A Court of Wings and Ruin Review: Highly Disappointing As Compared To Its Exceptionally Enthralling Predecessor
I waited for almost a year for this book. The day it went up on Amazon, I was one of the first fans to place an order for it. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. Since I was so excited for the book, it is obvious that I had my hopes high like really HIGH. There were a lot of mysteries and histories to be revealed in the book. In my head, I built my own theories and wanted to see if my guess was right. But sadly, not all the mysteries lived up to the hype I created in my head. Now I don’t know if it was my fault that I expected too much from this book or if I was actually misled into hoping for some great action and revelation. I rated its predecessor, A Court of Mist and Fury a 10 on 5 so it was natural for me to hope the third book to take it a notch higher from there but unfortunately for me, it slipped several notches. Though I still love the series and will surely go for the next book, I am still disappointed by the fact that this book was not as good as I wanted it to be.
Let’s have a look at why I was so disappointed with the book.
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
Synopsis: Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, to Tamlin. But this time she is on a mission. While she pretends to be back with Tamlin she has to discreetly gather information that she can use against the King of Hybern who aims to rule over the whole of Prythian.
Points I Liked About A Court of Wings and Ruin
Nesta and Cassian: A new couple was formed in ACOWAR and that was of Rhys’s commander, Cassian and Feyre’s elder sister, Nesta. Initially, Nesta came across as a haughty and grumpy character so I did not like her at first. I found her very annoying especially the way she would keep to herself and not mingle with the others. She had her owns reasons for being aloof but I found it a little too much after a point of time. However, her character went through a lot of changes in the book and I gradually started liking her. The fact that Nesta hates Cassian but still finds herself drawn towards him makes me root real hard for them. The two of them are strong and ruthless which makes them alike which is why they are always at loggerheads. Whenever there was a scene between the two of them I would feel overly excited because the writer would describe the look in Cassian’s eyes, the sensuous heat flashing in his eyes at the sight of Nesta, which would make me impatient to see them together as soon as possible. Nesta too shared the same feelings for Cassian as even when she looked restrained she was also evidently worried each time Cassian was hurt. However, the two of them never admit their feelings in the book and I am now eagerly waiting for them to do so in the next book.
Points I Did Not Like About A Court of Wings and Ruin
Story: The book started off well. At least the first 30% was gripping. The book starts with Feyre returning to the Spring court to her ex, Tamlin but only as a spy for the Night court. Her stay at the Spring court and her subsequent escape was an interesting read. But that was it. The book reached a high point and then staggered its way to the end. I finished the first part of the book in one sitting but thereafter it became a struggle for me because the story got really boring from there. Though I did like the meeting where all the High Lords come together to plan for the imminent war, every other event thereafter seemed lukewarm and even rushed sometimes. The war scenes too had no impact on me as I did not find it very thrilling. Also, I felt that Feyre and Rhys had much more chemistry in ACOMAF that they had in this book.
This series was supposed to end with this book and I personally feel that the extension to 5 books affected the writing in this book. It is very likely that the writer, Sarah J. Maas must have developed the story for a trilogy but since it became a hit, the series got extended and she probably had to re-think the story-lines and drag it a bit to ensure that it has sufficient content for the two extra books. Had the story ended here, I am sure it would have been neatly tied up because Maas is an extremely talented story teller but that didn’t happen and it clearly impacted this book.
Final View: I have no complaints from Sarah J. Maas’s writing or the whole ‘Court’ series. I was just left a little disappointed by this book. After the gripping ‘A Court of Mist and Fury’ I was seeking something more thrilling which was missing in this book. I hope the next two books cover up for this one.
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