A Court Of Wings and Ruin – Sarah J. Maas
*Warning – may contain spoilers*
Author: Sarah J.
Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publishing
First published: 2017
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 699
Blurb: Feyre will bring vengeance.
She has left the Night Court –
and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring
Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring
Prythian to its knees and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do
so she must weave a web of lies, and one slop may spell doom not only for
Feyre, but for her world as well.
As mighty armies grapple for
power, Feyre must decide who to trust among the dazzling and lethal High Lords
– and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
But while war rages, it is her
heart that will face the greatest battle.
History of my copy: I picked up ACOWAR
whilst shopping in Waterstones as I had enjoyed the first two books, A Court of
Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury.
I was quite impressed by how quickly I read this book; 2
months isn’t bad during university term time!
Plot: The third instalment in the Court
of Thorns and Roses series follows Feyre as she plays a treacherous game of
spying in the Spring Court whilst she pretends to return to her initial captor
turn love interest, Tamlin. As Hybern finally brings the wall down with the
cauldron, a battle ensues (which is actually quite cool to be honest.) However,
my main gripe with the plot is that it was too cliché and the ending too happy.
It felt like something bad should have happened just to get some form of
emotion out of the story.
Setting: I will, however, praise the
setting of A Court of Wings and Ruin. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of
this series, Maas is a master at setting the scene, and describes every
location so vividly that you truly believe that you are there. I cannot wait to
explore more of this world in future books!
Characters: The character development in
A Court of Wings and Ruin was probably the most frustrating part of this book.
Over the first two books in the series, the characters have really interested
me and, as you can see from my past two reviews, my opinions of certain ones
have changed. However, ACOWAR felt like a step back. Feyre’s great twist of
becoming immortal has now just turned her really two-dimensional, and her whole
relationship with Rhys has become nothing but sex and ‘vulgar hand-gestures’.
Even Lucien, who I adore, started to get a bit boring once he left the Spring
Court, although he did pick up again towards the end of the book. And, the more
bored I got of Rhys, Feyre and the rest of the Night Court, the angrier I got
about the injustice Maas has given Tamlin – she has completely twisted his
character to make the reader favour Rhys. Sure, Rhys is the better partner for
Feyre, but Tamlin is once again becoming my favourite character.
The
only enjoyable character development belonged to Nesta, who has become a
brilliant character. But even she has her flaw – why are all the characters
getting paired up? Yawn.
To read or not to
read: Read, but only to continue the
series. I was fairly disappointed with the third instalment of this series,
and I really hope that the next book is much more interesting.
