Relationships are tested, allegiances are forged, and enemy lines drawn. These are the characteristics of a war, especially one fraught with personal revenge and redemption. There are so many players, and each with a particular part and loyalty -- some of which can't be predicted or clearly articulated. These are all characteristics not just of war, but of Sarah J. Maas's novel, A Court of Wings and Ruin. A jam-packed novel with twists and turns, Maas gives readers a lengthy reading experience without some of the elements of a novel we've grown to love. That is to say, the character development and plot we've enjoyed in her previous novels are lacking in this one. Read on for my particularly detailed comments on this three-star novel.Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series and A Court of Thorns and Roses series, as well as a USA Today and international bestselling author. She graduated from Hamilton College with a degree in creative writing and a minor in religious studies. She wrote the first incarnation of the Throne of Glass series when she was just sixteen, and it has now sold in thirty-five languages. Maas lives with her husband and dog in Pennsylvania. You can find her here, or on Instagram @therealsjmaas. If you're interested in more of my reviews of Sarah J. Maas's work, you can find them all here.
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's maneurverings 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.
For the first 100 pages of the book, I noted that I really enjoyed the character Feyre has become, when she's scheming and calculating. However, that didn't last long as she eventually fled the Spring Court back to her home in the Night Court. She does try to maintain that manipulating part of herself, but it becomes passive in the face of the other characters. I think because these other characters are older, Feyre lets herself take the back seat as they make decisions. Her focus is on becoming a better fighter and flyer while the politics seem to happen around her. When she does jump in, it is usually beneficial and moves the plot along. But, other than these things, I didn't really feel much of a character arc or development from her. At the end, when she faces who she truly is, that could have been the opportunity for it. But Maas doesn't give us a lot of details as she's facing who she's truly become, and she only says "I saw myself" and that she accepted "the good and the bad." This was shocking. This novel is so centralized around Feyre's experiences, beliefs, expectations and dreams, so to not be able to grow with her was disappointing. If we had been with her as she faced who she has become, we would have had great insight to a new morally gray character. But, because we didn't, Feyre remains rather passive to me.
Maas is committed to showing the healthy nature of the relationship between Feyre and Rhysand the whole novel. Especially in the face of Feyre's realizations of the toxicity of her past relationship with Tamlin. I could do without the thousand repetitions of "my mate" but otherwise, I would say this romance between Feyre and Rhysand is much better developed in the face of the plot. As in, this book feels like fantasy with a romance, instead of a romance with fantasy (which is what A Court of Mist and Fury felt like at some points). The relationship between Feyre and Rhysand is important in understanding the politics of Prythian, the motivations behind the actions of the Night Court, and half the reason some of the plots in the novel exist. While at some points reading the actual romantic parts I didn't like Feyre's voice or passivity, I could understand and appreciate its importance as a plot element to advance the rest of the novel.
This book is indeed jam-packed, but the summary of the book itself is very misleading. The book is 700 pages long, but the espionage Feyre commits at the beginning (which is the bulk of the summary) only lasts for the first 96 pages. At the beginning, I noted that I thought the focus realigned nicely, and that readers wouldn't get easily lost as to what was going on with the politics of Prythian. That thought was quickly disassembled. About 200 pages in, a very important meeting between all the High Lords was planned, but the meeting itself didn't occur and finish until pages 403-447. So, 200 pages of build-up for a meeting that lasted only 44 pages, but majority of that was full of characters bickering and insulting one another rather than actually negotiating and planning. I was pretty sorely disappointed by that, because there was a lot of hype around this meeting. And, because, it left less pages at the end for the actual battle scenes and fall out. It was disappointing that there was so much build-up and pages dedicated to the meeting, but some of the biggest and best battle scenes were only 1-3 pages long, at best. Maas excels at action scenes, so I was sad there wasn't more of them, and that when they did happen, they weren't in-depth. To me, this was a reflection of a poorly execution rising action. The part of the book that was jam-packed was the last 100-200 pages. This was where everything came to a head, and plot twists abounded. The falling action and the resolution were both excellent, but this book lacked a strong rising action despite the hype around it.
This book felt like the most "fantasy" of the books in the series so far. A Court of Thorns and Roses was a good introduction to Prythian, but it was still underdeveloped (as first books often are in the fantasy genre). The second book, as I commented on in my review, sort of botched the fantasy for me, but this book did a lot better at finally developing the fantasy and the world of Prythian. That being said, I still noted some missed opportunities. For example, I thought the biggest missed opportunities were in the development of class lines between faeries, and in the conflict that could be occurring across Prythian between High Fae and lower faeries. These go hand-in-hand, but I truly would have loved to see more of this so that the fantasy world felt more fleshed out. In my opinion, I felt like Maas skirted this responsibility to the fantasy world by having Feyre's and Rhysand's headquarters in the perfect bustling town of Velaris. Velaris was a great element to the story because it's such a big motivator, but it would have felt more complex (and thus, a better element) had there been class strife. I also would have loved a better hint at what life was like in Prythian after the battled, but can understand that this is something Maas might address in the next couple of books and short stories.
Lastly, here are some thoughts as they related to the ending of the novel. There are some spoilers in this paragraph, so read at your own risk! I enjoyed how Feyre did look into the mirror, but was disappointed we couldn't actually be there with her. It was a stark contrast to how we got so many details at the beginning, but Maas omitted so many other details near the end. The reveal of Jurian's allegiance lacked something for me -- most likely because we couldn't see the memories in Jurian's head, so as a reader, I couldn't trust that Jurian was telling the truth. This also goes hand-in-hand with the omission of details at the end of the novel. I enjoyed the paralleled points of view, in how we start with a chapter from Rhysand, then the bulk of the novel is Feyre, and then the last chapter is Rhysand. Well done and executed. I loved the possibility of redemption for Tamlin; I have no clue what form that will take (if at all), but the fact that the possibility is there is important. I'm hoping Maas doesn't overlook that with any additional book in this series. The best scene in this whole book is when Rhysand dies -- it was the best-written scene of probably the whole series, and I was truly heartbroken. I could feel all the emotion behind the words, and my own shock to go along with it. In fact, all the twists at the ending were shocking and well executed. It can certainly teach anyone how to write surprising and unexpected endings.
This book does end on such a sweet note, the loose strings all tied up in a loose bow. But Maas has plans for another book in the series, and there's also another companion novella, A Court of Frost and Starlight. I haven't decided if I'm going to check it out yet, but you totally should if you loved this series!
Comments
Post a Comment