For fans of Sarah J. Maas and her A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy, A Court of Frost and Starlight was a much-anticipated release. Promised to lead on to a new trilogy set in the magical world of Prythian with another novella to follow, this first novella could set the tone for whats to come…
Similar to many people I was thrilled about the prospect of five books by SJM within the Prythian world. New stories, new characters, more content with the characters we already know and love. As the newest release drew closer there was a lot of excitement, along with predictions as to what was actually going to happen.
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However, after the book was released I started to notice many negative responses. This made me a little nervous waiting for my copy to arrive with Illumicrate as I’d been looking forward it for a while. After reading the book for myself, while I do think some points made were valid, I don’t necessarily agree with most of it. Hence this post.
I didn’t want to put it in my review because that wasn’t the place to go on a tangent, so here we are. Essentially, I’m going to point out some things I’ve been hearing and seeing and give my opinion on them. I’m not in any way trying to influence anyone else’s opinion of the book nor am I saying their opinions are invalid.
Title: A Court of Frost and Starlight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses. #3.1
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release: May 1st 2018
Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit circle of friends 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.
My Rating: Review
Was It Too Short?
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This one confused me a little. One of the first things I saw was people saying they were surprised with how thin the book is. It is 272 pages. It’s actually long for a novella. My initial reaction was to wonder if people didn’t realise it was a novella and thought it was going to be a full length novel the whole time. In which case fair enough. I however always remembered that this was novella one of two. It isn’t supposed to be long. It isn’t supposed to be a brand new story. This brings me to point two…
What Was The Point?
I’m starting to wonder if some people actually read the announcement properly when we were told about the five new books. Essentially A Court of Frost and Starlight is, in my opinion, bringing Rhys and Feyre’s story to a close. That is what this novella is here for. To bring they story to a nice ending, wrap a little bow on it, job done so we can move on. Personally I thought the ending to A Court of Wings and Ruin was a little rushed in terms of Feyre and Rhys and this novella gave me the ending I was expecting then. It was too much to put at the end then, so was given a nice little novella of its own to fully close the doors…
Too Much Rhys and Feyre?
Again, its ending their story. Of course they were going to be who we were with primarily because it was still technically their story. You can’t just abruptly stop one and begin another because it won’t flow. Plus, if SJM had skipped this novella and gone straight into the new trilogy you’d probably have anyone asking where Feyre and Rhys were. Because of this novella you know where they will be most of the time.
For those that were annoyed we spent so much time with Feyre painting; may I ask why? This clearly is a sign of her healing and progression and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I did see someone comment on the fact that Rhys did all the political and important stuff while Feyre painted and shopped which, again, I don’t see as a bad thing. How long has Rhys been High Lord for? He knows what he’s doing. Feyre needs to fully adapt and I highly doubt they’re going to do everything together anyway. She did paperwork and she went with Rhys and Mor to the Court of Nightmares. They are each doing their own thing and duty and she’s bonding and helping her people and that is just as important as going to meetings with other High Lords.
Obviously I won’t be surprised to see them pop up in the new trilogy from time-to-time, they are High Lord and High Lady, but they won’t be the main characters anymore. This brings me to…
Rhysand; High Lord and Sex Addict
Really guys? I don’t see anyone complaining about chapter 55 in Mist and Fury so why is it suddenly a problem that Rhys wants to bang his wife? Yes he thought about it a few times, he’s a guy are we surprised, but Maas only really went into detail in one chapter. It lasted about four in Mist and Fury. My point is, if it wasn’t in there you’d have people asking where it was and why it wasn’t in there. At least one chapter driven by sex is a guarantee in Maas’ books nowadays, just read it and move on or don’t read it at all. You know its coming.
Not Enough Inner Circle?
There may not have been much of them here, but it is clear we are going to be getting more going forward. Of the top of my head I believe there was only two chapters where we followed Mor, but from one of those you see where her character is and where she will be going. You see she has her own estate away from everyone else and that there may be something creepy going on around it? Clearly this is building her up and giving you an idea of what will potentially come from her. There’s no point in showing it all in one go or they’ll be nothing for her in the next one.
