Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsA disappointing end to the trilogy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2020
Continuing on from A Court of Mist and Fury, the story starts with Feyre back in the Spring Court as she acts as a secret spy in Tamlin's kingdom ahead of the coming war with Hybern. Yet if Prythian is to stand any true chance against Hybern, Feyre, Rhysand and the other members of the Night Court are going to have to find ways to gather all the allies they can get. Will all the High Lords be able to find a way to work together, and set aside their differences?
I really enjoyed the first two books of this series and was eager to read this last instalment, however, I have to say I was disappointed in this end to the trilogy and found it coming up pretty short in comparison to its predecessors. For a start the book was unnecessary long, and overall I found it quite a slog to get through, tempted at times to simply give up, and I have to confess that I ended up more skim reading certain parts.
I was intrigued with the set up at the start of the story back in the Spring Court, and think this could have been made to work really well, but in actual fact this first part of the book was pretty poor for me. A lot of this was due to Feyre constantly being portrayed with such super-powers, nothing really felt like a threat or challenge to her, as she just walked over everyone so easily. Also I know Tamlin did act badly in the second book, however, there were reasons as to why he did what he did, and I for one don't think he deserved the complete lack of mercy that Feyre treated him with here.
Indeed, I have to say that overall I didn't really like Feyre's character all that much in this book as a whole. She seemed to have lost all her vulnerabilities, and was just a bit too ruthless and arrogant for me. Its not that she's lost her compassion entirely, but she's very self-absorbed here.
I did enjoy Lucien's character in this book, indeed it may have been my overall favourite portrayal in the book, and that was because unlike so many other characters, Lucien still had his complexities (unfortunately I felt he was under-used in the second half of the story). Other favourites on the other hand, such as most of the Night Court, just were painted a little too immaturely in this book. On the one hand there is this really serious threat portrayed of the impending war, and yet so often these characters are just goofing around and making jokes, acting rather like teenagers if anything, with more interest in their romantic entanglements than anything else. Nor did these romantic sub-plots really lead anywhere though, with no character or relationship development.
Feyre and Rhysand were just too 'sickeningly' in love in this book, Rhysand himself 'too perfect', all the mystery and edge that was so present in the first book and was still maintained in the second despite understanding his character better, lost entirely now and replaced instead by a 'puppyish' character who was just bland and boring in this book (oh and once again we keep being told he is the most powerful high Lord in history, but not once did I get a display of that power). Other aspects felt forced, such as Mor's bisexuality.
Nesta and Elain I thought fared better in this book, with their new cauldron-gifted powers, and there is some interest into what their own stories might hold in future books, however, right now after this book, I'm unsure if I would take a chance and continue with the next proposed trilogy centring on Nesta.
Some of the lesser used characters, particularly those older creatures such as the Bone Carver and the Weaver, did intrigue me, but I just felt there was too much going on in this book, with a lot of convoluted storytelling and sub-plots, and ultimately these characters could have been used better than they were. A lot of the story was strategy centred ahead of the war, with too many new characters introduced and not enough time to really get to know them, like the other High Lords. Even once we got to the war itself it didn't hold my interest as it should have.
Maas continues to tell rather than show a lot of the time, with lots of exposition when it comes to characters' backstories, and whilst in previous books such flaws could be overlooked, here everything just felt too messy for it to work. Oh and the constant use of the word 'mate' in this book was just cringey.
This was just an over-bloated and unengaging book, with none of the character-driven storytelling of the previous two books, such that it ruined what had till now been an enjoyable series and I lost interest in many of the characters I had hitherto really liked. I've given it a 3 stars, but in all honesty it may be a 2.5 stars.
