Book review: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Wings and Ruin

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A Court of Wings and Ruin 〰️

I mentioned in my review of the second book in this series that it outshined the first one. And while I still stand by that statement, I would also now like to say the third book is even better than the first two. This book had me going through all the emotions, and I'm here for it. Loved it right from the start and was gripping the pages right until the end.

It was interesting to see Ferye back with Tamlin in the Spring Court again. Tamlin is now kinda the villain (as well as others), but he's so resentful of what Fyere did to him that I understand his motives. He made lots of bad decisions thought the series so far, but I can see he tried to redeem himself in the end. Was it enough? No, but it's a start. He was hurt and desperate, and while his choices that lead him down the path to siding with Hybern were clouded, I can see how he made those decisions. I can also see him growing from this and trying to regain his good standing with his court and with the rest of Prythian as the books go on.

Also, I never thought we'd see Feyre's sisters or family again after she turned High Fae in the first book, but they not only came back in the second book but played major roles in the third book. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy their characters, but the more I read about them, the more interesting they are. I really want to know the extent of Nesta's powers, and it's cool that Elain is a seer now. It's interesting to see what the Cauldron did to them and how they still remained the same characters as they were when they were human, yet also different from High Fae.

I loved that we got to know more about the other characters in Rhysand's court. We learned a lot last book, but it was expanded even more. And it was great learning about the other courts as well. I loved watching them all come together, in the end, to fight what seemed like a losing battle against Hybern.

I also enjoyed the military stuff in this book. It normally goes over my head, but Maas managed to write it in simpler terms and in a fun enough way that I enjoyed all the military talk. Also, Fyere learning to fly was information I never thought about before when it comes to using wings. I never thought about how someone would probably use terrain and different parts of their bodies to get to fly. I'm sure it's obvious to some people, but I felt like I was learning to fly right alongside Fyere, and that was cool.

Not sure how I feel about Rhys dying and then immediately coming back. Like, it hit me hard when he died. And I would have hated to see him gone from the story for good. But having him get revived almost immediately kind of cheapened his death. It's the one part of the story I don't think needed to be there.

There were flaws, yes, but all in all, this book captivated me from start to finish, and I can't wait to see how the rest of the series progresses.

Book Review: The Guardian by A.T. Duguay

A.T. Duguay

I have the pleasure of actually knowing the author personally. Duguay and I go way back to high school, and though we haven't really spoken to each other for nearly 15 years (wow that makes me feel old haha), we recently re-connected through our love of writing.

Now, onto his novel. For a first-time author, this book was very well written and the formatting was gorgeous. (He did the formatting and cover design himself and it turned out dope!) Duguay was able to do excellent world-building without making it a big info dump. I was constantly excited to learn more about Gauthak's world (and the world around him). It's obvious there is still plenty to learn, but knowing this is the first in the series definitely helps. As it stands, the story itself is a good stand-alone in terms of world-building and character development.

Before I gush about all the good things about this book, there were only a few "negative" things I should mention. I wouldn't even call them negatives. More like nitpicking based on my own personal preference.

For starters, I loved all the names of the main characters, Gauthak, Lauranna, and the names of the Northmen. But it seemed as though if the character didn't have a big role to play, their names were taken from our world and "made to look fantasy". Names like Samanda, Josiph, Sorcha, for example. Nothing wrong with that. Again, it's me being nitpicky.

Second, I found it odd that after each part, (the book is divided into three parts), the chapter titles would reset back to one. This may be a common fantasy practice that I'm unaware of, but from the books I've read that were divided into parts (my unpublished one included), the chapters never reset to one.

The story did drag--only a little!!--a bit at the start of part three, but did pick up again. But, can't have action all the time!

Last, sometimes the character's voices sounded more modern than I feel they should. (I just imaged in the setting they're in to sound all Game of Thrones like, and they totally don't have to, but yeah). Sometimes they sounded like they were in the fantasy setting they were in while other times a few modern sounded phrases seemed to pop through. At least, that's how it felt to me.

Anywho, as I said, nitpicky stuff. All very minor.

Now, onto the good stuff.

First off, LOVE Gauthak. He's a well-written character and has a great history (albeit sad) and a very interesting culture to learn about. I love how it isn't insta-love between him and Lauranna and it was sweet to Gauthak slowly get smitten with her.

I loved all the Northman, but I'm sad about how some of their stories had ended. They are a strong group of characters and the camaraderie between them and the rest of the cast felt very realistic.

Faron is easily one of my favourite characters aside from Guathak. He's the magic user in this world and I love his sarcastic yet hard truth-telling attitude. Plus the way Duguay wrote how Faron performed magic was pretty cool. Can't wait to learn more about him and the magic system of this series.

All in all, a solid good book. Great read. For a first-time author, Duguay should be proud of what he's accomplished. Here's hoping book two comes out soon!

The

Guardian by A.T. Duguay

New revised cover for the first book.