A Court of Wings and Ruin

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SPOILER ALERT!!

Such a fun story! I think I like the second book better (because I loved that one so much), but this one was wildly entertaining. My favorite part is learning more about each character and seeing how they develop.

The first quarter/third of this book can be difficult to read - Feyre is in essence undercover in the Spring Court, trying to undermine Tamlin's influence with his people and find out as much as he can about Hybern's plans. It was satisfying to see her wield her power, especially against the Hybern generals and Ianthe. Feyre changing Ianthe's summer ritual for her own purposes was masterful, and SO delightful to read! And her final fight again the Hybern generals was so amazing, I wanted to cheer out loud! From the perspective of reading the whole book, though, I can see how things she did undermined how Spring was able to operate in the future. Even though I can't necessarily forgive Tamlin for the way he treated Feyre, I was relieved to see he still had her back when it mattered, no matter how much it pained him to see her with Rhys.

I was shocked to find out that Jurian was playing spy! I'll admit that his motives for joining Hybern always seemed suspect - would "going crazy" being trapped in a ring truly turn him completely from his previous motives? Yes, he was going crazy obsessive at the end of his life, but would it totally change his personality? I get why he is a little hurt that Mor and the others didnt question his allegiance after all they'd been through. Hopefully he will be able to do good with Vaasa in the future.

I am SO glad Ianthe is dead and gone. What a reprehensible person, with no redeeming qualities as far as I can tell. Her ending was as perfect as if Feyre had planned it. Good riddance.

I loved getting to know so many of the other High Lords. I already liked Tarquin, so it was great to see him reconcile with Feyre and Rhys. (Also Amren + Varian = RAWR.) It was awesome to see the rest of the Lords in more detail as well -- Helion (omg that info about Lucien!!!!), Kallias and his wife Viviana, Thesan of the Dawn Court and the Peregryn soldiers, even Beron and Eris of the Autumn Court. Autumn court makes a little more sense now that Lucien's parentage is in question - his father hates his because he's not his real father, his oldest brother never tried to kill him because he knows he's not a risk.

As for the changes and develops we see in Feyre's night court family, there are a few striking developments. For one, Amren came back from her assault on Hybern and the cauldron as fully Hugh Fae, not whatever she used to be. First of all, I'm so relieved she's back, as I love her. Even when she was confusing Feyre at the cauldron, I KNEW she couldn't be betraying them. I'm super interested in seeing how Amren adjusts to life with so much less (or maybe just different) power. Second, we finally learn why Mor had kept Azriel at arm's length all these years. I totally support her right to keep her own secrets, and understand the fear she has to tell even her closest friends about her true nature. Interestingly enough, though, as much as Azriel has loved Mor for centuries, I feel like maybe he's starting to feel something for Elain as well. That in itself might lead to an interesting love triangle, and an in-depth discussion of love vs the mating bond. At the end of the book, we can see Elain extending a hand to Lucien, and perhaps start opening herself up to a relationship with him, her mate. But she and Azriel seem to have also some sort of mutual connection, and they've made a big deal about the fact that a mating bond does not give a male exclusive rights to a female. Elain still has the right to choose whom she loves and wants to be with. Obviously the discussion of the nature of mating relationships is relevant to the beginning of Feyre and Rhys' relationship, but I can't believe they talked about it so much if the issue wasn't going to come up again.

Moving onto the Feyre's sisters, even though they started off on a rough footing after they were made into Fae, I love how much their relationships with each other grew and developed over the course of the book. Nesta and Feyre especially had a lot of past history to overcome, and seeing them communicate and move past that issues was so heartwarming. Their turning point seemed to come after Feyre returned from saving Elain, and Nesta rushed to hug Feyre first and thank her. And then, when they were sleeping in the tent together, as they did as children, I was really touched, and wanted to just hug them all.

That final battle was EPIC. You have all the ancient gods that Feyre and Rhys brought out, The Bone Carver and Bryaxis and Stryga, who were just a huge surprise to everyone else and battled so amazingly. I was surprised to be quite sad when the cauldron took out the Bone Carver, even if it's what he actually wanted in the end, and when the King of Hybern took out Stryga, all I could feel was appreciation for all she had done for them.

How amazing was it when Drakon's legion and Vassa's fleet arrived? And then when it turned out that Feyre's father had been rallying troops with Vassa this whole time, I couldn't stop the shivers that went down my spine! I knew he had to have been doing SOMETHING on the continent this whole time, but to be honest, I was afraid he was going to show up on Hybern's side. I love that he named his ships after his daughters, and also that they were able to see each other, even if for a moment, before he was killed. The funeral they gave him was especially touching.

I love that it was Elain and Nesta who ended up taking out the King of Hybern. Nesta finally made good on her promise to kill the king after he changed them into Fae, and it was as majestic as it was gory. It was perfect, though, that it was unsuspected Elain who surprised him and delivered the blow that lead to his death. Dealing with the Cauldron felt almost more difficult than killing the king when you factor in the destruction and rebuilding power that was necessary. I was going to be so mad if Rhys ended up truly dead after all they had been through, so it was a relief that the Lords were willing to give parts of themselves again to help save him, especially Tamlin.

When I first started reading this series, it was partially because I thought it was a trilogy and I would be able to read all the books right away. Now that I've finished the third, I realize that there are more Court of Thorns and Roses books coming, but I'm hoping that they are more along the lines of being within the world of the books rather than an exact continuation of the story. I'm hoping that's Feyre and Rhysand's story is pretty much told, for the most part, and that future books have a different narrator and different focus. There is still a lot to learn about Nesta and Cassian's story, which I realize I hadn't mentioned until now and WHICH I LOVE, FULL CAPS, THEY ARE THE BEST AND I LOVE THEM AND WANT TO SEE MORE OF THEIR STORY. Also of interest is the love story of Lucien and Elain and maybe also Azriel, depending on where the author wants to take that. I feel like we could also follow the story of Vessa and her battle to free herself of her firebird existence, and that might also include Jurian. So there are lots of places to go with this story that wouldn't feel like you are dragging Feyre and Rhys through more pain.

I'm reminded of McCaffrey's Dragon books, where the whole world was interconnected, and you'd see characters pop up in each other's stories as the main character changed from trilogy to trilogy and story to story. I hope this ends up being something like that. But I'll have to wait and see! And wait I will. Until then!

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