Kara's Book Cravings: ACOTAR Series

 

So, I have finished all five books in the A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES Series by Sarah J. Maas. If you want to catch up on my thoughts about book 1 and book 2, you can do so HERE and HERE. All set? Okay, then let's move on to books 3-5, and boy do I have some thoughts...

In book 3--A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN--we get a lot more fantasy aspects with the Fae courts and politics and the eventual big war. While the pacing was good and I was fully engaged, something about this book fell flat for me. In the first two, we're just learning about Rhys and Feyre and becoming invested in their love-hate relationship. In this book, they are fully mated and together. From a story telling perspective, I get the need for that, but as a reader, I really missed the tension between them that had been so strong in the first two books. 

The 4th book--A COURT OF FROST AND STARLIGHT--is a really short companion book that takes place after the war and shows Rhys and Feyre settling into their lives. This also focuses a bit more on Feyre's sisters, Elain and Nesta, which leads into the fifth book. While this was a quick read, it wasn't my favorite. It lacked any real conflict and romantic tension. 

A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES, the fifth and (so far) final book in this series is a beast. It's by far the longest, and it took me a while to get through it. Not because it was bad, but because we shift from Feyre and Rhys's story into Nesta and Cassian's story. The shift took a big of adjustment, but once I got into it, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. 

Nesta gets a lot of hate from a lot of people, and with good reason, but she has the best character arc, in my opinion. The amount of change she goes through, both internally and externally, is astounding. I came to really like her by the end of this book, and I was rooting for her.  She knows she hasn't been a good sister, or person overall, but she works hard on herself and by the end, this book had me in tears. I'd venture to say this final book was probably my favorite of the entire series. And the romance between her and Cassian --- wooooo! Make sure you have a fan handy. Or access to a cold shower.