After several months of anticipation, it was finally released: ‘A Court of Frost and Starlight,’ the latest installment in Sarah J. Maas’ ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ series and the book I have been most excited to get my hands on this year.
And how was it, you may ask? It was nice.
Was it mind-blowing, full of action and everything that I had hoped it would be. Not exactly.
Don’t get me wrong. Anybody who knows me knows that I adore Maas and I will forever read every published word she writes. However, while I did enjoy many parts of this book, it was not my favorite thing she’s ever released. As much as I love Maas as a writer, I promise to always keep this blog 100% honest and real.
Therefore, for this review, I’m going to state both pros & cons of ‘A Court of Frost and Starlight.’
(Obviously, these are just according to me personally, as the reader, and as always, I will try my best to remain spoiler-free)
THE PROS
The Characters As I always mention when discussing a ACOTAR book, I love these characters. I love their complexities. I love their banter and the way they interact with each other. And I just love who they are. It has been so fun following along with these characters as they’ve developed throughout this series. Because this book was so character-driven, there were so many parts where I found myself actually giggling out loud as I read. They just feel like one big, dysfunctional but happy family, and it makes me smile.
The Writing As I stated above, I love the way Maas writes. It always just takes me away from any worries or bad days and transports me into these exciting worlds. Even her dedication in the beginning of this book got me inspired:“To the readers who look up at the stars and wish." Maas just has a way with words. And this book was no different in that sense. The fun-loving family scenes were cute. The more emotional anger-fueled parts were intense. And the romance, well, few can intertwine the heat of a romance as well as Sarah J. Maas. I loved spending more time in Valaris and following the characters as they try and rebuild their lives after the war.
The sneak peak of the next book The sneak peak of the next book already has me excited! It made me feel like while this book did not deliver a whole lot of action, there is still places for this story to go. From what it seems, the next book will be more exploration into the lives of some secondary characters and that really intrigues me. Trust me, I love me some Feyre and Rhys as much as everyone, but I’ve also really grown to love some of the more minor characters and I want to see them have a happy ending as well. (What can I say, I’m a sucker for a happy ending).
NOW FOR THE CONS.
The Plot This book honestly just lacked much of a plot for me. It kind of felt like a bunch of scenes just placed together. Feyre shopping for solstice. Feyre painting. Rhys shopping for solstice. Feyre worrying about Nesta.. Etc. It was all very nicely written and the scenes were sweet and full of fun character interaction, but for the most part, it just felt like really great filler. I get that this book is just supposed to be a novella to bridge the original trilogy and it's spinoff books together, but these scenes just didn't feel like enough to me to carry a novella by themselves.
The Length The first thing I noticed when I opened my package with my pre-order inside was the length of this book. It is only 228 pages. Which is OK, sometimes, if it is a really full, complete 228 pages. But this seemed like 228 pages of them preparing for solstice. If you're only going to give me a small glimpse, at least make it different and memorable. Even though I did enjoy reading it again, this felt like a lot of the same. It just felt a little dragged out with not a lot really happening to make up for it.
The lack of some characters Lastly, and this isn't much of a con because I know she’s going to get around to it in future books (especially after reading the sneak peak of the next book), but there were some minor character storylines that I really wanted to see through. I knew going into it that this book was going to be more Feyre-Rhys driven, but I still think we could have seen a little more from some of the other characters we've been wondering about. (*cough* Lucien *cough)
Well, that’s all I have on that guys! If I had to rate it, I think I would give this particular book a 4/5.
If you’ve read it, let me know your thoughts! What was your favorite part?