Reviews with content warning for Blood - A Court of Wings and Ruin

"The great joy and honour of my life has been to know you. To call you my family. And I am grateful - more than I can possibly say - that I was given this time with you all."

I have never connected with a series as much as I connected with this one. This book specifically - I was sobbing, genuinely tear staining the final seventy pages. Also again as a note if you're reading this series for the spice - this book has maybe 1.5 explicitly detailed spice scenes. So don't read ACOWAR just for that.

The start is shocking. I like how ACOMAF and ACOWAR both start out in the Spring Court but have different levels of emotion and plot. And let me tell you, ACOWAR as a book is just on a different level with its emotion, plot twists, fight scenes and betrayal.

The preparation/lead up to the war was very long. But I kept engaged due to the level of plot twists and clever plans that just leave you wondering how they've managed to come up with that and if they're actually going to pull it off. I LOVE when characters and plot points from previous books make sense later on in the series and this book is brilliant for that. That being said I definitely forgot a few important bits which left me confused with secrets were revealed etc, because there's just so many so have your thinking caps on. This is a heavy book.

Wow. The writing style Sarah has is beautiful - apart from the constant "vulgar gestures". Miss girl if I had a Cassian for every time I had to cross out those words, I would be a very happy woman. But vulgar gestures aside, there wasn't a single chapter where I wasn't laughing at something, or highlighting a "badass" moment (and there are PLENTY of those. If you want a book that's got real 'hot girl power' energy... but also 'hot men put on hot armour and fight in a really attractive way' energy then this book is it).

It's so interesting meeting the different High Lords. Sarah is so good at writing characters with different quirks and personalities. There's also something about seeing Mor so happy that really made me enjoy the High Lord scenes as if they weren't just for political plot. Everything felt so real - probably because the relationships and friendships all seem so genuine. Sarah writes real bodies and real minds she just puts them into fictional people, and this makes her characters and stories feel weirdly relatable.

Despite the length and intensity of ACOWAR, it's easy to be emotionally invested in this story. The plot twists are insane, girl if you think you're ready for the last part of this trilogy then I promise you are NOT. I was breathless, I was panicked, I was sobbing before things even happened because the tension is unreal. To prove this, I've just asked my boyfriend how he felt watching me read this book:
"I was like, why are you crying again?!" - My Boyfriend.

I'm confused about Tamlin again. This man is so confusing, after everything that's happened is there a small part of me that likes his character...I really don't know. Amren and Cassian on the other hand - It's a little bit embarrassing how badly my heart hurt reading the last chapters. I don't think I realised exactly how deeply I loved all these characters until the fear of losing them actually becomes real.

Also I'm sorry Feyre for calling you an idiot so many times in the last two books. I was impressed more than once this time. You are and always will be, mildly intelligent. Thanks for taking me on the journey of a lifetime.

"There's no such thing as a High Lady."
A faint smile played on my mouth. "There is now".
And it was time for the world to know it.

Content Warnings

j_day's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Content Warnings

cscharfway's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I can’t help but love this series! This book is more war, politics and strategy focused which made it feel a bit like Lord of the Rings interspersed with witty banter and spicy scenes. The friendship between the Velaris Crew is enhanced even further as we get Nesta and Elain thrown into the mix, and the family they’ve all created is just so heartwarming. Tamlin also gets a bit of a redeeming moment as well in this book (who knew!).

Content Warnings

sammiejo928's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

4.5

The first half of this one was slow, but the second half really picked up and made it my favorite in the series so far. So many twists and turns towards the end that I went through a lot of emotions when reading.

Content Warnings

catastrophiclyss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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