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A Court of Wings and Ruin is the third book in the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas, and it's wild. The book starts with Feyre spying on the Spring Court for Rhys, pretending to be Tamlin's faithful wife again so she can undermine his Court from the inside.

I absolutely adored the first part of the book. I love how clever Feyre was, setting up the destruction of the Spring Court while no one knew what she was planning. The way she tricked Tamlin was gold.

After she returns to the Night Court, war breaks out between Hybern and Prythian. She goes on a quest to find the Cauldron, an ancient source of magic that might just stop the war. But not all of the Courts are willing to help her, and she will have to call on other magical creatures and forces to aid her in her search.

I didn't like this part of the book as much. It felt very aimless to me, and drawn out for so long that the plot points lost all meaning. I wasn't bored, exactly, but the plot just felt wrong to me, as if something were missing. It was pretty straightforward in the beginning—find the Cauldron, destroy Hybern—but then a bunch of subplots were introduced. Feyre had to make deals with spirits and gods, she had to avoid Hybern—it was just... a lot, and yet too little at the same time. What do I mean by "too little?" Well...

The pacing was dreadful. That doesn't mean I was bored.
The plot built up far too quickly. Unlike in Throne of Glass, where the plot built gradually and climaxed in KoA, the plot here came out of nowhere. The villain, the King of Hybern, was so one-dimensional and uninteresting. His motives didn't make sense, the little history that was thrown in was so random and didn't help make him a better character at all, and his death was so unsatisfying. The character who killed him... well, I'm not going to spoil it, but I don't think they were the right character to do the job. See the spoilery section for more on that.

This series would have been better as just a regular romance, without all this... plot. I only really cared about the Inner Circle anyway. If it were just a faerie romance with great side characters and a found family, I would. Not. Care. That's all I want. Adding a whole epic plotline to the story just drags it down. I much preferred the more introspective ACOMAF.



I really, really loved Feyre in ACOMAF, and now? Not so much. She has too many powers. She can do everything the High Lords can and more. I love how she's the first High Lady, but honestly, she has every power and it gets annoying when she can do basically anything.

However, there are still times when I like Feyre more than Aelin. She's more mild and less overbearing, and I like that in a protagonist. She's persistent when she needs to be, and determined to learn. She understands the meaning of responsibility.



Rhys before the mating bond is superior to Rhys after the mating bond. For one, he was less protective in the beginning of ACOMAF versus ACOWAR. I'm tired of overprotective, aggressive male characters. I miss the Rhysand of ACOMAF, the one with a sharp sense of humor and patient respect for Feyre. He still has some of the traits he exhibited earlier, but they're dimmed in the face of his overpowering maleness that can sometimes turn into toxic masculinity. Thank you, next.




🚨🚨🚨SPOILERS AHEAD, PROCEED WITH CAUTION🚨🚨🚨




Elain killed the King of Hybern and I am angry.
She's incapable of doing anything useful and everyone, including the other characters, consistently forgets she exists. How am I supposed to believe she sneaked up behind the big baddie and stabbed him? How is she the hero here? Okay, maybe this is her big moment, when she overcomes her fear and does something awesome, but... where's the buildup?
I have a theory that NoBrain Elain is actually whip-smart and pretends to be meek and helpless just to manipulate everyone around her. And I have evidence.

1. One of Elain's only lines of dialogue is, "I hope they all burn in hell." And everyone is shocked because she likes gardens and flowers and she hardly ever talks so they all think she's weak. But what if this is just Elain's true side showing through?

2. She holds all of the characters in the palm of her hand. Nesta is obsessed with protecting her. Azriel is in love with her. Feyre will do anything to save her when she gets captured, and so Rhys likes her too just because Feyre does. They risked all of their lives just to sneak into Hybern's camp and save her, despite the fact that she has done nothing useful this entire book. What if she's manipulating them all, using them for her own gain?


That's my wild theory. Have fun with it.


At the end of the book, Amren sacrifices herself to destroy Hybern. This had the potential to be a really powerful, touching moment. But no. She got brought back from the dead because no one EVER dies in fantasy books. And this makes me mad. Her sacrifice lost all of its pain because there were literally no consequences.



🚨🚨🚨SPOILERS HAVE ENDED🚨🚨🚨





NoBrain Elain
Written by Sofia

NoBrain Elain puts me in pain
Her stupid shenanigans make me mad again
She's a pointless character who does nothing
But add to my unending suffering
She never talks, but everyone loves her
Maybe it's trauma, but I still suffer
She gets into trouble and everyone cries
I just smile and hope she dies
She belongs with Tamlin, that much is true
If she ends with Azriel, I will sue
Nesta may be angering, but at least she's not this
I would banish Elain from this earth with my last wish
Elain, Elain
NoBrain Elain
Nobody cares about your pain
This may sound harsh, but rest assured
The whole book community thinks you're absurd



3.5 stars

ACOTAR review

ACOMAF review