Book review for a court of wings and ruin by sarah j maas

Blog Post 12:

Disclaimer: Do NOT read this review if you have not read ACOTAR, ACOMAF or ACOWAR. Book: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Author: Sarah J Maas
Page Number: 699 Pages
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3/ 5 stars

Note: If you are a Sarah J Maas stan or an ACOTAR series fan, this review is probably not for you. I just finished reading ACOWAR and I’m using this space to rant.

I’ve never gotten why people get so hyped over Sarah J Maas’s books.

This book only raises my confusion.

I’ll agree that ACOWAR is better than ACOMAF, (even if I gave it a lower rating than ACOMAF), I didn’t like several aspects of this book, hence the 3 stars.

Here is my rant:

1. Characters: 

• Rhysand: I’m sorry to say this but he has the personality of a brick. He only does two things in the entirety of the book: Flirt with Feyre or become a martyr and wish to self sacrifice himself. Where did the Rhysand from the first book go? This one only cackles at Feyre’s poor jokes (once or twice is fine but she could do literally anything and Rhysand would smirk, or Feyre would feel laughter down the mating bond and etc.). I know this is a super unpopular opinion.. but Rhysand, for me, is bland in ACOMAF and ACOWAR.
• Feyre:  A lot of her actions annoyed me. ALSO can we please talk about what a hypocrite she is? She spent the entire second book and even the beginning of the third book complaining how no one in the Spring Court helped her even when they knew she was suffering. Then in the beginning of the third book, there is a guard getting 21 lashes (for no reason but stupid Ianthe set him up). Feyre did NOTHING to help him. She had the full capability of stopping the lashes or at least taking away the guard’s pain with her powers much like how Rhysand did in the first book. But she chose to do nothing. And THEN she had the AUDACITY on the next page to expect an apology from the other guards in the court for letting her suffer in ACOMAF. I was angry because Feyre expected the guard to help her when she’s in pain but she doesn’t extend that courtesy when there was a guard in front of her getting whipped? Hypocrite much? Anyways, onto the next point. I found it hilarious that every time Feyre opened her mouth to speak, everyone else would act as if she was a goddess speaking the most wisest words in the world. In reality, her “words of wisdom” were actually quite plain. Sarah J Maas usually writes this so then she can write in the next sentence: “She felt pride through the mating bond.”. Wow….. Feyre could literally ramble about anything and Rhysand and the Inner Circle would listen to those words as if they were the most precious thing they’ve ever heard. For example, when Feyre and Lucien are running from Lucien’s brother and Cassian and Azriel finally come to the rescue, Feyre says: “I am the High Lady of the Night Court.” The very next sentence was something like: “Feyre could feel the pride coming off of Cassian”. WHY? She merely stated a fact that was less than ten words… Why was Cassian reacting like she stated some fancy monologue? 

Another scene that ticked me off was when Feyre ran off to the Suriel without telling Mor where she was going. When Mor got mad at her and told her that she was going out of her mind because she was worried for Feyre, Feyre’s response was so unrelated and unnecessary. She basically spun it back to Mor and was like: SO WHAT?? YOU HAVE FEELINGS FOR AZRIEL! Uhhh… what does that have anything to do with the conversation?
Sidenote: This is getting long but whatever happened to Feyre’s painting skills? 
“The movement was so perfect that I knew I’d one day paint it.” 
I haven’t seen Feyre paint since she returned from the Spring Court. I get she’s busy with the war and stuff, but she wasn’t too busy to keep from flirting with Rhysand.

• Nesta: Loved her… but the “I’m too cool for you” act was getting a bit tiresome by the end
• Elain: Is she even relevant to this story?
• AMREN: I LOVE HER.. that’s it. No rant here.
• Varian: Amren and him were so random. Not everyone needs a love interest.
• My Mate: I saw someone say that there were about 200 “My mate” quotes in this book. Every time this “m” word was mentioned, it made me almost rip out my hair. Enough said.
• Hybern: When SJM said “Hybern” what did she even mean? Hybern stands for the king, the kingdom, the location, etc. So whenever she just said “Hybern”, which she did countless times, I was so confused. Which meaning of the word was she referencing?
• Nesta’s Powers: Am I the only one confused on the specifics of Nesta’s powers? I get her powers are about death but what specifically can she do?
• THE ENDING: I could rant about the ending for days! The ending was just so….lame

Hello? I thought this was a high stakes war! And not a single soul dies? Not even Amren who SJM JUST HAD TO REVIVE FROM THE DEAD?! I love Amren but that ending was such a bad way to conclude. It was like a gift wrapped up in bows. Rhysand was dead and there was no way he could have possibly come back to life since he was already Fae. The spell from all the high lords shouldn’t have worked but WHY NOT MAKE IT WORK since you WANT TO GIVE US A PERFECT ENDING!!! Amren literally sacrificed herself and died beautifully. AND THEN SHE CAME TO LIFE AGAIN! It took away the entire meaning of her death! Oh and all the super powerful creatures that were actually somewhat interesting (Bone Carver, Weaver) were killed off in seconds. Wow… just wow. And you’re telling me, that when all those creatures died, Elane magically survived and was able to kill the king? Ok then….

• Confusing Plot: I’m so glad that this book actually had a plot unlike ACOMAF and ACOTAR. It had action scenes and actually kept me from going insane and rating this book a one star. The plot made this book interesting. However, the plans in this book made no sense whatsoever. Didn’t Amren tell everyone that if the Bone Carver were to come out of the prison, it would just have to bind itself to a normal Fae body? Then how was it able to come out as the Bone Carver in the end? This is just one of the many things I’m confused about in this book. 

To sum it up, I did not particularly love this series. It was ok. I don’t get the hype over these characters because they all seem pretty bland to me. The first book (ACOTAR) was the only good one. It only went downhill from there.

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