Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin

Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin 
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #3 
Author: Sarah J. Maas 
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, New Adult 
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books 
Publication Date: May 2, 2017 
Source: Bought

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

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** Review contains some spoilers from first two books in series** 

I'M DEAD.  THIS BOOK HAS KILLED ME.  This book was so amazing, my heart gave out.  I'm slightly embarrassed, honestly.  I talked basically about nothing except this book in the days before its release (to the annoyance of my friends and roommates) and once I finally had the precious in my hands, I locked myself in my room to read.  I was so happy to be back with these character -- I adore them and this world so much.  

 I went through many emotions while reading this book.  Despair, pride, excitement, happiness, and all the others I can't think of right now because my brain is apparently on vacation.  I fist punched the air, I laughed maniacally, I danced around my room, and I definitely did some serious crying.  It was just too good.  The characters were so amazing and they went through a lot of growth and changes in this book.  It was interesting to see the inner circle interact in a time of deep stress like this.  They were still who we got to know in the second book, but more layers and dynamics were revealed that we hadn't seen before.  Perhaps the characters I was most excited to learn more about were Cassian (my baby) and Nesta (my scary baby).  I adored their banter and all of the interactions between them.  They definitely have that slow burn thing going and I will be DISTRAUGHT if one of the next books in the series isn't about them.   

Of course, Rhys and Feyre were just as amazing as ever, too.  I loved watching them learn to balance this new dynamic of Feyre being a high lady.  It wasn't a totally smooth transition and I am glad that Sarah showed them talking and discussing their feelings and concerns and coming to healthy conclusions.  Like, YES, this is how a relationship should be! No more of this brooding and not communicating with your partner nonsense.  

Most of this book surrounded the war with Hybern and I was pumped that this was actually a huge conflict throughout the novel.  I've read a lot of other books with wars in them where the battles take about three pages and the rest is made up of fluff and stuff.  ACOWAR spent so much time on strategizing, fighting, and finding a way to defeat Hybern and it was so epic and stressful, I loved it.  I was constantly worried about every single one of the characters in the inner circle while reading and my heart broke so many time throughout the novel, especially during the final battle scene.  But holy cow, does Sarah know how to write an action scene.  My heart was beating out of my chest and I literally couldn't sit still.  I was a pacing mess.  A MESS.  

Despite the years taken off of my life because of how stressed out this book made me, ultimately, I loved it.  I couldn't have asked for a better conclusion for these characters.  There were some strings left untied, though, so I'm happy we're getting three more novels in this series (about different characters, I believe).  Sarah is definitely an auto-buy author for me.  I can't wait to read more of what she writes.  

“Remember that you are a wolf. And you cannot be caged.”

Five Teapots