[ 4.8 ⭐️ ]

WOW. That was my initial reaction when I finally finished the 700 page beast that ACOWAR is. Now that I've had to sleep on everything and collect my thoughts, my first WOW has turned into "Wow." Stunned silence and contemplation.

ACOWAR mostly focuses on the politics of Prythian and the behind-the-scenes (or not so behind-the-scenes) scheming of the Inner Circle as well as the other High Lords. The first 2/3 of the novel revolves around questioning motives, attempting to form alliances, and moving beyond past histories, all while the characters realized that unity was key, yet everyone (and everything) was breaking from the inside. To me, the novel felt steadily paced, even though there wasn't a lot of fast/mind blowing action occurring. I appreciate the authors that build their stories and the tension, so that the climax happens very close to the end of the book. Amid all of the scheming and waiting , there were parts where there was an escape or a surprise skirmish, which tided me over until the third part (High Lady) where, basically, all of hell broke loose.

In terms of Feysand scenes, I liked the ones that focused on them acting as a unit, as equals on equal ground. These more were powerful to me because they showed readers who Feyre and Rhysand were as characters. I also appreciated Sarah J. Maas's attempt at including more of a wider cast of characters, although not perfect (because, let's be honest, authors aren't always going to live up to the standards that one sets because they have their own way of writing their books). Most of these diverse characters played a crucial role in the overall story and in the final outcome. I noticed that Maas usually describes a character's eye color/hair color (and occasionally says that someone has tanned skin/deep honey colored, etc.), but these words ultimately leave the faces of the characters up to the readers.

However, there was one part that would probably make most cringe: it was said in the context of a light-hearted joke of the past (and trying to ease tensions), but it still would've been better to leave those few sentences out. Also, Sarah J. Maas seems to take a liking to "unholy" and "beautiful," which basically drove me crazy because there are other adjectives out there . Since they were repeated so often (and usually relatively close together), I couldn't help but notice...and I really don't like it when certain words/adjectives are used too closely together.

I wish that Lucien's role in the whole affair played a bigger part in the actual story. We hear about him up until the middle of the second part, and then, not a word. I realize that ACOWAR is mostly from Feyre's perspective, but I was curious as to know what exactly Lucien was doing. As ACOWAR is a beast of 700 pages, any additions would have probably initiated a decision for two books, but then the first would probably receive a reaction that was similar to the seventh Harry Potter movie.

Part Three: High Lady had me squealing with happiness, sighing with relief, and staring into nothing...for a long time. I finished ACOWAR at about two in the morning, and I was drained. Too much happened in a short amount of time for my poor brain to process properly. There was one part that almost had me crying (part relief, part shock, part "oh wow"), while another one had me covering my face with my hands and sobbing (well, more like dry sobs...but that's basically sobbing for me). There were also parts to that ending that I didn't quite understand (as endings such as this one tends to be for me). But once again, all the courts had to come together.

Final thoughts: Sarah J. Maas mostly focused on the building of relationships, and the solidity of those that are grounded in trust and not as much on those relationships of the romantic nature. At some points when I was reading, I had to put down the book and think . I needed to ponder what the characters were saying, what they were feeling, what SJM was saying. She brought up interesting questions that had me contemplating alongside the characters for a few minutes. They are the kind of questions in which the answers don't come readily. ACOWAR was novel that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I'm looking forward to the release of the new installments, but I read it with a few different lenses that allowed me to see her words and her characters through varying perspectives.