Liked the second book better but a good climatic installment in the series.
Summary:
The long-feared war has arrived to Prythian. The High Lord and his now High Lady Feyre must ally the other territories to their cause against Hybern. But old exes and past rivalries aren't easy to overcome and their enemies won't wait for them to band together before they strike.
Verdict: 8.5/10
Basic fantasy/dysotopian structure: the trilogy. You have character intro and minor enemy in the first book. Second is mainly character development and gaining intel on the bigger enemy at hand. And the third book is the major climatic face-off. In most series, the first and last take center stage and the middle is swept under the rug. But for ACOTAR, the second is so far my favorite. While this one was trying to be climatic and was still a great read, it didn't hit me in the gut like A Court of Mist and Fury did.
It's a hard thing to have a finale that lives up to all the hype you just built (too soon, Game of Thrones). When there's so many elements and characters and action all coming together, the emotions get lost in the shuffle. So the reader's attention was spread a bit thin.
Rebellion books also tend to have a lot of politics and figuring out who's really a foe or an ally, which isn't my favorite aspect. Although, while I’m not one for political scheming, the manipulation of Tamlin is so evilly good on Feyre's part and the consequences later in the book are fascinating!
Maas also diverged from the average revolutionary storyline to show how it isn't always a good thing. Rebelling against a system that outlawed slavery allows history to repeat itself. Unlike most dysotopian series, the heroes aren't trying to tear down the system, but keep order and balance change in healthy doses, not giving into mob rule, anarchy or going back to the old ways.
Maas still delivered a great third book with lots of battles, magic, romance, and intrigue. We got more minor character romances and a bitter rampage from her ex. The face-offs were gripping and had plenty of thrills and strategy involved. I've become fully attached to these characters and was intent on seeing them get a happy ending.
But I wonder if the happy ending was really the best call here as we see one of the most over-done twists: the resurrection. (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD) I never mourn characters in fantasy or sci-fi anymore because they're destined to return in a couple chapters anyway! Does anyone stay dead anymore? Permanent death is a more gutsy move, but no author wants to deal with the grief from the characters (or readers), so they cop out and bring them back without hesitation. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Maas didn't kill my favorites. But if we're just going to have every death be a ploy for attention and drama only to reverse it, it lessens the impact. Can we limit the amount of resurrections to one per series? Feyre got hers in the first book, there shouldn't be any more. You've reached your limit, Maas. You're cut off. Make the deaths mean something in the future beyond a "gotcha" moment.
Sidebar: we kinda know how this is going to end, so Feyre's claims that they're going to lose just don't seem believable. The boss battle starts, and it’s like how could they not win? They’ve got all of the high lords and the humans and the 3 immortal death gods. Cauldron or no, Hybern is not gonna take them all out. (SPOILERS CLEAR)
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