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A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.5
A Court of Frost and Starlight
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2018)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.
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.
229 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2018
About the author
Sarah J. Maas
91 books411k followersSarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Crescent City, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and the Throne of Glass series. Her books have sold more than twelve million copies and are published in thirty-seven languages. A New York native, Sarah lives in Philadelphia with her husband, son, and dog. To find out more, visit sarahjmaas.com or follow @therealsjmaas on Instagram.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82,271 reviews
June 28, 2020
”Mother above and Cauldron save me.”
Yep, that’s exactly what I thought when I read another one of Feyre and Rhy’s naughty scenes! The words might have been the same; my thoughts came with an eye roll instead of pleasure though. As did a lot of other things while I read this novella. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed almost every second of this and it was really nice to spend some time with all those characters again BUT (yes, it’s a big but) there were a lot of things that didn’t sit well with me and you can bet your lovely behind on the fact that I’m going to point them out later on when I get to the spoilery parts of this review.
Generally speaking this wasn’t bad. We got to see a little bit of our characters normal lives and I think we can all agree that after everything they went through they deserve some normalcy and happiness. It was nice to walk through Velaris, to go Solstice shopping with Mor and Feyre and to see those beloved characters interact with each other. They all survived the war and each and every single one of them is trying to cope with the aftermath. There are plenty of wounds that still need to heal and I’m kind of grateful Sarah decided to give her characters some room to come to terms with everything. So yes, this novella might not have a huge plot but definitely provides a good transition into the next series. ;-)
Still, there were quite a lot of interesting dialogues and a bunch of things that either made me happy or caused me to get angry. Mostly it was the relationships between the characters and so this is exactly what I’m going to write about. Buckle up! This is going to be a hard ride! *lol*
From here on out, I’ll talk about the relationships and ships of the characters, so this isn’t only going to be rant and gush feast but also a spoiler celebration! If you still continue to read and haven’t read ACOFAS yet, it’s at your own risk! Don’t say I didn’t warn you! ;-)
The relationships & ships:
Feyre & Rhys:
”But you are bothering – you’re both still working to make this peace last. Peace, Rhys. We have peace, and the true kind. Enjoy it – enjoy each other. You paid the debt before it was ever a debt.”
I totally agree with Cassian and even though this might sound harsh now I still need to say it: I want them to enjoy each other too, but please not as the MCs of the following books. I love Feyre and Rhys, I really do, but I think from ACOWAR on out their character development was kind of detrimental. I already mentioned it in my review of ACOWAR and I’ll say it again Feyre’s and Rhys’s holier-than-thou attitude is beginning to get on my nerves. Feyre and her friends weren’t the only ones that suffered and it would be really nice if she’d get out of her pink bubble and would acknowledge the fact that others hurt too! It’s good that Rhys and her have each other but not everyone is as lucky as them and it would help to remember that they made mistakes too! Also if I read about “toes that curl” in Feyre’s boots one more time I’m going to be sick. Yes, we got it, Rhys is such a sexy male and they really love each other. If you ask me their story should have ended after ACOWAR because right now I have more negative feelings towards them than positive ones and this is actually kinda sad. >_< Okay, Feysand shippers are allowed to take out their pitchforks and torches now... Just give me a little head start, will you? ;-P
Feyre & Lucien:
”And what, exactly, does this Band of Exiles plan to do? Host events? Organize party-planning committees?”
Lucien’s metal eye clicked faintly and narrowed. “You can be as much of an asshole as that mate of yours, you know that?”
I think Feyre was a real bitch to Lucien in this book. And no, I’m not sorry for saying it out loud. After all someone has to do it and I don’t mind it being me. I mean if she really wants him to be friends with her, she has to accept that he has his own life and doesn’t want to depend on her and Rhys. If she’d be honest to herself she’d realize that Lucien isn’t welcome at her court and that he has his reasons to stay away from them. I think the only two people who feel real sympathy for Lucien are Az and Amren and they only do it to some extent. So yeah, she can’t expect him to be happy with the situation. Lucien lost so much over the centuries and now he even lost Tam and his second home. It’s not Feyre’s call to decide what’s best for him! Especially because she’s actually the reason why Lucien isn’t welcome at Tam’s place anymore. So nope, take care of your own court and leave Lucien be! Thank you very much! And a huge YAY for Lucien! Because he dared to call Feyre and Ryhs out on their bullsh*t and didn’t back down! That’s my man!!! <333 Also I totally agree with him! Rhys shouldn’t have said what he did and the way he treated Tam cost him a lot of my sympathy.
”Your mate should have known better than to kick a downed male.”
”I can’t stand to be in the same room as her for more than two minutes. I can’t stand to be in this court and have your mate pay for the very clothes on my back.”
Elain & Lucien:
”He hadn’t mentioned Elain, or his proximity to her. Elaine had not asked him to stay, or to go. And whether she cared about the bruises on his face, she certainly hadn’t let on.”
So if you already put away your pitchforks and torches, guess now is the right time to draw them out again, because this isn’t going to be nice and tell you what: I actually don’t care! I’ll say it as it is: I HATE Elain! There, I said it! And I’m not even sorry for it! You think Nesta is a witch? Oh well, guess Elain is even worse because she hides it behind her super sweet appearance and gentle actions. By now I’ve reached a point where I despise her and I’m sick and tired of everyone defending this woman just because she is so sweet! Where was Elain when Feyre was taken by Tam? What did Elain do when Feyre went out hunting for them? Nesta might be a witch, and I can’t even believe I’m saying this, but at least she went looking for Feyre. What did Elain do? She got engaged to Grayson! YAY! Way to go! Also everyone loving precious and dear Elain! WTF?!!! Did Elain ever do anything except of looking lovely?! (Yes, she might be a great cook and good at gardening but seriously is that all!???!!!) AND WHY THE FREAKING HELL IS EVERYONE DEFENDING ELAIN WITH THE WORDS “Elain is Elain”!??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!!?? I’m sick and tired of her getting away with everything because she’s everybody’s darling! Lucien deserves so much better than that! She can’t even talk to him for a few minutes? She can’t even thank him for the present he got her? Where was her present for him?! And just for the record: LUCIEN DIDN’T WANT HER TO BE HIS MATE!!! He’s as innocent when it comes to their mating bond as Elain! It’s not his fault that they are mates and people better remember this when they judge him for trying to get to know her! She doesn’t even give him a chance to get to know her so she’s just cruel and mean in my eyes. If she doesn’t change her attitude in the next trilogy I’ll never ship her with anyone. Not even Az. No one! For all I care she can live with her precious flowers and become one of them! GRRRRRRR!!!! AKDFASDFJASLDFJKASDFLK! Okay, I’m fine now. XD
”Elain, at least, would be too polite to send Lucien away when he wanted to help. She was too polite to send him away on a normal day. She just ignored him or barely spoke to him until he got the hint and left.”
Those doe-brown eyes turned toward me. Sharper than I’d ever seen them. “And that entitles him to my time, my affections?”
“No.” I blinked. “But he is a good male.” Despite our harsh words. Despite this Band of Exiles bullshit. “He cares for you.”
“He doesn’t know me.”
“You don’t give him the chance to even try to do so.”
Cassian & Nesta:
”A storm is going to hit in a few days. I’d like you to distribute this amongst those who might feel its impact the hardest.”
Cassian is so, so damn precious and he’s stuck with Nesta! That’s not fair! I think when it comes to me disliking characters in this series it’s a tie between Nesta and Elain. I just hate them both. (I know I’m making a lot of friends with this review. *lol* But I just can’t help it!) I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to ship them but after seeing that Nesta still didn’t change... Well, I just can’t ship them. By now I don’t even know if her character can be redeemed and if Sarah doesn’t work her magic with her I’ll never board this ship. And it will take a HUGE amount of magic to make her character at least a little bit more likable! And to everyone out there who likes Nesta and thinks I’m mean: I know she has PTSD too and I know that she suffers at least as much as all the other characters around her do, but that’s no reason to lash out at the others. If she wants to be secluded from them, live in a cheap apartment, drink all day and sleep with every fae male that comes her way: Okay! But to hurt the others, to fight them even though they are trying to help her, to spend Feyre’s and Rhys money without asking them: That’s not okay!! How many people have to offer her help until she accepts it? How often will she hurt poor Cassian because she’s just too proud to acknowledge that she has a serious problem? Just like Lucien, Cassian deserves so much better than her and I think I’ll make a petition for both of them! #FreeCassian&LucienFromTheClutchesOfTheCruelArcheronSisters
”Nesta is Nesta. She does what she wants, even if it kills her sister. I’ve offered her job after job, and she refuses them all.”
Tamlin & Rhys:
Forgiveness could be a gift to both, but what he’d done... “Do you want her to?”
His green eyes were empty. “Do I deserve it?”
No. Never.
He must have read it on my face, because he asked, “Do you forgive me – for your mother and sister?”
I’m not okay with the way Rhys treated Tamlin! Yes, he made mistakes, yes he hurt Feyre, but that doesn’t mean that they have to hurt him too! Rhys should have known better than that, he should have been better than that and he shouldn’t have kicked Tam when he was already on the ground. Everyone can see that Tamlin is hurting and to treat him like that? To say what Rhys said to him? WOAH!! That was just cruel, mean and uncalled-for. I’m feeling really sorry for Tam now and Rhys helping him with the elk doesn’t make this any better. He only helped him because he might need him in future, not because he actually cared. Where is your compassion for Tam, Rhys? Where is the Rhys of ACOMAF I fell in love with? I don’t see him anymore. *shakes head*
”I hope you live the rest of your miserable life alone here. It’s a far more satisfying end than slaughtering you.”
Elain & Az:
Cassian sat up, the portrait of outrage. “No?”
Azriel tucked in his wings. “Would you want people betting on you?”
I think the only reason Az reacted like that is because he might feel guilty for liking Elain. It’s so obvious that Sarah wants them to end up together and all those little tense moments between them speak volumes about her intentions. But as I said: I can’t ship Elain with anyone right now. Az is too sweet and gentle to end up with her and I really don’t want them to be together. Not because I would begrudge him a relationship with her, but because I think that he deserves better than her. After Mor played with him for centuries Az deserves the world, and then some! If Elain doesn’t change and acknowledges her misbehaviour against Lucien then I can’t ship this ship. And quite honestly, if I’d be Az I wouldn’t want to be with someone who treats their mate like that.
”Azriel emerged from the sitting room, a glass of wine in hand and wings tucked back to reveal his fine, yet simple black jacket and pants.
I felt, more than saw, my sister go still as he approached. Her throat bobbed.”
Rhys & Lucien:
”I can let go of the taunts,” he said, scanning my face. “And the fact that he still harbors some hope of one day reuniting with Tamlin. But I cannot let go of how he treated you after Under the Mountain.”
I’m just glad that Lucien became friends with Vassa and Jurian because as I already mentioned above, he obviously isn’t welcome at the Night Court. Rhys still doesn’t like him and Lucien deserves more than to be tolerated. He deserves to be respected, to be loved and cherished and not to be treated like sh*t! Also what the hell does Rhys even mean with how he treated Feyre after Under the Mountain? Lucien did nothing wrong, he was there for her, tried to help her, defended her against Tam, spoke up for her and confronted Tamlin. And what did he get in return? Tamlin reprimanded him and might have even physically hurt him, Ianthe abused him and Tam let it happen because he refused to take part in the ritual, and Feyre?! Do I really have to point out what Feyre did? She lied to him, claimed that Rhys had turned her and even after she came back to the spring court she continued to lie to him and hurt him even more by destroying the only place he called home. Hell, she even used him to antagonize Tam and to destroy his friendship with Lucien. A great friend she was to him! And this after everything he did for her Under the Mountain. Hell, he even got whipped because he helped her and almost died as well. To destroy your friends’ life is a great way to show him gratitude. Well done, Feyre! So WHO EXACTLY TREATED WHOM LIKE SH*T AFTER UNDER THE MOUNTAIN, RHYS???!!!! Mhmm??? Care to enlighten me? And one more thing before I come to the end of thisrant review: Lucien was in no position to help Feyre because he suffered from PTSD too. That’s something everyone always seems to forget. You can’t help someone else if you’re drowning yourself. And people better keep that in mind before they talk badly about him.
Conclusion:
I really thought I’d enjoy this novella and then move on to the next trilogy but for some reason those 229 pages kinda irked me. Big time. *lol* I guess that’s mostly due to the fact that all the things I already criticized in ACOWAR seemed to be even more prominent in this short story and I just couldn’t ignore it any longer. Also all the chapters we got from Mor’s POV didn’t contribute anything to the story, which is the main reason I didn’t even mention her in my review. All told this was a nice addition to the first trilogy and a good segue into the next one and I really hope that Sarah J. Maas will tackle all those issues I just pointed out. After all, “Hope dies last”! ;-P
This fanart was made by: https://twitter.com/Niruskyart
Yep, that’s exactly what I thought when I read another one of Feyre and Rhy’s naughty scenes! The words might have been the same; my thoughts came with an eye roll instead of pleasure though. As did a lot of other things while I read this novella. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed almost every second of this and it was really nice to spend some time with all those characters again BUT (yes, it’s a big but) there were a lot of things that didn’t sit well with me and you can bet your lovely behind on the fact that I’m going to point them out later on when I get to the spoilery parts of this review.
Generally speaking this wasn’t bad. We got to see a little bit of our characters normal lives and I think we can all agree that after everything they went through they deserve some normalcy and happiness. It was nice to walk through Velaris, to go Solstice shopping with Mor and Feyre and to see those beloved characters interact with each other. They all survived the war and each and every single one of them is trying to cope with the aftermath. There are plenty of wounds that still need to heal and I’m kind of grateful Sarah decided to give her characters some room to come to terms with everything. So yes, this novella might not have a huge plot but definitely provides a good transition into the next series. ;-)
Still, there were quite a lot of interesting dialogues and a bunch of things that either made me happy or caused me to get angry. Mostly it was the relationships between the characters and so this is exactly what I’m going to write about. Buckle up! This is going to be a hard ride! *lol*
From here on out, I’ll talk about the relationships and ships of the characters, so this isn’t only going to be rant and gush feast but also a spoiler celebration! If you still continue to read and haven’t read ACOFAS yet, it’s at your own risk! Don’t say I didn’t warn you! ;-)
The relationships & ships:
Feyre & Rhys:
”But you are bothering – you’re both still working to make this peace last. Peace, Rhys. We have peace, and the true kind. Enjoy it – enjoy each other. You paid the debt before it was ever a debt.”
I totally agree with Cassian and even though this might sound harsh now I still need to say it: I want them to enjoy each other too, but please not as the MCs of the following books. I love Feyre and Rhys, I really do, but I think from ACOWAR on out their character development was kind of detrimental. I already mentioned it in my review of ACOWAR and I’ll say it again Feyre’s and Rhys’s holier-than-thou attitude is beginning to get on my nerves. Feyre and her friends weren’t the only ones that suffered and it would be really nice if she’d get out of her pink bubble and would acknowledge the fact that others hurt too! It’s good that Rhys and her have each other but not everyone is as lucky as them and it would help to remember that they made mistakes too! Also if I read about “toes that curl” in Feyre’s boots one more time I’m going to be sick. Yes, we got it, Rhys is such a sexy male and they really love each other. If you ask me their story should have ended after ACOWAR because right now I have more negative feelings towards them than positive ones and this is actually kinda sad. >_< Okay, Feysand shippers are allowed to take out their pitchforks and torches now... Just give me a little head start, will you? ;-P
Feyre & Lucien:
”And what, exactly, does this Band of Exiles plan to do? Host events? Organize party-planning committees?”
Lucien’s metal eye clicked faintly and narrowed. “You can be as much of an asshole as that mate of yours, you know that?”
I think Feyre was a real bitch to Lucien in this book. And no, I’m not sorry for saying it out loud. After all someone has to do it and I don’t mind it being me. I mean if she really wants him to be friends with her, she has to accept that he has his own life and doesn’t want to depend on her and Rhys. If she’d be honest to herself she’d realize that Lucien isn’t welcome at her court and that he has his reasons to stay away from them. I think the only two people who feel real sympathy for Lucien are Az and Amren and they only do it to some extent. So yeah, she can’t expect him to be happy with the situation. Lucien lost so much over the centuries and now he even lost Tam and his second home. It’s not Feyre’s call to decide what’s best for him! Especially because she’s actually the reason why Lucien isn’t welcome at Tam’s place anymore. So nope, take care of your own court and leave Lucien be! Thank you very much! And a huge YAY for Lucien! Because he dared to call Feyre and Ryhs out on their bullsh*t and didn’t back down! That’s my man!!! <333 Also I totally agree with him! Rhys shouldn’t have said what he did and the way he treated Tam cost him a lot of my sympathy.
