“A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas: The ACOTAR Christmas Special [Book Review]

“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

“A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas: A Book of Love Triangles and Character Assassinations [Book Review]

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a retrospective book review, and since my next non-retrospective book review isn’t quite ready yet, I thought it was high time I posted another.

Retrospective book reviews are basically book reviews, but they’re on books that I read before I started this blog. So, in order for them to get their day in the sun, I go back through them and see if my opinion when I originally read them holds up. So yeah, that’s basically it.

This time I’m gonna go over another book in a very popular series that I’ve already gone over before. That’s right, I’m going over A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses.

“To the stars who listen—and the dreams that are answered.”

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

THEN: ★★★★★ • 5 / 5

NOW: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5

“Tell me what you see.”
“A world divided in two.”

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court – but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms-and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future-and the future of a world torn apart.

My review for A Court of Thorns and Roses

I have a complicated relationship with the books (that I’ve read) in this series. With ACOTAR, it was that the book started off pretty slow and ended up being just a generic YA fantasy novel. With A Court of Mist and Fury my feelings are a bit more complex than that.

A Court of Mist and Fury is an NA (formerly YA) high fantasy romance novel written by Sarah J. Maas. It is the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses and is therefore the second book in the eponymous series. ACOMAF was also originally published on May 3, 2016 by Bloomsbury.

Stuff I Liked

The Court of Dreams.

The people who knew that there was a price, and one worth paying, for that dream. The bastard- born warriors, the Illyrian half breed, the monster trapped in a beautiful body, the dreamer born into a court of nightmares

…And the huntress with an artist’s soul.

Though this book had a similar problem to its predecessor – that being, it started off slow – it didn’t feel nearly as bad to me; likely because it wasn’t slow for as long. And once ACOMAF got going, it got going.

Also, even though Maas doesn’t focus as much on her world building as I’d like (she chooses instead to focus on… other things), I did like the bits of world building that she did decide to show. I also enjoyed some of the strange creatures and monsters she added and opted to give page time to.

I also quite liked many of the characters introduced in this book. Mor was a great friend for Feyre, and I liked Cassian and Azriel. I really liked seeing Feyre’s sisters – Nesta and Elain – again, as I didn’t expect it at all. (Cassian and Nesta’s sexual tension was also amazing.) Amren was the MVP character-wise though. She was so cool.

The new places that the characters travelled too were also really cool. I loved seeing more of the Faerie Courts of Prythian, and I can’t wait to see more.

There you are. I’ve been looking for you.

His first words to me— not a lie at all, not a threat to keep those faeries away.

Thank you for finding her for me.

I’m more on the fence now on the romance than I was when I first read ACOMAF, soon after it was originally released in 2016. I’ve decided to put it in the Stuff I Liked section, however, because when I first read it I absolutely adored it. Rhysand and Feyre had so much more chemistry together than Tamlin and Feyre ever did, and I really liked Rhys and Feyre as a couple at the time.

The climax and the ending were also heart pounding. When I finished this book, I was immediately chomping at the bit for the next book. It was sooo good, and I needed to know what happened next!

But that’s pretty much all that I liked about it, even if this stuff made me rate the book very highly when I first read it (and why I can’t bring myself to rate it that much lower now).

Stuff I Didn’t Like

When you spend so long trapped in darkness, you find that the darkness begins to stare back.

I absolutely despised what Maas did to Tamlin’s character. Now don’t get me wrong – I didn’t particularly like Tamlin in ACOTAR. But I didn’t hate him either, and after his cardboard cutout personality in the first book, I was looking forward to seeing his personality develop in book two, as well as his and Feyre’s relationship.

But that never happened. Because Maas decided to assassinate Tamlin’s character.

Now this is something that I’ve always hated. Even way back when, when A Court of Wings and Ruin hadn’t even come out yet, and everyone was praising A Court of Mist and Fury for being a perfect book and how perfect Rhys and Feyre were for each other and just ~~fück~~ Tamlin. I hated this even then. Because I absolutely hate things like character assassinations – as it indicates bad writing. And I still stand by that.

