Court Of Frost & Starlight Paperback – June 2, 2020

A Court of Frost and Starlight was exactly what it was advertised as: a fun, short, and festive novella about the Inner Circle celebrating the Winter Solstice and Feyre’s birthday. Besides the festivities, we get to see the characters rebuilding Prythian and supporting each other in the aftermath of the war. This book is everything that I was expecting and more. I specifically saved it to read during the winter, instead of when it published, like everyone else. I’m glad I made that decision because I can imagine Velaris during the holidays so vividly while experiencing the cold weather myself. ACOFAS is a lovely, sweet, and lighthearted story with holiday cheer. However, it still has a dark, melancholy feel to it because of the scars that the war left in its wake. It warms my heart to read about the Court of Dreams feeling happy, festive, relaxed, and peaceful. After the distress and heartache in ACOWAR, they deserved to have a happy holiday. Especially since every character is still dealing with the impact. It’s awesome to have new content about my favorite characters, even if it’s just a novella. I would’ve been disappointed if Feyre’s narrative finished with ACOWAR. It was a good ending but it was too open for me to be completely satisfied with it. I love ACOFAS so much and I’m so happy that Sarah J. Maas wrote this book!!——-Below, I mention what I love and dislike about ACOFAS, with specific spoilers and concluding thoughts. If you haven’t read ACOFAS and don’t want to be spoiled, do NOT read past this. If you want to be spoiled so you can decide to read this book, then be my guest. If you have read ACOFAS and are interested in hearing my opinions, then go ahead. Overall, thank you for reading my review!!______What I loved about ACOFAS:- The Inner Circle doing normal, fun things like shopping!! This isn’t something that’s seen often in a Fantasy world.- Multiple points of view!!! I enjoy reading books like this. Especially when there’s a large number of characters that I love. I want to know everyone’s thinking!! I think books written this way are more open minded, instead of viewing everything from one perspective.- CHAPTER 13. Feyre goes shopping with Elain in a weaver’s shop and asks about a tapestry. The weavers response about her grief and needing to create is powerful. This scene was so emotionally moving for me. I reacted the same way as Feyre while reading the chapter!!- Feyre beginning to paint again!! Also, her feeling weaver’s words in her heart and soul. I always love when characters have artistic hobbies. It was really motivating to see Feyre remember the Suriel and using those last words to make a change in Velaris. Feyre and Ressina (side character) starting free art therapy classes for children and parents was so inspiring!! I really enjoyed Feyre’s character in this book. The theme of using art to express emotions/trauma and to heal is the best part of this story!!- NESTA. I loved her character in ACOWAR and she was fabulous in that book. Although it was short, I’m glad that we got to read in her view. Nesta admitting that she feels nothing is sad, depressing, and concerning. I still love her character though. I like that Nesta has found somewhat of a friend in Amren. I strongly believe that Nesta deserves a happy ending! Yes, I’m extremely excited about the Nesta and Cassian spin-off book!!!- AMREN. She’s hilarious and such an entertaining character. Her reactions to the gifts she received is amazing. I love what Amren said about Nesta. I share the same thoughts about her. We got to see more of Amren & Varian, which I enjoyed.- ELAIN. She’s has a cute, kind, and gentle personality. It was nice to see her recovery from ACOWAR and busying herself with helping Nuala & Cerridwen. I can personally relate to Elain a lot in this book.- Feyre and Rhysand are relationship goals!! It’s so endearing the way that these cuties love and support each other through everything. I think everyone deserves a relationship like Rhys & Feyre!- The snowball fight Solstice tradition that Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel do at the cabin. This Illyrian bat trio is so adorable!!- Rhysand, Feyre, Amren, Mor, Cassian, Azriel, Elain, even Nesta and Varian spending time together!! The Court of Dreams laughter and giving gifts. I live for the banter between them!! They are my favorite fictional group characters and ACOFAS made me love the Inner Circle even more.———-What I didn’t like about ACOFAS:- The wall scene. I wasn’t excited about it and I don’t care about this scene at all. I didn’t mind these scenes in the other books because they full length. It bothered me in ACOFAS because the book is shorter than the others. I’m over Maas sex scenes now though. Honestly, I would’ve preferred Azriel or Elain to get a chapter in their point of view than a full chapter about Feyre & Rhys making love (in such a short book).- Rhys going to the Spring Court and saying those negative things to Tamlin. I understand that Tamlin can’t be forgiven for his actions, but Rhysand’s words were unnecessary. As Lucien said: “Your mate should’ve known better than to kick a downed male” (page 165). However, I was relieved to see that Rhysand was self aware and knew he behaved poorly.- Elain and Azriel being the only two without a chapters in their points of view. I love their characters and I personally relate to them for different reasons. I really hope Sarah writes a spin-off book or novella to make up for this!!These dislikes are why I gave ACOFAS four stars instead of five.———ACOFAS didn’t really have much of a plot which I was completely fine with!! I was anticipating this because it’s just a novella to update us on the characters before the spin-off novels. For this reason, I can somewhat understand why the general consensus about ACOFAS is that it’s disappointing. Especially since most people in the book reading world read Fantasy books. ACOFAS is much more character oriented and not plot friendly. As I said above, I think this is something that’s not usually seen in a book set in a Fantasy world. I primarily read YA Contemporary books, so I’m accustomed to reading character oriented stories. ACOFAS didn’t disappoint me at all! What disappoints me is the mixed and negative comments about it. I wasn’t expecting so many low reviews for a Sarah J. Maas book because most of them well received. As usual, I have an unpopular opinion about a Sarah J. Maas book or character(s)!! In conclusion, I throughly enjoyed reading A Court of Frost of Starlight. I think it’s a wonderful, amazing, and positive story that’s worth reading, especially if you’re like me: a die hard ACOTAR fan. This book is now one of my favorites!!

