“Leave the world a better place than you found it,” A Court of Wings and Ruin, pg. 539

I finally finished the first three books of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and I have thoughts.

I went into this series expecting hot fae men, romance, maybe some magic, maybe some angst.

What I got was political drama, trauma, war, sister issues, found family, ancient nightmare creatures, deeply questionable magical cookware, and enough emotional damage to require at least a month of therapy.

Naturally, I loved it.

And because I cannot be normal about anything, here are the main things I’m still thinking about.

Feyre Archeron: From Illiterate to High Lady

Feyre’s character arc is easily one of my favorite things about the first three books.

She starts out as a nineteen-year-old girl hunting in the woods because if she doesn’t bring home food, her family might literally starve.

She can’t read.

She has no options.

She is basically surviving one day at a time.

And by the end of book 3 – A Court of Wings and Ruin?

She is High Lady of the Night Court and is the most powerful woman in the world.

She’s survived war.

She’s survived trauma.

She has made alliances with literal eldritch horrors. (At one point, she is managing the Prythian version of Avengers except they’re creatures who eat people for fun.)

That is RANGE.

What I love most about Feyre’s growth is that it’s not just “girl gets magic and becomes badass.”

It’s about her learning that SHE gets to decide what happens to her.

SHE learns what love should feel like.

She learns that SHE gets to choose who she becomes.

And honestly, that idea of choice runs through this entire trilogy.

English Major Time – Themes

If I had to sum up the first three books with one theme, it’d definitely be choice.

Everyone is constantly choosing something.

Who they love.

Who they trust.

Who they betray.

Who they save.

Whether they let trauma turn them cruel.

Whether they keep living after something breaks them.

Whether they control the people they love or trust them enough to let them choose for themselves.

Another major theme is reckoning with yourself.

When I was in elementary school, we had to recite a poem for 5th grade graduation and it was more or less about whatever you do in life means absolutely nothing if you look in the mirror and find that you don’t like the person staring back.

At one point, Feyre is faced with a mirror that can break people and it forces her to really look at herself – she’s been traumatized, she’s spent part of this trilogy hating herself, she has been broken and (literally) put back together again. And she accepts who she sees.

Feyre finally accepts herself and everything she is.

That was such a powerful moment.

Rhysand Ruined Men for Me…Period.

I need everyone to understand that Rhysand went from “Hmm…evil lackey of the main villain – that’s suspicious” to MY FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER OF ALL TIME.

Yeah, that escalated quickly.

At first I did not trust him.

And then A Court of Mist and Fury happened.

And then he was funny.

And sweet.

And respectful.

Then I was gone.

Rhys really won me over because of how he treated Feyre.

He’s terrified for her constantly, but he doesn’t treat that fear as a reason to make every decision for her.

There’s such a huge difference between:

“I love you, so you’re not allowed to do this”

and:

“I love you, I hate that you’re doing this, please don’t die, but it’s your choice” (there’s that theme of choice again).

Rhys gets that in a way Tamlin never did.

Does he always make perfect decisions?

Hahahahahahaha no.

This man has been alive for 500 years and makes choices that have me staring at the page like, “Sir, please, get it together…”

But his relationship with Feyre is built around partnership, not ownership.

And I love that.

Also, he has wings.

Yes that matters.

The Inner Circle: My Favorite Group of Emotionally Repressed Idiots

I absolutely LOVE Mor, Azriel, Amren, and Cassian.

This is exactly the kind of found family dynamic I want in fantasy.

They’ve known each other for centuries and roast and annoy each other, drink together, die for each other, and then probably argue about who gets the last glass of alcohol.

Cassian is loud and chaotic.

Azriel is mysterious but not above cracking hilarious one-liners.

Mor holds the group together socially.

Amren is an eldritch horror in a tiny body (short queens unite!).

And Rhys (and then Feyre) loves them like family because they ARE family.

They don’t feel like a group of coworkers who happen to be on the same team.

By the time they’re all holding hands before the final battle?

