Court

Introduction

Court was written by Tracy Wolff and published by Entangled Publishing company on February 1st, 2022. This was the longest run so far between releases with almost an entire year separating it from its predecessor, Covet. This appears to be considered the end of the original Crave series, as it wraps up the main story, though there are two books following it that I will be reviewing. The Spoiler-Free Thoughts section will avoid direct discussion of the events of this book but will mention events of the previous installments in the series. The Thoughts section will be a more in-depth analysis of this book and my opinions on it. If you would like to share your own ideas, please do so in the comment sections of any of these posts or in my DMs.

If you want to keep up with Tracy Wolff and the rest of her work, visit her website https://tracywolffauthor.com and follow her on Instagram @tracywolffbooks.

Plot

War is coming to Katmere, and Grace is not ready for it. If she can’t claim her birthright, she doesn’t stand a chance against Cyrus’ army.

Spoiler-Free Thoughts

Something I continue to love about Grace and Hudson is that they can argue and be angry with one another, but neither of them stews in it for very long. They fight, they have an honest and productive conversation about it, and they move on. If we needed any more proof that they were meant for one another, a silver tongue and the ability to push people to the point of murder with only words without actually getting themselves killed is an entertaining gift they share. More than that, their repeated dedication to one another sets them apart from other pairings in this series.

Several new characters were introduced in this book and, unsurprisingly, caused unimaginable complications for the group. Regardless of whether they were meant to be on Grace’s side or not, it doesn’t quite go her way. Alternatively, others were welcome additions who brought some new life into the series, and I appreciated that they worked together to show that there is more than one way to win a war and rule a kingdom. I have always been a proponent of brains over brawn, and one of the new characters in particular showcased that.

True to form with this series, the story never ends where I think it will, so even when the plot feels predictable for a bit, there’s always more on the way to keep me engaged, which I enjoyed. I will say that I loved the ending of this book and how it tied to the previous one, and I was beyond eager to start the next to see what adventure waited for them. I really enjoyed this book, even more so than the previous, and it ended up being my favorite in the series, so I gave this one a 9.5/10.

Thoughts

I really appreciate Wolff’s willingness to mercilessly kill off characters. Obviously, the ones that die and actually stay dead are the side characters, but she is willing to let us get attached before she offs them. She also kept me guessing as to where the plot would go, or rather, how long it would go on. The group being in the Vampire Court before the halfway point was a shock, though I knew that they would end up there eventually.

Having the characters begin this book divided was an interesting choice because that became the focal point of the story for the first portion. They’ve gone through unimaginable pain, and while they’ve suffered it together, it has started to drive them apart as war takes its toll on them. Something else interesting was the introduction of more demigods, which I felt lowered the stakes a bit with it not only being Grace and the Bloodletter with those abilities. Speaking of those two, the family relation throws everything from the past three books into an entirely different perspective.

I felt while reading that Grace needed to buck up and really learn how to fight so she could lead her army. While I did think that Chastain was being a bit harsh on her, I don’t think that he was wrong in pushing her. The gargoyles needed someone who could truly be their queen, not some teenager making a hasty and desperate decision to claim a birthright she just discovered was hers. They need to trust and respect her, and they couldn’t at the beginning. When she did finally own who she was, it was awesome, and I can understand why that was the moment Chastain and the gargoyle army decided to follow her. While her humanity helped her case, it takes much more than good intentions to make a great leader.