“Only you can decide what breaks you, Cursebreaker. Only you.”
In A Court of Wings and Ruin, the third book in this series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all. As war bears down, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and the lethal, hunting for allies in unexpected places.
THE PLOT, CHARACTERS AND STORY PROGRESSION
If you have read my previous reviews on this series you will know what direction this review is going in… and unfortunately with the final instalment not much has changed. Though, I will admit I probably enjoyed this book the most out of all the others so far. A Court of Wings and Ruin is a slow burning build up to an impending war, nothing innovative within the fantasy genre but was done well enough to keep me reading and listening until the end. Nothing major really happens until the final 100 pages. It is more a series of intricate thoughts and decisions that take us to the final conclusion, Very character driven. Even as someone who really doesn’t relate to or like any of the characters in this series it was interesting to see the dynamics change between the characters and their relationships and to have the politics of the high lords fleshed out to the reader.
Now for the criticisms… *sigh*. For me there was too much talk of “mates” and “the bond” by the end I was quite sick of it. We didn’t need to know every single time she felt something “down the bond”. A peak at the reviews of this book humoured me as another reviewer wrote that in A Court of Wings and Ruin alone: “202. That’s the number of times that the word “mate,” in any of its hellish forms, is used in this book.” I want to add “winnow” to the list too.. I never want to hear that word again, ever.
Feyre, as she has been throughout this whole series, lived up to her reputation as the truest a representation of a powerful woman for all to be inspired by. – sarcasm. And Rhys, well let’s be honest, he’s there for sex appeal and absolutely nothing else. I honestly cannot stand him as a character and I will never understand the obsession with him people have.
Perhaps the funniest part of this whole book to me was the fact not one of them died. An entire war took place and everyone survived. There was nothing to gasp at, nothing to get you throwing the book across the room in shock, fury or sorrow.
WORLD BUILDING, ATMOSPHERE AND SETTING
I can’t say I felt any more immersed into this world than I did in the first two books – so not at all. These books are so character driven that you can’t really get a gauge on what the surroundings really look like at all unless you just sort of make it up in your head. There is a sense of suspense in the atmosphere that keeps you going but it is difficult if you aren’t invested in the relationships, politics or character arcs.
THE VERDICT?
Will I be reading A Court of Silver Flames? Probably not. I just wanted to get this series finished and ultimately see what the hype surrounding this series was all about. You see this series everywhere and I honestly feel like the only reason people still pick it up is out of pure FOMO. It is massively overhyped and majourly it under-delivered for me. I have read a lot of fantasy, this was among some of the worst.
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