”Your mate should have known better than to kick a downed male.”
”I can’t stand to be in the same room as her for more than two minutes. I can’t stand to be in this court and have your mate pay for the very clothes on my back.”
Elain & Lucien:
”He hadn’t mentioned Elain, or his proximity to her. Elaine had not asked him to stay, or to go. And whether she cared about the bruises on his face, she certainly hadn’t let on.”
So if you already put away your pitchforks and torches, guess now is the right time to draw them out again, because this isn’t going to be nice and tell you what: I actually don’t care! I’ll say it as it is: I HATE Elain! There, I said it! And I’m not even sorry for it! You think Nesta is a witch? Oh well, guess Elain is even worse because she hides it behind her super sweet appearance and gentle actions. By now I’ve reached a point where I despise her and I’m sick and tired of everyone defending this woman just because she is so sweet! Where was Elain when Feyre was taken by Tam? What did Elain do when Feyre went out hunting for them? Nesta might be a witch, and I can’t even believe I’m saying this, but at least she went looking for Feyre. What did Elain do? She got engaged to Grayson! YAY! Way to go! Also everyone loving precious and dear Elain! WTF?!!! Did Elain ever do anything except of looking lovely?! (Yes, she might be a great cook and good at gardening but seriously is that all!???!!!) AND WHY THE FREAKING HELL IS EVERYONE DEFENDING ELAIN WITH THE WORDS “Elain is Elain”!??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!!?? I’m sick and tired of her getting away with everything because she’s everybody’s darling! Lucien deserves so much better than that! She can’t even talk to him for a few minutes? She can’t even thank him for the present he got her? Where was her present for him?! And just for the record: LUCIEN DIDN’T WANT HER TO BE HIS MATE!!! He’s as innocent when it comes to their mating bond as Elain! It’s not his fault that they are mates and people better remember this when they judge him for trying to get to know her! She doesn’t even give him a chance to get to know her so she’s just cruel and mean in my eyes. If she doesn’t change her attitude in the next trilogy I’ll never ship her with anyone. Not even Az. No one! For all I care she can live with her precious flowers and become one of them! GRRRRRRR!!!! AKDFASDFJASLDFJKASDFLK! Okay, I’m fine now. XD
”Elain, at least, would be too polite to send Lucien away when he wanted to help. She was too polite to send him away on a normal day. She just ignored him or barely spoke to him until he got the hint and left.”
Those doe-brown eyes turned toward me. Sharper than I’d ever seen them. “And that entitles him to my time, my affections?”
“No.” I blinked. “But he is a good male.” Despite our harsh words. Despite this Band of Exiles bullshit. “He cares for you.”
“He doesn’t know me.”
“You don’t give him the chance to even try to do so.”
Cassian & Nesta:
”A storm is going to hit in a few days. I’d like you to distribute this amongst those who might feel its impact the hardest.”
Cassian is so, so damn precious and he’s stuck with Nesta! That’s not fair! I think when it comes to me disliking characters in this series it’s a tie between Nesta and Elain. I just hate them both. (I know I’m making a lot of friends with this review. *lol* But I just can’t help it!) I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to ship them but after seeing that Nesta still didn’t change... Well, I just can’t ship them. By now I don’t even know if her character can be redeemed and if Sarah doesn’t work her magic with her I’ll never board this ship. And it will take a HUGE amount of magic to make her character at least a little bit more likable! And to everyone out there who likes Nesta and thinks I’m mean: I know she has PTSD too and I know that she suffers at least as much as all the other characters around her do, but that’s no reason to lash out at the others. If she wants to be secluded from them, live in a cheap apartment, drink all day and sleep with every fae male that comes her way: Okay! But to hurt the others, to fight them even though they are trying to help her, to spend Feyre’s and Rhys money without asking them: That’s not okay!! How many people have to offer her help until she accepts it? How often will she hurt poor Cassian because she’s just too proud to acknowledge that she has a serious problem? Just like Lucien, Cassian deserves so much better than her and I think I’ll make a petition for both of them! #FreeCassian&LucienFromTheClutchesOfTheCruelArcheronSisters
”Nesta is Nesta. She does what she wants, even if it kills her sister. I’ve offered her job after job, and she refuses them all.”
Tamlin & Rhys:
Forgiveness could be a gift to both, but what he’d done... “Do you want her to?”
His green eyes were empty. “Do I deserve it?”
No. Never.
He must have read it on my face, because he asked, “Do you forgive me – for your mother and sister?”
I’m not okay with the way Rhys treated Tamlin! Yes, he made mistakes, yes he hurt Feyre, but that doesn’t mean that they have to hurt him too! Rhys should have known better than that, he should have been better than that and he shouldn’t have kicked Tam when he was already on the ground. Everyone can see that Tamlin is hurting and to treat him like that? To say what Rhys said to him? WOAH!! That was just cruel, mean and uncalled-for. I’m feeling really sorry for Tam now and Rhys helping him with the elk doesn’t make this any better. He only helped him because he might need him in future, not because he actually cared. Where is your compassion for Tam, Rhys? Where is the Rhys of ACOMAF I fell in love with? I don’t see him anymore. *shakes head*
”I hope you live the rest of your miserable life alone here. It’s a far more satisfying end than slaughtering you.”
Elain & Az:
Cassian sat up, the portrait of outrage. “No?”
Azriel tucked in his wings. “Would you want people betting on you?”
I think the only reason Az reacted like that is because he might feel guilty for liking Elain. It’s so obvious that Sarah wants them to end up together and all those little tense moments between them speak volumes about her intentions. But as I said: I can’t ship Elain with anyone right now. Az is too sweet and gentle to end up with her and I really don’t want them to be together. Not because I would begrudge him a relationship with her, but because I think that he deserves better than her. After Mor played with him for centuries Az deserves the world, and then some! If Elain doesn’t change and acknowledges her misbehaviour against Lucien then I can’t ship this ship. And quite honestly, if I’d be Az I wouldn’t want to be with someone who treats their mate like that.
”Azriel emerged from the sitting room, a glass of wine in hand and wings tucked back to reveal his fine, yet simple black jacket and pants.
I felt, more than saw, my sister go still as he approached. Her throat bobbed.”
Rhys & Lucien:
”I can let go of the taunts,” he said, scanning my face. “And the fact that he still harbors some hope of one day reuniting with Tamlin. But I cannot let go of how he treated you after Under the Mountain.”
I’m just glad that Lucien became friends with Vassa and Jurian because as I already mentioned above, he obviously isn’t welcome at the Night Court. Rhys still doesn’t like him and Lucien deserves more than to be tolerated. He deserves to be respected, to be loved and cherished and not to be treated like sh*t! Also what the hell does Rhys even mean with how he treated Feyre after Under the Mountain? Lucien did nothing wrong, he was there for her, tried to help her, defended her against Tam, spoke up for her and confronted Tamlin. And what did he get in return? Tamlin reprimanded him and might have even physically hurt him, Ianthe abused him and Tam let it happen because he refused to take part in the ritual, and Feyre?! Do I really have to point out what Feyre did? She lied to him, claimed that Rhys had turned her and even after she came back to the spring court she continued to lie to him and hurt him even more by destroying the only place he called home. Hell, she even used him to antagonize Tam and to destroy his friendship with Lucien. A great friend she was to him! And this after everything he did for her Under the Mountain. Hell, he even got whipped because he helped her and almost died as well. To destroy your friends’ life is a great way to show him gratitude. Well done, Feyre! So WHO EXACTLY TREATED WHOM LIKE SH*T AFTER UNDER THE MOUNTAIN, RHYS???!!!! Mhmm??? Care to enlighten me? And one more thing before I come to the end of this
Conclusion:
I really thought I’d enjoy this novella and then move on to the next trilogy but for some reason those 229 pages kinda irked me. Big time. *lol* I guess that’s mostly due to the fact that all the things I already criticized in ACOWAR seemed to be even more prominent in this short story and I just couldn’t ignore it any longer. Also all the chapters we got from Mor’s POV didn’t contribute anything to the story, which is the main reason I didn’t even mention her in my review. All told this was a nice addition to the first trilogy and a good segue into the next one and I really hope that Sarah J. Maas will tackle all those issues I just pointed out. After all, “Hope dies last”! ;-P
This fanart was made by: https://twitter.com/Niruskyart
May 9, 2018
✨Hardcore SJM fans need not engage, kindly move along without reading this review.✨
Me after finishing the book:
So let’s start by saying this book was almost entirely useless. Things this book has:
• lots of walking around Velaris
• shopping for presents
• lots of bad innuendos
• me physically rolling my eyes every two pages
• way too much internal monologue about who had fucked whom, where and in which position
• one really long and really cringy sex scene
• somehow galaxies were involved in the sex scene and that’s not even the weirdest thing that’s ever happened in a sjm sex scene
• mate mate mate mate mate m a t e ma te ma t e mat e m ate mAtE mATe MATE matE M a te
• "gentlemales"
• I repeat: g e n t l e m a l e s
• a few cute moments
• a few funny moments
• a tiny bit of actual fucking foundation for the next books
Basically Feyre and Rhys need to retire and let secondary characters finally have the spotlight.* The only POVs I genuinely enjoyed were Cassian’s and Nesta’s, which, surprise surprise, will be the focus of the next book. Fucking finally.
*except SJM has a talent for ruining main characters so what happens when secondary characters become the main ones? Uhhh we shall find out I guess.
Speaking more generally, this book was just mostly bad. I’m not only talking about the writing, which needed a lot of editing, but the general feeling surrounding it all. Starting from the blurb, which is just a few sentences from the first chapter copypasted together. People, the blurb doesn’t even make sense. That extra sentence about snow? It shouldn’t be there. They obviously needed one more sentence to make the blurb longer and didn’t know what else to pick. It’s just bad. Whoever did that did a very poor job.* And that makes me angry.
*EDIT: oh boy they changed the blurb!!! More than a full week after the book released! But I got receipts. #NeverForgetTheBlurb
Authors, even big ones, still have to fight hard to see their books picked up by publishers, be sold, and then be read and hyped by readers. But apparently that rule doesn’t apply to SJM. The publisher doesn’t even put any effort in pre-release things like writing a decent blurb, because they know her books are going to sell anyway. And I mean, I’m here writing this review because I’ve read this book despite swearing that I was done with this series after ACOWAR, because she has a talent for making you want to know what happens to the characters, even if (especially if) they’re not the main ones.
But the least the author and the publisher could do is put some fucking effort and deliver a product that’s better than this. Instead, it feels like either SJM is a rare case of writer who gets worse every book she writes, or the publisher has decided that she’s still going to sell regardless how many rounds of editing her books get, so they might as well never edit them, thus never delivering a polished book.
Because, folks, we might have started making fun of the word m*te for shits and giggles, but it’s become a big fucking problem, especially in this book. You know the writing advice that says to just use someone’s name when talking about them, instead of saying, idk, “the French girl,” or “the red-haired boy”? SJM has never heard of it. Think about your own internal monologue. Do you think of your spouse as “my spouse” all the time? Or do you simply think about them with their name?
This sentence just does not flow. And it’s just one of about 70 times the word m*te was used (and keep in mind this is a 200 pages book). I wonder how many creative writing students failed their assignments for doing exactly what the most hyped YA fantasy author these days does constantly.
Do we also want to have The Talk about the weird connotations and implications that this word has? Oh boy, this conversation is about three years late, but I absolutely Do Not like all this animalistic shit, starting with m*te, moving on to how many times people purr, referring to people as males and females (ah, the good ol’ binary) (YES I FUCKING KNOW SHE CAN’T CALL THEM MEN AND WOMEN BUT JFC JUST STOP), to the weird possessiveness that the whole m*ting system entails. Also!!! Toxic masculinity!!!!!!! Weird unchallenged sexist comments!!!!! Trying to make Rhys sound soooo feminist when apparently his job is being horny 24/7!!!!!! Have Rhys (a literal sexual abuse victim) talk about how he can’t stand to be next to his m*te without, and I quote, BEING BURIED INSIDE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ohhhh now you've done it, you got me mad. If you read a SJM book it seems like thinking/talking/having sex for most part of your day is the normalcy. Which it can be!!!! But guess what! Ace people exist!!!! People with low sexual drive exist!!!!!!!!!! That’s normal too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh no I’m using too many exclamation points let me hire an editor. When every single character you portray acts the same exact way towards something like sex, you’re telling your readers (mostly teens) that that’s what’s expected of them, that that’s how everyone is like. It’s no secret that diversity doesn’t exist in SJM’s world, and that involves how people view sex and romantic relationships too.
It’s amazing that YA books have sex positivity. But books need to also acknowledge that ace people exist too. Protagonists and love interests that aren’t some sort of sex gods need to be there too. Thin boys, fat boys, trans boys need to be there too. If after >10 books a writer can’t get out of her own self-insert fantasies about what type of men she likes, maybe she isn’t a great writer after all. Maybe she needs to listen to the (still too small) part of her readers that demand More, that demand Better.
I went on a HUGE tangent and I don't even fucking care. There were parts of the book that I liked. I even enjoyed most of its central part. I enjoyed Nesta’s PTSD portrayal and she’s the only reason I’m going to read the next book because parts of her trauma and her way of dealing with it have the potential to mean so fucking much to me. But I’m going to lower my rating to 1 star because I’m tired of all the things I mentioned above, I'm tired of being treated like shit by an author and her team because they expect me to worship her when she doesn't even try anymore. My 1 star isn't even gonna change anything because everyone’s giving this the usual five stars, but I don’t care. I’m here and as a reader I demand better, I demand the bare fucking minimum, and I don’t think this book even tried.
This was a buddy read with my bon m@te (I’m sorry)
____
Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't blurbs, like, tell you something about the book..........why is this one just a recap of the previous ones lmao
Also shout-out to sjm for managing to squeeze the word "mate" within like 100 words of bad blurb
Me after finishing the book:
IM FREEEEEE!!!!!!!! WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY FUCKING LIFE
So let’s start by saying this book was almost entirely useless. Things this book has:
• lots of walking around Velaris
• shopping for presents
• lots of bad innuendos
• me physically rolling my eyes every two pages
• way too much internal monologue about who had fucked whom, where and in which position
• one really long and really cringy sex scene
• somehow galaxies were involved in the sex scene and that’s not even the weirdest thing that’s ever happened in a sjm sex scene
• mate mate mate mate mate m a t e ma te ma t e mat e m ate mAtE mATe MATE matE M a te
• "gentlemales"
• I repeat: g e n t l e m a l e s
• a few cute moments
• a few funny moments
• a tiny bit of actual fucking foundation for the next books
Basically Feyre and Rhys need to retire and let secondary characters finally have the spotlight.* The only POVs I genuinely enjoyed were Cassian’s and Nesta’s, which, surprise surprise, will be the focus of the next book. Fucking finally.
*except SJM has a talent for ruining main characters so what happens when secondary characters become the main ones? Uhhh we shall find out I guess.
Speaking more generally, this book was just mostly bad. I’m not only talking about the writing, which needed a lot of editing, but the general feeling surrounding it all. Starting from the blurb, which is just a few sentences from the first chapter copypasted together. People, the blurb doesn’t even make sense. That extra sentence about snow? It shouldn’t be there. They obviously needed one more sentence to make the blurb longer and didn’t know what else to pick. It’s just bad. Whoever did that did a very poor job.* And that makes me angry.
*EDIT: oh boy they changed the blurb!!! More than a full week after the book released! But I got receipts. #NeverForgetTheBlurb
Authors, even big ones, still have to fight hard to see their books picked up by publishers, be sold, and then be read and hyped by readers. But apparently that rule doesn’t apply to SJM. The publisher doesn’t even put any effort in pre-release things like writing a decent blurb, because they know her books are going to sell anyway. And I mean, I’m here writing this review because I’ve read this book despite swearing that I was done with this series after ACOWAR, because she has a talent for making you want to know what happens to the characters, even if (especially if) they’re not the main ones.