I was done.

Tamlin: I Still Have Issues, But Fine

I still have many, MANY issues with Tamlin.

But ACOWAR does something I appreciated.

It lets him make a good choice without pretending that good choice erases everything else.

He chooses to let Feyre go and be happy.

No dramatic reunion.

No pretending everything is fine.

He gives her the gift of closure.

Nesta and Elain Archeron, I Owe You a Partial Apology

Let’s discuss Feyre’s sisters.

Book 1 me?

Did not like Nesta.

Actually, let me be more accurate.

I was the founder, CEO, president, and sole shareholder of the Nesta Archeron Hater Association.

Feyre went out everyday risking her life to feed her family while Nesta just sat home being mean.

But A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin complicated how I saw her. And I loved that.

It didn’t erase what she did.

It just gave her more layers.

When she finally acknowledges what Feyre did for their family?

That got me.

Then she throws herself into war, watching Cassian suspiciously, and makes good on her promise to the King of Hybern.

That’s growth.

I know A Court of Silver Flames is from her POV and at first, I was dreading to read it, but now, I’m kind of excited.

And Elain was another surprise.

She starts out as the soft sister who everyone tries to protect because she’s oh so fragile and then she ended up killing the main antagonist.

Honestly, I thought she was kind of boring.

I was like…ELAIN?????

The one with the flowers?????

I loved that she got a moment that didn’t require her to become Nesta or Feyre.

She is still soft.

But soft doesn’t mean weak.

One of the things I appreciate most is that Feyre, Nesta, and Elain don’t suddenly become besties by the end. Their relationship is still complicated and full of trauma and resentment, but I loved how it did evolve over the course of the three books.

ACOWAR Said: What If We Made Everything EPIC?

Now let me talk about A Court of Wings and Ruin specifically because this book absolutely lost its mind and I mean that as a compliment.

The final battle itself?

Ridiculous.

In the best way.

We have the High Lords transforming into beast form, Rhys misting entire sections of an enemy army with a flick of his hand, Winter Court having polar bears fight, a firebird burning enemy ships, Feyre’s nightmare Avengers literally frightening people to death.

I need this adapted with a disgusting budget.

I want armies.

I want choirs.

I want wings.

I want to sit in a movie theater with a bowl of popcorn and feel like I personally got drafted into this war.

And the last couple chapters are just: death, death, death, sacrifice, death, resurrection. I could not catch a break the last few chapters of ACOWAR. I think I actually cried for the last 50 pages nonstop.

Ughhhh.

“We Enjoy Every Heartbeat of It”

This line is probably the one that stuck with me the most.

After everything they survive, Cassian asks Rhys what they do now.

Rhys said, “We enjoy every heartbeat of it.”

That’s it.

That’s the trilogy.

You survive so you can actually live.

You drink wine with your friends.

You plant gardens.

You laugh.

You fall in love.

You forgive what you can.

You let go of what you can’t carry forever.

You fly.

Feyre starts the series trapped by poverty, circumstance, trauma, and eventually actual walls.

And ACOWAR ends with her flying beside Rhys.

Not being carried.

Not being rescued.

Not being hidden away.

Flying.

What a perfect ending.

Final Thoughts

I loved these first three books way more than I expected to.

A Court of Thorns and Roses introduced me to Feyre and Prythian.

A Court of Mist and Fury made me fall in love with the Night Court, the Inner Circle, and Rhys…ugh, Rhysand, the man you are…

A Court of Wings and Ruin gave me everything I could ever want in an epic fantasy novel.

Of the first three books, I think ACOWAR is definitely my favorite. It had high stakes and felt huge.

The ending had to be earned. It wasn’t handed to the main characters. After all of the death and destruction, the ending still feels hopeful.

People are laughing.

Bread is baking.

Gardens will grow again.

And our characters get to LIVE.

What more can you ask for?

And now to marathon A Court of Frost and Starlight and A Court of Silver Flames before Book 6 comes out.