Review: A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: The war with Hybern may be over, but Feyre and Rhys’s work to rebuild their court has only just begun. There’s also growing concern over discontent among the Illyrians, who fought alongside Feyre, Rhys, and their friends, as well as unease about the border between the human and Fae lands being unguarded. The Winter Solstice is approaching, though, and with it the opportunity for everyone to join in the celebrations and take a much-needed break from their worries.

Review: With A Court of Wings and Ruin supposedly concluding Feyre and Rhys’s arc, I was very intrigued to see what awaited in A Court of Frost and Starlight. I was particularly curious about which characters would be the main focus and where the future books might be headed.

Well, this novella didn’t quite turn out to be what I’d anticipated. Feyre and Rhys still feature very prominently here, and I really feel that their story ended with A Court of Wings and Ruin. While we get third person POVs in A Court of Frost and Starlight from Cassian and Mor, this is still very much Feyre and Rhys’s show, and, I don’t know . . . it’s time for them to take a backseat to other characters at this point?

The Feyre of A Court of Frost and Starlight spends her days shopping, painting, and pushing paperwork around. I have to say, the shopping killed me. Not just Feyre plunking down serious cash for everyone’s Winter Solstice gifts, but the details of other characters’ purchases, too. I really started to miss the days when Hybern could launch an attack at any moment and Feyre and co. were ready to kick some Hybern ass.

If you’re looking for action in this novella, you’re not going to find it. The closest A Court of Frost and Starlight gets to battle is some disgruntled Illyrians and Nesta death glares. There’s really not much of a plot here, either. I realize this is a bridge novella between the two halves of the series, but I still expected some kind of anchoring story line. Instead this reads more like a series of vignettes until you reach the sneak peek of the next full-length novel, which for an excerpt, felt more cohesive.

I never imagined myself saying this, but I think I’m officially tired of Feysand. There are so many times when all they can think about is how hot they are for each other, and ughhhh—the number of times they refer to each other as “my mate.” Although I noticed this in the previous books as well, it was a lot more pronounced and annoying here because with fewer pages than a regular novel, there are a lot of instances of “mate” crammed into the 200-plus pages of this novella.

It pains me to mention all these issues I had with A Court of Frost and Starlight when I enjoyed the first three books so much, but this was definitely not on the same level as the novels. As much as I was still invested in characters like Cassian, Azriel, Mor, and Amren, the Feyre/Rhys saturation was too much. I’m a bit wary about reading the next novel when it’s released, although I must say that the excerpt was quite interesting.

All in All: I’d seen some pretty savage reviews of A Court of Frost and Starlight prior to reading it, and sadly, they do make some valid points. This novella just didn’t add anything to the series, at least for me, and I would have been fine with the series just picking up again with the next full-length novel.

Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Buddy Read with Micheline of Lunar Rainbows Reviews

To Sum It Up: Feyre is back at the Spring Court, covertly plotting to undermine both it and its High Lord while also discovering what the King of Hybern has planned next for Prythian and the human lands below the wall. War is inevitable, but even that may not be enough to convince all the High Lords to set aside their usual squabbling among themselves and unite against their common enemy, Hybern. Feyre, Rhys, and their family are ready to stand against the massive invading Hybern army, even if they cannot rally any other courts to their side.

Review: After reading seven Sarah J. Maas books and being utterly annihilated by Empire of Storms last year, I prepared for the absolute, rock-bottom worst going into A Court of Wings and Ruin. I expected the Ruin part of the title to describe what was left of my heart after reading this because that’s become the norm post-Maas books.

Surprisingly, I don’t feel too wrecked. While there are plenty of intense, heart-stopping moments throughout A Court of Wings and Ruin (like the end of every chapter), I’m not the shattered wreck I was at the end of Empire of Storms. Fine, I may have almost cried a few times during A Court of Wings and Ruin. Maas certainly knows how to squeeze the reader’s heart to its bursting point.

A Court of Mist and Fury ended on one hell of a tumultuous note, with Feyre’s sisters, Nesta and Elain, being turned into Fae against their will and Feyre headed back to the Spring Court, vowing to make Tamlin pay for allying with the King of Hybern in exchange for the latter’s aid in finding her. A Court of Wings and Ruin picks up with Feyre back at the Spring Court, outwardly acting like she’s relieved to have been “rescued” from Rhysand and the Night Court. Meanwhile, Feyre is collecting intel on what Hybern is plotting and setting up the Spring Court to collapse around Tamlin. This second part of her plan has unforeseen consequences down the road, however, and I thought it was important to show that Feyre could still make mistakes after becoming the insanely powerful High Lady of the Night Court. As much as I love badass heroines, I also like to see them grounded and not ridiculously perfect. Maas does an excellent job here of keeping Feyre a well-rounded protagonist.

