ausfangirlreads's Reviews (523)

“It's a rare person to face who they are and not run from it - not be broken by it.”

Finally I am managing to write my review for A Court of Wings and Ruin, or as I like to call it The Double Cross Olympics, A Novel.

I finished this book back on the 7th May and it took me 5 days to read (because I refused to read it too fast!) and yet, I didn’t start writing my review until I reread it in November, Why?

Well for one thing, I was expecting a reading slump to follow once I finished this book, but I didn’t get one. But then I noticed that every time I went to start my review I would sit at my computer, my writing music on, a cup of coffee by my side and attempt to write, I just couldn’t do it. After this happening multiple times it came to me that I didn’t get a reading slump from this book, I got a writing slump!

I couldn’t bring myself to review this book because that would mean it would officially be over, I can go back and reread the book as many times as I like, but I can’t take back my own words on how amazing this book is, but with the announcement of the title for the novella coming out next year, it has given me the comfort I need to know that this part of the series isn’t over and it won’t be over for awhile.

The characters made me laugh, cry and fall in love with them, how Sarah, the fricken magically word goddess that she is, made me feel heartache and love for people who don’t exist, is beyond me, but she has made me think about things in life differently.

This book wrecked my emotions, I was ridiculously happy at some points and then crying so hard that I had trouble breathing at others. There was a point I was sitting on the couch at home reading and without even knowing I had tears pouring down my face. I must say Mums face when she saw me was very amusing.

Sarah’s writing was breathtaking (as always), with her descriptions of locations so detailed I could easily picture the locations in seconds, and with the constant location changes between courts we really got to picture all those locations, from the orange and reds of the Autumn Court, to the whites and blues of the Winter Court.
I would die to see some of these locations in person.

Let’s talk about the characters, because that is pretty much what everyone is here to read.
There are so many new characters that at points I had to flip back a few pages just to make sure I was remembering the right person, (even while rereading) but even though there are a lot, I love them all! Sarah has a way of writing characters that you either love or hate, but then Sarah, doing what she does, makes you question whether you should hate that character or not. We all know who I’m talking about here, the all mighty tool himself Tamlin.

At the beginning of ACOWAR I was still aboard the screw Tamlin train, but by the end I didn’t hate him like I used to, I was more stepping off the hate train onto the dislike platform. I really felt like he grew and although I was very confused as to which side of the war he was on he ended up doing the right thing by Feyre and helping her even going as far as saying.

“Be happy”

As he gave a drop of his power to Rhysand to bring him back to life. To me that is growing. Sure he is still acting like an ass hat, but I must say less of an ass hat than normal. So claps for Tamlin guys…even though I still really don’t like him!

Let’s talk about some characters I actually like now.

Like Lucien, my little baby fox lord! I think Lucien found his feet in this book (finally!) after Tamlin pretty much took advantage of him and used him to make his court great. He leaves with Feyre and is welcomed into the Night Court. Throughout Feyre’s time in the spring court I was shouting prise for him and how protective and caring they both were to each other.

I never knew I could love him more than in ACOTAR when he was at his sassiest but because we got more time with him in this book my love for him has grown and he has officially become one of my all time favourite characters.

Let’s talk about The Inner Circle, I love them all but there was a major issue I had and unfortunately it has to do with Mor. Don’t get me wrong I love her, but while reading I started getting annoyed at her. I just found the way she acted towards Nesta to be really rude and even though Feyre didn’t say anything to her about it, it really got on my nerves how anytime there was a moment between Cassian and Nesta (who I ship!) there Mor would be, being rude to her.
Now this might just be me, and I still love Mor, but that was the one thing that really got on my nerves while reading.

The rest of the Circle though, my babes! Cassain and Azriel are my little Illyrian babies, I loved how we got to see Azriel’s funny side as he joked around with Feyre and the others, and I loved how Cassian... well he pretty much acted like he always does and I loved it!

Amren was her normal, sassy and “ill rip your throat out if you cross me” self. I am really excited to see how she will go in the novella with her just being a High Fae and I wonder if we will see if she has different powers now.

The relationship between Rhys and Feyre was just so beautiful. I have shipped then since ACOTAR which was weird at the time, but just proves just how on the ball I am with ships!
I loved watching them talk through things and how Rhys always let Feyre give her opinion and be a part of everything, he never held her back and as his High Lady he let everyone know that she was just as powerful as him.

I pretty much imagine Rhys walking around Velaris wearing a shirt that says “My Mate Is Better Than Your Mate.” Or holding Feyre’s crown while standing on the side lines and cheering her on in a fight.

They are serious couple goals!

The fight scenes were amazing and I was on the edge of my seat for the final battle. I could just picture shields of magic and light in place, while legions of flying warriors took to the skies, and legions of soldiers from all the courts join forced to take on Hybern.

I cried a lot while reading this book but all my tears were worth it for the ending we got, everyone safe, ready to start healing and hopefully make their world a better place for Fae and Humans alike.

Rating: 5/5 stars- Amazing! I loved it!

Even though this is the last book from Feyre’s perspective, there are still more books to come in the series and with them comes a lot of questions, like, who will we be following next? Will the books still be written in first person? Will we get chamois from characters we know and love? When will these books take place? Before or after the events of the first three books?

