Book Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3)

I’m not really sure how I’m going to review A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3) by Sarah J. Maas. When I become so completely engrossed in a story, I always have a harder time trying to be objective when I review it. I’m a pleasure reader, which means that I just read for the joy and entertainment of it which leads me to being a much more lenient reviewer than most people. I will give a book 5 stars just because I found it entertaining… Yup, I’m that type of person. SUE ME.

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

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.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling 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.

This book was everything that a finale should be. It had epic battles, heartwarming (and heartbreaking) moments, thrilling twists and turns, and a conclusion that will leave you breathless. Let’s not forget that it was 700 pages long which really helped the story build and gave you the time to savor every moment of it. If only Marie Lu had done that for The Midnight Star… But I digress!

I think that the pacing for this novel was solid. It was a tad slow for the first 50 pages or so while it focuses on Feyre doing some spying and secret destruction at the Spring Court. This part of the book was actually my least favorite, as it was a little less exciting than what I had originally imagined it to be. Truth be told, I didn’t really like Feyre while she was there, nor did I agree with most of her decisions. However, things start to pick up once she returns to the Night Court and the excitement never stops from there.

And of course, all of our favorite characters show up in this book. The entire Inner Circle is present and we get to learn a little more about each of them. Can I just say that I’m kind of obsessed with Azriel? There’s just something about him that I’m totally drawn to. Though I do appreciate Cassian’s humor so damn much, not to mention that he made me cry during one part of this book. Seriously, y’all. Cassian broke my heart and made me cry! And of course Rhysand and Feyre are just the best. I really enjoyed watching Feyre become such a strong person in this book. She’s really taken charge of her life and I loved that. We also get to really get to know Nesta and Elain in this book and I have to say that Nesta gives me life. She’s soooo damn sassy and is just a bad bitch, and I love it. She’s really the only person who can handle Cassian and I ship those two to the moon and back. I was a little disappointed by the lack of Lucien though. He’s been one of my favorites since the first book and I didn’t particularly like how Maas kind of excludes him from most of this story. I hope she makes up for it in the future novels though!

I think my main issues with this book were Feyre’s time in the Spring Court, as I mentioned earlier, and the sex scenes. It’s not that sex scenes bother me really, but I felt like there were just SO MANY. Okay sure, 2, maybe 3 if you feel they really add to the overall story… But that was not the case here. I really wish that I had kept a count of all of the sex scenes but I honest to God think that they approached the 10 mark. No lie. I do think that there were a few times where they were organic and did contribute to the story, but the rest basically only showed you that our main couple are just horny as hell. I think Maas could’ve definitely gotten that point across without actually having to go into it.

However, even with the extraneous sex scenes, this book was SO DAMN GOOD. That ending literally killed me. I ugly cried for a good 15 minutes over it and when a book makes me ugly cry, then you know I’m completely invested in the story. Seriously, if you haven’t given this series a try, then I highly recommend that you do. The first book takes a bit to get into, but I promise that the overall journey is worth it.

Final Verdict: 5/5 stars

Have you read A Court of Wings and Ruin? What did you think of it? Do you think this was a good ending to Rhysand and Feyre’s story?