The hell that is war hits hard in A Court of Wings and Ruin, as Prythian braces itself for Hybern’s invasion. The battle isn’t only against an external enemy, either. The Fae High Lords, accustomed to years and years of infighting between the courts, must decide who represents the bigger threat: Hybern, which stands to destroy both Fae and humans alike, or their fellow High Lords. Even if the courts somehow manage to band together, they face a formidable foe, especially with the King of Hybern wielding the crazy powerful Cauldron.

Maas always writes fantastic action scenes, and they’re as pulse-pounding as usual in A Court of Wings and Ruin. She vividly conveys the sheer terror and chaos of battle. I frequently had to avert my gaze from further down the page, especially whenever I reached the end of a chapter, because I feared so damn much for Feyre, Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, Mor, Amren, and even Feyre’s sisters. Awaiting the outcome of each confrontation with Hybern on the battlefield was almost too much to handle. Feyre, Rhys, and their friends are a family, and they’re all prepared to sacrifice themselves if it means saving everyone else.

My only quibble with the book was the same one I had with Empire of Storms: the pacing. Both novels clock in at about 700 pages, and to me, both could have told their stories a bit more succinctly. I’m not sure what the original plan was for the number of books in this series, but A Court of Wings and Ruin tries to both bring this story to a close while also setting up possible plotlines for future books. Sometimes the flow between the two didn’t feel quite seamless, but the ending was very satisfying nonetheless, and I’m curious to see the direction the series heads in from here.

All in All: Taking on a 700-page book is absolutely daunting for me these days, but being back in this world with these beloved characters was like going home to catch up with old friends. A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fans looking to get their fix between books/season should definitely give this series a shot.

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Feyre freed Prythian from Amarantha’s brutal rule, but she’s haunted by all that happened Under the Mountain. As Feyre struggles to move forward with her now immortal life, a new threat to both Prythian and the mortal world is building. Feyre also knows that any day, she will have to uphold her side of the bargain she made with the High Lord Rhysand, a deal that demands her presence at his dreaded Night Court.

Review: Another Sarah J. Maas book read, another lingering feeling that I’ve just been steamrolled. What. The hell. Just happened?!

I didn’t realize what a hulk of a book A Court of Mist and Fury was until I opened up the box. Maas gets down to business straightaway: although Feyre liberated Prythian from Amarantha’s reign of terror, she has constant nightmares about her time Under the Mountain. It’s not long before things unravel, and Feyre starts down a long, painful path to healing. At first I was a bit jarred by the shift in Feyre’s circumstances; I think because it brought back memories of a certain . . . something in Maas’s Queen of Shadows. I also just have trouble adapting to change in general, even outside of books, but A Court of Mist and Fury gave me over five hundred pages to adjust, and I’m OK now. In fact, I’m perfectly fine with the direction the story went in, and I admire Maas for going with it. Oh, and I know I’m being kind of cryptic, but I’m afraid of spoiling anything. This particular aspect of Feyre’s journey in this book absolutely needs to be experienced for yourself.

So what can I go into detail about? Ah—the world-building! Just as she’s done with Throne of Glass, Maas takes us beyond the world of the previous book, and it’s an amazing tour. Oh, some places are totally terrifying, but you’re thrilled to go there anyway! Feyre’s bargain with Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court, in A Court of Thorns and Roses promised that we’d get to see said court in the sequel, and damn does Maas do a knockout job of bringing that court to life. The Night Court was NOT what I expected, but then maybe I should have expected being surprised because Maas is such a genius. All I can say is: I want to run away to the Night Court, okay?

The character depth in this book . . . defies adjectives. Rhys’s development is superb, and I’ll leave it at that because again, that’s something you’ll want to read for yourself. A Court of Mist and Fury also introduces Rhys’s Inner Circle: Mor, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren. Be prepared to love them all.

If Prythian thought it was going to get a little breather with Amarantha’s downfall, its powers of clairvoyance need some work. A new, horrible threat is on the horizon, and as much as it chills your mortal bones, it’s also thrilling to watch Feyre, with the help of some new allies, rise up to meet the approaching danger. There are also the usual court politics and betrayals, which add to an already tense atmosphere that explodes in the book’s final pages. Armor your heart now.

