Holy Moly! Sarah J. Maas has become an all-time favorite author since I began reading her books. I can’t get enough of her books and the worlds and characters she creates in them. The first time I read A Court of Wings and Ruin, I was scared to read it since I didn’t want it to end. I didn’t want to know what Sarah would put my favorite characters through with the war with King Hybern. I knew she was going to make it epic and tragic. Now that I’ve read the book a second time, I’m so happy that she continued to write more in this series after this book. I’m finally going to read the novella and the fourth book in this series since I have held it too long. But, for now, my thoughts on the third book and why it had my heart racing the whole time.
Storyline/My Thoughts: The minute I began reading A Court of Wings and Ruin, I knew my emotions would go haywire. The second book left a big cliff-hanger at the end, so this book picked up from that one.
Feyre is a kick-butt heroine in this book, and I have to say I fell even more head over heels for Rhysand in this story. He had already won me over in the first two books, but this one was over the top.
I won’t go into the story because I do not want to give anything away, especially to readers who haven’t started this series. (You are missing out if you haven’t. This is one of my favorite series by Sarah J. Maas. However, her other series are favorites, too. The ACOTAR series will stick with me because these characters always feel like family.
Here are the things I enjoyed about this book:
- Feyre has learned about her powers and strength and uses them even more in this story. She’s grown so much from the first and second books. She manages to piss off people by making plans without telling them about it. I loved a particular scene when she unleashed some of her powers with the High Lords present. They didn’t know what hit them.
- Rhysand. I seriously love the High Lord of the Night Court. He gave Feyre choices in the second book instead of locking her away as Tamlin did, and he keeps having her decide in the third book. He has to trust her to do what she has to do in the Spring Court with Tamlin after what happened at the end of the second book. It’s not going to be easy for him, but he sucks it up. The other Inner Circle members are not happy about it. When Rhys and Feyre reunite, everyone knows to disperse and give them time together. Rhysand has now managed to go on the top of my list of all-time favorite book boyfriends above all others. How he treated Feyre, and his other exceptional qualities made him go on my list. Seriously, Sarah can write such fantastic male leads in her stories that are unforgettable.
- All the High Lords are introduced, and I liked learning about them. I especially loved learning some secrets about them and how Feyre won some over, and others didn’t trust her or Rhysand. I wish we could get books of some of them, not all of them, though. Not Beron! I couldn’t stand him.
- Feyre’s sisters grew on me in this book, especially towards the end. I was not too fond of Nesta at the beginning of the series, especially how she treated Feyre, but she won me over. Elain bugged me with how she treated Lucien, but I can understand why she has not accepted their bond yet. She doesn’t know him. I can’t wait to read their books.
- Cassian, Azriel, Amren, and Mor….I can’t get enough of these characters and hope each one gets their own happily ever after, especially after learning so much more about them in this book. Mor did tick me off until she confessed to Feyre something in this book that made me understand her better.
- The bargains that Feyre made to get help for the war against the King. I was scared for her when she made those bargains, but the ones she got assistance from saw something in her that had them helping her. She will forever be a kick-butt heroine to me.
- The ending, oh gosh, that ending. This book friggin’ wrecked me at the end, and I had to take a moment to breathe after reading it. I couldn’t believe what Sarah did to one certain chararcter. I almost didn’t forgive her. I felt for ALL the characters during the ending of this book. Remember, I think of them as family, and I don’t like them getting hurt.
I could go on and on with my favorite things about this book, but the review would be too long.
I give this book five stars, and if you haven’t read the first two books, I highly recommend you do because you’ll want to read them in order. Otherwise, if you don’t read in order, you’ll not get the full story behind what’s going on, especially with Feyre.
Sarah J. Maas has become an auto-buy author for me, and my husband and children may be jealous of Sarah. I’ve spent so much time reading Sarah’s books in the last two years (catching up on some of them and rereading). I’ve reread the TOG series and finally read her Crescent City series, and now I’m doing a read-through of her ACOTAR series. My husband didn’t realize that I reread books until he saw the tabs I had in the ACOTAR. I’ve mentioned to him why I buy the physical books because once I’ve read them and they become favorites, I want to be able to return to them repeatedly. Thanks, Sarah J. Maas, for writing these amazing stories for your readers to read.
Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the ACOTAR series, and I highly recommend reading in order.
Steam/Spice: ⭐️ ⭐️
Would I recommend this book/series? Yes. I highly recommend this book/series to readers who enjoy New Adult Fantasy stories.