre knows what she wants and isn't going to let anyone take that from her. It was incredible to see Feyre transform into this amazing, strong individual who knows her worth after everything she's been through. However, despite how much I love a badass, female protagonist, I think it would've been cool to see a bit more of her struggles with PTSD in this book given how well it was portrayed by SJM in ACOMAF. I feel like the PTSD simply disappeared and while I'm glad Feyre is happy and doing well, I also feel that it's a tad unrealistic, especially with the war coming, Jurian's return to the land of the living, and her being forced into being back at the Spring Court with Tamlin.
I won't spend much time discussing the rest of the Court of Dreams. I still love each of them with all of my heart and anything else that I have to say about them will have to be saved until the spoiler section, but I didn't want anyone to think I forgot about them!
If anyone wants to be surprised about Tamlin's character in the beginning of this book, please skip to the next paragraph. I don't really think of this as a spoiler since it happens so early in the book, but some may want to be surprised. That being said, let's get into this. I for one was sadly not surprised by Tamlin's behavior in the beginning of the book. While I was hoping that his promises about changing would amount to something, I had a feeling it was all just words. While things might have been marginally better than the beginning of Mist and Fury, they were nowhere near where they needed to be for me to forgive what he did to Feyre.
Finally, we have Nesta and Elain. I'll also be grouping Lucien in with the girls since the end of Mist and Fury revealed that he's Elain's mate. I'll be honest, I know it's an unpopular opinion at this point in the books, but I really like Nesta. Sure she has her faults, but I really loved her in this book, especially the further I read. She is fiercely loyal, and while she can be a bit of a b***h sometimes, she usually has her reasons if you're willing to look for them. I also started to like Elain more in this book as well. It's a rocky start for her as she grieves her human life and her human fiance, but she begins to blossom into something more by the end of the book. Elain had always been my least favorite of the three if I'm being honest and while she still is, I'm really starting to love her character. She's not as bland of a character as she once was. And finally we have Lucien. I was so excited to get more of him in this book and I must say, I was a bit disappointed. Lucien was my favorite character in ACOTAR, and I could even look past his loyalty to Tamlin in ACOMAF because he stilled tried to stand up for Feyre. However, this Lucien was so different from the one I had fallen in love with in the first book. There wasn't even really anything specific that did it for me, it just felt like Maas had forgotten to write in all the things that made Lucien the boy the all fell in love with in book one.
The overall plot of the book was, as always, fantastic! I loved getting to see more of Prythian and meet more of the High Lords as they planned for Hybern's attack. Every character is so dynamic and unique. I love how even the minor characters have a fully flushed out back story and unique personality. There are many times that authors don't do this for minor characters and leave us readers scrambling for more information when we find one that we love.
Additionally, the spice is, once again, top tier. I love that it's sprinkled in just enough so that it's not too overwhelming and predictable, but the reader also isn't left disappointed.
Final Thoughts Before Spoilers
I wish that I could say more about this book, but I'm so worried that I'll spoil something! If you want an in-depth review, please keep scrolling to my spoilers section! I hope that you guys enjoy/enjoyed this book as much as I did! Stay tuned for more reviews coming soon! I'm going to read A Court of Frost and Starlight, and then I'll be taking a bit of a break from ACOTAR before I dive into A Court of Silver Flames. As much as I love these characters and this world, I definitely need a bit of a brain-break before I tackle that enormous thing! However, I've also read a few other books in the meantime so those reviews should be up soon!
Spoiler Review
"A gift. All of it."
Okay, so can we all agree that this book was a whole mess of crazy? Not in a bad way, there was just so much happening! Between all the political, emotional, personal, and familiar issues going on it was a wonder they had time to fight a war at all! Buckle in because we've got a lot to unpack and I have feelings about all of it.
First of all, Helion is Lucien's dad?? It's one of those things that makes sense once it's pointed out, but I never would've guess it on my own! I can honestly say that I was SHOOK when I read that. I immediately texted my friend who's already read this book freaking out. Okay I plan on doing the rest of this fairly in order, but I had to bring this up first.
Going back to the beginning of the book, I hated every moment of the Spring Court. I couldn't wait for Feyre to get back to the Night Court, not just to be reunited with Rhys and the Court of Dreams, but because it was just really boring to me. I wasn't at all surprised by Tamlin's outburtsts, and while seeing more of Jurian was interesting, it wasn't enough to keep me interested in this part of the book. The best part of the Spring Court chapters was Feyre besting Ianthe and killing the twins.
Skipping ahead quite a bit, Eris' deal with Rhys needs to be mentioned. I was incredibly shocked when Eris walked into the Court of Nightmares. I felt so bad for Mor in that moment. Not only did Rhys promise to work with her Father and allow the Court of Nightmares in Valaris, but then invites the man that mangled her into his court and makes a deal with him. But getting back to the actual deal. This was a pivotal moment for me. From this moment on I really wanted to like Eris. I'm not quite sure why, but I wanted to, I just couldn't bring myself to. Eris know's his father is a terrible person, he claims that there's more to the story than what Mor and Lucien have said, but I can't bring myself to trust him.
Elain and Az's friendship was amazing! I was living for every moment between the two of them. I know that Lucien is her mate, but I really think that her and Az would be a great couple! Not only is it obvious that they care about eachother, I think Az needs to end up with someone gentle. And not only that, but Elain, for all of her fear of fae and war, never shys away from Az or his shadows. I love how he was the only one who get get through to her and break through her haze when they discovered her powers as a seer.