Azriel and Amren are slightly different. Obviously we will still be seeing them but you aren’t really given any inkling as to what their roles will be going forward. Amren now has Varian and even though she is no longer a Death Angel she is still second-in-command. I’ll admit, I don’t really get the relationship/friendship between Azriel and Elain. It comes across very random to me and feels like it’s just there to set each Archeron sister with an Illyrian. I don’t get it, nor do I have any idea where Maas will go with either of them but I’m sure we’ll find out.
Cassian on the other hand, is getting a promotion. From the sneak peek into the next book at the end of Frost and Starlight we know we will be following Cassian to the Illyrian Mountains with Nesta. Which I am all for by the way. There was a beautiful piece of back story progression for Cassian in Frost and Starlight when he flies back to the village where he was born and where his mother was killed. This is obviously an essential chapter for Cassian and something I wouldn’t be surprised to see referenced in the next book.
So maybe there wasn’t as much personal inner circle moments as many were expecting, but it is obvious they will be coming – for Mor and Cassian at least. Patience is a virtue as my mum always says.
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Tamlin’s Redemption?
This is one thing I fully disagree with. We saw Tamlin on two separate occasions during this novella both from Rhys’ POV and in neither of those two moments was he exactly at his best. However, I do not think SJM is trying to give him a big redemption arc. Sure he came to their aid in Wings and Ruin and bought the Autumn Court with him but I don’t think we are seeing him out of choice. As the Spring Court is the only Court to border the Mortal Lands he is the one in the middle and if things go awry he will probably be the first to know. That’s it. I think if any other Court were fully bordering the Mortal Lands we would likely not see Tamlin again, but his position makes that impossible.
In addition, remember who it was who bought Feyre across the border in the first place. She would likely not be Fae if it wasn’t for Tamlin. Probably wouldn’t have met Rhys. Think about it.
Everybody Hates Nesta
My first reaction; why? I freaking love Nesta. Yes, she is the elder Archeron sister and didn’t stop or help Feyre hunting blah, blah, blah…but neither did Elain and I don’t see anyone having a problem with her. Remember when everyone gets annoyed when strong and stern women get called bitches? That’s how I feel when people hate on Nesta. She is one of those strong female characters that often get completely misjudged. The reaction to her in this novella is no different.
Just because she isn’t baking or painting or gardening, doesn’t mean she isn’t struggling or trying to cope. Everyone reacts and adapts and handles things differently and I love that SJM is showing a completely different version of that to what we are used to. Feyre basically had an entire book (ACOMAF) to cope and deal and handle becoming High Fae. Why is no one giving Nesta the same chance or courtesy?
Think back to Mist and Fury when Feyre said Nesta feels too much? Now she feels literally nothing.
To Wrap It Up…
The purpose of A Court of Frost and Starlight was to transition from the original trilogy to the new one and by doing that end the main body and Feyre and Rhys’ story so we can move on to the next one. Yes, nothing of great importance happens, but it wasn’t supposed to. There was never supposed to be an anticipation-fuelled plot with twists and angst and heart-in-your-mouth moments. I definitely think there were a few people who thought this novella was going to be more than it was, but in the end it did exactly what it said it was going to do…
“bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the upcoming spin-off books, and lays a bunch of the groundwork for the set-up of the new novels”
If you didn’t like this novella, fair enough. I’m not saying you had to, I’m not saying anyone who didn’t like it is wrong. Each to their own. I liked it. This is what I took away from it. If you don’t like Nesta, please do not read the next book and then bash her constantly when you have been forewarned that she will be in there a lot.
We heading to the Illyrian Mountains people! Get your leathers ready!
Congratulations you have made it to the end of this rather long post, I appreciate you!. I wrote essays for college that were shorter than this. Obviously one can only really speculate for now on exactly where the story will go from here, but wherever it goes I will be following.
TALK TO ME:
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON A COURT OF FROST AND STARLIGHT?
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