But the least the author and the publisher could do is put some fucking effort and deliver a product that’s better than this. Instead, it feels like either SJM is a rare case of writer who gets worse every book she writes, or the publisher has decided that she’s still going to sell regardless how many rounds of editing her books get, so they might as well never edit them, thus never delivering a polished book.
Because, folks, we might have started making fun of the word m*te for shits and giggles, but it’s become a big fucking problem, especially in this book. You know the writing advice that says to just use someone’s name when talking about them, instead of saying, idk, “the French girl,” or “the red-haired boy”? SJM has never heard of it. Think about your own internal monologue. Do you think of your spouse as “my spouse” all the time? Or do you simply think about them with their name?
Cassian and my mate’s sister did not speak to each other at all.
This sentence just does not flow. And it’s just one of about 70 times the word m*te was used (and keep in mind this is a 200 pages book). I wonder how many creative writing students failed their assignments for doing exactly what the most hyped YA fantasy author these days does constantly.
Do we also want to have The Talk about the weird connotations and implications that this word has? Oh boy, this conversation is about three years late, but I absolutely Do Not like all this animalistic shit, starting with m*te, moving on to how many times people purr, referring to people as males and females (ah, the good ol’ binary) (YES I FUCKING KNOW SHE CAN’T CALL THEM MEN AND WOMEN BUT JFC JUST STOP), to the weird possessiveness that the whole m*ting system entails. Also!!! Toxic masculinity!!!!!!! Weird unchallenged sexist comments!!!!! Trying to make Rhys sound soooo feminist when apparently his job is being horny 24/7!!!!!! Have Rhys (a literal sexual abuse victim) talk about how he can’t stand to be next to his m*te without, and I quote, BEING BURIED INSIDE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ohhhh now you've done it, you got me mad. If you read a SJM book it seems like thinking/talking/having sex for most part of your day is the normalcy. Which it can be!!!! But guess what! Ace people exist!!!! People with low sexual drive exist!!!!!!!!!! That’s normal too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh no I’m using too many exclamation points let me hire an editor. When every single character you portray acts the same exact way towards something like sex, you’re telling your readers (mostly teens) that that’s what’s expected of them, that that’s how everyone is like. It’s no secret that diversity doesn’t exist in SJM’s world, and that involves how people view sex and romantic relationships too.
It’s amazing that YA books have sex positivity. But books need to also acknowledge that ace people exist too. Protagonists and love interests that aren’t some sort of sex gods need to be there too. Thin boys, fat boys, trans boys need to be there too. If after >10 books a writer can’t get out of her own self-insert fantasies about what type of men she likes, maybe she isn’t a great writer after all. Maybe she needs to listen to the (still too small) part of her readers that demand More, that demand Better.
I went on a HUGE tangent and I don't even fucking care. There were parts of the book that I liked. I even enjoyed most of its central part. I enjoyed Nesta’s PTSD portrayal and she’s the only reason I’m going to read the next book because parts of her trauma and her way of dealing with it have the potential to mean so fucking much to me. But I’m going to lower my rating to 1 star because I’m tired of all the things I mentioned above, I'm tired of being treated like shit by an author and her team because they expect me to worship her when she doesn't even try anymore. My 1 star isn't even gonna change anything because everyone’s giving this the usual five stars, but I don’t care. I’m here and as a reader I demand better, I demand the bare fucking minimum, and I don’t think this book even tried.
This was a buddy read with my bon m@te (I’m sorry)
____
Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't blurbs, like, tell you something about the book..........why is this one just a recap of the previous ones lmao
Also shout-out to sjm for managing to squeeze the word "mate" within like 100 words of bad blurb
December 23, 2023
#1 A Court of Thorns and Roses ★★★★★
#2 A Court of Mist and Fury ★★★★★
#3 A Court of Wings and Ruin ★★★★★
#3.5 A Court of Frost and Starlight ★★★★★
First of all, let me just express my total devastation that an entire year of counting down the days until this book’s release is gone in two and a half hours of reading. I mean, I knew it was only going to be a novella, but… *sobs quietly* I didn’t expect it to go by THAT fast! This amazing little series has pulled me through some really dark times and brought so much joy into my life that I know I will treasure it, always. ♥
Even now, with that bond again flowing between us like a river of star-flecked night, the echo of its vanishing lingered.
ACOFAS definitely doesn’t read anything like the 3 main novels; the chapters switch perspectives occasionally, featuring POVs from Feyre, Rhysand, Cassian, and Morrigan. What struck me as particularly odd about this was the fact that Feyre and Rhysand’s chapters were in first-person, while Cassian and Morrigan’s were in third—a slightly jarring writing style, but nothing too detrimental.
In his stare, I could have sworn galaxies swirled. In the shadows between his wings, the glorious depths of the night dwelled.
We do get some really sweet and domestic Feysand moments, but I was actually surprised at how little time they actually spend together during the novella (and how little sex there is—who is this author and what did she do with Sarah?!). We did finally get the infamous wall scene! There are some incredibly sweet moments, at least a few scenes of Rhysand being his lovable cinnamon roll self, and a completely expected but adorable turn of events for their little family.
Shadows different from anything my powers summoned, spoke to. Born in a lightless, airless prison meant to break him. Instead, he had learned its language.
Feysand obsession aside, I loved how much time we got to spend with Cass and Az, learning more about their respective histories and how they’ve healed from the war. With Cassian’s perspectives especially, it felt like this was written to be a legitimate “bridge” between the ACOTAR series and whatever comes next, which I was honestly fond of, even if the next book’s focus on Cassian and Nesta does have me pretty nervous.
Lucien had not come here to make amends during Solstice, I realized as Tamlin opened the door to the dark library. Lucien had come here out of pity. Mercy.
Perhaps the most unexpected bits were the ones in which we visited Tamlin—with a novella this short, I honestly didn’t expect to see him at all, and certainly not in the state in which Rhysand found him. I never thought I would feel sorry for him, and I still think he’s a walking, talking garbage can, but I still couldn’t help being at least a little bit sad to see how far he’s fallen. I truly do hope that Sarah will write more about him in the future, because I can’t help but always feel that, no matter what a jerk he is, there’s something interesting about his potential as a character.
Cassian set me down at last. “What’d you get me for Solstice?” I smacked his arm. “A heaping pile of shut the hell up.”
Was ACOFAS everything I hoped and dreamed it would be? Honestly, no. This is more of a 4.5 rating, but you can believe that I did not hesitate to round up to 5 stars, because at the end of the day, I got to spend a few hundred pages with my precious bat babies, and watch this adorable little family interact and taunt and fuss and cry and laugh with one another, and that was all I really needed this novella to offer me. I have missed the inner court so damn much since ACOWAR ended, and it just felt SO GOOD to fall right back into this world for a little bit longer. ♥
Bonus list of tiny things that made me squeal:
→ the sauna scene
→ snowball fight traditions
→ more “the power of art” scenes
→ Morrigan reminiscing (ow, my heart)
→ Amren’s newfound jigsaw puzzle obsession
→ “Illyrian babies”
→ Rhys cooking Tamlin dinner, like… what even?
→ all the fuzzy scarves and winter holiday vibes
→ Amren receiving a million pieces of jewelry as always
→ Mor’s terrible taste in gifts
→ SHAMELESS reference to Cass’ wingspan
You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook!
June 10, 2021
The Written Review
Just published my latest BookTube Video - so excited to share it!!
*cue the undiluted screams of joy*
Okay. Okay. I will try to be objective about this one but I just finished ACOWAR and I am still riding that emotional high.
To summarize: for a companion novel - not bad at all. It's full of cotton-candy fluff, and I devoured every single bite.
Now, this one was a bit heavy on the smut and a bit light on the Nessian but it definitely had all the right feels in all the right places.
Stars flickered around us, sweet darkness sweeping in. As if we were the only souls in a galaxy.For those who don't know (and are curious) this novel sprang from a very drunk conversation between Sarah J. Maas (aka the Maaster) and her publisher.
Maas confessed that in her free time that she wrote fanfiction of her work. Just little drabbles of what happened in between ACOWAR and her next novel. The publisher thought, we could sell that...
And thus, this novel was born.
So, keeping the origins in mind, I really liked this novel.
There wasn't a big-bad or end-of-the-world subplot, not much plot development happened BUT this was a fun and lighthearted read.
And honestly, after ACOWAR, these characters deserve a few
“Dangerous words, Rhysand,” Amren warned, strutting through the door, nearly swallowed up by the enormous white fur coat she wore. Only her chin-length dark hair and solid silver eyes were visible above the collar. She looked—Feyre and friends are spending their first winter solstice (aka Christmas without Christ) together. And despite the warmth of the hearth, not all of the winter chill is kept out.
“You look like an angry snowball,” Cassian said.
Feyre frets about reuniting her family.
Rhysand freaks out about what to buy her (Solstice and birthday presents!!).
Mor is absolutely terrible at expressing her feelings (and gift-giving in general).
And Amren makes out like a bandit (mostly cause everyone knows what to buy her - priceless jewels).
And, of course, Nesta being Nesta made this novel shine.
Every time she and Cassian are in the same room the dynamic between them is just perfect.
He'd seen Nesta in that particular pose, too. He called it her I Will Slay My Enemies pose.I know this is just a companion novel and that there won't be much development in terms of relationships but c'mon Sarah J. Maas. Throw us a bone. (Actually, if you read the sneak peek at book 4 included at the end, I suppose she does offer us a bit of relationship hints).
Cassian had named about two dozen poses for Nesta at this point. Ranging from I Will Eat Your Eyes for Breakfast to I Don't Want Cassian to Know I'm Reading Smut. The latter was his particular favorite.
I am so emotionally invested in this series right now. I wish I could just time-machine myself into next year for book 4. But until I get that working, this companion novel will certainly tide me over.
P.s. I got to read the hand-stamped version of Sarah J. Maas's book. All I could think of the whole time was - ohmygosh. She touched the book
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March 20, 2022
Reread March 2022
Original rating: ⭐️⭐️
New rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rereading this before jumping into ACOSF, I can definitely better appreciate the set-up to a new conflict. But if you read this just as an epilogue to the ACOTAR trilogy, it's just pointless and cringy fan service. If I have to read the words "illyrian babies" one more time it will actually induce vomiting.
-----
Original review, May 2018:
we were all played like a violin in investing in this book. It’s $18 for lazy, messy fanfiction. This is 200+ pages of complete emptiness. There’s no purpose to any of this other than a money grab and longwinded, unnecessary epilogue to the original trilogy.
This literally reads like someone from Tumblr wanted a scene with all the ACOTAR characters having christmas together so sarah whipped out her laptop. There was no substance or set-up to a new series at all. 90% of this book—and I wish I was kidding—is just the characters all going shopping for each other's presents--multiple times. The other 10% is Feyre and Rhys speaking in each other’s heads through the bond about how much they want to fuck each other. Additional scenes include the characters getting drunk every 30 pages, weird side POVs from characters who add nothing to the story, and a snowball fight between warriors. I honest to God am not joking when I say if I read this on fanfiction.net, I would laugh at it and say it’s unrealistic and poorly done. It’s just pure stupidity and vapid smut for the fans’ wish fulfillment.
The writing in this is so messy. “Gentlemales” brought me to a depth of hell I haven’t seen before, so thanks for that, Sarah. Every time a female character says something “softly, but not weakly,” I feel like plunging a knife into my chest. Take a shot every time Sarah’s written that into one of her books. The sex scenes have so much potential to be steamy or whatever but Sarah ruins it by having the characters CONSTANTLY horny for each other, so it dampens any tension or angst. And the amount of times that sex is referenced in Rhys’s POV is utterly repulsive. At one point he just looks at a table and is like “mmm I’d fuck Feyre on that” ... [john mulaney voice] FUCKING WHAT?? Even in Feyre’s POV when I could get away from his gross thoughts, he’d always talk shit to her down the bond and try and get in her pants or say something “sexy” but it’s just so corny and stupid and gross and it ruins the scene and I wanted to throw my book it was so irritating.
I just think it’s funny how Feyre is the high lady and in Velaris, apparently women—oh, i’m sorry, FEMALES—are toootally equal to men *ahhem* males, and yet this entire book, Rhys is traveling to different courts and talking treaties and strategies with people and going off on business and Feyre does what? Cleans their home, goes shopping (no less than 4 times), cooks meals, and maybe if she’s feeling frisky, paints a little or has sex with her husband—oh, i’m sorry *ahhem* mate …. Sarah, don’t pretend that women are so equal to men but then literally only have female characters who love jewels and shopping and cooking and serving men and having sex. Even Amren didn’t slit a throat in this—she just complained about pooping and then had sex with Varian. Nesta and Lucien are the only vaguely interesting characters in this and I don’t like either of them. Their anger and distance made them more interesting than the characters in this getting shit-faced, making lame sexual jokes to each other, and referencing characters from the original trilogy I don’t care about.
I wanted there to be something good about this because I genuinely loved ACOMAF and I’m waiting to feel a glimpse of the mastery that went into that book, but these new books just fan wish fulfillment at this point. This book was COMPLETELY unnecessary and the fact that Sarah is only extending the world to exploit the characters people like and get more money is just low. Let this series die, the world is done. The characters have exhausted their arcs and their humor is dumb and dry.
Gave this book a star because Azriel deserves better than this bullshit.
Original rating: ⭐️⭐️
New rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rereading this before jumping into ACOSF, I can definitely better appreciate the set-up to a new conflict. But if you read this just as an epilogue to the ACOTAR trilogy, it's just pointless and cringy fan service. If I have to read the words "illyrian babies" one more time it will actually induce vomiting.
-----
Original review, May 2018:
we were all played like a violin in investing in this book. It’s $18 for lazy, messy fanfiction. This is 200+ pages of complete emptiness. There’s no purpose to any of this other than a money grab and longwinded, unnecessary epilogue to the original trilogy.
This literally reads like someone from Tumblr wanted a scene with all the ACOTAR characters having christmas together so sarah whipped out her laptop. There was no substance or set-up to a new series at all. 90% of this book—and I wish I was kidding—is just the characters all going shopping for each other's presents--multiple times. The other 10% is Feyre and Rhys speaking in each other’s heads through the bond about how much they want to fuck each other. Additional scenes include the characters getting drunk every 30 pages, weird side POVs from characters who add nothing to the story, and a snowball fight between warriors. I honest to God am not joking when I say if I read this on fanfiction.net, I would laugh at it and say it’s unrealistic and poorly done. It’s just pure stupidity and vapid smut for the fans’ wish fulfillment.
The writing in this is so messy. “Gentlemales” brought me to a depth of hell I haven’t seen before, so thanks for that, Sarah. Every time a female character says something “softly, but not weakly,” I feel like plunging a knife into my chest. Take a shot every time Sarah’s written that into one of her books. The sex scenes have so much potential to be steamy or whatever but Sarah ruins it by having the characters CONSTANTLY horny for each other, so it dampens any tension or angst. And the amount of times that sex is referenced in Rhys’s POV is utterly repulsive. At one point he just looks at a table and is like “mmm I’d fuck Feyre on that” ... [john mulaney voice] FUCKING WHAT?? Even in Feyre’s POV when I could get away from his gross thoughts, he’d always talk shit to her down the bond and try and get in her pants or say something “sexy” but it’s just so corny and stupid and gross and it ruins the scene and I wanted to throw my book it was so irritating.
I just think it’s funny how Feyre is the high lady and in Velaris, apparently women—oh, i’m sorry, FEMALES—are toootally equal to men *ahhem* males, and yet this entire book, Rhys is traveling to different courts and talking treaties and strategies with people and going off on business and Feyre does what? Cleans their home, goes shopping (no less than 4 times), cooks meals, and maybe if she’s feeling frisky, paints a little or has sex with her husband—oh, i’m sorry *ahhem* mate …. Sarah, don’t pretend that women are so equal to men but then literally only have female characters who love jewels and shopping and cooking and serving men and having sex. Even Amren didn’t slit a throat in this—she just complained about pooping and then had sex with Varian. Nesta and Lucien are the only vaguely interesting characters in this and I don’t like either of them. Their anger and distance made them more interesting than the characters in this getting shit-faced, making lame sexual jokes to each other, and referencing characters from the original trilogy I don’t care about.
