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sdfallin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Rape
storyorc's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
These hot idiots remain stuck in their frustrating ways but I can excuse it for the spectacle of 500-year-old fae lords hurl slut accusations at each other across a war room. Another heaping (too heaping, frankly) helping of exactly what the previous books offered - horny melodrama.
Do our heroes still spend negotiations flip-flopping between feigning boredom to show how cool they are and snarling self-righteously at the slightest insult to their mates? Yes. Is that hot bad boy about to drop a backstory that retroactively justifies all his misdeeds? Absolutely. Are these books still determined to bring wingplay to the masses? Are they ever! Do I still stop skimming and read properly whenever Lucien's name pops up? Maybe so.
After only a billion pages, we also get confirmation that faeries can be gay. LGBTQ rep rears its head twice; first, in a way that had me wary about bi stereotypes and then again in a 6-page jump scare near the end. It's definitely... there.
Onto more exciting surprises:
Do our heroes still spend negotiations flip-flopping between feigning boredom to show how cool they are and snarling self-righteously at the slightest insult to their mates? Yes. Is that hot bad boy about to drop a backstory that retroactively justifies all his misdeeds? Absolutely. Are these books still determined to bring wingplay to the masses? Are they ever! Do I still stop skimming and read properly whenever Lucien's name pops up? Maybe so.
After only a billion pages, we also get confirmation that faeries can be gay. LGBTQ rep rears its head twice; first, in a way that had me wary about bi stereotypes and then again in a 6-page jump scare near the end. It's definitely... there.
Onto more exciting surprises:
- ACOWAR devotes a decent number of pages to those genuinely creepy, otherworldly beings like the Bone-Carver and the Weaver. Cool to see them really come into play,
except the Weaver vs Hybern, that was embarrassing . - Amren being a literal
angel of the Lord, complete with Supernatural Angel GraceTM was certainly a twist not on my bingo card. - My boy the Suriel also returns in style.
- There is a brief attempt to explore the implications of soulmates - how they are determined, what happens when they're a poor match, etc.
- The scale of the climactic battle was pretty cinematic! Pulled its punches too much for my taste, especially
Amren coming back to life but there would have been riots in the streets if this wasn't a HEA.
These books are what they are. If you've made it this far, you'll like Wings & Ruin too. God himself could not force me to read that Christmas special sequel though. Unless Lucien features heavily.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Rape
passionatereader78's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
kassidyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture
Minor: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
spacecadetlav's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I usually am not a fan of war stories, but I loved the way the fight scenes are narrated. There is a great amount of build up that creates a sense of payoff each battle. There were many plot twists I did not expect, which made this so thrilling to continue. It was a bit slow at times, but overall I was so immersed in this world in the best way possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual violence and Vomit
Minor: Rape
refrejarator's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A stunning third instalment to the ACOTAR series. I was absolutely enthralled- I stayed up till 4am so I could finish the third and final part in the book. I'm breathless and overjoyed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcohol
kelisabeth's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lizziaha's review against another edition
2.0
The problem with this book is that it barely scratches the surface of every aspect. The world building is surface level; the character work is surface level; the social commentary is surface level; and even the plot feels surface level. Despite big things happening that *should* have high stakes, every thing always comes up Feyre, so it’s hard to feel any emotion or anticipation about anything happening. And whenever a character does something bad, instead of allowing that to create tension and conflict, sjm immediately diffuses it by establishing that the character was simply *pretending* to be bad and they had good intentions all along. It’s makes for a very boring story to be honest.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
evgeorge's review
I LOVED ACOMAF and really like ACOTAR. ACOWAR isn’t a shadow of the quality of those 2 books. Maas could take out 350 pages and have an engaging, interesting book. I couldn’t get through all the discussion, flirting, pining, fretting to enjoy anything but the first 100 pages. I won’t be reading book 4.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
angelicalomax's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
BRO WTF. Im so disappointed.
The second book made me so excited for this book, with the second book’s cliff hanger and amazing tension and character development. BUT this third book SLAPPED me back to reality about SJM’s writing- which is that it sucks & it’s evident in this book.
