I started reading A Court of Wings and Ruin on April 7 and finished on April 10. I was super excited to read this book after finishing A Court of Mist and Fury, and I was not disappointed! It continues the story but still has a lot of twists and turns, and a lot more action than the previous two books.
This one was a bit like House of Earth and Blood in the Crescent City series, also by Sarah J. Maas, in that it had so many twists and turns that it was almost difficult to keep track of; even so, it was a very enjoyable read!
I say enjoyable - I was sobbing uncontrollably at a couple of parts...but that's part of the fun!
Summary
A Court of Wings and Ruin begins after the reveal of - wait, hold up. *record screeching sound*
If I start talking about book 3 in this series now, you're going to be in for some MAJOR spoilers.
So if you haven't read A Court of Mist and Fury yet, turn back. Turn back now.
Okay, so now that we've got that warning aside...
A Court of Wings and Ruin begins after the reveal of Tamlin as an enemy spy and the disastrous attempt to destroy the Cauldron, which resulted in Cassian being nearly killed and in Feyre's sisters, Elain and Nesta, being chucked into the Cauldron and transformed into immortal High Fae. (I told you there were spoilers!)
Feyre is now secretly the High Lady of the Night Court, giving her equal status with Rhys. She has returned to the Spring Court, pretending to have been 'kidnapped' and mentally manipulated into staying with Rhys and the Night Court. Tamlin believes her to be fully returned to him. Only Lucien and Alis (her maid) see through the glamour she puts on herself, and see through her mannerisms.
Gathering information and fomenting unrest between Tamlin and his people is a matter not only of revenge for Feyre, but a matter of stalling the inevitable war with Hybern. Tamlin, as an ally of Hybern, needs to be crippled so he cannot aid the enemy King and his minions. It is especially important to eliminate as many allies of Hybern as possible, now that it has been revealed that the human Queens are also in league with him.
Upon her (eventual) return to the Night Court after some harrowing adventures, Feyre, Rhys, and their Inner Circle move to rally all the courts against Hybern - even Tamlin and the Spring Court, if possible. They want to get as many soldiers and warriors as possible to stave off an invasion not only of Prythian, but of all the human lands; Hybern plans to subjugate and enslave the humans, as was done before the First War five hundred years ago.
Important Concepts: New Lore
As happened in the previous book A Court of Mist and Fury, there is new lore introduced in this book, mostly concerning the other five Courts that we have not seen yet and the nature of the power of those High Lords. The concept of Mates is also discussed in greater detail, and I think it is one of the most interesting pieces of world building in this series.
What does it mean to be a Mate?
Character and plot development in both A Court of Wings and Ruin and the previous book A Court of Mist and Fury centers around the concept of Mates. As far as I can tell, a mating bond is a completely random connection between two beings - usually two High Fae - which is a primal instinct to be together. It includes a mental connection which Feyre and Madja the healer both describe as a "soul bridge." Being someone's mate does not guarantee that they will love you - nor that you will be well-matched personality wise. Rhys theorizes that the mating bond comes from the earlier days of High Fae, or even further back to whatever creature they are descended from, as a way to continue the race and improve the gene pool. Not everyone has a mate, and not everyone who has one will find theirs.
For this reason, I think Rhys allowing Feyre to return to the Spring Court after the events of Under the Mountain is one of the most romantic, heroic things I've ever heard of. Rhys already knows that Feyre is his mate, and he loves her almost on first sight; he knew she was his mate even before he knew her name. However, he knows she is in love with Tamlin. He is willing to let her go back to him, despite the history between himself and Tamlin, if it will make her happy. He also knows that he really has no choice in the matter - it is Feyre's life, to do with as she chooses. I don't think for a second he would have considered preventing Feyre from returning with Tamlin if it was her wish, even if a more primal part of him was screaming at him to kidnap her. The once-a-month bargain is all he will be able to see of her - or so he thinks. Lucky for them, they are well matched and love each other - a rare thing among mates.
What's Important?
In this installment of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, the things that stood out to me most were the action and character building.
I mentioned in my blog review of A Court of Mist and Fury that the characters we met weren't fully developed, but it seemed like they still had a lot of depth? Yeah, well, I was right. Several of them develop a lot more in this book, and we learn more about their backgrounds. This is especially true, I think, for Amren and Morrigan, though all of the characters are developed - given additional backstory, or insight into their thought processes, or both. We also got to meet the other High Lords, and learn about their powers and a bit about their private lives, including their partners and temperaments.
Along with the character development comes new ships! (For the uninitiated, a "ship" in a fandom is essentially two characters you're cheering for to get into a relationSHIP. Get it?) Feysand (Feyre and Rhysand) is the obvious ship here, but several other ones come cropping up. The most notable to me is Nessian (Nesta and Cassian). It's almost painfully obvious, even going back to A Court of Mist and Fury, that there is something between these two. It comes to a head in the final battle scene, when Nesta manages to use the last of her strength to warn Cassian of an explosion and uses her body to shield him from the King of Hybern.
Speaking of battles, that happens a lot in this book, as it follows the course of the war against Hybern. There's a lot more action in that sense in this book than there had been in previous ones. I thought the battle scenes were really well-written - I could visualize in my head what was going on around the characters, which is something I normally struggle with in big battle scenes like that.
Rating
Drumroll please.... *makes drumroll noises*
Yes! Another 5 stars.
I figure any book that has me sobbing so hard I can't continue reading deserves 5 stars. The character building and the twists and turns in the plot were AWESOME. The plot twists sometimes felt like a bit much - I felt kind of dizzy - but the characters made up for it, so 5 stars for you, ACOWAR!
Also, this gets 3 out of 5 peppers for spice.
Favourite Quotes
Beware! Here there be spoilers
"You bow to no one."
- Rhys says this to Feyre, and I like it because it is a) adorable and b) echos the line from The Return of the King movie.
"I would have waited five hundred more years for you. A thousand years. And if this was all the time we were allowed to have...the wait was worth it."
- Do I even have to explain how disgustingly romantic this is?
"I love you."
- Page 666. If you know, you know. I actually threw down the book and sobbed before picking it back up to see WTF was going on.
"I will find you again in the next world - the next life. And we will have that time. I promise." (it's not even a Feysand quote! It's my new favorite ship - Nessian!)
"And I wondered if love was too weak a word for what he felt, what he'd done for me. For what I felt for him."
- The word love gets thrown around a lot, and sometimes it just doesn't seem quite strong enough. There's a deeper level of love that does seem to need a new name.
"He was the sweet, terrifying darkness, I was the glittering light that only his shadow could make clear."
- This ship in one sentence.
""I am High Lady of the Night Court," I said quietly to them all. Even Eris stopped sneering. His amber eyes widened, something like fear now creeping into them. "There's no such thing as a High Lady," one of Lucien's brothers spat. A faint smile played on my mouth. "There is now.""
- The sass! I can't even.