I wanted there to be something good about this because I genuinely loved ACOMAF and I’m waiting to feel a glimpse of the mastery that went into that book, but these new books just fan wish fulfillment at this point. This book was COMPLETELY unnecessary and the fact that Sarah is only extending the world to exploit the characters people like and get more money is just low. Let this series die, the world is done. The characters have exhausted their arcs and their humor is dumb and dry.
Gave this book a star because Azriel deserves better than this bullshit.
May 3, 2018
Ok, it's time for an unpopular opinion. I'm sure I'll get nasty-grammed all the way until next year for this but..... I didn't enjoy this. Not in the slightest. Granted, this is all opinion based; there's nothing inherently wrong with this book, I just found myself bored from beginning to end. In fact, I felt like the chapter excerpt for book #4 in the back had more to offer than this entire "novella" provided in 220+ pages. If you loved this one, I truly am happy for you, but I felt the need to provide some honest feedback in case there are others who may have the same expectations that I did here. I'm going to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but if you haven't read the previous books in the series I would stop here.
********************
I'm actually having trouble writing anything about the plot because nothing really happens in the story, aside from one decision that is made between Feyre and Rhysand. I did appreciate that the author was trying to offer a brief entrance back into the world she had created, and if this had been the beginning to a larger, 700+ page novel then I would have looked at this in a completely different light. I hate that I was expecting something to happen because it detracted from my ability to just enjoy being with these characters again as they shop for presents for each other and describe the food they are eating and recap everything we just read in the previous novel. But truly, if all you are looking for is atmosphere then you will likely enjoy this much more than I did. The descriptions of Velaris and the Illyrian war camps are breathtaking and exquisite.
I did wholly appreciate the bit of backstory we get into Cassian initially, and my heart bled for Mor as she kept having to deal with her father and Eris and the Court of Nightmares, but every time I thought we were finally getting somewhere it would switch back over to shopping and food discussions. So I have to give credit to the fact that I was engaged in those moments, regardless of how the flow affected my absorption of the story. I was so disappointed in this disjointed lack of connection that I couldn't believe I was reading about the same inner circle I had once held so dear.
Have I possible "outgrown" this series? I would hope not, because it's one of my favorite escapes, so I've come to the conclusion that a big factor is this: I'm tired of Feyre and Rhysand. It's not like I never want to hear about them, but I am so done with their narrative. It has come to the point where it feels repetitive and stale and dull and every single other character in this book, aside from a little bit of Cassian/Mor/Nesta was mostly left out. I wanted to hear more from all these other characters, from other courts spread across the continent, from ANYTHING BUT FEYRE AND RHYS.
You know what I think the strongest point this novella has going for it? SJM actually made me feel a bit of conflicted sorrow for Tam Tam. I will never excuse abuse or the things he did wrong previously, but she managed to touch a tiny place inside my heart that wished for more for ole Tammy, that he could find someone to accept his brokenness and help heal him into a functioning member of fae society.
I'm sorry as I'm completely aware that this review is just a bundle of disjointed thoughts (how's that for irony?), but it's the best I could do under the circumstances. Guys, I'll still read the next book, as I'm interested in the Nesta/Cassian deal, but I sincerely hope that we see more Elain/Lucien/Azriel, because I missed my precious babies. I really did. Ok, NOW you can throw your pitchforks and knives at me, I'm done! ;)
********************
I'm actually having trouble writing anything about the plot because nothing really happens in the story, aside from one decision that is made between Feyre and Rhysand. I did appreciate that the author was trying to offer a brief entrance back into the world she had created, and if this had been the beginning to a larger, 700+ page novel then I would have looked at this in a completely different light. I hate that I was expecting something to happen because it detracted from my ability to just enjoy being with these characters again as they shop for presents for each other and describe the food they are eating and recap everything we just read in the previous novel. But truly, if all you are looking for is atmosphere then you will likely enjoy this much more than I did. The descriptions of Velaris and the Illyrian war camps are breathtaking and exquisite.
I did wholly appreciate the bit of backstory we get into Cassian initially, and my heart bled for Mor as she kept having to deal with her father and Eris and the Court of Nightmares, but every time I thought we were finally getting somewhere it would switch back over to shopping and food discussions. So I have to give credit to the fact that I was engaged in those moments, regardless of how the flow affected my absorption of the story. I was so disappointed in this disjointed lack of connection that I couldn't believe I was reading about the same inner circle I had once held so dear.
Have I possible "outgrown" this series? I would hope not, because it's one of my favorite escapes, so I've come to the conclusion that a big factor is this: I'm tired of Feyre and Rhysand. It's not like I never want to hear about them, but I am so done with their narrative. It has come to the point where it feels repetitive and stale and dull and every single other character in this book, aside from a little bit of Cassian/Mor/Nesta was mostly left out. I wanted to hear more from all these other characters, from other courts spread across the continent, from ANYTHING BUT FEYRE AND RHYS.
You know what I think the strongest point this novella has going for it? SJM actually made me feel a bit of conflicted sorrow for Tam Tam. I will never excuse abuse or the things he did wrong previously, but she managed to touch a tiny place inside my heart that wished for more for ole Tammy, that he could find someone to accept his brokenness and help heal him into a functioning member of fae society.
I'm sorry as I'm completely aware that this review is just a bundle of disjointed thoughts (how's that for irony?), but it's the best I could do under the circumstances. Guys, I'll still read the next book, as I'm interested in the Nesta/Cassian deal, but I sincerely hope that we see more Elain/Lucien/Azriel, because I missed my precious babies. I really did. Ok, NOW you can throw your pitchforks and knives at me, I'm done! ;)
July 16, 2018
"To family old and new. Let the Solstice festivities begin."
1) A court of thorns and roses ★★★★☆
2) A court of mist and fury ★★★★★
2) A court of wings and ruin ★★★★★
A perfect, fluffy and heart-warming novella, from the first to the last page.
A court of frost and starlight focuses once more on Feyre and Rhysand and I couldn't be happier about it. I know many people weren't happy about getting another book about them but they still hold a special place in my heart so a new whole canon book about them? It felt like Christmas morning for me lol.
Besides that, from my point of view the book is more about seeing the inner circle heal after the war than feysand. Some dealt with it better than others but everyone has its own scars.
I loved seeing the progression of Feyre and Rhysand's relationship, they're my all time favorite fictional couple and seeing them happy and making plans for the future was amazing, after everything they went through they deserve it and no one can convince me otherwise. Plus, it was good to see old Rhys coming back, he was kind of less funny and flirty in acowar (understandably).
It's true, the plot was basically non existent but I mean ... uhm what were you expecting? I lost count of how many times Sarah said the whole book's purpose was giving a deserved ending to the feysand arc and creating a bridge between the two series. That's exactly what she did so I don't get the amount of hate I'm reading about this topic.
Plus, the final excerpt confirmed that the next book is gonna be nessian's and I liked how Sarah set up the two of them (especially Nesta, her story arc in acofas is soooo dark). And I know that many people weren't happy with her arc but for me seeing her hitting rock bottom was the perfect set up for the next book, she has her own healing to go through (Cassian does too).
1) A court of thorns and roses ★★★★☆
2) A court of mist and fury ★★★★★
2) A court of wings and ruin ★★★★★
A perfect, fluffy and heart-warming novella, from the first to the last page.
A court of frost and starlight focuses once more on Feyre and Rhysand and I couldn't be happier about it. I know many people weren't happy about getting another book about them but they still hold a special place in my heart so a new whole canon book about them? It felt like Christmas morning for me lol.
Besides that, from my point of view the book is more about seeing the inner circle heal after the war than feysand. Some dealt with it better than others but everyone has its own scars.
I loved seeing the progression of Feyre and Rhysand's relationship, they're my all time favorite fictional couple and seeing them happy and making plans for the future was amazing, after everything they went through they deserve it and no one can convince me otherwise. Plus, it was good to see old Rhys coming back, he was kind of less funny and flirty in acowar (understandably).
It's true, the plot was basically non existent but I mean ... uhm what were you expecting? I lost count of how many times Sarah said the whole book's purpose was giving a deserved ending to the feysand arc and creating a bridge between the two series. That's exactly what she did so I don't get the amount of hate I'm reading about this topic.
Plus, the final excerpt confirmed that the next book is gonna be nessian's and I liked how Sarah set up the two of them (especially Nesta, her story arc in acofas is soooo dark). And I know that many people weren't happy with her arc but for me seeing her hitting rock bottom was the perfect set up for the next book, she has her own healing to go through (Cassian does too).
August 15, 2019
RAISE YOUR HAND IF
you would rather read about Mor accepting herself entirely and unconditionally and growing comfortable in her sexuality; Nesta finding her way towards healing and self love and getting her revenge on the queens; Elain focusing on her personal growth and learning to healthily cope with being Fae and slowly getting used to her new found abilities.........instead of yet another uninspired, drab, unnecessary smut scene between Feyre and Rhysand
✋🏽
you would rather read about Mor accepting herself entirely and unconditionally and growing comfortable in her sexuality; Nesta finding her way towards healing and self love and getting her revenge on the queens; Elain focusing on her personal growth and learning to healthily cope with being Fae and slowly getting used to her new found abilities.........instead of yet another uninspired, drab, unnecessary smut scene between Feyre and Rhysand
✋🏽
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November 13, 2021
I hate Rhys. I really hate him. And Feyre too.
Real excerpt from the book:
My mate rammed into me with his omg holy shit what a considerable length and roared "you're mine" yas omg let me stroke your wings daddy yas ahoy matey he moaned my name so hard that the whole court can hear omg yas i love him he's my mate. "I'M YOURS" I screamed.
Real excerpt from the book:
My mate rammed into me with his omg holy shit what a considerable length and roared "you're mine" yas omg let me stroke your wings daddy yas ahoy matey he moaned my name so hard that the whole court can hear omg yas i love him he's my mate. "I'M YOURS" I screamed.
November 15, 2023
4.35/5 ⭐
I honestly don't care what other people say, I didn't have any expectations to be blown away by this.
After the whole emotional roller coaster of the first three books of the series, this was exactly what I needed: a loooong epilogue, showing me my precious babies being safe and happy and surrounded by love and warmth.
SJM served me some good fluff and I gulped it down like it was the drink of the gods.
There's no room to argue how benefic this novella was for my peace of mind.
I loved it and, uhm, I want more.
I honestly don't care what other people say, I didn't have any expectations to be blown away by this.
After the whole emotional roller coaster of the first three books of the series, this was exactly what I needed: a loooong epilogue, showing me my precious babies being safe and happy and surrounded by love and warmth.
SJM served me some good fluff and I gulped it down like it was the drink of the gods.
There's no room to argue how benefic this novella was for my peace of mind.
I loved it and, uhm, I want more.
January 1, 2020
This book was pointless but okay.
Read
May 5, 2019miss is just throwing together some random nouns for her titles now
January 15, 2024
Rereading this again filled me up with all kinds of warmth and goodness. I adore this family.
——————————
That motherfuckin wall scene!
I mean, what are words at this point when it comes to Sarah J Maas's books?! She's my favourite author. Her books have brought about this sense of utter calm and happiness within me every time I read and think about them.
This novella was everything we needed to potentially see the direction the other books will go in. And boy, am I beyond excited for it!
I'm sure we'll be getting more of Cassian and Nesta in the next book and Sarah J Maas does character development ridiculously well and my god, being able to look forward and dream about their character exploration makes me too excited for words.
I loved that we got see more of the Inner Circle. They are, hands down, my favourite bunch of fictional characters. I feel like I'm part of the family. I'm so glad some lighthearted, happy and sweet, tender moments were included in this. The family aspect between them all felt too real, and so good to read. And so worthy of them to have after the events of ACOWAR.
And the emphasis on art in this book and seeing Feyre getting back into it as a form of healing for herself and others was a dream. Her dreams were finally actualised.
The progression from ACOWAR to this felt natural and the cities and its people (including our main lot) were still healing, still too traumatised from the war. But progress was being made and I can't wait to see how that will be looked at in the upcoming spin-off series.
I think at this point people are more interested in the progression of other characters. I'm here for it, but I don't ever see myself tiring of Feyre and Rhys and the bond between them! Chapter 22 is all I'm going to say. After having lost so much, they better still have that puppy-love going.
I loved it!
——————————
That motherfuckin wall scene!
I mean, what are words at this point when it comes to Sarah J Maas's books?! She's my favourite author. Her books have brought about this sense of utter calm and happiness within me every time I read and think about them.
This novella was everything we needed to potentially see the direction the other books will go in. And boy, am I beyond excited for it!
I'm sure we'll be getting more of Cassian and Nesta in the next book and Sarah J Maas does character development ridiculously well and my god, being able to look forward and dream about their character exploration makes me too excited for words.
I loved that we got see more of the Inner Circle. They are, hands down, my favourite bunch of fictional characters. I feel like I'm part of the family. I'm so glad some lighthearted, happy and sweet, tender moments were included in this. The family aspect between them all felt too real, and so good to read. And so worthy of them to have after the events of ACOWAR.
And the emphasis on art in this book and seeing Feyre getting back into it as a form of healing for herself and others was a dream. Her dreams were finally actualised.
The progression from ACOWAR to this felt natural and the cities and its people (including our main lot) were still healing, still too traumatised from the war. But progress was being made and I can't wait to see how that will be looked at in the upcoming spin-off series.
I think at this point people are more interested in the progression of other characters. I'm here for it, but I don't ever see myself tiring of Feyre and Rhys and the bond between them! Chapter 22 is all I'm going to say. After having lost so much, they better still have that puppy-love going.
I loved it!
January 4, 2024
1.) A Court of Thorns and Roses ★★★★
2.) A Court of Mist and Fury ★★★
3.) A Court of Wings and Ruin ★★★
[2023 reread] ★★★
i really wanted to reread this this year, because i was reminded that it was set during the winter holiday season, and truly? this was a really nice reread. it does start on the first day of winter, which also happens to be feyre’s birthday! (i had very much forgotten that she was only 21, which did send me into a spiral of my own!) but we get to see her and the inner circle celebrate that and celebrate winter solstice together.
this long novella really is the bridging book to A Court of Silver Flames and i actually think it does a very good job prepping what is to come. we even get to see in cassian and nesta pov at the very end, which i had forgotten completely. but ultimately this really is a story about ptsd and grief and how those things look so very different in so many people. People experience things differently, people choose to show others how they are feeling differently, and people heal differently. i actually think this book does a very good job showing that and celebrating that in it’s own respectful way.
i for sure think i appreciated this more the second time around! also, sjm just really knows how to write a cold atmosphere and winter setting, and the timing of this just really made for a good reading experience. i can’t wait to finally finish this series reread, leading up to
House of Flame and Shadow!
trigger + content warnings: a lot of talk of loss of loved ones in the past, talk of war, talk of murder and death, grief depiction, ptsd depiction, misogyny and sexism, extreme abuse in past / violence against women, talk of menstruation and painful/hard menstrual cycles, gore and violence in past, talk of weight loss, blood, animal death.
[2018 first read] ★★★
♡ old review on my blog
blog | instagram | youtube | kofi | spotify | amazon
2.) A Court of Mist and Fury ★★★
3.) A Court of Wings and Ruin ★★★
[2023 reread] ★★★
i really wanted to reread this this year, because i was reminded that it was set during the winter holiday season, and truly? this was a really nice reread. it does start on the first day of winter, which also happens to be feyre’s birthday! (i had very much forgotten that she was only 21, which did send me into a spiral of my own!) but we get to see her and the inner circle celebrate that and celebrate winter solstice together.
this long novella really is the bridging book to A Court of Silver Flames and i actually think it does a very good job prepping what is to come. we even get to see in cassian and nesta pov at the very end, which i had forgotten completely. but ultimately this really is a story about ptsd and grief and how those things look so very different in so many people. People experience things differently, people choose to show others how they are feeling differently, and people heal differently. i actually think this book does a very good job showing that and celebrating that in it’s own respectful way.
i for sure think i appreciated this more the second time around! also, sjm just really knows how to write a cold atmosphere and winter setting, and the timing of this just really made for a good reading experience. i can’t wait to finally finish this series reread, leading up to
House of Flame and Shadow!
trigger + content warnings: a lot of talk of loss of loved ones in the past, talk of war, talk of murder and death, grief depiction, ptsd depiction, misogyny and sexism, extreme abuse in past / violence against women, talk of menstruation and painful/hard menstrual cycles, gore and violence in past, talk of weight loss, blood, animal death.
[2018 first read] ★★★
♡ old review on my blog
“The first snow of winter had begun whipping through Velaris...”