The only redeeming thing that Tamlin did in this book was helping Az and Feyre rescue Elain from the Hybern camp. He definitely risked a lot to help them and that can't go unmentioned, but it still just wasn't enough to redeem himself in my eyes. While I can appreciate his risk in helping them, I can't forget everything else that's happened. If Tamlin ever does get a full redemption arc, I hope that it shows that he's learned from his past mistakes. All the comments that he made during the High Lord meeting shows that he hasn't yet, which is what makes the feeble attempts at redemption void in my eyes.
Skipping ahead again, the Suriel. That's it. That's all I have to say. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried at his death. I do wish that we had found out his name, but the rest of the scene was so hauntingly beautiful.
Rhys' pre-battle pep-talk with the Court of Dreams also definitely had me tearing up. Their love for one another is so pure, and his speech was beautiful that I had to mention it.
One of my favorite moments in the book was when Braxis, the Bone Carver, and the Weaver all made deals and agreed to help fight with Rhys and Feyre. The start of the battle was incredible with the reveal of those three on the frontlines, Rhys misting the enemy, it was all going so well, until it went very wrong. Beron, Tamlin, and their father showing up to fight was amazing, but it simply wasn't enough against Hybern. The Cauldron decimating the Illyrian forces was heartbreaking, even more so given that Nesta saved Cassian from the same fate. The Bone Carvers death moments later was just as bad. I wasn't nearly as sad when the Weaver died, though it didn't go unnoticed that she gave up her life for Feyre and Amren. I'm really hoping that Braxis still being loose after the battle comes up later on, even if it's just mentioned that it was captured and returned to the library or something.
Nesta's showdown with the King of Hybern, Cassian getting hurt, and ultimately confessing his feelings for Nesta simultaneously made me so happy and so sad in just a few lines. I had been waiting for this confession so of course it happens when Cassian is on his death bed! I know that these books were originally meant to be a trilogy, but I would've been furious if the series ended without getting closure with their story arc. Since Cassia and Nesta first met I've been waiting for them to get together and I would've been so disappointed if their story ended like this. I'm so glad I have Silver Flames to look forward to. And can we talk about how Elain was the one to kill Hybern?? I mean technically he didn't die until Nesta twisted the knife and severed his head, but I don't think anyone expected Elain to essentially land the killing blow. The fact that she did it with Truth-Teller only makes me want her and Azriel to end up together even more!
Amren's "death" was sad, but not as sad as I'd expected I would feel. I loved Amren so I was surprised that I wasn't that upset by her death. I genuinely felt that she had fulfilled her purpose, for lack of a better word. In the end she had gotten what she wanted in becoming a High Fae and experiencing human emotions, and she was able to save her friends when it mattered most. She lived a pretty amazing life and while I would miss her character, I couldn't think of a more fitting end for her if that's how it had to be.
Rhys' death was just uncalled for. I knew that Rhys was going to live somehow, but it was still horrible to read Feyre's devastation and heartbreak. The fact that his last words were "I love you"? The fact that Feyre didn't even realize at first that he was gone because she had to put all of her focus into magically rebuilding the Cauldron? The fact that even though the entire book had warned us that Rhys gives everything and I still didn't see it coming?
I know that Tamlin giving Rhys the "Seed of Life" or whatever and wishing Feyre a happy life was supposed to be some kind of redemption for him, but I was furious. The fact that he hesitated for even a moment to help Feyre tells me everything I need to know. I hope that Tamlin can heal (his trauma is just as obvious of Feyre's) and someday finds his mate or at least falls in love, but I hate that this attempt at redemption was just kind of thrown in. Yes, Tamlin did some good in this book, but it doesn't excuse all the bad.
Here's some quick last thoughts since the ending of the book moves rather quickly:
Jurian being one of the good guys was everything. I loved the way that Jurian and Feyre started to form a kind of friendship by the end of the book. I thought it was a really fitting end and I loved seeing Jurian do the right thing.
Amren coming back was a complete shock and while I think her ending would've been fitting, I was so glad she came back!
I was severely disappointed that Beron didn't die in the battle leaving Eris to take over as High Lord after all of that build up. I really hope we get to see more of that when Eris finally calls in his favor with the Night Court to help him take the throne.
I was also pretty disappointed that we didn't really get to see Feyre fighting in the battles and using her cool powers. That could've been really cool!
And finally, I'm curious to see what comes next with Queen Vassa. Not only is she still cursed, but I don't think this is going to be the last that we see of her. I think she's going to play a bigger role in an upcoming book, I'm just not sure what that role is yet. I can't imagine there was all that build-up surrounding her and her curse just for that little appearance she made.
Final Thoughts
This book gave me so many feelings. All in all, I loved it! Yes, I had issues with some parts, but I feel like that happens with every book. It's not the fault of the author, it's the frustration with choices the characters make and the situations that they're put in, but it's all written so wonderfully. This series has easily become one of my favorite series of all time. I'm so glad that SJM decided to continue the series and didn't leave it as a trilogy. I definitely would've been disappointed if the series had ended with so many loose ends and things left unanswered. I can't wait to continue my journey with these characters for as long as Maas allows us. I will definitely grieve the end of this series when it comes.
If you've read this far and still haven't checked out this series, please do! You won't regret it!