Book Review – A Court of Frost and Starlight

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and so it’s time to talk about a very festive feeling book that I reread recently, snuggled up under a blanket. I’ve been struggling to stay focused on a book, and so sought refuge in this novella, knowing that it would leave me feeling warm and fuzzy – for the most part.

Synopsis:
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. 

Review
I first read this book in the summer, after I’d finished the initial trilogy and was just reading it in a “I need more of these characters” way. I didn’t know that it was set over the Winter Solstice period, although admittedly the title should have given me the heads up. It was just as nice to read then (and this was before we knew much about A Court of Silver Flames coming out next year) but reading over the winter made it extra cosy.

It’s a short book, just a little over 200 pages, and offers snippets of some of our best loved characters going about their days, both normally, and in preparation for their biggest celebration of the year. With the events of the War behind them, both Rhysand and Feyre are adamant that the whole of their family be together, to spend some time, and to heal.

The novelty of little glimpses into the lives of other characters is really interesting, seeing how they function in their own way, rather than through the eyes of Feyre or Rhys. This brings about more questions than answers in some ways (what was in that bloody box he threw in the river?!) and certainly sets up for the future books that the author has since announced.

Considering that the book is so short, it’s quite impressive that SJM manages to put in what is easily the steamiest scene from the series into it! This is probably not a book you want to lend to your Grandma. Unless Grandma is into vivid sex scenes, in which case, go Grandma!

In all, it’s a short, mainly happy read, that leaves a lot of open ends ready for the upcoming books. It also has the first chapters of A Court of Silver Flames at the end, meaning you get a preview as a bonus. It very much is a novella rather than a novel, so keep that in mind when it comes to ordering the book.

To sign off, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I’ll see you on the other side!