Amanda Smith’s Reviews > A Court of Wings and Ruin > Status Update

Blah, I couldn't finish it. I'm too bored. It's not even entertaining me as a hate read anymore.

Jurian's really a good guy! I want to like this twist, like that he's been playing the king of Highburn, but it doesn't feel earned. :/

Two protagonists attacked people at this continent-deciding political conference because their "beloveds" were insulted. This isn't Will Smith slapping Chris Rock; this is a room full of Putins and Kim Jong Uns — people who play with citizens' lives and assassinate inconvenient players. God, this book is stupid.

The supposed high-stakes political conference, but all the kings are fucking middle schoolers.

Got it back from the library.

My library loan expired. I'll have to wait 18 weeks before I can finish this stupid book, because it's THAT popular. 🙄

So why do I continue to read? I am a invested. I want to know what happens. I know there will be a HEA, but at the same fucking time Sarah Maas's willingness to break the rules of romance, and throw Tamlin in the trash, means she might be willing to deliver interesting deviations from the normal romance structure. And the world building is interesting, and the friendships are interesting. Better than the romance.

Something else I realized that irritated me: a character's goodness depends entirely on whether they will be an ally or a romantic interest. Tamlin, our original love interest, who Sarah Maas wrote an entire romance book for? Well he's good while he's the love interest, but as soon as the author moves to someone more interesting he suddenly develops bad traits. Eres, one of Lucian's brothers? He was good all along!

One minor character is gay! Hurray!

Ugh, enough of this male/female nonsense. If the fae don't want to call themselves man or woman, because that's what the humans use, then they can call themselves fae.

"The most beautiful female he'd ever seen." 🙄 No, this is stupid.

Just say, "The most beautiful fae he'd ever seen."