TITLE: A Court of Frost and Starlight
AUTHOR: Sarah J. Maas
SERIES: A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.1
RELEASED: May 1st, 2018; Bloomsbury USA Childrens
GENRE: Fantasy
AGE RANGE: NA
SYNOPSIS: Months after the explosive events in A Court of Wings and Ruin, Feyre, Rhys, and their companions are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly-changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it, a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated–scars that will have far-reaching impact on the future of their Court.{GOODREADS . AMAZON . B&N . BOOKDEPOSITORY . INDIGO}
First of all, let me just express my total devastation that an entire year of counting down the days until this book’s release is gone in two and a half hours of reading. I mean, I knew it was only going to be a novella, but… *sobs quietly* I didn’t expect it to go by THAT fast! This amazing little series has pulled me through some really dark times and brought so much joy into my life that I know I will treasure it, always. ♥
Even now, with that bond again flowing between us like a river of star-flecked night, the echo of its vanishing lingered.
ACOFAS definitely doesn’t read anything like the 3 main novels; the chapters switch perspectives occasionally, featuring POVs from Feyre, Rhysand, Cassian, and Morrigan. What struck me as particularly odd about this was the fact that Feyre and Rhysand’s chapters were in first-person, while Cassian and Morrigan’s were in third—a slightly jarring writing style, but nothing too detrimental.
In his stare, I could have sworn galaxies swirled. In the shadows between his wings, the glorious depths of the night dwelled.
We do get some really sweet and domestic Feysand moments, but I was actually surprised at how little time they actually spend together during the novella (and how little sex there is—who is this author and what did she do with Sarah?!). We did finally get the infamous wall scene! There are some incredibly sweet moments, at least a few scenes of Rhysand being his lovable cinnamon roll self, and a completely expected but adorable turn of events for their little family.
Shadows different from anything my powers summoned, spoke to. Born in a lightless, airless prison meant to break him. Instead, he had learned its language.
Feysand obsession aside, I loved how much time we got to spend with Cass and Az, learning more about their respective histories and how they’ve healed from the war. With Cassian’s perspectives especially, it felt like this was written to be a legitimate “bridge” between the ACOTAR series and whatever comes next, which I was honestly fond of, even if the next book’s focus on Cassian and Nesta does have me pretty nervous.
Lucien had not come here to make amends during Solstice, I realized as Tamlin opened the door to the dark library. Lucien had come here out of pity. Mercy.
Perhaps the most unexpected bits were the ones in which we visited Tamlin—with a novella this short, I honestly didn’t expect to see him at all, and certainly not in the state in which Rhysand found him. I never thought I would feel sorry for him, and I still think he’s a walking, talking garbage can, but I still couldn’t help being at least a little bit sad to see how far he’s fallen. I truly do hope that Sarah will write more about him in the future, because I can’t help but always feel that, no matter what a jerk he is, there’s something interesting about his potential as a character.
Cassian set me down at last. “What’d you get me for Solstice?” I smacked his arm. “A heaping pile of shut the hell up.”
Was ACOFAS everything I hoped and dreamed it would be? Honestly, no. This is more of a 4.5 rating, but you can believe that I did not hesitate to round up to 5 stars, because at the end of the day, I got to spend a few hundred pages with my precious bat babies, and watch this adorable little family interact and taunt and fuss and cry and laugh with one another, and that was all I really needed this novella to offer me. I have missed the inner court so damn much since ACOWAR ended, and it just felt SO GOOD to fall right back into this world for a little bit longer. ♥
Bonus list of tiny things that made me squeal:
→ the sauna scene
→ snowball fight traditions
→ more “the power of art” scenes
→ Morrigan reminiscing (ow, my heart)
→ Amren’s newfound jigsaw puzzle obsession
→ “Illyrian babies”
→ Rhys cooking Tamlin dinner, like… what even?