But before we get to the next book, we get A Court of Frost and Starlight, the novella coming out next year and after reading the synopsis for it I am so ready for May 2018 to see how this novella will bridge the two parts of the series together.

There are just so many questions I have that I would love to get answered as soon as possible, Sarah, if you could just let me know, that would be great.

Happy reading everyone!
Jess

May the Mother bless this Smut and the story amongst it!
Full review to come!!

I loved this book!

There were so many elements in this book that tick my boxes.
Enemies to lovers? … CHECK!
Set in a mix of a fantasy world and historical France? … CHECK!
Witches and Supernatural elements? … CHECK!
French pastries that I can’t find recipes for and it’s killing me inside that I’ll never be able to eat those delicious sweets?... check :(

This book was such a surprise to me, I was told I would love it, if only for the enemies to lovers element, but with all these extra elements I wasn’t aware of I ended up loving this book more than first expected.

I enjoyed the writing style and found that even though the chapters were long, I went through them so quick due to the writing being so amazing. It wasn’t overly descriptive but gave me enough details that I could clearly picture the people and places.

Plus, there was a beautiful map at the beginning of the book which is always a plus.
The world building was done so damn smoothly that I didn’t even realise it was happening, until I knew the whole world and magic system with no effort. It was like a guy sliding into my DM’s with a dad joke, one moment I’m laughing at a dad joke and then BOOM! We are having a full conversation! SO SMOOTH!

I really enjoyed all the characters, even the ones I’m supposed to hate (I have a problem, don’t judge me) but I loved the diversity of the characters and their personalities.
I could spend all day talking about each character, but let’s just talk about my main babies!
From the very start I loved Reid, I was drawn to his character and the more I read from his perspective the more I loved him.

Lou was a sassy witch, that I wanted to be my best friend, if only to have her on my side in a fight. I really enjoyed watching her character develop as she went from hating Reid and calling him Chass all the time to realising she was in love with him and finally calling him Reid.
I mean sure they were married the whole time, but it was when they finally admitted to each other that they loved one another that my soul was dedicated to this ship.

I really enjoyed watching their relationship develop and the fact the story was told from both Lou and Reid’s perspectives really provided me with a balanced view of the relationship and the issues they faced. Sure there were times where I got annoyed with both Lou and Reid for keeping things from one another, *cough* mostly Lou *cough* but, by the end I understood the reasons for it.

There were so many times reading this book that I had to stop and squeal due to something Reid had said or thought, one of my favourite examples of this is when Reid called Lou “My little heathen.” I don’t know why but my heart just wanted to explode at that line! It was so damn cute, and all I want in life is for someone to have that much affection for me.
There was also this quote from Reid near the end of the book that made me laugh and it might not be for the reason you expect. The line was:

“Why the fuck is everyone in this kingdom trying to murder my wife?”

Of course, I would laugh because our good holy boy Reid just cursed (and a big one mind you) but that wasn’t the only reason I laughed, the main reason was because it reminded me of John Mulaney yelling “THAT’S MY WIFE!” It gave me the same vibe and I was living for it!

I really enjoyed this book, but for me the only issues I had was my struggle to remember all the French words, that isn’t the books’ fault, it is clearly my own fault, but before I read Blood & Honey I might need to brush up on some French or have a translation app up on my phone to help me through. (My mother is the French speaker, not me)
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good enemies to lovers trope, or is looking for a book that has such a beautiful backdrop they will beg for the Pandemic to be over just so they can run away to France to find their own witch hunter.

Both… I am both these people.

I’ll be honest with you, this book has become a guilty pleasure read (or listen) for me.

I randomly came across the audio book, while looking through my local libraries audiobook collection online and after reading the synopsis I knew I had to give it a try.

I’ve been watching content creators and Let’s Players on YouTube since I was a teenager so, a book with two YouTubers as the main love interests were something I was very interested in. (please note I only realised this book was written by a YouTuber after I read it)

I really liked the romance in the story, it was sweet and very realistic in the way the characters Dovid and Sam go from being friends to something more. It was so cute and there were so many times while listening I had to pause the book just to absorb how cute an interaction was.
To begin with I didn’t like Dovid, he sounded so pretentious, and it took me a while to actually like him, but once I started liking him, I really enjoyed his character. He was sweet, understanding and just the most supportive person ever!

Sam on the other hand I loved from the beginning, he was just the cutest little cinnamon roll and I wanted nothing more than to protect him with all my life when thing started getting hard for him.
As a couple I really liked Dovid and Sam together, they balanced each other so well and were so cute together, if they were a real couple, you better believe I would follow them on social media.

There is so much representation in this book that I have no Idea where to start, which might be a good thing!
Just a small example, our main character Dovid was born with a medical condition and became blind as a child, meaning we go through this book in his perspective and get to read how he goes through life and work as a blind person.
(I would give more examples, but I feel I would be spoiling the book if I give them)

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I really liked this book and know this will become a guilty pleasure reread for many years to come.
I mean sometimes I just want something cute and easy to read, and this book is it!