An ACOTAR Christmas Special

Title: A Court of Frost and Starlight

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1

Published May 1st 2018 by Bloomsbury YA

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance, Novella

Pages: 229

Hope warms the coldest night.

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 a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.

Narrated by Feyre and Rhysand, this wondrous tale of hope and promise picks up after A Court of Wings and Ruin and sets the stage for the thrilling events in the future books.” -Goodreads

My Review:

So did anyone else reading this read it as a Christmas special?

This book basically picks up after the third book. And it was basically a Christmas special but in book form.

In the novella of the Throne of Glass series, Maas wrote back stories for Aelin and Celeana. This novella was a Christmas special. I guess you could say I was just quite a bit surprised. It was a different change. I guess I do not know what I expected.

It was a cute little story though. I have been on a romance kick, if you have been seeing my Goodreads shelves updating or reading my reviews. So this is just one of many romance books I will be reviewing. I finished it in one day. It was a cute little book to read and to get me back in the physical book reading mood (before this I did a lot of Kindle and audiobook reading).

It started to introduce the new little love triangle between Elain and Azriel. I know the Gwen is not introduced in this book, but this is the start of Az and Elain’s little romance. I am not sure how I feel about it just yet. I know that a lot of BookTok and BookTwit don’t like them. I am really not sure how I feel. I do really like the fanart for Gwen and Azriel I have seen though. I have yet to purchase ACOSF, so the wait for my opinions on the remaining canon plot is yet to be had.

Feyre and Rhysand seem to be recovering after the War. Obviously they are not healed but they do seem to help work through that. So far, Rhysand has helped her through so much. You can see Feyre’s healing in the end of this. She is returning to herself pre-Under the Mountain. This series is really cool because you can see how far she has come from the beginning of the series.

One thing that bothers me a bit about this series is how Feyre is seemingly becoming a housewife. I understand that, yes, in this book there is not fight to be had and she does have to rule her Court. I feel as though she does sit out of a lot of fights. She is less of a bad*ss (not offense).

This is a contrast to Aelin in Throne of Glass. It is hard for me to love Feyre and this series as much as I loved Throne of Glass. I loved Throne of Glass because it shattered those gender stereotypes for me. The MC could still be an assassin, ruthless in everyway, and still love to wear fancy clothes and get dressed up. I thought it was an important lesson. Also, Throne of Glass emphasizes that Aelin can save herself most of the time. ACOTAR seems like she needed a man to save her in every bad living situation.

I hate to bash on it, but it is true.

I did enjoy getting to see the other character’s POVs. I hope to see more of them in other books. (Again, still haven’t read ACOSF so I don’t know if it has them or not.) I liked Cassian’s POVs the best probably. I think he is my favorite side character so far. He just is such a fun and loyal guy.

Nesta in this book made me mad. But I understand why she acts the way she acts, mostly. She is traumatized and in pain. I feel like her being with her sister, at least Elain for the solstice would help her. But hey, I am not a licensed therapist so I have no real authority over others emotions.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I can not wait to read the other books. I chuckled all day over this book because it felt like a Christmas special. Out of everything, I have never read a Christmas special to a book series before. Is this a real thing?

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.8

Thorns and Roses and Sex

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1

Published May 5th 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Paperback

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance

Pages: 419

“Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.” -Goodreads

My Review:

I love Maas. I always have and always will.

Her books are just so amazing. I wish just once I could write a bad review about her. Just once so no one would think I am prejudice about her books.  

This book was no exception.

It took me forever to get around to reading this book. I wanted to finish all of Throne of Glass before I came to this. My mother kept begging me to read it. I just did not want the conflicting story lines confusing me.

But here I am now in the Fae world of Feyre and Tamlin.

The story starts of really well and ends really well. I could tell Maas was trying to hide a lot but I do not think she did it as well as she did back in the Throne of Glass books. She always had someone tell Feyre “oh there is more but I cannot tell you” which was a little annoying. But other than that I thought the story line was pretty good and unique to the story. I think it was hard to imagine that Feyre just decided to walk off with a faire beast in the beginning. I feel like in Tamlin’s human form it would have been fine, but not full beast.

