Blurb: Feyre will bring vengeance. She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. Her former lover Tamlin is making deals with Feyre’s enemies and she is determined to uncover his plans. But can she make him believe she has come back to him when every fibre of her being yearns for Rhysand? As mighty armies clash, Feyre will discover she is not the only one hiding something. And as the web of secrets, lies and betrayals is revealed, fighting for the truth may cost Feyre and her court the ultimate price.
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Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
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Review:
Feyre is on a mission to seek revenge on those who betrayed her, by any means necessary. Back in the Spring Court for the first time since her escape, Feyre’s determined to bring it all down from within. But as war looms, armies assemble and tenuous alliances are formed, it’s a race against time to defeat the King of Hybern and destroy the Cauldron’s power for good.
I was beyond excited to dive back into the world of Prythian and this book did not disappoint. Once again Maas remains one of the only authors to get me truly invested in battle sequences to the point where I can’t put the book down. A lot of this story is centred around war and battle so I was wary about picking it up (especially as it’s about 700 pages long) but I was pleasantly surprised. Whether this is done through the writing style (not confusing or long winded with more action than just blood and gore) or via the fact that I’ve completely fallen in love with these characters, I can’t be sure but it all stacks up to the same outcome. Speaking of characters, we get to see more of Nesta and Elain in this book which I loved, as well as a fair amount of Lucien (who I definitely have a soft spot for). Getting to know these characters in more depth alongside revisiting my favourite inner circle and their delicious relationships made for exciting reading. One thing I love about this series in general is that all of the characters are constantly evolving. Even secondary characters switch their alliances, have hidden motives and are prone to surprising us readers. The pacing, while slow in parts, sets up well for an action packed second half of the book which had me gripped. To add to that, I particularly enjoyed the start of the book as well. Feyre is back at the Spring Court, under the guise of rescued damsel, and it lead to some fantastic plotting and double crossing. I’m a sucker for some good revenge and this delivered!
No spoilers here (of course!) but the reason for the five star review is because this book brought me to tears. There’s a death and an almost death in this story that really got to me and I got totally swept up in the pain and anguish of the characters – the true mark of a top notch read.
As for what I disliked, the story did feel a little slow in places, especially in the middle. There’s a lot of time spent on research, training and general battle talk without much really happening. Now, for me, this was made up for by the action that makes up the last chunk of the book but this might not be the book to get you out of a reading slump!
Overall, my love of this series continues so if you’re debating giving it a go, I can’t recommend it enough (even if you’re picking up copies second hand).
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Rating: 5/5
Recommend?: Yes
Have you read this book? Or maybe you’ve read something similar? What did you think? I’d love to know!
You can always find me over on Twitter if you’d like to discuss this book (or any others that I’ve featured) in more detail 😌
Hannah's Bookshelf 🌸 
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