Going into The War of Love and Ruin, I had high expectations after loving the first two books in this series—and while this one still had moments that pulled me in, it didn’t fully deliver in the way I was hoping.
Rating: 3.5☕️
Smutometer: Level 4
⚔️ What It’s About
This book picks up right where The Crown of Shadows & Distrust leaves off:
- Kaden’s beast has taken over
- Max is the only one who can save him
- Time is running out
They seek help from the woodland fae queen, Aoife, while also uncovering more about Max’s father, Baris—who, of course, brings answers… and more questions.
💚 What Worked
The first half of this book was SO good.
- The pacing? On point
- The tension? Chef’s kiss
- The urgency? Had me stressed in the best way
Watching the race to break Kaden’s curse had me completely hooked, and it felt consistent with the strength of the first two books.
There were also plenty of moments that pulled real emotion from me—anger, shock, hope—all the good stuff.
😬 What Didn’t Quite Land
The second half is where things shifted for me.
A third major conflict is introduced, and while I can’t fully explain why, the timing of it just didn’t feel right. It disrupted the flow and took away from the momentum that had been building since book one.
Even more importantly, the resolution felt rushed.
For a series that spent so much time building:
- Kaden’s curse
- The prophecy
- Complex character relationships
…the payoff just didn’t feel as fully developed as it deserved.
There were also some threads that felt unresolved, and certain character arcs and relationships didn’t get the closure I was hoping for.
🧠 Final Thoughts
This honestly felt like a book that either:
- needed to be longer
or - should have been split into a fourth book
Because the foundation was there—it just didn’t get the space it needed to fully land.
I still really enjoyed the series overall and think Crowe did an amazing job with character development and tension across the first two books.
This one just didn’t stick with me the same way.
(No sticky brain for this one, unfortunately.)