Book Review: “A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas
Håfa adai! Welcome to my spoiler-free review of A Court of Frost and Starlight, a novella within the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.
This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.
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Spoiler-Free Plot Summary
Decades of war and occupation have greatly altered the Fae Courts of Prythian. Feyre, Rhysand, and the citizens of the Night Court must rebuild their homes and lives in the aftermath of their liberation. In the midst of reconstruction approaches a long anticipated cultural celebration: Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year and most important event for the Night Court. As the festivities of Winter Solstice, lay in the future, the shadows of the past continue to grow larger. Feyre and the ones she loves must call on their love and devotion for each other in order to face the devastation of their past and build a hopeful future.
My Thoughts on A Court of Frost and Starlight: 3.25 stars
A Court of Frost and Starlight is a novella within the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series—numbered as either book 4 or book 3.5, depending on who you ask—by Sarah J. Maas. This addition to the ACOTAR series has left me with mixed feelings about Sarah J. Maas’ writing style. On the one hand, she continues to produce beautifully built words for her readers to get lost in as well as incredibly complex characters to follow on a complicated journey. On the other hand, A Court of Frost and Starlight repeats the formula of the first three books in the series to the point of predictability. But before I expand further on what I did not like about A Court of Frost and Starlight, I want to talk about the things I did like about this book.
There is no impression of “you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” with Sarah J. Maas’ style of worldbuilding. In A Court of Frost and Starlight, Sarah J. Maas takes her readers to multiple new locations throughout Prythian, land of the seven Courts of the Faerie realms. Each place has its own unique aesthetic and way of doing things, and no character is a copy/paste of any other. The nuances and difficulties of navigating new situations in these new places comes to the surface as the main cast of characters moves through these spaces. As they do so, old bonds are reinforced and strengthened and new bonds are formed.
An aspect of Sarah J. Maas’ writing that I will always appreciate is her ability to look right at difficult topics like trauma. A major theme throughout the ACOTAR series is trauma, particularly the difficulties that arise when one does not address the trauma they carry. A Court of Frost and Starlight pays particular attention to how Nesta and Elain, Feyre’s older sisters, adjust to their new lives as Fae after being turned into immortal beings through a traumatic (and nonconsensual) event. Each sister handles their new reality differently. It is clear that Sarah J. Maas put intentional care and respect into how differently these two individuals sisters cope with things.
While there are trauma themes throughout the ACOTAR series that can be seen as allegories for rape—like the event that happens to Nesta and Elain without their consent—there are no direct depictions of sexual assault. This is another aspect of this series that I appreciate. On that note, scenes of sex and intimacy in A Court of Frost and Starlight are explicit and graphic. Of the things Sarah J. Maas leaves to the imagination, sex is not one of them. This story would be more appropriate to readers above a certain age group and for those who are more comfortable with such scenes.
In spite of the things I continue to appreciate about Sarah J. Maas’ work, there were two things that made me not particularly appreciate A Court of Frost and Starlight. The first thing relates to the mating bond and how Fae refer to each other. I have gone into detail about the mating bond in the book reviews for A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin, so I will touch on a different aspect of it here. Adult Fae do not refer to each other by their socialized genders; instead, they refer to each other by their biological sex. So a character would refer to other Fae adults as males/females, not as men/women/other gender(s). This just adds to the already intense vibe of beastiality surrounding the mating bond. It grosses me out!
The second thing I did not appreciate about A Court of Frost and Starlight is that Sarah J. Maas’ means of storytelling—by this point in the ACOTAR series—is now formulaic to the point of being predictable. From the earliest chapters of this novella, I could tell exactly where the story would go and it went exactly where I thought it would. This is something that causes me to have mixed feelings about this series. I deeply appreciate Sarah J. Maas’ choices to approach the topics she approaches, her character development is complex, and her world building is phenomenal. But I do not really care for her choice to be monotonously repetitive.
My overall rating for A Court of Frost and Starlight is 3.25 out of 5 stars. Sarah J. Maas builds a vivid world for her readers, creates emotionally complex characters, touches on important topics like living with trauma, and explores the importance of accepting help in order to address trauma. But, at this point, her writing in this series has become entirely predictable. We do get to see the characters in some slightly new scenarios and contexts, but A Court of Frost and Starlight is simply a view into the characters’ relationships with each other in a wintery landscape. As a dear friend of mine aptly put it: it’s the Christmas special of the ACOTAR series. I found myself going through the story out of the need to finish the series.
Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas.
Rating Cheat Sheet
4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.
Post Date: 16 December 2024
Published: 1 May 2018
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