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February 24, 2019
One more time I want to warn readers, teachers and parents that this series isn't YOUNG ADULT. Distrust any booktuber, Goodreads reviewer/editor, and "prestigious" site that tells you otherwise.
If you are a teacher or librarian Distrust the information on the genre and recommended age that comes from the publisher Bloomsburry Children's. Also distrust Kirkus reviews, Booktubers and book bloggers who say this is Young adult, Common sense media and The Goodreads choice awards for Young adult. For more on that scroll down to the italic letters.
THIS SERIES IS EROTIC/NEW ADULT NOT YOUNG ADULT. If reviewers tell you this series isn't new adult they're lying through their teeth. The result of those lies is that books with erotic content are currently labeled as CHILDREN'S BESTSELLERS or recommended to 12 YO readers.
Is the author and publisher of this book really selling books with erotic/explicit content to young kids without warnings? Edit 10-23-2018. In the UK Maas books come with a warning Contents mature content no suitable for younger readers
The UK Cover comes with a warning of mature content.
In the USA most copies of this series come with no warning of explicit content. I applaud writers that write erotic content, just don't sell it to young children. This is from Booktopia, an Australian retailer; It recommends the most erotic book of the series to readers AS YOUNG AS 12.
UPDTE MAY 20TH JUNE 25th
Audible is recommending this book along with the first book of the series to 13 YO. However they are recommending the most explicit book of the series to 11-13 YO kids
That's why you shouldn't trust publishers to give the correct information on genre and recommended age in YA books.
**Don't trust MY review either**
**Do your own research and tell me why this series shouldn't be considered PARANORMAL EROTICA, PARANORMAL NEW ADULT, FANTASY ROMANCE or ADULT ROMANTIC FANTASY. **
You can start by finding out:
How old the main characters are?
I'll tell you, but don't believe me, find out for/by yourself.
The protagonist is 20-21 (like Anastasia Steel from fifty shades of grey)
Her sisters are even older
the rest of the cast is several hundreds year old
Isn't YA an age-based classification? Then why is this series labeled as a YA book?
How explicit the sex is
You can find that information on my A COURT OF MIST AND FURY REVIEW updates. My ACOMAF review hasn't been censored by Goodreads employees yet as my TOWER OF DAWN(another new adult book by this same author)review was. My Tower of dawn review has 273 likes so it should appear in the main page of reviews. Goodreads is hiding it. That sucks because it's the responsibility of parents (not of Goodreads, not of the publishers and authors) to find out about the content of the EXPENSIVE books they buy for their underage kids. But how are they going to find that information when so many booktubers, common sense media and Goodreads members are hiding it?
You can also find the information about the erotic content of this series on the american hardcover version of a court of mist and fury.
Pages 21, 22
Pages 471, 472, 473, 474. 475
Pages 530, 531, 532, 533, the orgasm that shatters the mountains:
Pages 538 and 539
DISCLAIMER AND TRIGGERS WARNINGS:
♣ IF YOU DON'T LIKE READING EROTIC/EXPLICIT CONTENT and don't tell me that you can skip the sex scenes, Most of us don't pay full hardcover price for skiping half the book ;)
♣ IF YOU THINK YOUNG ADULT IS A GENRE THAT SHOULD REMAIN CLEAN
♣ IF YOU ARE 12-17 YO WHO DON'T LIKE TO READ EXPLICIT SEX SCENES
♣ IF YOU DON'T LIKE LOVE TRIANGLES And MULTIPLE MALE LOVE INTERESTS
Book 1 we have a love triangle: Tamlin vs Rhysand
Book 2 We have a love triangle: Rhysand vs. Tamlin but it's really uneven
Book 3: NO LOVE TRIANGLE!
♣ IF YOU DON'T LIKE ABUSIVE LOVE INTERESTS AND ABUSIVE WOMEN
-Tamlin love interest of book 1? ABUSIVE!
-Rhys, secondary love interest of book 1 and ABUSIVE!
- The sisters? Everyone talks about how Tamlin should apologize. When will the sisters apologize? ABUSIVE!
♣IF YOU DON'T LIKE WHEN sexual assault victims ARE THROWN UNDER THE BUS TO MOVE THE PLOT FORWARD. CAREFUL WITH DANGEROUS RAPE MESSAGES
It happens so much on New adult and adult literature (game of thrones, the girl with the dragon tatoo, the second book of the outlander series) a sexual assault victim gets the "oh-you-were-raped?- don't- bitch- about- it- and- move- forward treatment. So many books trivialize the worst aspect of PTSD and sexual assault and try to "sovle it" either with revenge or the magic romantic relationship that will make everything go away. Or the experiences just get ignored and brush aside! This happens to Mor, a secondary character in the 3rd book who is a rape survivor when To be fair, I can understand the circumstances, doesn't mean I have to like that kind of story line, especially when that's something that good editing could have taken care of. That kind of disrespect for rape was unneccessary IMO. It didn't move the plot forward and it's out of character for Rhys to act like that. I love Rhys and didn't like the way SJM made him act.
♣ IF YOU BELIEVE ANY BOOK YOU PAY FOR SHOULD BE PROFESSIONALLY EDITED
I'm not a grammar nazi and my spelling is terrible, but I can tell you, even some fanfiction I've read has a more polished editing than this book. There's the overuse of words like mate. There are also problems with pace, repetitiveness, flow and consistency of the voices when changing from a narrator to the other and from a first person POV to a 3rd person POV. The characters sound too modern. The worldbuilding is not high fantasy at all. The setting of this series is pretty much like a modern series. All these are things that a content editor and a proofreader could have taken care off, but the publishers rushed publication lowering the quality of the editing and the writing. Even so they are selling this at full ebook price.
My ratings for the series so far
♣ A Court of Thorns and Roses ACOTAR 3/5 because abusive relationships, false advertising (it's new adult dishonestly marketed as young adult) and love triangle. My review is currently censored and hidden from the third page of review. It should appear somewhere between page 2 and 3.
♣ A COURT OF MIST AND FURY ACOMAF4/5 because I didn't appreciate the explicit sex scene with OM, but I highly recommend this book to my friends who don't mind safety issues and like explicit scenes in slow-burn-romance. This book is EROTICA (according to the goodreads description of the genre) marketed as YA.
♣ A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN ACOWAR 2.5/5 because poor editing, f bombs, repetitiveness, unnecessary sex scenes and dangerous messages. No, glorifying revenge and abusive women isn't female empowerment. No, in most marriage it isn't always the woman's choice, it's always the choice of both of them. My review is currently censored by goodreads.
Sources of my pictures:
AMAZON CANADA CHILDREN'S BOOKS ADVENTURE
AMAZON CANADA CHILDREN'S BOOKS FANTASY
AMAZON AUSTRALIA CHILDREN'S BOOKS LOVE
Booktopia A COURT OF MIST AND FURY RECOMMENDED AGES
EROTICA GENRE DEFINITION ACCORDING TO GOODREADS
ACOMAF RECOMMENDED TO CHILDREN 11-13 on audible
WHY YOU SHOULDN'T TRUST BOOKTUBERS AND THE YA GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS REGARDNG THE CONTENT OF THIS BOOK?
Because a vast majority of booktubers have failed so far to mention that this book series contains erotic/explicit content in their booktube reviews even though they always discuss "young adult books". It could be unintentionally. It could be intentionally. The reason doesn't matter. They're contributing to the false advertising.
A few booktubers are being published or aspire to be published by the same IMPRINT of this new adult series. Others booktubers and bookbloggers seem to want good relationships with the publishing industry. They won't say anything that can hurt the marketing agenda of the big publishing houses. Note: Bookables, Benji Alderson and Polandbananas have mentioned this series is new adult , so of course a lot of booktubers are somehow honest, it's not cool calling out an entire community of readers because the dishonesty of a few bad apples. Distrust only the reviewers who call this series young adult.
On the other hand, The Goodreads choice awards editors ignored the shelving system when they selected the categories for the goodreads choice awards last year. In the goodreads feedback group they told me that's how editors select categories: based on shelving.
At the time of the awards this series was shelved primarily as fantasy and romance by GR users, but still the editors made it compete on the young adult category. Not in romance (second most-shelved genre), not in fantasy (first most-shelved genre). They made it compete in young adult (third most-shelved genre followed closely by New adult)
This review isn't meant to discouraging people from reading/buying the book. On the contrary. I'm inviting you to read this series if you don't have problems with sexual content and abusive relationships. Despite all the problems I have with the false advertising I enjoyed the trilogy . But again I'm warning you:
♣ NEVER trust the information that you see on Goodreads, Common sense media. and booktube. Not all reviewers are independent and unbiased. Do your research.
Life is too short and TBR piles are too big to just ignore the kind of information that can help us decide what we will read next. Goodreads shouldn't try to hide that information.
People who pay $15-18 for a hardcover and $8-15 for an ebook of a young adult "high fantas" book have every right to expect:
♣ 12-18 YO Main characters,
♣ no F bombs
♣ no explicit sex.
♣ A profesionally edited book.
That's not what any book of this series delivers.
Update 02-24
People aren't expecting something like this:
For a series that is supposedly about women's choices, when Goodreads, Booktubers and Publishers hide this information from young girls they are taking away their right to decide when or if they would read erotic content. Not to mention they're contributing to the book being sold in the Children's section of multiple retailers.
March 13, 2021
Note: I'm a clown, a trash heap, a DUMPSTER FIRE for SJM's books. I love them, warts and all, and I don't even care if it knocks a hundred and fifty points off my member rating at the annual Lesbian Symposium. I'll take the hit. But I also have taste, so you'll understand the confusion here.
If I ever, ever have to scrape my eyes over another bloated grody sex scene between Feyre and Rhysand, I'll just save SJM a job and poke knitting needles through my corneas. But it's not like that was the worst part! Oh, no!
Here's a quick blow-by-blow of this book's very worst offences:
- Rhysand is a "feminist" if "feminist" means "treat my wife like an orgasm dispenser"
- the Night Court back at it again on their high horse
- Tamlin's growth at the end of ACOWAR has been sucked away to the septic tank
- Rhysand, a man who has gleefully carried out acts of torture and who encourages his military commanders to torture POWs, goes to chap at Tamlin's house to do nothing other than rub his face in the events of the trilogy
- he's a grotesque hypocrite
- anyone, ever, who tries to justify torture is morally bankrupt and it doesn't matter if he gave his wife lots of nice pep talks
- he is a fucking torturer
- and can we stop handwaving all of these characters' "noble grudges"
- stop kicking people when they're already down and we've already made our point
- Tamlin has been punished enough
- let it go and grow the fuck up
- also we were fine with Feyre's PTSD because hers was beautiful and sad, but of course someone like Nesta who grieves inconveniently deserves nothing but scorn????
- Nesta deserves better than these arseholes
- I'm glad she's taking Rhysand's money and wasting it
- I'm glad she's Moved On from these fake hoes
- Amren is ruined
- nothing fucking happened in this book
- N O T H I N G
This is a PSA: the Night Court can choke. Every last one of them. The magic and romance of ACOMAF has been exorcised away and all that's left is 200 pages of shopping and heteronormativity. The only character in this whole series who was halfway decent was Tarquin and of course he was cheated and lied to and treated like garbage by that fucking MELT Rhysand and his Shit Squad who do nothing all day but shop and bake bread and cry about their sad love lives and then dabble in some more fuCking TORTURE.
My goD JUST DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS UNTIL I HAVE CALMED DOWN.
If I ever, ever have to scrape my eyes over another bloated grody sex scene between Feyre and Rhysand, I'll just save SJM a job and poke knitting needles through my corneas. But it's not like that was the worst part! Oh, no!
Here's a quick blow-by-blow of this book's very worst offences:
- Rhysand is a "feminist" if "feminist" means "treat my wife like an orgasm dispenser"
- the Night Court back at it again on their high horse
- Tamlin's growth at the end of ACOWAR has been sucked away to the septic tank
- Rhysand, a man who has gleefully carried out acts of torture and who encourages his military commanders to torture POWs, goes to chap at Tamlin's house to do nothing other than rub his face in the events of the trilogy
- he's a grotesque hypocrite
- anyone, ever, who tries to justify torture is morally bankrupt and it doesn't matter if he gave his wife lots of nice pep talks
- he is a fucking torturer
- and can we stop handwaving all of these characters' "noble grudges"
- stop kicking people when they're already down and we've already made our point
- Tamlin has been punished enough
- let it go and grow the fuck up
- also we were fine with Feyre's PTSD because hers was beautiful and sad, but of course someone like Nesta who grieves inconveniently deserves nothing but scorn????
- Nesta deserves better than these arseholes
- I'm glad she's taking Rhysand's money and wasting it
- I'm glad she's Moved On from these fake hoes
- Amren is ruined
- nothing fucking happened in this book
- N O T H I N G
This is a PSA: the Night Court can choke. Every last one of them. The magic and romance of ACOMAF has been exorcised away and all that's left is 200 pages of shopping and heteronormativity. The only character in this whole series who was halfway decent was Tarquin and of course he was cheated and lied to and treated like garbage by that fucking MELT Rhysand and his Shit Squad who do nothing all day but shop and bake bread and cry about their sad love lives and then dabble in some more fuCking TORTURE.
My goD JUST DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS UNTIL I HAVE CALMED DOWN.
May 12, 2018
Update 5/11/18OMG! This is exactly what I needed today after my stressful appointment with my Radiology Oncologist. CLICK THE LINK BELOW THE PICTURE TO SEE THE UNBOXING!
Inside The Box
I can't believe it's here and gone! It's hard to read a little novella from Sarah but knowing there are more books in this series coming makes me both happy and scared. I don't want to see any of my loves die so I'm hoping for the best.
This book was everything a novella should be, I got to fall in love with my characters AGAIN! They make me so happy! But I'm ready to get back to some lovely fat books in this world. Never ending.
Happy Reading!
Mel 🖤🐾🐺
Inside The Box
I can't believe it's here and gone! It's hard to read a little novella from Sarah but knowing there are more books in this series coming makes me both happy and scared. I don't want to see any of my loves die so I'm hoping for the best.
This book was everything a novella should be, I got to fall in love with my characters AGAIN! They make me so happy! But I'm ready to get back to some lovely fat books in this world. Never ending.
To the stars who listen, Feyre.
To the dreams that are answered, Rhys.
Happy Reading!
Mel 🖤🐾🐺
May 4, 2018
if you're a sjm fan pls don't interact,, just skip this review,, nothing to see here
pls read sil's review bc she snapped real nice
word count:
mate: 66
male: 59
... : 133
the amount of pages: 224
the amount of sex scenes: 1.5 and shit ton of flashbacks because we're 900 years and horny like teenagers
the amount of genitals spotted: 0. zero. zilch. zip. nada. nothing.there was a movie or a tv show (i cant remember what exactly it was OTL) where one character tried to teach the other character to say "penis". that's how i feel right now. sarah please. stop with euphemisms. people ar e dying
it could've been tolerable if:
1. rhysand wasn't fucking here because he and his constant sex thoughts and annoying innuendos ruined EVERY FUCKING MOMENT. like that moment with feyre and cassian getting drunk and messing the decorations? it was almost wholesome. but then this fuckboy had to appear AND RUIN EVERYTHING BECAUSE HE ONLY THINKS WITH HIS SCHLONG
2. if sjm actually learned not to use the m word when it's totally unnecessary in the sentence. when u could've just used the name there. when you could've used shit ton of other words. "cassian and my mate's sister". why is it even a thang. use the name dude. u didn't use it before in the sentence.
3. 133 instances of "..." for 224 (physical copy) pages. stop. also damn i did say it in acowar review but questions need question markssssss. it's not as bad here as it was there but punctuation. pls.
4. WHY IS EVERYTHING ABOUT SEX WHY I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND SARAH IS YOUR HORMONAL BALANCE OKAY
5. SJM STILL DOESNT KNOW HOW TO NAME GENITALS "VELVET HARDNESS" "MY CORE POUNDED" ARE YOU OKAY
6. the sex scenes. what a cringe. how do u even. its also so outdated like,,, if u take a decades old romance novel u'll probably find the same amount of euphemisms and methaphors
7. some moments are just. really fucking gross.
8. i love how everyone made nesta's ptsd and coping about themselves. real nice.
