Hello everyone!
Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it? We're already almost mid-June! And thankfully this means long, long hours of reading and catching up on everything that I have yet to gobble up with my incessant desire to keep reading more.
I do have to admit that David Gibbins' Testament has been suffering, however ... I keep getting distracted!
Anyway.
Tonight's blog is ALL about Sarah J. Maas. Because, hello, the final book in the first Feyre trilogy dropped at the end of May, and UHM YES I had to read it as soon as I got my hands on it.
There was literally no alternative. I fell in love with the series completely at random while I was searching Maas on Google, and have been anxiously awaiting this conclusion since that cliffhanger at the end of ACOMAF. COME ON PEOPLE. You know what I'm talking about here!
In any event, however, let's get down to business! Behold, A Court of Wings and Ruin.
As with all my other posts where I've done something or other from the author before, you'll find links to everything at the bottom of this page. This includes ACOTAR, ACOMAF, and all the Throne of Glass series I've read so far (which reminds me, I have to load Empire of Storms to my Kobo).
But, if we recap very, very briefly: in ACOTAR, Feyre learns that the Fae are quite real, and ends up falling in love with the High Lord of the Spring Court, Tamlin, but the entire lot of them are under a curse cast by Amarantha, an evil thing that wants to rule them all. Feyre completes the tasks set before her to free the High Lords of ALL the courts, but as a reward for that she gets beaten to death, only to be revived by the gift of life from the very lords she saved.
Following that, in ACOMAF, Feyre and Tamlin are both suffering strong PTSD, which only grows worse as they want different things. It goes so far as to push Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court, to rescue Feyre from her own wedding, and putting her on a path of empowerment and self-searching, which ends with her realisation that Rhys is actually her mate; Tamlin had prepared her to accept love when it was given, but it's Rhysand she's eventually loyal to. The course of true love never did run smooth, however, as the King of Hybern wants to come over to their continent and enslave it, and they have to find a way to stop him. Alas, this only ends with Feyre's sisters, Nesta and Elain, turned into Fae themselves, and Feyre pretending to break her own mating bond so that she can infiltrate the Spring Court - which has allied with Hybern.
And off we go into ACOWAR! (Also, I apologise for all these acronyms, but ... it's so much easier!)
The book, which is a monster of epic proportions (something some readers have complained about, but I found it could have been even longer and I wouldn't have cared; can we say MORE PLEASE?!), is divided into three parts, each separately depicting what's currently going on with Feyre & Co. And we start off right where we left back in book two: in Tamlin's court.
Princess of Carrion
This part is pretty aptly named as Feyre literally spends her time tearing the Spring Court apart from the inside out. I kind of giggled to myself at how easy it was, but then I was also shocked that it was just SO easy, too.
Considering Feyre hasn't necessarily had her powers all that long, it's shocking to see just how much slack Tamlin allowed with himself, with those around him, that he hasn't figured out what's going on. How much of an influence Ianthe has over him - and how much I still hated her pretty face whenever she poppped up.
In a decision that would cost her later, but operating on the basis of what she knew, Feyre turns Tamlin's court against him, even as Hybern sends his representatives to spy out the wall which divides Fae and human lands. This could end badly since the last time they're off on the mission, the prince and princess decide they're going to deal with Feyre (after poisoning her so she couldn't use her magic, obviously), but her training with Cassian and Rhys both pays off, and with Lucien's help the two Hybern agents are dead, and Ianthe dealt with. In a fashion.
With the court now in shambles behind them, as Tamlin's own sentries feel like he has betrayed them and are more loyal to FEYRE than him, she makes a run for the Night Court, but without the option to winnow has to use a more pedestrian route through the Autumn Court - Lucien's home, another danger because she has Lucien with her (going to see Elain, his mate, natch), and he's got a big target on his back.
Cursebreaker
In the book's second part, pretty much everything comes to a head before the final showdown, but first, Feyre and Lucien need to escape his blood-thirsty brothers who want him dead. And we're also treated to a fantastic entrance of both Cassian and Azriel, as Feyre's bond finally flickers back to life in the Winter Court and Rhysand can send them to aid her (the whole smacking down onto the ice and sending it cracking into different directions is BADASS).
This is also the first time Feyre introduces herself as High Lady, sending out a message loud and clear about her position beside Rhysand and in his court - THEIR court.
Boo-yah!
First it's time for some much-needed and welcome reunions, but it really doesn't last long as Feyre then asks to meet with her sisters. Nesta seems to be okay-ish, but Elain is wasting away with grief, and something else no one of them can truly name yet.
Nesta got on my nerves a lot in this book, though.
I could understand, when everything was explained back in book two, why she was as angry all the time and as annoying, but in the third book ... she acts as if everything is everyone else's fault. I wanted to shake her and maybe smack her in the face a couple of times to tell her she could go and sulk later when the war with Hybern had been won. I mean, unless she wanted to just, you know, sit there and wait until everyone was dead, then maybe she'd be happy about it all.
Maybe.
Anyway, they all agree to let Lucien feel things out whether or not Elain even wants to see him, but everyone's a bit busy with the upcoming war, and what Hybern was up to with the wall. Probably scouting for ways to bring it down - and the gang decide they might use Nesta to try and reinforce it, close the gaps in its magical structure since she has that kind of power, apparently. Amren agrees to train her, while things start to come to a head.
