Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin

Posted on May 15, 2017 inFiction, YA

A Court of Wings and Ruin is the final book in the Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy. It is the continuing story of Feyre, a mortal turned immortal, and her journey in the faerie realm of Prythian. This is a beloved fantasy series, and an author, Sarah J. Maas, that is new to me this year. (Check out my reviews of the first two books in the series HERE and HERE.) The novels are incredibly engaging, and while they are long, they are fast-paced and don’t feel long. The first two books really built up the world of Prythian. The third tore it apart, both literally and figuratively.

I have lots of thoughts about this.

Sarah J. Maas is a great storyteller and world builder, and after thinking that A Court of Mist and Fury was even better than A Court of Thorns and Roses, I couldn’t wait to read the third book. I don’t want to give a negative review, because I know how difficult it is to write a sentence, much less an entire book, much less an entire series. And I would say if you’re a fan of this series, don’t skip this book. If you enjoy reading fantasy series, definitely include this entire series on your to-read list. But I really was expecting more from Maas. The essence of the characters was there, but their actions within the plot really didn’t fit. The writing didn’t feel the same as the first two. Not quite sloppy, but not as strong. Whether this was a result of Maas being under whatever contract she’s under that requires her to produce a book every year for two different series (she also writes the Throne of Glass series), I’m not sure. Something usually has to give under that kind of pressure, and unfortunately I think in this case it was the writing and plot.

There are some great moments in the book, but I think even those are overshadowed by the plot holes and careless writing. Feyre is back in the Spring court for the first part of the book, and she has some great, character-driven scenes there, but there are also scenes that play out without plausible explanations and seem to be written just to move the book along, not as natural occurrences of what the characters would do. I don’t want to spoil the book, so I won’t give specific examples, but the rest of the book plays out like that. Great moments interspersed with unbelievable ones.

The ending was also tied up in a pretty bow in a far-fetched way. Even J. K. Rowling wasn’t afraid to kill off favorite characters. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

I hate to be negative, but I have to be honest, and I wanted to include this review since I reviewed the other two books in the series. While this book is not on the same level as the first two, I wouldn’t discredit the entire series or Maas as an author because of this one book. I do wish she had either been allowed more time to work on it or demanded more time to work on it, but I understand that luxury is not always available for authors and publishers. That being said, it was nice to revisit the characters and world of Prythian, and I am still looking forward to the other books she’s planning based in the same world.