9. the switch between 1st pov for feyre and rhys and 3rd pov for cassian and mor was annoying. 3rd povs are way easier to stomach though
10. so many things i didn't need to know. like rhysand's internal monologues in every damn chapter in what positions and how many times and where they had sex. SPARE ME. that line in amren's apartment about the smell of sex. no. I didn't ask. i don't need to know that. who the fuck does. u already said that before. why
this was expectedly bad so yeah im giving it one star
yeah there were some nice things and it COULD'VE been more and i guess it MIGHT get better in the next books (because horny animals wouldn't be main characters anymore I guess) but i couldn't overlook annoying stuff so
im done.
im going to read catwoman and i wouldn't be reading sjm's books anymore if she doesn't hire a proper editor at least. [update: silvia is making me read the acotar 4. thats fair. i put her through this shes putting me through that. i hope it wouldnt be this bad but,,,]
anyway i buddy trashread it with silvia thanks for listening to me screaming and pls don't hate me for putting us through this
maybe ill add something here,, we'll see, im writing this right after finishing it so my patience is nowhere and my emotions rule me
~~~~~~
here we go
br with one of my bon wives
~~~~~~~
why are maas novels' covers so bland and unoriginal when she's so popular dgdhjdfkls
will sjm be able to say dick at least once here
idek if I'll read it but i might 🤔
pls read sil's review bc she snapped real nice
word count:
mate: 66
male: 59
... : 133
the amount of pages: 224
the amount of sex scenes: 1.5 and shit ton of flashbacks because we're 900 years and horny like teenagers
the amount of genitals spotted: 0. zero. zilch. zip. nada. nothing.
it could've been tolerable if:
1. rhysand wasn't fucking here because he and his constant sex thoughts and annoying innuendos ruined EVERY FUCKING MOMENT. like that moment with feyre and cassian getting drunk and messing the decorations? it was almost wholesome. but then this fuckboy had to appear AND RUIN EVERYTHING BECAUSE HE ONLY THINKS WITH HIS SCHLONG
2. if sjm actually learned not to use the m word when it's totally unnecessary in the sentence. when u could've just used the name there. when you could've used shit ton of other words. "cassian and my mate's sister". why is it even a thang. use the name dude. u didn't use it before in the sentence.
3. 133 instances of "..." for 224 (physical copy) pages. stop. also damn i did say it in acowar review but questions need question markssssss. it's not as bad here as it was there but punctuation. pls.
4. WHY IS EVERYTHING ABOUT SEX WHY I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND SARAH IS YOUR HORMONAL BALANCE OKAY
5. SJM STILL DOESNT KNOW HOW TO NAME GENITALS "VELVET HARDNESS" "MY CORE POUNDED" ARE YOU OKAY
6. the sex scenes. what a cringe. how do u even. its also so outdated like,,, if u take a decades old romance novel u'll probably find the same amount of euphemisms and methaphors
7. some moments are just. really fucking gross.
8. i love how everyone made nesta's ptsd and coping about themselves. real nice.
9. the switch between 1st pov for feyre and rhys and 3rd pov for cassian and mor was annoying. 3rd povs are way easier to stomach though
10. so many things i didn't need to know. like rhysand's internal monologues in every damn chapter in what positions and how many times and where they had sex. SPARE ME. that line in amren's apartment about the smell of sex. no. I didn't ask. i don't need to know that. who the fuck does. u already said that before. why
this was expectedly bad so yeah im giving it one star
yeah there were some nice things and it COULD'VE been more and i guess it MIGHT get better in the next books (because horny animals wouldn't be main characters anymore I guess) but i couldn't overlook annoying stuff so
im done.
im going to read catwoman and i wouldn't be reading sjm's books anymore if she doesn't hire a proper editor at least. [update: silvia is making me read the acotar 4. thats fair. i put her through this shes putting me through that. i hope it wouldnt be this bad but,,,]
anyway i buddy trashread it with silvia thanks for listening to me screaming and pls don't hate me for putting us through this
maybe ill add something here,, we'll see, im writing this right after finishing it so my patience is nowhere and my emotions rule me
~~~~~~
here we go
br with one of my bon wives
~~~~~~~
why are maas novels' covers so bland and unoriginal when she's so popular dgdhjdfkls
will sjm be able to say dick at least once here
idek if I'll read it but i might 🤔
March 24, 2019
3/5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. THIS BOOK FUCKING KILLED ME WITH BOREDOM. I swear to God, I'm dead now. My ghost is writing this review. I'm fucking dead because this book had no point in even existing. This book isn't even filler. It's nothing. I can't even describe it. This book was SUPPOSED to be the bridge between the old series and the new series. But like??? This book was just messy archiveofourown.org fanfiction. And not a good one. Not one I would give kudos to or write a comment under. One I wouldn't read at all. But now let's go to the summary of the book, which is also inadequate.
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.
See? Even the summary has nothing to prepare us for. As you all know, because I've been raving and raving about those books for a million years, this is the series which has reintroduced me to fantasy. This series holds a very special place in my heart and I have come to love Sarah J. Maas as an author, too. This book was unlike anything she has written. This book was clearly a money grab, fanservice sort of fanfiction book. Which added almost nothing to this series. Everything that happened in this book could be included in a 30 page snippet at the beginning of the fourth book of the series, and it would all be ok. But let's talk specifics.
The plot Let's talk about the non-existent PLOT. This book was: shopping with Feyre, shopping with Mor, cooking with Elain, hardcore negotiations with Rhys, Az and Cassian, some good ol' fucking with good ol' Feyre and Rhys, and then again shopping, and then again some fucking, and some tension featuring Nesta, ART with Feyre, brooding with Tamlin, sexual tension with Cassian and Nesta, and let's not forget the epic new single.... MATES, included in the new album by Feyre Archeron and Rhysand (who still doesn't have a surname) M.A.T.E.S. (masturbation anal testicles ejaculation sex) (wtf was that). Let's be real here. Every time I read this fucking word I want to off myself. This word is ruined for me. I can never hear a dudebro call another dudebro "mate" and not remember this. Let this word rest. Let this word die. Let this word become Frost and Starlight (see what I did there). JUST LET THIS WORD GO. WE KNOW THEY'RE MATES THEY'RE MATED FOR LIFE THEY'LL BE TOGETHER FOREVER AND FOREVER NAH NAH NAH. Ugh. If I had one euro (yes I'm changing it from "if I had a dollar" if I had a fucking dollar I couldn't use it for anything) for every time the word "mate" is in this book, I would go to vacation to Santorini. It's expensive guys. You have no fucking clue how much.
The POVs This book added multiple perspectives of characters, which I found pretty interesting, but also unnecessary because nothing happens in this book and we don't need to see that nothing explained from multiple people, but you know, it happens. It confused me, though. We mostly see Feyre's and Rhys's POVs, in first person, and then we see some more characters' POVs like Cassian and Mor but... in third person. Which is really unsettling and baffling. And those chapters are such heartwreching and heartbreaking moments from their past, and in this book, it feels our of place. A book about the Winter Solstice which is basically Christmas, shopping, gifts exchanging, happy times, scenes like these seem unnecessary. I couldn't take them seriously, and I wanted to. Also, it seems like we're gonna get the next series with third person narration. Which is fine by me, but what's the point?
The romance I'm not a big fan of established and domestic relationships. Feyre and Rhysand literally murdered me in ACOMAF. The sexual tension, the eye fucking, the actual fucking, the "things" before the actual fucking, they made my little shipper heart die with happiness. And then... they became so canon, it hurts my soul. They don't interest me anymore. It's all sex and fucking and "oh mate, my mate" and "oh how much I love you my Feyre" and sky sex which was disturbing and like??? People can see you dude! You can fucking winnow and fly, just get her on a bed, or a wall (lol) or a sink or whatever floats your boat. I believe these characters's circle is over now. I'm truly excited for them to have a child but I guess we'll see everything from another people's POVs now. It's time now for CASSIAN AND NESTA. Oh man, how much I ship this. I'm so fucking board for this. They are my new Feyre and Rhys. I want this to happen so badly, I want to scream. Nesta pissed me off a lot in this book, but I will handle her for this ship. And because Cassian obviously loves her and I love Cassian with my entire soul. Furthermore, I don't know what to do with Elain, in terms of shipping. Az and Elain are cute af but I kinda want to explore the whole Elain and Lucien factor. Elain pisses me off, but I love Az and Lucien and I want to see them happy.
Tamlin This book made Tamlin an unnecessary villain. It's like this book didn't have a plot or anything or someone to blame shit on so just blame it all on Tamlin. Don't get me wrong, I fucking hate his guts. I appreciated what he did in ACOWAR, he kinda redeemed himself, but I still don't like him. Nonetheless, there is no point in what's happening to him. Everyone is casting him out. He doesn't have any friends, his home is a graveyard, his people hate him. And you know, he isn't the worst. We've seen worst villains redeem themselves. He's just a controlling and manipulative asshole who can't control his temper. He didn't hurt Feyre or Rhys. I want to see what will happen to his character, but Sarah has villainized him too much.
The humor This book was funny af. Hence my rating. The Amren peeing scene, the sauna scene, the "Illyrian babies" scene, the painting Rhys nude scene, the Feyre and Cassian drunkly decorating scene, the gifts exchange scene. It was all hilarious and fluffy and happy and it's something I needed. I have come to love these characters so much and I feel their inner circle as my home. I was truly happy to see them domestic and healing their wounds after the war. But, nonetheless, there was not a book needed for this. All these scenes could have been included in the fourth book. But, you know, money is important.
Basically, this book was a character driven tease which gave us nothing! Honestly, we see things beginning and then we are given NOTHING. I want to know, I want to know everything. This book was diverse to anything Sarah has ever written. I was expecting this BOOM to happen but nothing. A big huge pile of shit and nothing. The book fourth snippet at the end was the most interesting part of this book. We kinda see what the next series is gonna be about. But still, not ENOUGH. Honestly, people, don't pay money for this book. It was too expensive for its size and importance. This is why I never read novellas and extra books to series. They mostly add nothing to the story. ANYWAY, till the next book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, which will be late af, K BYE!
“Stars flickered around us, sweet darkness sweeping in. As if we were the only souls in a galaxy.”
I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. THIS BOOK FUCKING KILLED ME WITH BOREDOM. I swear to God, I'm dead now. My ghost is writing this review. I'm fucking dead because this book had no point in even existing. This book isn't even filler. It's nothing. I can't even describe it. This book was SUPPOSED to be the bridge between the old series and the new series. But like??? This book was just messy archiveofourown.org fanfiction. And not a good one. Not one I would give kudos to or write a comment under. One I wouldn't read at all. But now let's go to the summary of the book, which is also inadequate.
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.
See? Even the summary has nothing to prepare us for. As you all know, because I've been raving and raving about those books for a million years, this is the series which has reintroduced me to fantasy. This series holds a very special place in my heart and I have come to love Sarah J. Maas as an author, too. This book was unlike anything she has written. This book was clearly a money grab, fanservice sort of fanfiction book. Which added almost nothing to this series. Everything that happened in this book could be included in a 30 page snippet at the beginning of the fourth book of the series, and it would all be ok. But let's talk specifics.
The plot Let's talk about the non-existent PLOT. This book was: shopping with Feyre, shopping with Mor, cooking with Elain, hardcore negotiations with Rhys, Az and Cassian, some good ol' fucking with good ol' Feyre and Rhys, and then again shopping, and then again some fucking, and some tension featuring Nesta, ART with Feyre, brooding with Tamlin, sexual tension with Cassian and Nesta, and let's not forget the epic new single.... MATES, included in the new album by Feyre Archeron and Rhysand (who still doesn't have a surname) M.A.T.E.S. (masturbation anal testicles ejaculation sex) (wtf was that). Let's be real here. Every time I read this fucking word I want to off myself. This word is ruined for me. I can never hear a dudebro call another dudebro "mate" and not remember this. Let this word rest. Let this word die. Let this word become Frost and Starlight (see what I did there). JUST LET THIS WORD GO. WE KNOW THEY'RE MATES THEY'RE MATED FOR LIFE THEY'LL BE TOGETHER FOREVER AND FOREVER NAH NAH NAH. Ugh. If I had one euro (yes I'm changing it from "if I had a dollar" if I had a fucking dollar I couldn't use it for anything) for every time the word "mate" is in this book, I would go to vacation to Santorini. It's expensive guys. You have no fucking clue how much.
The POVs This book added multiple perspectives of characters, which I found pretty interesting, but also unnecessary because nothing happens in this book and we don't need to see that nothing explained from multiple people, but you know, it happens. It confused me, though. We mostly see Feyre's and Rhys's POVs, in first person, and then we see some more characters' POVs like Cassian and Mor but... in third person. Which is really unsettling and baffling. And those chapters are such heartwreching and heartbreaking moments from their past, and in this book, it feels our of place. A book about the Winter Solstice which is basically Christmas, shopping, gifts exchanging, happy times, scenes like these seem unnecessary. I couldn't take them seriously, and I wanted to. Also, it seems like we're gonna get the next series with third person narration. Which is fine by me, but what's the point?
The romance I'm not a big fan of established and domestic relationships. Feyre and Rhysand literally murdered me in ACOMAF. The sexual tension, the eye fucking, the actual fucking, the "things" before the actual fucking, they made my little shipper heart die with happiness. And then... they became so canon, it hurts my soul. They don't interest me anymore. It's all sex and fucking and "oh mate, my mate" and "oh how much I love you my Feyre" and sky sex which was disturbing and like??? People can see you dude! You can fucking winnow and fly, just get her on a bed, or a wall (lol) or a sink or whatever floats your boat. I believe these characters's circle is over now. I'm truly excited for them to have a child but I guess we'll see everything from another people's POVs now. It's time now for CASSIAN AND NESTA. Oh man, how much I ship this. I'm so fucking board for this. They are my new Feyre and Rhys. I want this to happen so badly, I want to scream. Nesta pissed me off a lot in this book, but I will handle her for this ship. And because Cassian obviously loves her and I love Cassian with my entire soul. Furthermore, I don't know what to do with Elain, in terms of shipping. Az and Elain are cute af but I kinda want to explore the whole Elain and Lucien factor. Elain pisses me off, but I love Az and Lucien and I want to see them happy.
Tamlin This book made Tamlin an unnecessary villain. It's like this book didn't have a plot or anything or someone to blame shit on so just blame it all on Tamlin. Don't get me wrong, I fucking hate his guts. I appreciated what he did in ACOWAR, he kinda redeemed himself, but I still don't like him. Nonetheless, there is no point in what's happening to him. Everyone is casting him out. He doesn't have any friends, his home is a graveyard, his people hate him. And you know, he isn't the worst. We've seen worst villains redeem themselves. He's just a controlling and manipulative asshole who can't control his temper. He didn't hurt Feyre or Rhys. I want to see what will happen to his character, but Sarah has villainized him too much.
The humor This book was funny af. Hence my rating. The Amren peeing scene, the sauna scene, the "Illyrian babies" scene, the painting Rhys nude scene, the Feyre and Cassian drunkly decorating scene, the gifts exchange scene. It was all hilarious and fluffy and happy and it's something I needed. I have come to love these characters so much and I feel their inner circle as my home. I was truly happy to see them domestic and healing their wounds after the war. But, nonetheless, there was not a book needed for this. All these scenes could have been included in the fourth book. But, you know, money is important.
Basically, this book was a character driven tease which gave us nothing! Honestly, we see things beginning and then we are given NOTHING. I want to know, I want to know everything. This book was diverse to anything Sarah has ever written. I was expecting this BOOM to happen but nothing. A big huge pile of shit and nothing. The book fourth snippet at the end was the most interesting part of this book. We kinda see what the next series is gonna be about. But still, not ENOUGH. Honestly, people, don't pay money for this book. It was too expensive for its size and importance. This is why I never read novellas and extra books to series. They mostly add nothing to the story. ANYWAY, till the next book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, which will be late af, K BYE!
March 27, 2021
I think this is the only SJM book with an average rating under four (correct me if I'm mistaken), and I can sort of see why. This is the equivalent of a fluffy fanfic with no plot. Honestly, the plot of this series wasn't great in the first place, so ACOFAS is basically what happens when SJM makes the good decision to scrap the plot and just focus on the part I actually care about - the characters.
This novella is infamous for, uh...
My reviews are rated G, thank you very much.
Let's just say... stuff happened in the sky.
If you listen carefully, you can hear my wheezing.