⭐️: 4.25/5🌶️: 2/5Ummmm am I an ACOFAS girly now??? All the sudden, this novella has become my favorite book in the series without me realizing it.This re-read, I took the time to critically analyze ACOFAS, and really started to understand just how important this book is to the series. In Frost and Starlight, we get our lodestone character development which, in my opinion, is the foundation for the next phase of the entire series. We get deeper looks internally at characters' struggles, all set within a simple, relatively positive setting of the solstice holiday. This contrast helps highlight the development occurring within each character so that it's the main focus.We also get a lot of foreshadowing. If you've read the next book in the series, ACOFAS tees up so much without us realizing it. I believe it actually sets up even more than we realize, given that books past ACOSF haven't yet been published.The spice was minimal, and okay. I rated it 2/5 just because there were multiple scenes, but they are relatively tame!I think this was such an enjoyable read because had brevity and levity, but we still got so many breadcrumbs, I was left satisfied. It's a great break in the series, and an absolutely critical read--don't skip it over!

I'm going to preface this by saying that I am a huge fan of Sarah J. Maas. Her writing is great. Her stories are intriguing and filled with adventure and danger and secrets and magic and friendship and love. They're highly entertaining, emotional, and grapple with big ideas. Are they without flaw? No. But I never thought I'd give a piece of her writing less than four stars.But here we are.I really wanted to love Frost & Starlight with the same boundless vigor that I give the original trilogy. But I just...didn't. To be honest, I'm weirded out. This is new territory for me.A Court of Frost and Starlight is a novella, clocking in at 229 pages, with a 20 page sneak peek at the next full-length book of the Court series, which has no set publication date at this time. From the beginning, it has been marketed as a bridge between the original trilogy and the spinoff series. Set in the Night Court over the Winter Solstice, it is, according to the jacket copy, a "tale of hope and promise" crammed with character development that will have a "far-reaching impact on the future of [the] court."I'm aware of this. I know there's only so much a writer can accomplish in 229 pages. I did not expect anything on the same level of her full-length novels. Part of me likes the domestic fanfiction-y vibe a majority of the book embraces. Emotionally-driven characters have been a staple and a strength of this series from the beginning. It's not a bad read.It's just not...a necessary read.Are there important plot elements introduced that lay groundwork for the spinoff series? Sure!Did they require an entire novella to set them up? Nope!I think my reaction is so lackluster because, to me, there wasn't anything major to react to. The most exciting part was the 20 page sneak peek, which made me shriek and hug things and wonder when the first spinoff novel would actually come out, because I want that book. That book is going to shake me up.But honestly? I was happy with where A Court of Wings & Ruin left everyone. I don't think I needed Frost & Starlight to hold my hand and lead me towards the next trilogy.Honestly, Frost & Starlight felt kind of like fan service. It gave us the highly anticipated wall scene (which my asexual ass skimmed through) but other than that?I acknowledge that there's no way to properly judge the success and relevance of Frost & Starlight as a bridge between series until we have Spinoff #1 in our hands. But I have this feeling that, down the road when both Court trilogies are on my shelf, Frost & Starlight will join Crown of Midnight in the "books that I skip over during rereads" category.Now, I still respect Sarah J. Maas, madly and wildly. She's a grown-ass writer who can make her own grown-ass choices about what she writes and what she chooses to publish. Am I mad that she published it? No. Am I judging other fans who really loved it? Hell no! It's not policy for me to shame anyone for liking what they like.But I would be doing myself and my brand a disservice by not reviewing honestly, so here we are.A Court of Frost & Starlight simmers with promises, but foreshadowed more than it actually delivered.