If you missed my review of A Court Of Mist And Fury, You can find it here.
Fair warning, this article does contain spoilers!
I am finally back with my review of A Court of Wings and Ruin. I apologize for taking so long between books. I read them with my sister-in-law in a book club type of way. We get together each week and go over what we read. This past week we started on A Court of Frost and Starlight, so I will have that for you very soon because it is a short book. On to what you are here for.
If you remember, at the end of A Court of Mist and Fury, Tamlin stood with King Hybern in a desperate attempt to get Feyra back. The king badly injured Azriel and Cassian, all while stripping Feyra and her party of their magick. He then dunked her sisters in the cauldron, and they came out Fae. The bond between Rhys and Feyra is thought to be broken. Feyra somehow broke the king’s spell, buying Rhys, Azriel, Cassian, and her sisters time to escape but leaving herself with Tamlin.
Back in the Spring Court, Feyra finds nothing has changed, but she has. She pretends she was in a fog and hints that she wasn’t treated well in the Night Court. Lucien and Alis aren’t fooled. They don’t call her out on it, but they are skeptical that she is being truthful. Feyra is pissed at Ianthe for selling out her sisters and Tamlin for so many things. Everything is building towards war. Feyra makes it back to the Night Court, but not before she implodes the Spring Court.
Desperate to at least be on a level playing field with the king, Feyra and Rhys call a meeting of all the High Lords. Even Tamlin attends. He blames Feyra for all the problems in his court, but Feyra refuses to let him change the narrative. Most of the High Lords choose to side with the Night Court. Beron was the exception. Even Tamlin pledged his court. He even provided inside information.
After Nesta warns everyone something isn’t right, the wall comes down. This clues everyone in that Nesta and the cauldron are connected. Elain starts to wake up out of her daze, and it is realized she is a seer. Lucien goes to find one of the human queens who had been cursed. So much goes on. Needless to say, they go to war.
I had such a hard time reading this book. Not because it was a bad book but because I had to read so slowly. Reading only several chapters at a time was frustrating because I HAD TO KNOW!! I was a lousy book club partner because I was too focused on wanting to know what happened. The book had me in tears when the Suriel died. That was nothing, though, to the death of Rhys (don’t worry, it’s ok). I wanted to bring him back. Not only so he and Feyra could be together but strangle him too. I was crying so much my husband asked if I was crying. Thankfully, he knows better than to give me a hard time about it. It had my SIL in tears too.
Sarah handled the separation of Feyra and Amren from the Nesta and where some of the main action would take place very well. I was afraid for Cassian as Nesta faced down the king, and I was horrified at what King Hybern did to Cassian and the others he killed. Nesta should have trained. She would have been able to kill the king with her magic.
I have also enjoyed the pieces of mythology elements sprinkled in without being in-your-face obvious, such as Helion being the High Lord of the Day Court. In Greek mythology, Helios is the god of the sun. My sister-in-law spoke a lot about Sarah’s ability to foreshadow. For her, reading the books this time through is not her first time, so she is picking up more with this read than I am.
Seriously though, reading with a buddy is a lot of fun. I highly recommend it. Are you, or have you been, part of a book club? What are your thoughts on it? I would love to hear from those who haven’t been part of one too. Would you be part of one? Why or why not. Put that in the comments below too. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