But that's not the main problem I had with this, even though it was, well - a little strange.
I hate the treatment of Tamlin. I hate it so much.
In case you somehow have no idea what Tamlin did in ACOMAF, here's a summary.
He locked Feyre in the house and emotionally abused her. It was bad.
But Rhys was such a jerk about it when it was Feyre's responsibility to talk to him.
Rhys just assumed that what he said was what Feyre wanted. He was needlessly cruel to someone who was suffering from PTSD.
Tamlin's mental illness doesn't give him an excuse, obviously, but I'm still angry that Tamlin didn't get the help he needed. He was traumatized, scarred; but everyone focused on Feyre, leaving him to become the person he is now - broken, depressed, scared. Believing he is only worthy of hate.
Look at how jerky Rhys the Beast is being literally after Tamlin saved his life:
That makes me sad. That actually makes me physically upset. No one deserves that. No one. And it's not even Rhys's place to say this stuff to Tamlin:
WHOA.
CALM DOWN.
Look at how depressed poor Tammy is:
Let's be clear - I don't like Tamlin. He's a manipulative jerk. But he needs help. He clearly needs someone to take care of him like Rhys did for Feyre in ACOMAF. And he was not given that, so everyone hates him because of it.
This also ruined Lucien's life. Now he's not welcome anywhere. And he says it like it is:
I mean, he's not wrong.
My other big complaint with this novella is the random "feminist" stuff that's thrown in so awkwardly? We get it, males can cook and clean. It's not that revolutionary. It should have been incorporated better into the story, rather than stated outright.
Rhysand is such a Feminist King™
I appreciate what this is trying to do, but it's so cheesy that... I really can't, I'm sorry.
Wow, Cassian's a Feminist King™ too.
Added to the random tragic backstories that strangers confessed to Feyre at the oddest times, this novella felt rather weak.
Oh, yes, they were random all right.
Miss Girl, Feyre does not know you.
Oh, and here was an absolutely stunning analogy that just... shook me to the core.
This same random weaver person had a tapestry and she explained that the black thread was called the Void and that the white thread was called Hope. And then...
Wow, so the Hope thread symbolizes hope and the Void thread symbolizes emptiness!!!
Speaking of on-the-nose, Feyre has a weird relationship with money. As she reminds us, over and over and over again:
This would be okay if it were only said once. But no.
She says this so. many. times. Basically every time she buys something.
I didn't like how the side characters developed (besides Nesta, her trauma was just haunting). No one forgives Nesta for making Feyre hunt before Prythian, and yet everyone forgives Elain when she did the same thing. It doesn't make sense. There's no explanation.
What kind of explanation is that? "Elain is Elain." And? Are we supposed to forgive her instead of Nesta because she's so gentle and kind and sweet and blah blah blah? I don't think so.
My theory is that Elain is not actually nice. She only speaks maybe 2-5 times during this novella, and most of the time, she's speaking coldly. Everyone is surprised, but... This is just how she is. She takes advantage of her family and friends thinking she's weak and needs protecting. But she's actually just a colder person than Nesta.
Also, what is Feyre painting? No one knows. This entire novella is about her painting and I literally still don't know what she's painting.
How very descriptive.
But...
But what is it??
I still don't know.
Imagine knowing what Feyre is painting.
I'll leave you with that mystery to figure out. If anyone knows what Feyre's painting, tell me and I will thank you profusely.
1.5 stars; the word "mate" was used 71 times. this is not Australia, thank you
This novella is infamous for, uh...
My reviews are rated G, thank you very much.
Let's just say... stuff happened in the sky.
I had nearly sent us crashing into the rooftops like an Illyrian whelp.
If you listen carefully, you can hear my wheezing.
But that's not the main problem I had with this, even though it was, well - a little strange.
I hate the treatment of Tamlin. I hate it so much.
In case you somehow have no idea what Tamlin did in ACOMAF, here's a summary.
He locked Feyre in the house and emotionally abused her. It was bad.
But Rhys was such a jerk about it when it was Feyre's responsibility to talk to him.
Rhys just assumed that what he said was what Feyre wanted. He was needlessly cruel to someone who was suffering from PTSD.
Tamlin's mental illness doesn't give him an excuse, obviously, but I'm still angry that Tamlin didn't get the help he needed. He was traumatized, scarred; but everyone focused on Feyre, leaving him to become the person he is now - broken, depressed, scared. Believing he is only worthy of hate.
Look at how jerky Rhys the Beast is being literally after Tamlin saved his life:
No, Tamlin deserved what he'd brought upon himself, this husk of a life. He deserved every empty room, every snarl of thorns, every meal he had to hunt for himself.
That makes me sad. That actually makes me physically upset. No one deserves that. No one. And it's not even Rhys's place to say this stuff to Tamlin:
"You deserve everything that has befallen you. You deserve this pathetic, empty house, your ravaged lands. I don't care if you offered that kernel of life to save me, I don't care if you still love my mate. I don't care that you saved her from Hybern, or a thousand enemies before that. I hope you live the rest of your miserable life alone here."
WHOA.
CALM DOWN.
Look at how depressed poor Tammy is:
Tamlin didn't have shields around the house. None to prevent anyone from winnowing in, to guard against enemies appearing in his bedroom and slitting his throat.
It was almost as if he was waiting for someone to do it.
Let's be clear - I don't like Tamlin. He's a manipulative jerk. But he needs help. He clearly needs someone to take care of him like Rhys did for Feyre in ACOMAF. And he was not given that, so everyone hates him because of it.
This also ruined Lucien's life. Now he's not welcome anywhere. And he says it like it is:
"You can be as much of an asshole as that mate of yours, you know that?"
I mean, he's not wrong.
My other big complaint with this novella is the random "feminist" stuff that's thrown in so awkwardly? We get it, males can cook and clean. It's not that revolutionary. It should have been incorporated better into the story, rather than stated outright.
...cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, clothes-making... There was honor in such tasks - pride and good work to be found in them. But not when every single one of the females here was expected to do it... Traditions going back thousands of years, left mostly unchallenged.
Until us. Until now.
Rhysand is such a Feminist King™
I appreciate what this is trying to do, but it's so cheesy that... I really can't, I'm sorry.
"The boys can help decorate, clean, and cook. They've got two hands."
Wow, Cassian's a Feminist King™ too.
Added to the random tragic backstories that strangers confessed to Feyre at the oddest times, this novella felt rather weak.
Oh, yes, they were random all right.
"My husband didn't return from the war."
Miss Girl, Feyre does not know you.
Oh, and here was an absolutely stunning analogy that just... shook me to the core.
This same random weaver person had a tapestry and she explained that the black thread was called the Void and that the white thread was called Hope. And then...
"If I were to stop, if I were to let this loom or the spindle go silent... Then there would be no Hope shining in the Void."
Wow, so the Hope thread symbolizes hope and the Void thread symbolizes emptiness!!!
Speaking of on-the-nose, Feyre has a weird relationship with money. As she reminds us, over and over and over again:
The sums we allocated were sizable, more money than I'd ever dreamed of possessing.
This would be okay if it were only said once. But no.
It didn't feel real, those numbers and figures. Like it was children's play money. I only bought what I needed.
She says this so. many. times. Basically every time she buys something.
Decadent - it felt decadent, and selfish, to shop.
I didn't like how the side characters developed (besides Nesta, her trauma was just haunting). No one forgives Nesta for making Feyre hunt before Prythian, and yet everyone forgives Elain when she did the same thing. It doesn't make sense. There's no explanation.
"You still can barely talk to Nesta," I said. "Yet Elain you can talk to nicely."
"Elain is Elain."
"If you blame one, you have to blame the other."
"No, I don't. Elain is Elain."
What kind of explanation is that? "Elain is Elain." And? Are we supposed to forgive her instead of Nesta because she's so gentle and kind and sweet and blah blah blah? I don't think so.
My theory is that Elain is not actually nice. She only speaks maybe 2-5 times during this novella, and most of the time, she's speaking coldly. Everyone is surprised, but... This is just how she is. She takes advantage of her family and friends thinking she's weak and needs protecting. But she's actually just a colder person than Nesta.
Elain's voice was colder than usual.
I'd never heard Elain's voice so cold.
Also, what is Feyre painting? No one knows. This entire novella is about her painting and I literally still don't know what she's painting.
"What sort of things do you paint?"
"The things that need telling."
How very descriptive.
I painted and painted and painted.
I painted until my back cramped... I'd known what needed to come out of me the moment I perched on the rickety stool...
But it began to emerge. Began to take form.
I lowered my brush and stared at what I'd created.
Me.
Or how I'd been in the Ouroboros, that beast of scale and claw and darkness; rage and joy and cold. All of me. What lurked beneath my skin.
But...
But what is it??
I painted through the grief that lingered at the weaver's story, painted for her loss. I painted all that rose within me, letting the past bleed onto the canvas, a blessed relief with each stroke of my brush.
I still don't know.
I hadn't any idea what to get them, other than this. The [paintings] I'd worked on recently - glimpses of their stories. None of them explained what the paintings meant, what they beheld.
Imagine knowing what Feyre is painting.
For on that painting I'd shown him what I had not revealed to anyone. The creature inside myself, the creature full of hate and regret and love and sacrifice, the creature that could be cruel and brave, sorrowful and joyous.
I'll leave you with that mystery to figure out. If anyone knows what Feyre's painting, tell me and I will thank you profusely.
1.5 stars; the word "mate" was used 71 times. this is not Australia, thank you
May 29, 2023
the snowball fight?? The solstice gifts?? The birthday cake?? The drunk decorating?? Azriel smiling and laughing for so much of this book?? I couldn't ask for more 🥹
September 27, 2023
This is a great catch with the main heroes of the series. The last book was an all-out epic. This one, though a lot shorter, is still filed with SJM’s great storytelling and character development.
So far, I have seen all these characters in the worst possible situations and facing incredible odds. Making great sacrifices and the legendary lengths they would go through to achieve their goals and protect those they love. Now, when they have “won”, the work of rebuilding, forgiveness, and moving on from the losses suffered.
Yes there is no where near as much action in this book, and the characters are not moved along as much as I would have wanted but the are definitely important issues uncovered her that need to be explored later. This is more of “wet the appetite” for the next huge chapter, but almost as importantly a much need to assess where the characters are right now in themselves and to each other.
Though Feyre and Rhysand embrace their fate together. Others rebel against a fate they have not chosen with their very souls. These are the first steps in building a new world. A great point to catch up with everyone as they set their path for the future, to forget their past, or simply (stubbornly) deny fates chosen path.
So far, I have seen all these characters in the worst possible situations and facing incredible odds. Making great sacrifices and the legendary lengths they would go through to achieve their goals and protect those they love. Now, when they have “won”, the work of rebuilding, forgiveness, and moving on from the losses suffered.
Yes there is no where near as much action in this book, and the characters are not moved along as much as I would have wanted but the are definitely important issues uncovered her that need to be explored later. This is more of “wet the appetite” for the next huge chapter, but almost as importantly a much need to assess where the characters are right now in themselves and to each other.
Though Feyre and Rhysand embrace their fate together. Others rebel against a fate they have not chosen with their very souls. These are the first steps in building a new world. A great point to catch up with everyone as they set their path for the future, to forget their past, or simply (stubbornly) deny fates chosen path.
December 13, 2022
First, technically speaking, why was this book necessary? What was the plot? Was there even a plot? SJM said this novella is a bridge between Feysand’s story and the next story in this world, but what exactly did it bridge? All I got from this book is anger and a gag reflex.
If you’ve seen my ratings, updates, or followed me at all on here, you know I was obsessed with ACOMAF. It was all I talked about for about a year, from the moment I read it.
I basically hated the other two books, but I loved the second one, and got so attached to feysand.
But, good god, it is just not possible that the person who wrote ACOMAF is the same one who wrote ACOWAR&ACOFAS. (Yes I’m hinting at a conspiracy theory).
Like, ACOWAR was bad, but I still had some attachments to Feysand, even though Rhys was kind of a douche even then.
But this? This was bad. let me just say this book is not a fantasy book. It’s a contemporary set in a different world. no fantastic elements other than flying (and even that was only mentioned for the purpose of a sex scene) were present in this book. Feyre didn’t use her powers even once. You’d think she’d use this time to practice and perfect her abilities, but no. She might as well be human.
But what annoyed me most about this book (and ACOWAR too tbh) is the complete regression of the characters. Feyre went back to roaming around the house doing nothing all day, Mor is still hiding herself for no apparent reason— homophobia is not even a thing in this world and even if it were we all know the Inner Circle would accept her no matter what, so what’s the point?, Nesta went back to her old self (though I kind of get that), Amren lost all her strength and fierceness and just sits around doing jigsaw puzzles, and Rhys, oh god, Rhys. HOW IN THE WORLD is this sleazy, sex crazed douchebag supposed to be the same loving, caring, supportive Rhysand from ACOMAF? He couldn’t go two sentences without making some unnecessary innuendos, talking about how good Feyre feels, how he can’t stand being around her without fucking her or how he dicked her in the sky while flying (???). His entire first chapter in this was him sulking and whining because he doesn’t get to fuck Feyre daily.
*insert the world’s smallest violin*
But putting that aside, let’s talk about how “”feminist”” he is.
(I just wanna note that I know I still loved Rhys (less, but still loved him) after ACOWAR even though all those issues were present there too. It was just a little more subtle and I was still on that Feysand rush since I’d read ACOMAF only a month before. Now enough time has passed and ACOFAS has really solidified Rhys’ problematic behavior in my mind and I can see it for what it truly is.)
In ACOMAF, he said [about Feyre] ”My equal in every way; she would wear my crown, sit on a throne beside mine. Never sidelined, never designated to breeding and parties and child-rearing. My queen.” (page 621).
And what do you know, in ACOFAS she is constantly sidelined, and trying for a child.
In fact, the beginning of this book really parallels the beginning of ACOMAF. I mean, yeah, Feyre’s in a better mental state for sure, but she still sits around the house being bored, or painting, or designing a house, while Rhysand is out there dealing with all the politics. Direct quotes from the book-
”perhaps I’d use the day to organize things. Find room for everything.“
“High Lady of the Night Court, Defender of the Rainbow and the … Desk.”
[Rhys walks in while Feyre’s in bed] “Right where I left you”... “Isn’t it all I’m good for?”
Like, are you fucking kidding me? Yeah, you crowned her High Lady, but the reality is that you never involve her in anything big. You just have her clean and do some paperwork. She’s a housewife. That’s soooo feminist of you! High Lord of the Feminist Court!
Basically, Sarah J Maas made Rhys such a supporter of women in ACOMAF to make the difference between Tamlin and him even clearer, and once we all switched to Rhys’ side she figured she could just drop the act. Well, I got some news for you Sarah. It doesn’t work that way. Your readers aren’t dumb.
And also, can we talk about the whole period thing? It was really cool to see such an open discussion about it in a book (no sarcasm this time) but... the idea that it makes women completely incompetent? Not so much. And that cheesy scene of him stroking her hair while she’s in pain? I almost puked.
Oh and for god’s sake don’t get me started on the sisters!!!
First of all- Leave! Nesta! Alone!
She’s been traumatized, and she doesn’t wanna be around the Inner Circle because it’s a constant reminder of what she’d gone through. Feyre of all people should know what that feels like. But no, she keeps pressuring her and practically blackmailing her so she would come.
And Cassian chasing her down her street even though she asked him to leave her alone multiple times.
These people can’t respect a woman’s simple request for privacy. but hey, they have a High Lady! Yay Feminism!
And I am just disgusted by how Elain is treated in this book. She is constantly pressured by Feyre to give Lucien a chance even though she repeatedly and explicitly says she’s not interested. But Feyre doesn’t let up because he’s a “good male”. Again, Feyre is such a feminist Icon!
Not to mention how much Elain is belittled and ridiculed in this. She may be naive, but she’s not dumb! she’s not a child! They all (excluding Azriel, the only pure soul in this mess) keep treating and speaking to her like she’s a four year old!!!
I have more thoughts but I’m so angry that I can’t even make them into a coherent sentence and this is getting too long anyway, so the bottom line is, I only care about Azriel now, but even if there’s a book about him, count me out because I’m done. I’m just done with Sarah J. Maas books.
If you’ve seen my ratings, updates, or followed me at all on here, you know I was obsessed with ACOMAF. It was all I talked about for about a year, from the moment I read it.