SJM knows how to write sexual tension and plot, BUT she does not know how to write any depth into characters, her humor IS HORRIBLE, and this book in particular has INTENSE pacing issues. To SJM: For example of how to write about battle, read A Song of Achilles.
Pacing issues: The cliff hanger from book 2 left so much possibility for manipulation and plot twists in the beginning of this third book, but Feyre did absolutely nothing. The whole first half of this book could have been deleted or AT LEAST shortened. For a 700 page book, the plot only picked up at the very end. And even the end felt like a rushed conclusion.
Lack of tension: I think part of the reason why this book felt so long and boring in the first half is because there was absolutely no tension. I understand that Feyre and Rhys being together means lessened sexual tension HOWEVER SJM could have written in tension if she developed the side characters. THERE WAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL WITH TAMLIN! ESP IN THE FIRST HALF!
Brings me to my next point — Lack of depth in characters: bruh. I do appreciate these new relationships - Nessa + Cassian, Varian + Amren, potential love triangle with Elain + Azriel + Lucien, and Morrigan + potential lesbian lover? I hope these are all things that are explored in the future. If they aren’t then wtf is SJM doing. Another pro about this book- I appreciate more POC characters being written in and FINALLY the introduction of queer characters (wow what an ally *sarcasm bc she doesn’t do anything w these characters and just has them exist in the background*). That being said, this book could have been strengthened so much more if SJM invested in these side characters instead of focusing so much on Rhys and Feyre.
Last point: the ending. SJM sold out to what the fans wanted instead of sticking to her integrity as a strong plot writer. I wish she ended the book in either one of two ways : a) rhys dying, Feyre finding out she’s pregnant during the grieving, and then rhys being resurrected by some ominous power in the next book. Or b) do a “5 years later” and show F + R with a baby, no hierarchy within the fairies, humans and fairies intermingling, and all the side characters happily coupled. Then the series ending there (for option b).
Anyways. Idk if I’ll read the next book. We shall see. Sorry but not sorry for the unhinged rant 😂
The second book made me so excited for this book, with the second book’s cliff hanger and amazing tension and character development. BUT this third book SLAPPED me back to reality about SJM’s writing- which is that it sucks & it’s evident in this book.
SJM knows how to write sexual tension and plot, BUT she does not know how to write any depth into characters, her humor IS HORRIBLE, and this book in particular has INTENSE pacing issues. To SJM: For example of how to write about battle, read A Song of Achilles.
Pacing issues: The cliff hanger from book 2 left so much possibility for manipulation and plot twists in the beginning of this third book, but Feyre did absolutely nothing. The whole first half of this book could have been deleted or AT LEAST shortened. For a 700 page book, the plot only picked up at the very end. And even the end felt like a rushed conclusion.
Lack of tension: I think part of the reason why this book felt so long and boring in the first half is because there was absolutely no tension. I understand that Feyre and Rhys being together means lessened sexual tension HOWEVER SJM could have written in tension if she developed the side characters. THERE WAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL WITH TAMLIN! ESP IN THE FIRST HALF!
Brings me to my next point — Lack of depth in characters: bruh. I do appreciate these new relationships - Nessa + Cassian, Varian + Amren, potential love triangle with Elain + Azriel + Lucien, and Morrigan + potential lesbian lover? I hope these are all things that are explored in the future. If they aren’t then wtf is SJM doing. Another pro about this book- I appreciate more POC characters being written in and FINALLY the introduction of queer characters (wow what an ally *sarcasm bc she doesn’t do anything w these characters and just has them exist in the background*). That being said, this book could have been strengthened so much more if SJM invested in these side characters instead of focusing so much on Rhys and Feyre.
Last point: the ending. SJM sold out to what the fans wanted instead of sticking to her integrity as a strong plot writer. I wish she ended the book in either one of two ways : a) rhys dying, Feyre finding out she’s pregnant during the grieving, and then rhys being resurrected by some ominous power in the next book. Or b) do a “5 years later” and show F + R with a baby, no hierarchy within the fairies, humans and fairies intermingling, and all the side characters happily coupled. Then the series ending there (for option b).
Anyways. Idk if I’ll read the next book. We shall see. Sorry but not sorry for the unhinged rant 😂
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Minor: Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail