A Court of Wings and Ruin Review

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Goodreads Summary: 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.

*Minor Spoilers Ahead- Proceed With Caution*

My Thoughts: After taking a few days to process my feelings about this book, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I was a little underwhelmed.  Still reeling from the magnificence of ACOMAF, I had such high expectations for this one that unfortunately weren’t quite met.  Don’t get me wrong, I still loved it, but I was a little let down after how obsessed I was with the second one.  The plot was slower than I expected- not enough to deter me from wanting to read it, but I expected more of a punch.  The pace reminded me a lot of the first book, as opposed to the non-stop action of the sequel.  The ending, while action packed, was a little lackluster.  I felt like a lot of things were just thrown in at the last minute that were unnecessary (like the arrival of a certain someone on a ship).  I love happy endings as much as the next person, but it almost seemed like things turned out a little too well for our heroes in this war.

Despite my general lukewarm feelings, I am so invested in the characters from this series.  I love Rhys and Feyre and the rest of the Night Court clan.  My favorite thing about this book was the meeting of all the other courts.  They all have such interesting backgrounds with so much diversity, and I would love to have stories about each of them- Give me more!   I thought Maas handled the LGBT stuff very well, and it made me happy that she just made it a part of the characters and didn’t try to make a big deal out of it.  She continues to create and grow complicated, lovable relationships that fully capture my heart.

Although it didn’t quite live up to A Court of Mist and Fury, I was, overall, really happy with where she took this story and these beloved characters.  I can’t wait to see what’s next for this series.  I’m still hooked.