One final note: this book SERIOUSLY needs to come with a warning label strongly advising not to read it without the air conditioner or a fan cranked way, way up because of the heat factor. There WILL be smoldering! Five scorching, white-hot stars for the romance alone!

All in All: Yet another tour de force for SJM! Feyre’s growth is spectacular, the expansion of the world-building is spectacular, and Rhys is spectacular. If only I could will book three into existence this very second; the wait for it is going to be nothing but C-R-U-E-L.

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Feyre is the main provider for her impoverished family; without her and her hunting skills, they would all surely starve to death. But they’re forced to face that exact scenario when Feyre kills a faerie, and she must give up her life in the mortal world as punishment. She is to live out her days in the faerie realm of Prythian among creatures that once counted humans as their subjects. Gradually, however, Feyre realizes that Tamlin, the powerful Fae who has brought her to Prythian, isn’t cruel like so many of the other faeries. He’s actually working to save his world from a blight that threatens to destroy it and possibly the mortal world as well, and his determination gives Feyre pause to rethink the way she’s viewed the Fae her entire life.

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses was one of my most anticipated reads of 2015, and for a very good reason—it’s Sarah J. Maas! Well, let me tell you, Maas delivers on every level with this novel: the Beauty and the Beast elements, the world-building, the characters, and, oh my God—the romance!

I really don’t consider myself much of a romantic, but this book did all sorts of crazy things to my heart. My favorite romances are of the slow-burning variety, and this one is exquisitely so and expertly developed. I will never, ever grow tired of relationships that take their time and build up bit by bit, the type that won’t let you quit reading because the next page might be the one where that four letter L word FINALLY gets spoken. If all romances were as beautifully written as this one is, I’d read them ALL THE TIME. Can you tell that I still haven’t gotten over this one yet? Yeah, it’s going to stay with me for a good, long while.

I can’t sing the praises of Sarah J. Maas’s gift for world-building nearly enough. A sizeable part of A Court of Thorns and Roses takes place on a sprawling estate that befits a fairytale retelling. I almost drooled over the description of the study/library. For all of the majesty of the estate, both interior and exterior, however, the faerie realm of Prythian is rife with danger in the form of all manner of terrifying creatures. The noble High Fae may be devastatingly beautiful to behold, but their cruelty and nonstop scheming against humans and each other are indicative of the monsters most of them truly are (with one notable exception we’ll discuss in a few). The Court politics are brutal—and often fatal. This is a world that constantly keeps you on the lookout for clues as to what’s really going on because these are faeries we’re dealing with; you know that nothing is ever simple or as it appears to be. I loved every story twist and marveled at the overall brilliant plotting of the book.

Our heroine Feyre’s journey from barely eking out a living in the human world to taking on everything that the Fae throw at her is nothing short of amazing. The opening of the novel finds Feyre struggling to feed her rather ungrateful family, but by the action-packed finale, she emerges one formidable, not-to-be-trifled-with woman. It’s not easy being a human surrounded by treacherous and extremely powerful Fae, but Feyre taps into that strength that’s enabled her to endure years of hardship, and she holds her own in Prythian through sheer force of will.

I had a severe case of the swoons for Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court and the faerie responsible for taking Feyre to Prythian as punishment for killing one of his sentinels. But Tamlin isn’t like the other Fae; his title and position are more of a burden to him than anything, and he takes no joy in playing Court games, although they’re unavoidable. Oh, Tamlin can be scary as hell when he shape shifts into his beast form, but there’s a genuinely kind soul underneath, and that duality just wins my heart every. Time.

I also grew very, very fond of Tamlin’s friend, Lucien. He crosses the firmly demarcated Court lines to remain loyal to Tamlin, and his snark is freaking hilarious. My feelings toward another High Fae, Rhysand, are much more conflicted. Rhys is very much the type of faerie you don’t want to bargain with unless desperation is your only option. He oozes danger, yet I can’t help finding him fascinating. I think it’s because he seems to have some shades of gray to his character, and I just love characters who walk the middle moral ground like that.

What is it about really, really good books that makes them so damn hard to review sometimes? Well, I tried. But my puny words are nowhere near sufficient to capture why you need to read A Court of Thorns and Roses. Right. Now!

All in All: A Court of Thorns and Roses is absolutely worthy of all of the buzz it’s received. If you love fantasy, faeries, and/or fairytale retellings, do not wait to read this!