I also didn’t really, really didn’t like the smut. But I just hate smut in general, so that’s probably just a me thing.

Final Thoughts

Truth is deadly. Truth is freedom. Truth can break and mend and bind.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas was a fantastic read when it first came out, but its near perfection has definitely weathered some over the years.

I still like it to some degree, and recommend it to fans of fantasy-romance, but I don’t like it nearly as much as I did when I first read it. It’s not a bad book (though if you’re looking for it, you can see the cracks starting to show in the narrative in ACOMAF).

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

LINKS: Goodreads | Instagram

Reading Retrospective: “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas

So, it’s been what, like eleven days or something, since I last reflected on a book from my past? That’s far too long. Let’s change that, shall we? It’s time for some retrospecting. (Yes, I know that’s not a real word.) (No, I don’t care.)

Reading Retrospectives are when I go back and reflect on books that I’ve read. Books that I have strong opinions on, but never reviewed because I read them before I even had a Goodreads (let alone a blog), and books from my childhood to my college days. Everything is fair game, honestly. If you’ve read the title, you know what this post’s gonna be about. If you haven’t, I’m reflecting on A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Here we go!

1st Edition of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

2nd Edition of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

About ACOTAR

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses [Book #1]

Length: 432 pages

Genre: High Fantasy, Romance, New Adult

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Book Description

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.

My Retrospective Review

When I Originally Read This: November 2015

Then: ★★★★✯ • 4.5 / 5 stars

Now: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”

ACOTAR. Oh, ACOTAR. The history that you and I have.

Gonna be perfectly honest here, before I caved in and started reading this, I had very strong aspirations to never do so. Like, I saw in my local Barnes & Noble in May or June of 2015, instantly could tell what type of “YA” book (the quotes are there, cuz hindsight) this was gonna be, and just… stayed away. Or attempted to, anyway.

In November of 2015, my strength failed me, and I caved into buying this book. And it was exactly like I knew it would be. YA with a “strong, female protagonist” who falls in a “passionate, fiery” love with some supernatural supermodel.

And I loved it.

Don’t get me wrong, it absolutely irritated me that I even started reading this in the first place. But, at the time, my soul wanted a guilty-pleasure-romance, so a guilty-pleasure-romance was what I read. And I liked it mostly in a guilty-pleasure sort of way. Not because I thought it was amazing literature or anything. Because, trust me, I didn’t.

“I came to claim the one I love.”

The characters were not very likeable, for one thing. Feyre was an annoying protagonist, who continually made stupid decisions; some of which, were extremely contrived. She was also quite bland, like a blank canvas, if I may incorporate one of Feyre’s “hobbies” into a simile.

And if Feyre was a blank canvas, then the love interest, Tamlin, was the material that a blank canvas is made out of. This man – sorry, “male” – was less than a block of wood, or even a sheet of paper. He honestly barely qualifies as a character, as he was mostly just a plot device to push Feyre to do something. Because, despite this book being over 400 pages, it becomes clear after a while, that at least 150 of them could have been cut. (Maas likes to overwrite and over-describe.)

“Do you ever stop being so serious and dull?”

“Do you ever stop being such a prick?” I snapped back.

Dead—really, truly, I should have been dead for that.

But Lucien grinned at me. “Much better.”

I’d get into more of the characters, but there really weren’t any. That really qualify as characters, at least. Lucien was probably the best of the almost characters. Actually, scratch that, he was the best. Even better than Feyre honestly. Throughout the novel, he and Feyre had way more chemistry than her and Tamlin, so I was kinda rooting for them as a couple for awhile. But we can’t have nice things, so I quickly gave up.

