(A Court of Thorns and Roses Book #3, By: Sarah J. Maas)

SUMMARY:

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

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.
In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

Published May 2017 by Bloomsbury Childrens Book

REVIEW:

Note: If you have not read the first two books in this series (A Court of Thorns and Roses & A Court of Mist and Fury), there will be mild series spoilers below.

I gave this book 4 stars. After the second book (one of my all time favorites), my expectations for this one were HIGH. It didn't exceed those, or even get close to the genius that was ACOMAF, but this book still did the world and series justice, and Sarah J Maas is still one of my favorites. 

The overall pace of this book was confusing to me, it seemed rushed yet at the same time not enough was happening. The world was creative as ever (still insanely in love with it), but the entire book was building up to one battle and after so much build up in the story, the climax comes and goes and the book is just over. I found myself craving more plot depth throughout the book. While we were at war, and still hating the spring court, I found myself forgetting why, or just not really feeling the despise as much as the conflict demanded.

The saving grace of this book was the characters and character building. It was fun to see glimpses of other courts and their people, along with expanding our previous view on this world. I also really liked that we got to dig a bit deeper into some of the returning large play characters, specifically the night court members. That said, I didn't feel like there was enough additional development of the main relationship in the series. Feyre and Rhys peeked in book #2 in my opinion. While we did get to see their relationship it felt more stagnant. The physical aspects seemed more forced, and the fire just wasn't there as much for me. Regardless, I was still extremely emotionally invested in all of the characters and will be reading any and all future books in the series for that reason alone.

The writing also seemed a bit rushed compared to Maas' other books. Specifically, I noticed there were a lot of repetitive descriptors throughout the book that took away the punch of some situations. Also, I felt myself craving more "zoomed in" visions of the battles several times - especially since the entire book was leading up to them. However, since it is a single POV and Feyre isn't always in the  midst of the battles, the view was limited and had to be high level.

Overall, Maas did a great job of continuing to throw some plot curve balls at you, and expanding the already lovable characters, making this a must read for any fans of this series or her work.

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