I basically hated the other two books, but I loved the second one, and got so attached to feysand.
But, good god, it is just not possible that the person who wrote ACOMAF is the same one who wrote ACOWAR&ACOFAS. (Yes I’m hinting at a conspiracy theory).
Like, ACOWAR was bad, but I still had some attachments to Feysand, even though Rhys was kind of a douche even then.
But this? This was bad. let me just say this book is not a fantasy book. It’s a contemporary set in a different world. no fantastic elements other than flying (and even that was only mentioned for the purpose of a sex scene) were present in this book. Feyre didn’t use her powers even once. You’d think she’d use this time to practice and perfect her abilities, but no. She might as well be human.
But what annoyed me most about this book (and ACOWAR too tbh) is the complete regression of the characters. Feyre went back to roaming around the house doing nothing all day, Mor is still hiding herself for no apparent reason— homophobia is not even a thing in this world and even if it were we all know the Inner Circle would accept her no matter what, so what’s the point?, Nesta went back to her old self (though I kind of get that), Amren lost all her strength and fierceness and just sits around doing jigsaw puzzles, and Rhys, oh god, Rhys. HOW IN THE WORLD is this sleazy, sex crazed douchebag supposed to be the same loving, caring, supportive Rhysand from ACOMAF? He couldn’t go two sentences without making some unnecessary innuendos, talking about how good Feyre feels, how he can’t stand being around her without fucking her or how he dicked her in the sky while flying (???). His entire first chapter in this was him sulking and whining because he doesn’t get to fuck Feyre daily.
*insert the world’s smallest violin*
But putting that aside, let’s talk about how “”feminist”” he is.
(I just wanna note that I know I still loved Rhys (less, but still loved him) after ACOWAR even though all those issues were present there too. It was just a little more subtle and I was still on that Feysand rush since I’d read ACOMAF only a month before. Now enough time has passed and ACOFAS has really solidified Rhys’ problematic behavior in my mind and I can see it for what it truly is.)
In ACOMAF, he said [about Feyre] ”My equal in every way; she would wear my crown, sit on a throne beside mine. Never sidelined, never designated to breeding and parties and child-rearing. My queen.” (page 621).
And what do you know, in ACOFAS she is constantly sidelined, and trying for a child.
In fact, the beginning of this book really parallels the beginning of ACOMAF. I mean, yeah, Feyre’s in a better mental state for sure, but she still sits around the house being bored, or painting, or designing a house, while Rhysand is out there dealing with all the politics. Direct quotes from the book-
”perhaps I’d use the day to organize things. Find room for everything.“
“High Lady of the Night Court, Defender of the Rainbow and the … Desk.”
[Rhys walks in while Feyre’s in bed] “Right where I left you”... “Isn’t it all I’m good for?”
Like, are you fucking kidding me? Yeah, you crowned her High Lady, but the reality is that you never involve her in anything big. You just have her clean and do some paperwork. She’s a housewife. That’s soooo feminist of you! High Lord of the Feminist Court!
Basically, Sarah J Maas made Rhys such a supporter of women in ACOMAF to make the difference between Tamlin and him even clearer, and once we all switched to Rhys’ side she figured she could just drop the act. Well, I got some news for you Sarah. It doesn’t work that way. Your readers aren’t dumb.
And also, can we talk about the whole period thing? It was really cool to see such an open discussion about it in a book (no sarcasm this time) but... the idea that it makes women completely incompetent? Not so much. And that cheesy scene of him stroking her hair while she’s in pain? I almost puked.
Oh and for god’s sake don’t get me started on the sisters!!!
First of all- Leave! Nesta! Alone!
She’s been traumatized, and she doesn’t wanna be around the Inner Circle because it’s a constant reminder of what she’d gone through. Feyre of all people should know what that feels like. But no, she keeps pressuring her and practically blackmailing her so she would come.
And Cassian chasing her down her street even though she asked him to leave her alone multiple times.
These people can’t respect a woman’s simple request for privacy. but hey, they have a High Lady! Yay Feminism!
And I am just disgusted by how Elain is treated in this book. She is constantly pressured by Feyre to give Lucien a chance even though she repeatedly and explicitly says she’s not interested. But Feyre doesn’t let up because he’s a “good male”. Again, Feyre is such a feminist Icon!
Not to mention how much Elain is belittled and ridiculed in this. She may be naive, but she’s not dumb! she’s not a child! They all (excluding Azriel, the only pure soul in this mess) keep treating and speaking to her like she’s a four year old!!!
I have more thoughts but I’m so angry that I can’t even make them into a coherent sentence and this is getting too long anyway, so the bottom line is, I only care about Azriel now, but even if there’s a book about him, count me out because I’m done. I’m just done with Sarah J. Maas books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2018
3.5 Stars
So...I'm not in a reviewing mood at ALL; but I figured I better lay something down here before I completely forget any thoughts I have about this book and my experience reading it.
I had a hard time rating this.
Because, well, it just didn't blow my mind.
That said.
While I didn't love it...
While I didn't really, really, really like it per se...
I did appreciate it.
And here's why.
Prior to receiving my copy in the mail and, obviously, reading the book, I received Maas' subscriber newsletter email. In it she had the usual "woo hoo, it's release day" fodder they all send out, but it also contained - what I would later discover upon finishing the book - was exactly what was depicted in the "Acknowledgements" section.
In it, she talked about the process of writing this book and how hard it was because, in the midst of it, her father had a major health scare and almost died. Still, despite this trying time - she also found out she was pregnant - and, despite not really always "feelin' it," Maas trudged through the writing process because DEADLINE.
As someone who loves to write and also lost a parent in the past, I just really empathized with the creative struggle Maas probably had here.
Now, am I saying that an author's personal life issues should be taken into account when rating/reviewing or considering your own enjoyment of a book?
Hell no.
Of course not.
Absolutely not.
I'm just saying that, FOR ME, reading about that just changed the mindset I started the book with.
I went in knowing that, by her own admission, Maas struggled writing it.
So I guess you could say that 1) lowered my expectations bar, and 2) made me read the book knowing Maas had been experiencing personal pain while writing it.
And I think that emotion was definitely captured in the story.
This book will NOT blow your mind.
It does NOT really move the plot forward.
But what it did do, in my opinion, was move the CHARACTERS forward.
It really drilled down into a lot of their inner thoughts and longstanding issues and baggage and - as someone who loves character driven stories - I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.
Also, I mentioned this in a status update while reading, but for some reason, I am REALLY intrigued by Nesta's character.
She was totally selfish in book one and has continued to be heinously bitchy throughout the series, but there is just something about her strength, stubbornness, and just plain fucking resolve that I love. For whatever reason, I am just sometimes drawn to complex, fucked up, misunderstood female characters that everyone else hates. And I can't WAIT for the next book.
In fact, I think the character development done in this book is going to act as a veritable buttress to the next books in the series and make them even better for its existence, as meh as it might have been plot/action-wise.
So yeah, I guess I had more to say than I thought. LOL Oh well.
Toodles!
P.S. I thought I'd share the cool exclusive edition ends papers for anyone who hasn't seen them...
So...I'm not in a reviewing mood at ALL; but I figured I better lay something down here before I completely forget any thoughts I have about this book and my experience reading it.
I had a hard time rating this.
Because, well, it just didn't blow my mind.
That said.
While I didn't love it...
While I didn't really, really, really like it per se...
I did appreciate it.
And here's why.
Prior to receiving my copy in the mail and, obviously, reading the book, I received Maas' subscriber newsletter email. In it she had the usual "woo hoo, it's release day" fodder they all send out, but it also contained - what I would later discover upon finishing the book - was exactly what was depicted in the "Acknowledgements" section.
In it, she talked about the process of writing this book and how hard it was because, in the midst of it, her father had a major health scare and almost died. Still, despite this trying time - she also found out she was pregnant - and, despite not really always "feelin' it," Maas trudged through the writing process because DEADLINE.
As someone who loves to write and also lost a parent in the past, I just really empathized with the creative struggle Maas probably had here.
Now, am I saying that an author's personal life issues should be taken into account when rating/reviewing or considering your own enjoyment of a book?
Hell no.
Of course not.
Absolutely not.
I'm just saying that, FOR ME, reading about that just changed the mindset I started the book with.
I went in knowing that, by her own admission, Maas struggled writing it.
So I guess you could say that 1) lowered my expectations bar, and 2) made me read the book knowing Maas had been experiencing personal pain while writing it.
And I think that emotion was definitely captured in the story.
This book will NOT blow your mind.
It does NOT really move the plot forward.
But what it did do, in my opinion, was move the CHARACTERS forward.
It really drilled down into a lot of their inner thoughts and longstanding issues and baggage and - as someone who loves character driven stories - I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.
Also, I mentioned this in a status update while reading, but for some reason, I am REALLY intrigued by Nesta's character.
She was totally selfish in book one and has continued to be heinously bitchy throughout the series, but there is just something about her strength, stubbornness, and just plain fucking resolve that I love. For whatever reason, I am just sometimes drawn to complex, fucked up, misunderstood female characters that everyone else hates. And I can't WAIT for the next book.
In fact, I think the character development done in this book is going to act as a veritable buttress to the next books in the series and make them even better for its existence, as meh as it might have been plot/action-wise.
So yeah, I guess I had more to say than I thought. LOL Oh well.
Toodles!
P.S. I thought I'd share the cool exclusive edition ends papers for anyone who hasn't seen them...
December 26, 2021
edit 2/21: still a waste of time but felt like i needed a refresh before ACOSF... prolly didn’t need to bother but it wasn’t that awful
-------------------------------------
and to think, i was so excited for this one
dnf @ like page 50. this just wasn't good & when i saw the second novella was announced my eyes rolled back in my head so far i saw fucking stars. i'll give you some unneeded backstory since i don't have much to say about content:
i started this series before i started reviewing on goodreads. i devoured the first 2 books back to back in college and was pretty in love. at the time, i hadn't been reading hardly anything because college but after reading the first 2 i got back into reading and back into fantasy. so i will always be grateful for that, but i also think that colored my judgment of the series.
when you've never had chocolate before, a hersheys bar tastes pretty fcking good. and when you haven't read fantasy in a while, SJM books seem pretty good
these books really aren't that bad but they aren't really that good either. and SJM's bloated continuation of series is kind of getting on my last nerve. no one wanted 2 novellas. no one really wanted this series to continue beyond the first 3 books. sure we love the gang but could you just start a new series? your pregnancy shouldn't be an excuse for a shitty novella.
i'm rambling. whatever. i'm selling this book.
-------------------------------------
and to think, i was so excited for this one
dnf @ like page 50. this just wasn't good & when i saw the second novella was announced my eyes rolled back in my head so far i saw fucking stars. i'll give you some unneeded backstory since i don't have much to say about content:
i started this series before i started reviewing on goodreads. i devoured the first 2 books back to back in college and was pretty in love. at the time, i hadn't been reading hardly anything because college but after reading the first 2 i got back into reading and back into fantasy. so i will always be grateful for that, but i also think that colored my judgment of the series.
when you've never had chocolate before, a hersheys bar tastes pretty fcking good. and when you haven't read fantasy in a while, SJM books seem pretty good
these books really aren't that bad but they aren't really that good either. and SJM's bloated continuation of series is kind of getting on my last nerve. no one wanted 2 novellas. no one really wanted this series to continue beyond the first 3 books. sure we love the gang but could you just start a new series? your pregnancy shouldn't be an excuse for a shitty novella.
i'm rambling. whatever. i'm selling this book.
May 2, 2018
Real Rating: 2.5
This book made me realize that I am more interested in the characters that are not in the inner circle like Lucien, Tamlin, Viviane, Kallias and even Eris (I’m really intrigued by him). Anytime those people were mentioned, my interest in the book rose. Unfortunately, since they are indeed not part of the inner circle, their presence in this was either non-existent or minuscule.
This book was said to bridge the gap between what happened in previous books and the next ones. I somewhat agree that there is a sense of direction as to what the next book is going to be about but most of what happened in this had no bearing on that. Honestly, I believe this novella wasn’t necessary and SJM should have written a full book. This book had so many unnecessary fillers.
What to expect
- Feyre shopping
- Feyre and Rhysand having dirty thoughts about themselves all the time/doing dirty things to themselves. The sex scenes/thoughts in this series used to give me anxiety because I did not want to read about that but in this, it was just annoying and old
- Feyre painting
- Feyre being sad that she was rich
- Rhysand being ‘perfect’
- To mix things up: Illyrian drama, Tamlin being sad, Nesta being annoying.
Things I liked
- My kind, loyal Lucien: I loved reading about him (mostly from other people talking about him) and I loved his brief appearance.
- I liked reading about Tamlin even though it was mostly depressing. I have a feeling his situation is going to change soon.
- I think among the inner circle, Azriel is my favourite and I loved reading about him. I’m curious about his shadows.
- I like Eris… I don’t know why, I tried not to but I can’t help it. I think there is more to him than meets the eye.
- I liked Feyre when she was not with/thinking about Rhysand. She’s actually a really nice and caring person.
Overall, if you’re a Feysand fan, you’ll probably really like this but I’m not so it was eh.
This book wasn't worth my excitement and not just because Lucien was there for like 2 pages
P.S are we ever going to know how rhysand became the most powerful high lord in history? or at least how that was proven
Pre-reading
This comes in exactly 2 weeks. I get to read about Lucien in 2 weeks (HOPEFULLY) 😭😭😭😭💕💕💕❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This book made me realize that I am more interested in the characters that are not in the inner circle like Lucien, Tamlin, Viviane, Kallias and even Eris (I’m really intrigued by him). Anytime those people were mentioned, my interest in the book rose. Unfortunately, since they are indeed not part of the inner circle, their presence in this was either non-existent or minuscule.
This book was said to bridge the gap between what happened in previous books and the next ones. I somewhat agree that there is a sense of direction as to what the next book is going to be about but most of what happened in this had no bearing on that. Honestly, I believe this novella wasn’t necessary and SJM should have written a full book. This book had so many unnecessary fillers.
What to expect
- Feyre shopping
- Feyre and Rhysand having dirty thoughts about themselves all the time/doing dirty things to themselves. The sex scenes/thoughts in this series used to give me anxiety because I did not want to read about that but in this, it was just annoying and old
- Feyre painting
- Feyre being sad that she was rich
- Rhysand being ‘perfect’
- To mix things up: Illyrian drama, Tamlin being sad, Nesta being annoying.
Things I liked
- My kind, loyal Lucien: I loved reading about him (mostly from other people talking about him) and I loved his brief appearance.
- I liked reading about Tamlin even though it was mostly depressing. I have a feeling his situation is going to change soon.
- I think among the inner circle, Azriel is my favourite and I loved reading about him. I’m curious about his shadows.
- I like Eris… I don’t know why, I tried not to but I can’t help it. I think there is more to him than meets the eye.
- I liked Feyre when she was not with/thinking about Rhysand. She’s actually a really nice and caring person.
Overall, if you’re a Feysand fan, you’ll probably really like this but I’m not so it was eh.
This book wasn't worth my excitement and not just because Lucien was there for like 2 pages
P.S are we ever going to know how rhysand became the most powerful high lord in history? or at least how that was proven
Pre-reading
This comes in exactly 2 weeks. I get to read about Lucien in 2 weeks (HOPEFULLY) 😭😭😭😭💕💕💕❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
March 13, 2020
❄ DASHING THROUGH PRYTHIAN ❄
❄ ON TAMLIN'S FUCKING FACE ❄
❄ OVER THE HILLS THEY GO ❄
❄ FUCKING ALL THE WAY ❄ no kidding
❄ FEYRE'S BOUT TO STRIP ❄
❄ MAKING HYBERN SHINE ❄
❄ OH WHAT FUN IS TO WEEP AND CRINGE ❄
❄ AT SARAH'S CHEEZY LINES ❄
❄ JINGLE BELLS ❄
❄ CAULDRON YELLS: "OH BOY, THIS WAS LAME" ❄
❄CHRISTMASSOLSTICE SHOPPING ❄
❄ & FEYSAND SMUTTING ❄
❄BUT NESTA SAVES THE DAY!!! ❄
January 9, 2024
Nothing happened in this I love it though
May 8, 2018
THERE WERENT ENOUGH PAGES. IT DIDNT LAST LONG ENOUGH. I HATE MY LIFE. BUT IM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT BOOK
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