Feyre’s family were pretty much nonentities here (except for one tiny part later in the novel), they just existed as a motivation for her. Also, they sucked. Like, they were completely horrible to her. And, let’s not get into the “most handsome man [Feyre] had ever seen.” No, that’s going in the retrospective on ACOMAF, thank you very much. I’ll get to him though, I promise.

I’d mention the villain of the story, but the book isn’t really about that, so… yeah, just gonna leave this already long rant about the characters in this book here.

This book wasn’t all bad with the characters (barring Lucien), however. There were a few good lines and character moments nestled within some of the pages, that I wish we’d seen more of. Like this:

I found him carefully studying me, his lips in a thin line. “Has anyone ever taken care of you?” he asked quietly.

“No.” I’d long since stopped feeling sorry for myself about it.

and this

“Because I wouldn’t want to die alone,” I said, and my voice wobbled as I looked at Tamlin again, forcing myself to meet his stare. “Because I’d want someone to hold my hand until the end, and awhile after that. That’s something everyone deserves, human or faerie.”

I actually really like the setting and the world building (that we get) a lot. I found it to be very interesting, even though it’s more than obvious that Maas just traced over a map of the U.K. and renamed it Prythian (and Hybern). The division of the “courts” was intriguing to me, and I wish that the series expanded on the way their hierarchies worked in a way that made sense more than it actually ended up being. (We’ll get to that, don’t worry. Just not in this review.) I also adored the magical atmosphere of the book, as well.

Despite… everything about ACOTAR, I will admit that I really enjoyed it. It was stupid fun – guilty-pleasure-romance, just as I said near the beginning. So I’ll take one thing that this book said, to heart:

“Don’t feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.”

Because if we don’t read what we enjoy, then what the hell are we doing with our limited free time on this planet? We should do things that bring us joy (within reason. I’m looking at you… people who do bad things.) and if they include reading not-that-great, but also, weirdly-addicting, fantasy romances, then we should just do that!

Have you read A Court of Thorns and Roses, or any of Sarah J Maas’ other novels? What did you think of them? What are your guilty-pleasure books? (I know you have at least one…) Thanks for reading, and see you again soon for more bookish things.

Shelf Control [Week #1] | ACOWAR

Shelf Control logo from BookshelfFantasies.com (…and ACOWAR too, I guess)

Guys. It’s time…

…for my first Shelf Control!

Shelf Control is an original feature created and hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out this post from BookshelfFantasies.com.

This is my first week participating in it, and I’m very excited! I’ve got a ton of books that I’ve bought, but are still sitting unread on my shelves, months or even years later. And the book that I, Marin Gier, have decided to start off with is… 🥁🥁🥁

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (Both its 1st & 2nd edition covers)

Title & Author: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses [Book #3]

Length: 736 pages

Publication 1st Edition: Bloomsbury USA Children’s [May 2, 2017]

Publication 2nd Edition: Bloomsbury Publishing [June 2, 2020]

Book Description (ala Goodreads):

Feyre will bring vengeance.

She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust among the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

But while war races, it is her heart that will face the greatest battle.

When I Got It:

November 2017

Why I Wanted to Read It:

I had read the first two – ACOWAR and ACOMAF – each after they had come out and enjoyed them, so I thought I’d do the same with this one.

Why I Haven’t Read It:

I read the first two in November of the years that they were released – despite them both coming out in May, just like this one – and I wanted to recreate the same feeling and atmosphere as when I had read the others.

I ended up getting both busy and distracted, and by the time I finally had time to read it, I just… didn’t. I didn’t feel like reading it at that time for whatever reason, and not just because it’s ginormous. And I guess I still haven’t gotten around to reading it because I kind of fell out of the ACOTAR series after that. I’d still kind of like to read it eventually, though.

Have you read this book? Or any of Sarah J. Maas’ series’? Did you like them or dislike them?

Thanks for tuning in, and have a great day/night!

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“A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas: The ACOTAR Christmas Special [Book Review]