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5 stars! This review will be spoiler free for ACOWAR, but if you haven’t read the first two books, there will be spoilers for ACOTAR & ACOMAF!
Synopsis:
"Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings 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."
Initial thoughts:
Is it even possible to really put all my thought on this book-on this series-into words? I loved this book so so so so much. It met most of my expectations, even exceeded many of them. These characters... this world… there are just no words to explain how much I LOVE them. This series easily went from mediocre to one of my faves with ACOMAF, and now an absolute favorite with ACOWAR. Rhysand and Feyre are my OTP. Mor, Cassian, Amren, and Azriel are the best side characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. This world is downright magical, mystical, wondrous, and above all: beautiful. I could stay in this world forever just reading about Feyre and Rhys. ACOWAR definitely lived up to its title too! The war was very much at the forefront in this book (so was the smut, but more on that later). I thought the final battle was written perfectly. I couldn’t ask for a better all-out war. The only things I really have gripes with are all the loose ends that were created in this final book and left untied. And there were MANY. I do realize that there are more books to come in this world, so I’m praying those contain the missing pieces I need. My last gripe, is sort of spoilery, but let’s just say, I did not expect all the people that survived in the end, to survive… Other than that, this book is right up there with ACOMAF and TOG as my favorites books. I love Sarah J. Maas’s books so much. #ForeverSJMFan right here!
Plot: (I’ve gotta cut this into sections)
So picking up right where ACOMAF left off:
Feyre is currently a spy in the spring court right? OMG had Feyre become one sneaky, conniving, and sassy character. I thought her manner of bringing down the spring court was executed well. She’s so strong and smart about it. And despite her ill feelings towards Tamlin and Lucien, she still manages to show some sympathy for them at times. I appreciate the amount of time she had to spend in the spring court and the struggle it was to return to the night court. Many many many twists and turns occur solely in the beginning 25% of the book. My heart almost couldn’t handle it.
Fey-Rhys + inner circle:
Something that I loved in ACOMAF that I maybe did not need so much in ACOWAR were all the smut scenes. The angst was to die for in book two, but in this book I did not think so many sex scenes were necessary (doesn’t mean I didn’t love them regardless though because I mean SMUT). Still I was always in love with Rhys and Feyre’s love. They are my ultimate OTP. SJM makes many of us want a Rhysand of our own.
Oh how I wish I had a group of friends like the inner circle too! These are probably the best side characters ever. I love their sense of loyalty and family and strength! These character work so well together to develop plans for the upcoming war. I’m also glad that Cassian and everyone, but mostly Cassian, didn’t just accept that Feyre threw herself to the wolves when she went to the spring court. I appreciate how much they feel the need to protect not just their high lord, but also their high lady.
The inner workings of the inner circle also add much need comedic relief in such a dark plot. The banter between Mor/Az/Cassian/Amren is SO FUNNY. The sarcasm is palpable at times.
Feyre + sisters:
The development of the relationship between Feyre + Nesta + Elaine easily makes them one of my favorite sister-sister relationships. Can’t say much more without spoilers though!
Regarding the ending:
THE WAR WAS WRITTEN BEAUTIFULLY in my opinion. I love battle scenes especially those with magic woven in between. I love how all the different powers and forms of the high lords came into play. I love how the King of Hybern was handled and how the Cauldron was handled. Everything wasn’t 100% predictable, there were still twists and turns being thrown at you until the last moments.
I’m not gonna lie, I was getting some Empire of Storms feels reading this book when it came to the ending with how all the different courts/groups came into play… There were many similarities that I don’t know if it could be considered self plagiarism? Things were still different of course, but there were many ties that I could see and not ignore.
Now, when I got to the actual last page, I was stunned. I felt unsatisfied with the ending. I expected more. More pages and more pages concluding all the loose ends that were created in ACOMAF and ACOWAR. I expected maybe some sort of epilogue? I didn’t get one that was good enough. Finger crossed for more about these unexplained sections of the book in the sequel series/spin off series. About the whole “I didn’t think all the people who survived should have survived” — It’s not that I wanted any of my babies to die per se. It’s just there were certain people who survived that I didn’t think were going to make it to the end.
Characters:
Feyre has grown so much in this series. She went from completely and utterly annoying, to sassy and funny and the perfect display of female baddassery. Best High Lady one could ask for if I do say so myself. Willing to sacrifice her whole self just as much as her male counterpart.
Rhys… Gods… are there even any words for the perfect male lead, perfect male love interest, perfect male leader. GORGEOUS. Simply stunning. Perfect blend of sweet, sarcastic, and humor! I need one. Send one asap.
Mor has a huge fact drop in this book; however, I felt like it was sort of just thrown in there to please the crowds that wanted it. I love it no matter what. I love Mor. I identify a lot with her personality. She’s come through a lot and still finds reasons to smile.
Cassian IS SO GODS DAMMED FUNNY. He has the best comebacks let me tell ya. I live for his dialogue.
Amren is deadly. Is lethal. Is so good at scaring Lucien, I love it. I like how she strikes so much fear into all she meets eyes with. If I could do that, I’d look all men in the eye.
Azriel may be quiet most of the time, but when you catch him in his moments (far and few in between) they are either hella funny or super sweet. He’s another of the loose ends that we never get a full backstory on. NOVELLA PLEASE. Actually novella for all the inner circle character please, each please.
Lucien will still always be my favorite baby of the spring court. He has redeeming qualities in this book and I’m so happy for that because I did NOT want my poor Lucien to be left behind. Yet another loose end with this characters ending though. Need more need more!
Nesta hella pissed me off from the moment she entered the book. She continued to do so in this book. However! Her character arc in this third book was beautifully executed. I seriously love how SJM has the ability to make you completely hate a character, then find a way to make you fall in love with them.
Elaine, oh how it seems she plays a small, but really she kicks ass later on. Just you wait.
Overall:
THERE MUST BE MORE? WUHT?! I keep saying this, but it’s so true. There’s just so so so much left unexplained that I NEED EXPLANATIONS FOR. Please Maas, just quenched our hearts’ thirst for more in the ACOTAR world.