“You were born on the longest night of the year. You were meant to be at my side from the very beginning.”

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

SERIES: A Court of Thorns and Roses (Book #3.5)

LENGTH: 232 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, NA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury

RELEASE DATE: 1 May 2018 (2nd Ed. 2 June 2020)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A tender addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas, bridging the events of A Court of Wings and Ruin and upcoming books. 

Feyre, Rhysand, and their friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly altered world beyond, recovering from the war that changed everything. But Winter Solstice is finally approaching, and with it, the joy of 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, her concern for those dearest to her deepens. They have more wounds than she anticipated–scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.
Bridging the events of A Court of Wings and Ruin with the later books in the series, A Court of Frost and Starlight explores the far-reaching effects of a devastating war and the fierce love between friends.

THIS BOOK GETS

My review for A Court of Thorns and Roses

My review for A Court of Mist and Fury

My review for A Court of Wings and Ruin

To the blessed darkness from which we are born, and to which we shall return.

As I’ve said before, I have complex feelings about the ACOTAR series. Some of the I like. And some of them I do not. A Court of Frost and Starlight is a book that belongs in the latter category.

To be clear, I have definitely read worse books. But ACOFAS still wasn’t all that great. It just felt so… bland and unnecessary. (And this is coming from someone who very recently finished the next book in the series!)

This is a short book, so I’m just gonna split it into pros and cons. I’ve started marking my print books with tabs (because I just can’t mark up a book with a pen or highlighter!!), so as to somewhat mimic what I can do for e-books. (It also beats having to page through the book again to hunt for quotes – I’m so tired of doing that!)

Stuff I Liked

Stars flickered around us, sweet darkness sweeping in. As if we were the only souls in a galaxy.

First off: the cover. Very pretty. And I mean the second edition one; I was never the biggest fan of the original set of ACOTAR covers. I just prefer abstract and nonhuman designs, which the 2nd Ed. has. (Nothing against the original covers, I promise!)

Secondly: this book was short. Longer than other novellas that I’ve read, but short nonetheless. I really appreciated that. (Especially with how boring this thing ended up being. *cough*)

And lastly: I really loved Nesta and Amren’s friendship. Two tough bitches against the world. What’s not to like?

(Also, still stanning Amren/Varian over here.)

This is also kind of unrelated, but I wanted to put this here, because I did kinda like it a little. There’s a quote from the book that goes like this:

We’d wanted yellow, but then decided that it might not display the art well enough. Black and gray were too dreary for the atmosphere we wanted, beige could also clash with the art… So we’d gone with white. The back room, at least, we’d painted brightly – a different color on each wall. Green and pink and red and blue.

Notice anything…? (I thought it was a little clever of the publisher, honestly.)

Anyway, let’s get on with the tirade.

Stuff I Didn’t Like

I just… didn’t like the plot, okay? There were some mildly interesting set ups for the next book, but we didn’t see those plots even start. (And Spoiler Alert: These plots go absolutely nowhere!)

Otherwise, this book didn’t really feel like it had a plot. ACOFAS mainly seemed to focus on Feyre adjusting fully to her position as High Lady. And it was also a slice-of-life Hallmark Christmas special. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that – I enjoy slice-of-life stuff and Christmas specials. They just don’t work in the ACOTAR setting without feeling very out of place.

I also hated how self-righteous the members of the Court of Dreams kept acting. Like, okay SJM, we get it now: our main cast of characters aren’t bigoted a-holes like the majority of Prythian seems to be. You can stop mentioning it literally every other chapter. Ugh.

He had nothing. Had been given everything and squandered it. He didn’t deserve my pity, my sympathy. No, Tamlin deserved what he’d brought upon himself.

Also, I know Tamlin was an asshole, but can we please stop tormenting him. Feyre said that she “wished him well” last book (even if she never wanted to see him again), but it seems like she’s rescinding that. And quite a few scenes from Rhysand’s POV involve him taunting and provoking Tamlin. Like, just stop. Please. I don’t want to read about our virtuous main characters kicking a man after he’s lost literally everything. So. Irritating.

And can we please stop being mean to poor Lucien? Like, he literally did nothing wrong, and he’s been nothing but a total gentleman this whole novella.

And, I’m really curious about another thing. Why is Feyre so upset over Stryga/The Weaver?! Like, she and Rhys hated and feared her in ACOMAF, and reluctantly negotiated her help in ACOWAR, and then she died and suddenly Feyre is completely distraught and affected by her death. You barely knew her! Your relationship with this woman doesn’t even meet the qualifications for “acquaintance!!”

But I get it, I guess. Maas needed Feyre to be affected by one woman’s death, and this was the only named female character she was willing to off. Because Amren or Mor or freaking Viviane certainly weren’t allowed to die. That kind of stuff just frustrates me so much.

Speaking of Feyre, she and Rhys and most of the rest of their friends were just as annoying as usual. Once again, Amren and Lucien are the MVPs.

Annnd, that’s all of my criticisms, I think. Whoo, what a rush!

Closing Thoughts

To the stars who listen, Feyre.

I brushed a hand over his cheek to wipe away the last of his tears, his skin warm and soft, and we turned down the street that would lead us home. Toward our future—and all that waited within it.

To the dreams that are answered, Rhys.

A Court of Frost and Starlight is an okay book. It’s nothing to write home about – and I honestly feel like it’s an unnecessary installment to this series. Nothing in here really had any lasting consequences that either weren’t swept under the rug in A Court of Silver Flames, or that couldn’t have been squeezed in there.

If you like the ACOTAR series, then you might like this, but you really don’t need to if you don’t want to. You’re really not missing anything. You can understand ACOSF perfectly fine without reading this.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar