Book Review: “A Court of Wings and Ruin” by Sarah J. Maas
Håfa adai! Welcome to my spoiler-free review of A Court of Wings and Ruin, the third book of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.
This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.
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Spoiler-Free Plot Summary
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, but not as the bride-to-be of High Lord Tamlin. Feyre is playing a dangerous game of espionage to gather information on Tamlin’s treasonous movements and learn more about the king threatening to invade Prythian. She must quickly learn to balance her newly-discovered abilities amidst her place among High Fae Courts. And a single mistake could put her life and the lives of those she cares about on the line as she works to take down a Lord from within his own Court. Loyalties shift, friendships are tested, and deceit and betrayals come to the surface. When war finally arrives, even the Wall separating Prythian from the Mortal Lands is under threat. A Court of Wings and Ruin, the third installment in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, continues Feyre’s fanciful, dangerous, and erotic journey through the world of Prythian and the courts of the High Fae.
My Thoughts on A Court of Wings and Ruin: 3.5 stars
I give A Court of Wings and Ruin 3.5 out of 5 stars. There were aspects of this book that I honestly appreciated—world building, character complexity, representations of trauma, the importance of platonic friendship, LGBT+ representation—but I found myself going through the story out of obligation to finish it as opposed to a genuine desire to engage with it. A couple side notes I want to include relate to the book cover and scenes of intimacy, which may be important to some readers. The book covers in this edition of the ACOTAR series are absolutely beautiful to look at. The ACOTAR book covers catch my attention pretty quickly. And this story is erotic, which is something that many enjoy. Scenes of sex and intimacy in A Court of Wings and Ruin are graphic, taking a literal and explicit approach to describing the physical act of sex. So this story would be more appropriate to readers above a certain age group and for those who are more comfortable with such scenes.
Aspects of Sarah J. Maas’ writing that I always have a deep appreciation for are her world building, character complexity, and representations of trauma. Books 1, 2, and 3 of this series feature highly detailed environments and settings, include dynamic and emotionally diverse characters, and depict the effects of trauma with empathy and care. In A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J. Maas touches on the incredible support networks that are constructed within platonic friendships. This story features the importance of such bonds and the type of love and care that exists between individuals. Sarah J. Maas also does not shy away from the horrifying deeds and violent actions perpetrated by those whose minds are informed by harmful gender roles and homophobia.
The aspects of A Court of Wings and Ruin that I did not entirely appreciate include (1) the magic system, (2) the mating bond, (3) an intriguing set up followed up with a disappointing pay off, and (4) seemingly zero consequences for the main cast of characters . I have already gone into detail about the limitless magic system in my reviews of A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury, so I won’t go draw it out again in this review. But I do want to talk about these other points.
As I have said before, Sarah J. Maas is incredibly skilled at world building and character complexity. This makes the mating bond even more strange to me. I know I went into some detail about this in my review of A Court of Mist and Fury, so I am going to touch upon a different aspect of it here. One particular character’s loyalty shifts from a certain character to another character because of that other character’s connection to someone they have a mating bond with. It was not the awful actions of the certain character that fully pushed this shift, but the mating bond. It feels as if the presence of the mating bond removes agency from these complex and well-thought out characters. As I said in the review for the previous book, this series can do without the mating bond completely.
The third aspect of A Court of Wings and Ruin that did not quite sit well with me concerns a disappointing pay off. Feyre effectively committed treason and espionage in more than one Court in A Court of Mist and Fury. Those actions would have set up incredibly complex conflicts for the rest of the series. Although there are some complexities and inconveniences that arise from these actions, they felt lackluster and disappointing. I was expecting greater consequences to arise from this, but it did not play out the way I had hoped it would.
Finally, there seem to be zero consequences for the main cast of characters in the ACOTAR series. What was a minor annoyance in A Court of Thorns and Roses made me want to throw A Court of Wings and Ruin out the window. We are now in Book 3 and, although some minor characters are killed off in this book, nothing actually happens to the main cast of characters. And it is such a shame because Sarah J. Maas has done such a fantastic job of making me care about these individuals! I was worried about one of my favorite characters because they were gravely injured twice… and then were completely healed twice. And then there is a scene that would have been utterly heartbreaking if Sarah J. Maas committed to it. But the emotional turmoil that the reader feels at the end of one chapter is completely undone in a following chapter. Maybe it’s just me?! Maybe I am a cynic. The characters are definitely traumatized! I do not want to lose sight of that. But it almost feels like a wasted opportunity for Sarah J. Maas to so masterfully create a cast of characters that the reader truly cares about only for nothing of mortal consequence to happen to them.
In closing, as has been my experience with Sarah J. Maas’ writing, I truly enjoyed her world building in A Court of Wings and Ruin, she paints a wonderful picture of character complexity and the importance of friendship, and I appreciate that she treats representations of trauma with genuine empathy and respect. I also like that Feyre’s sisters play more of a role in each book as the series progresses. So far in the ACOTAR series, I would have to say that A Court of Mist and Fury is my favorite. And I give A Court of Wings and Ruin and A Court of Thorns as Roses the same rating, but for different reasons. In this third installment of the series, there was a setup that was paid off in a disappointing way and there were aspects of the story that give me “the ick.” I found myself using a lot of energy to just get through the story but, all in all, A Court of Wings and Ruin is not a terrible book. I may not have been completely into it and I know I will not be revisiting this story, but I also know a lot of people who really enjoy this series.
Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas.
Rating Cheat Sheet
4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.
Post Date: 18 November 2024
Published: 2 May 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