Namely, three major events occur in this section of the book:
one is that two of Hybern's lackeys come for Nesta and Feyre both, but Feyre tricks them into meeting an unseen and terrible thing living at the bottom of the court's library, which ends up with their demise, obviously. Also, it's named Bryaxis (I think I got the spelling right).
Second is that Hybern attacks Summer Court, and only Rhysand & Co respond by launching a counter-attack to aid the people who had, in the previous book, given out blood rubies with their names on them as price for their heads. But they succeed in pushing Hybern back, if only for a little while.
The third thing that happens is the meeting of all High Lords in one place to discuss their alliance and how they'll march against Hybern, which becomes a jockeying for position, really, especially with Tamlin's arrival. No one knows who to trust, but eventually, what they settle on is this: the Summer Court will not in fact hunt down any of the Night Court, for their aid given; Tamlin is still a prick who gives low blows,but no one actually cares anymore, neither do they trust that he's a spy and is only with Hybern to feel him out; and the wall comes down before they're ready.
Nesta feels it coming, but the rumble is everywhere and the lords need to act, fast, because there's no way Hybern will wait now.
Feyre also makes some interesting alliances in this part, promising to unleash the creature beneath the library on Hybern and also needing to get a mirror of some kind (Ouroboros keeps popping up these days, I swear) for the Bone Carver, who is an ancient Death God.
But hey, it's all in a day's work, don't you know.
High Lady
And that's how we come to the last part of the book which is primarily military-based because Hybern has finally invaded Prythian in full, and everything comes crashing down. The gang is out of options and out of allies, but they manage to wrangle a promise from Elain's former betrothed to harbour any humans who might make their way to his fortress, and then they're off to war, still hoping they can destroy the Cauldron (yeah, remember the bathtub which created the world?) before it's unleashed. They also learn Jurian, resurrected, isn't actually nuts, but is working against Hybern wherever he can, and wishes only for absolution from Myriam, his former lover, and Drakon, the prince of Seraphim who she'd ended up with back in the first War.
It quickly becomes obvious that the King is toying with them, wanting them to exhaust themselves before the final battle, but they manage to figure it out in time, even if they make a bit of a stop in between.
The Cauldron kidnaps Elain, causing Feyre and Azriel to hunt her down before everyone makes their final stand.
Even so, things would have gone very, VERY badly if not for the timely arrival of the Autumn court as last, with the human army under Jurian's command hitting the flank, as well as Feyre unleashing her two monsters (the mirror she was sent to retrieve was actually a test: it shows you yourself, the good and the bad, and if you can accept it all, then you're worthy), and Rhysand bringing along the Carver's godly sister.
Unfortunately, of the three only the library monster survives.
But there's another arrival in the nick of time: Rhysand had previously tried to contact Myriam and Drakon on Cretea, without success, and while I was sitting there screaming THEY'RE PROBABLY GLAMOURED YOU IDIOT this is EXACTLY what's happened when Drakon finally arrives with the Seraphim legion: the island had been cloaked to appear deserted, but it worked too well. And the prince also has a different surprise for the three Acheron sisters: their father, at the head of a large human fleet, bringing additional reinforcements.
Now it's time for the final show-down where Amren and Feyre make it to the Cauldron; Nesta and Elain, along with Cassian (who finally professes his love for Nesta in his own way, so fingers crossed these two work out eventually) stand up to the King of Hybern, decapitating him in the end after he kills the girls' father; and Feyre unleashes Amren in her true form to finish off the rest of the troops, dying in the process.
But the Cauldron has split - so Feyre combines powers with Rhysand to mend it again, only to lose HIM as he gives his entire last reserve into that, and dies.
LUCKILY, however, the High Lords are there and can be convinced to offer him that gift of life, bringing him back, and not only him, but Amren, too, who had made a final bargain with the Cauldron: she'd give up her almost-godly powers to simply be High Fae now, relatively normal (to the delight of a certain Summer Court prince, but shhh).
All's well that ends well, but the alliances formed on the battlefield won't last too long into the future, something everyone knows even though they're doing their best right now. For our heroes - and heroines - it's time to head back home to Velaris and try to forget the horrors of yet another war, licking their wounds closed in the most beautiful city the Fae had ever constructed. So we leave the lot of them and their unresolved romantic disputes and spats (did you know Mor prefers women?) to the next book - didn't I mention?
There will be MORE BOOKS coming in this series! Maybe not a perfect continuation, but certainly the characters will remain in them, and I can't wait to read more. What happens to Mor? Is there a love triangle in the works between Lucien, Elain and Azriel? Will Cassian and Nesta FINALLY cop to their feelings? And do Rhys and Feyre actually have a son down the road?
Not to mention the rest of the Lords and their courts, who we've only touched in the first three books. I want to hear more about them, too!
If you haven't read ACOWAR yet, I highly, highly recommend it. The emotional conclusion and some of the speeches written in this one (namely, Rhys, I'm looking at you right before that final battle) are literally too good to be true sometimes, and I will admit, without shame, that I burst into tears at the part descriping the Acheron father sailing his fleet into the fray.
Maybe we didn't get all questions answered. Maybe there's more still left to be discovered - but that's what subsequent books are for!
In the meantime, rereading is a must.
xx
*iimage not mine
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