→ all the fuzzy scarves and winter holiday vibes
→ Amren receiving a million pieces of jewelry as always
→ Mor’s terrible taste in gifts
→ SHAMELESS reference to Cass’ wingspan
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Elise @ Roaming Reader
May 1, 2018So I was kinda (and still kinda am) cautious about picking this up (idk just bc it’s a novella and I’m excited but SJM can be hit or miss for me so we’ll see) but omg your list of things that made you squeal just made me want to pick it up immediately ?It sounds like a lot of fun
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 2, 2018Bahaha yay! That was my intention. 😉 It honestly was a blast to read. I mean, it wasn’t like, ACOMAF-levels of perfection for me (because ACOMAF is legit one of my fave books in life), but it was still SO worth the read imo. If you do read it, I hope you have fun with it, too ♥
Elise @ Roaming Reader
May 2, 2018Ah well we’ll see how much I love it when my library finally gets a copy so I can read it over the summer 🙂
Oh and ACOMAF is by far my favorite SJM novel (only bested by parts of HOF but ACOMAF might be a bit better overall)
Cindy
May 2, 2018I’m excited to see what I think about the book. I’m starting it soon!
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 7, 2018I really hope you enjoy(ed) it, Cindy!
Flavia
May 2, 2018Ahhhh you read and reviewed it so quickly! Haha. I’m supposed to get my copy in the mail today. Fingers crossed!
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 7, 2018Did you get the chance to read it yet? I had to get it at midnight on my kindle because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to grab a physical copy from BAM on the release day, and I knew their shipping would take WAY too long. One of my friends pre-ordered through BAM and didn’t receive hers until yesterday! :O
Flavia
May 9, 2018Yeahhh I finished it sometime last week and really liked it 🙂 I was so happy to read about the characters again and see what they’re up to, hehe. And good call getting the e-book! My physical book came on the 3rd, so that wasn’t too bad. And woaaaa I would have gotten so mad waiting for it that long!!!
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 11, 2018Awww yay, I’m glad you liked it!
Kathy @ Books & Munches
May 16, 2018Honestly, I was missing something with this one. Like, I loved it. I LOVE it but.. I was missing some serious Maas-magic when it comes to action.. Just.. more events. Like.. I don’t know. I can’t even explain anymore – I’ve tried too often. :’) Saying it felt like a “filler book” like there are “filler episode” is probably the best way to go.
But I loved it though! [I might go as far as saying I loved the teaser more but.. yeah.]
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 20, 2018Totally understandable! I definitely think it was a filler book – I actually even said to Terry, the next morning when he asked how I liked it, “It was good but it’s definitely just to bridge the gap between story lines,” because I don’t think it stands on its own at all, but as a filler/”fluff” I think it’s nice. :’) But yesss the teaser. I don’t care much for Nesta but I love Cassian sooooo much and I was hoping the next book would be about him! ♥
Kathy @ Books & Munches
May 22, 2018True! For those who expected more than just fluffy filler, it’s a shame though. I’ve seen some low ratings because of that and.. well.. that really has to do with what you expected to get?
I am curious about Nesta though! I wonder what it’ll take for her to come around and.. accept everything? Open up? It’ll be interesting to see how she’ll torture everyone else before that happens, haha.
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 25, 2018Agreed! Yeah, I’ve been amazed by how many of my friends have given it 1-2 stars, and a lot of them said it’s because it didn’t have enough action. I’ll never tell someone how to rate things, so their opinions are valid, but it does make me wonder if they’d have enjoyed it way more if they’d gone into it expecting fluff.
Kathy @ Books & Munches
May 28, 2018Exactly! Expectations can change so much when it comes to enjoying a book and ACOFAS simply is the latest example of just that.
Erin Eliza
May 21, 2018I TOTALLY want to see redemption for Tamlin, I felt all kinds of icky and bad for him reading this. I mean I know he sucks real hard but he’s got some potential and wasn’t alllllll bad.
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 25, 2018Right! Like… I know he’s done some really, truly TERRIBLE things, and I’ll be the first to admit that I talk trash about him all the time, lmao… but I did feel sorry for him in ACOFAS. 🙁 I think it was seeing how defeated he was that just hurt my heart a little (and made me think we probably will see a redemption arc for him!).
Erin Eliza
May 25, 2018Totally!!! Also idk why but I always think of him and the scene where he’s playing the fiddle and like, there’s a good guy in there somewhere I know it. Plus when he fends off all those beasts so she can fly away. He just needs more moments like those. And to acknowledge the error of his ways. Hahah.
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 25, 2018Yesss, absolutely. Honestly, I had issues with him in ACOTAR but I didn’t hate him – I just didn’t want them together. Then, in ACOMAF, I kinda hated him (and REALLY hated him at the end). I hated him a lot in the beginning of ACOWAR, too, no lie. But when he was in his beast form protecting her while she saved her sister, it totally warmed my heart and that was when I started thinking, “Okay, can we PLEASE have a redemption arc?!”