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Basically: Not what I expected, and not exactly in a good way.

ACOWAR was one of my most anticipated books for this year, so I canā€™t deny that Iā€™m a little disappointed. Donā€™t get me wrong- this wasnā€™t bad, hence the three stars. It's not that I hated it; it's just that I completely expected for this book to blow me away. (It didnā€™t.)

1. More Unrealistic Perfection

Am I the only one who tires of all the perfection in this book? Or, at least, all the ā€œgoodā€� High Fae are legendary warriors, have some magical gimmick that makes them special, and have hearts of pure glittering gold. I noticed that the characters from this series share the same base characteristics as those in ToG- I was surprised that (view spoiler)[Aelin (hide spoiler)] didnā€™t suddenly pop out of the middle of nowhere waving her sword. Almost everything goes well for our admirable band of heroes- (view spoiler)[every battle they won, every escape attempt was successful, every potentially life-threatening injury was healed- (hide spoiler)] though admittedly, they did endure their fair share of harrowing experiences and tragedy. I know her other books are like this, too, but for some reason, it didnā€™t really bother me as much until ACOWAR.

2. The Romance Excessive Crooning and Rhysandā€™s Violet Eyes

I liked the first two books, probably because I like reading about the slow burn of a relationship. Two completely different people learning how to joke with each other, trust each other- even love each other. However, in this book, it is CRYSTAL CLEAR that Rhysand and Feyre are 1000000000% in love and CONSTANTLY REFERRING TO THEMSELVES AS ā€œMATESā€�. Like, YEAH, RHYSAND, WE GET IT. Sheā€™s your MATE. The HIGH LADY. And yes, Feyre, we know that Rhysand is your favorite ā€œmaleā€�. You donā€™t have to constantly nip at each other all the time. SHUDDER.

me basically throughout the entire book:

rhysand: sheā€™s the high lady of the night court

me: yeah feyre! you go!

rhysand: sheā€™s my mate, the high lady

me: mhm we know

rhysand: sheā€™s my mate, my mate, my

me: *hurls shoe* shut UP

Thereā€™s also only so many times you can read about Rhysand crooning. Iā€™ve noticed that Sarah J. Maas tends to repeat certain words throughout all of her books. Every time I saw the words ā€œpurrā€� or ā€œsmirkā€� or ā€œviolet eyesā€� I sank lower into my seat (by the time I finished the book I was practically on the floor). I also found myself skimming over most of her steamy scenes- so, like, 40% of the book. And as many other reviewers have pointed out, she uses so much animal imagery when describing them. Personally, not really my thing. I mean, Iā€™m surprised that Rhys and Feyre didnā€™t just transform into mating tigers.

However, I would also like to note that the book also included other slow burn relationships and solid friendships that I enjoyed far more than Rhysand and Feyreā€™s little trysts.(view spoiler)[Lucien and Elain, Cassian and Nesta, the Night Court fam, and so on. (hide spoiler)]

3. Villains & The Heroes

Another significant problem I had: the King of Hybern. Heā€™s supposed to be the ultimate enemy; in fact, the entire series builds up to meeting him in all his cruel glory. But his introduction was soā€� how do I say it?ā€� anticlimactic. In my opinion, the King of Hybern was a one-dimensional villain with no purpose other than to serve as the ā€œbad guyā€� that Feyre & Crew fight against. Put simply, Old Mr. Hybern was so evil it was boring. I know, I know, heā€™s supposed to be bad and all that, but I wished the author added more to his character. At least our dear Amarantha had a backstory- which still doesnā€™t excuse her actions- but I know nothing about Hybern other than the fact that he wants to enslave humans and has magicky powers. Or maybe I missed something? Jurian, however, was much more fleshed-out and surprisingly complex, and donā€™t judge me for this, but he ended up becoming one of my favorite new characters!

The Suriel, the Bone Carver, and the Weaver, were also all very interesting, morally ambiguous characters that deserved so much more. (view spoiler)[Suriel... You will be missed. (hide spoiler)] On the other hand, Feyre & Crew stagger under the weight of a heck ton of plot armorā€� mountains of it, in fact. (view spoiler)[Seriously, both Feyre and Rhysand die and come back to life, albeit through magic, and all of a sudden these powerful, vicious entities agree to fight for them in the war. (hide spoiler)]

4. The Plot

Alas, I predicted that ending from a mile away. The pacing inched toward awkwardness in many portions of the book- especially during the *ahem* amorous sessions *coughs* and it was just incredibly cheesy. I know that Feyre & Crew deserved happiness after everything theyā€™ve experienced- maybe Iā€™ve just grown too accustomed to heart-wrenching epilogues (Iā€™m looking at you, Marie Lu).

Also, quite a few people have already pointed this out, but the ā€œdiverseā€� aspects of the book seemed a little forced. Regardless, it is not my intention to denounce the author; I admire Sarah J. Maas so much for her ability to weave different worlds together and keep on doing her thing despite all the backlash she receives. I know that Iā€™ve mostly just criticized the book so far, but as I stated in the beginning, there were quite a few other parts that I enjoyed, which, again, is why I gave it three stars.

5. What I Enjoyed

First of all, that gradual sisterly love made my heart melt. I loved that Sarah J. Maas thankfully emphasized the strength and power of not only romantic ā€œmatingā€� bonds, but sibling relationships. Though I never really took to Nesta, I eventually began to admire how the author portrayed her stubbornness and vicious spirit. Sarah J. Maas developed her character excellently- Nesta eventually grew up and learned to let others in (though, understandably, she was quite traumatized after that whole Cauldron ordeal). Elain is probably hands-down one of my favorite characters in this series. Her gentle nature proves that you donā€™t have to be stubborn, mean, and vicious to be strong. Sheā€™s too pure for Prythian. And Az, as usual, was my little shadow baby and I will continue to cry for him forever. (view spoiler)[Donā€™t kill me for this, but I was starting to slightly ship Az and Elainā€� I know! Moving on! (hide spoiler)]

I still disapprove of Tamlin and his overly macho act, (view spoiler)[but Sarah J. Maas eventually redeems him, in a way, making him not appear as buffoonish as he initially seemed. (hide spoiler)] It would be unrealistic to paint him as a COMPLETE tool, especially since she spent the entire ACOTAR describing how he and Feyre were ā€œin loveā€�. (view spoiler)[Also, another new character: Viviane! Iā€™m surprised that I enjoyed reading about her so much, and her friendship with Mor starkly contrasted with the tensions apparent between the High Lords. I can totally see Viviane and Mor gossiping over tea about everything: the latest trends, how many monsters theyā€™ve killed, how idiotic their High Lords are. (hide spoiler)]

Sarah J. Maas introduces many more new characters without really developing them, which confused and irritated me before I realized that she was probably just leaving her options open for the spin-off series she has planned.

6. In Conclusion

All problems aside, I applaud Sarah J. Maas for another hugely popular book, although it might not have exactly met my expectations. Admittedly, my expectations were pretty high. (I bought this nearly two weeks after the release date, and the saleslady informed me I had taken the last copy and that it was their most popular novel!)

ACOWAR was mildly disappointing, but I still wouldnā€™t have missed this series for the world. Iā€™m glad that Feyre and Rhysandā€™s arc is finally over, but Iā€™m looking forward to those spin-off novels and still curious as to where Sarah J. Maas will take us next.