Hey everyone!
The next in my marathon blog posting for April is the first
book I finished in the month of April, A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOWAR) by
Sarah J. Maas. It was my first book finished in April. I started it March 31st
and finished it on April 11th. I gave it a 5/5 stars on Goodreads.
Caution: like all my other book reviews this post may
contain spoilers! Proceed at your own risk!
Like the other two books in this series I absolutely LOVED
ACOWAR. This is probably one of my favorite book series I’ve read in a long
time and immediately upon finishing it I placed a preorder for the next book in
the series, A Court of Frost and Starlight, which will be released on May 1, 2018.
I’m already looking forward to it.
So the book picks up where A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAF)
left off. Rhysand and Feyre are mates and she’s become the High Lady of the
Night Court but she’s tricked Tamlin into thinking that she was brainwashed and
wants him back so she’s back in the Spring Court as a spy. Tamlin buys her
whole story without question but Lucien is justifiably suspicious (mostly because
he’s not a dumbass like Tamlin). She gathers information while working to
undermine Tamlin and the high priestess Ianthe (seriously she’s the only person
I hate more than Tamlin) even as scouts from Hybern come to look at the wall
and the holes in it. On one of these expeditions the pair from Hybern kill some
of the faerie worshipping humans who cross the wall, butchering them like
animals and not long after Feyre slips up. She ends up taking control of Ianthe’s
mind and forcing her to beat her hand with a rock. Her powers are found out by
the Hybern pair and she and Lucien flee the Spring Court. The two of them cross
through the Autumn Court where they end up pursued by Lucien’s awful older
brothers into the Winter Court where they are ultimately saved by Cassian and
Azriel and taken back to the Night Court. In the Night Court, preparations are already
happening for a meeting with the other courts while Feyre’s sisters are trying to
come to terms with their new status as high fae (and the fact that Lucien is
Elain’s mate). Rhysand and the group meet with the Court of Nightmares,
including Mor’s father, and reveal that Rhys has made a deal with Lucien’s
brother, Eris, who once brutalized Mor following their failed betrothal. A lot
of trust ends up lost between the two but finally the high lords manage to meet
in one place. After Tamlin arrives late and tries to bait Rhys and Feyre into a
fight, a fight does break out between Azriel (defending Mor) and Eris, leading the
Autumn Court to leave in a huff. The alliance ends up being formed and they
spend the night despite Feyre’s sister Nesta’s bad feeling. It’s the next day
when they all feel the reason for the bad feelings, Hybern uses the cauldron
to destroy the wall, accelerating the arrival of the war. The end of the book is
all about the war. After the initial battle with Hybern, Feyre goes to meet
with the Suriel once again to find out information but finds that Ianthe and
some others have laid a trap. After defeating them, Feyre leads Ianthe directly
to the Weaver who devours her (and there was much rejoicing). It is also
discovered that Jurian is secretly on their side. Upon returning Elain is taken
by Hybern and Azriel takes Feyre to the camp in secret to take her back. They
are aided in their escape by Jurian and Tamlin, although Azriel is gravely
injured. Before their last stand against Hybern, the high fae in the group
winnow as many humans out of the crossfire as possible to the summer court for
safety. Then the battle begins. Between Feyre and Rhysand they have managed to enlist
the help of both the Weaver and the Bone Carver (monstrous siblings, death gods
from another world), as well as Bryaxis, a nightmare creature that resides in a
pit in the bottom of the Night Court’s library. They help cut through Hybern’s
forces but then the king uses the cauldron to split apart the armies and
destroy people. Feyre and Amren make their way to the cauldron but instead of destroying
the cauldron Amren has been finding a way to use the cauldron to unbind her celestial
form from it’s faerie body and she is unleashed in her full power. With Tamlin’s
forces joining them along with those of the Autumn Court, the forces of the lost
Human Queen that Lucien found, and a group of winged warriors who were lost they
manage to defeat Hybern and Feyre and Rhysand repair the cauldron to end the
fight. But Rhysand is dead. Feyre begs the other high lords to bring him back and
they help her (even Tamlin who is still a douchbag). In coming back form death,
Rhysand is able to bring Amren back with him, now just a normal high fae. And
the book ends with the world brought back to normal, albeit in need of repair.
Like I said, I loved this book. It has the right mix of
action and adventure and the continuing romances as Rhysand and Feyre’s
relationship just gets stronger (Feysand FOREVER) while adding the tentative
beginnings of Elain and Lucien and a budding relationship between Cassian and
Nesta (seriously Nessain might be my favorite relationship above even the
Feysand one). I thoroughly enjoyed the fittingly brutal ending to Ianthe (and
the fact that you find out that Helion, the High Lord of the Day Court, arrives
to strike Rhysand’s bargain with the Weaver in the middle of her being devoured
and does nothing). I love how you finally see Lucien away from Tamlin’s terrible
influence and him navigating his budding relationship with Elain and their
mating bond. I love the Night Court’s cast of characters and how there is
literally something for everyone in the book. It also has a strong LGBTQ+
presence in the fact that one of the High Lords, Thesan of the Dawn Court, is
in a relationship with his Captain of the Guard, and Morrigan reveals herself to
be bisexual. I like seeing better representation of minorities in fantasy books.
I finished this book on April 11th and rated it a
5/5 on goodreads. I can’t wait to read the next book and see where the series
goes now that Rhysand and Feyre’s story is over.
Happy Reading,
Richelle and Emma
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