Other things were kind of quirky that I thought could use some work, but Maas is a genius so I dont want to wrec her too much. The courts on the map are split by straight lines. Her dedication to Josh at the beginning says something like “because he would go Under the Mountain for me,” but going Under the Mountain was not like a test of love (except in Feyre and Tamlin’s case), it was just like a prison type deal.

Other than those things I loved it. I think it had the right amount of action/suspense. I read this within a few days. I literally could not put it down. I talked my co-workers ears off about it. It was so good!

I think I like Feyre. I think she was a really interesting character to begin with. I love that Maas creates these amazingly strong female characters. I did not feel like she had to much of a personality. Aelin in Throne of Glass was really thought out and was her own person. Feyre feels like she is floating through life. Yes, she is strong and independent, but she does not seem to have a set say she thinks or feels. I feel as though she goes a long with things to easily. She does not make up her mind a lot (which I can relate to) and follows Tamlin’s words really well. There were moments where she appeared to be following her own heart like when she disobeys some orders. Other than that, she seems to do what everyone else says. I wonder if Maas was trying to make her as least like Aelin as she could.

Tamlin seems really nice. Now, I have been spoiled and I know he is not the real love interest of the story, but I like him so far. I dont know what he does wrong and I dont know how Rhysand gets involved yet (even though he is mega delicious). I almost wish I read this sooner because BookTok hates Tamlin for some reason and I knew that. I probably would have liked to figure out that we hate Tamlin while reading so I did not have this lingering feeling of not getting attached.

And then there is Rhysand. Let me just say, I think I have a type. Assholes with dark brown hair are my new bread and butter. We do not know a lot about him in this book but he strikes that deal with Feyre so I am excited to see where that takes them. I think he really turned out to be a nice guy. I honestly think he was a nice guy overall but I do not think that his purpose was explained as well as it could have been, but maybe that is to come later.

One last thing, the riddle was such an obvious answer Feyre was dumb for not knowing it right of the bat. Anyways….

I think I really like this book series so far. I love Maas. There are a few tiny elements I would love to improve, but Maas knows everything so I do not want to correct a master. I know I keep doing a lot of short reviews but a lot of these books are older and I assume that most have read them. I just like to put my two cents in.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4

Hmm…What will I be Reading?

For those that dont know, WWW is a meme and this meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of WordsAnd it involves answering the 3 Ws!

I have gladly finished some books and am now reading new ones so here you go!

What am I currently reading?

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Legendary by Stephanie Garber

What did I recently finish?

I have reviews for these coming out tomorrow and Friday respectively.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

What am I reading next?

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Late Christmas Book Haul pt. 1

Okay guys,

The post I have been waiting for…

My Christmas Book Haul!!

(Disclaimer: This is one of 2 because I got about $100 in gift cards for bookstores this Christmas so I am ordering new ones as I post this.)

  • Kingdom of Ash by Sara J. Maas

Aelin Galathynius has vowed to save her people ― but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. The knowledge that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, but her resolve is unraveling with each passing day…. –Goodreads

  • A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans….-Goodreads

  • A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

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….-Goodreads

  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found….-Goodreads

  • The Ickabog by J.K Rowling

Once upon a time there was a tiny kingdom called Cornucopia, as rich in happiness as it was in gold, and famous for its food. From the delicate cream cheeses of Kurdsburg to the Hopes-of-Heaven pastries of Chouxville, each was so delicious that people wept with joy as they ate them….-Goodreads

  • Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward’s version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun….-Goodreads

I got some others but I left them back at my parents house when I came back home for college so I cant remember everything I got. I got some more special edition Harry Potter books but I do not want to list the wrong editions of them.

I want to thank my parents, my grandparents, and my secret santa for getting me all of these wonderful books. I am so excited to read them.

Look out for my part 2 when I order my other books.

As always, thank you for reading,

A Bookie