Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - A Court of Frost and Starlight

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

78 reviews

luna_lovelace's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

I have mixed feelings. While I don't think it was the best book I've read from the series, I do think it had some redeeming qualities.

It tended to drag on, particularly with the numerous shopping scenes. I couldn't help but think that the book could have been shorter if those scenes were cut out.

The book did manage to make me continue disliking Nesta. To be fair, she's not coping well with the aftermath of the war which explains her behavior towards Cassian and others. On the other hand, Cassian deserves much better than what he gets in the book. I have hope that she might be able to turn things around in the next book and prove herself worthy of his love and attention.

I think it's still worth reading, but you wouldn't miss anything if you didn't.

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cristina_reading24's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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indigo_fox's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This story was so cute! Honestly, I couldn't stop grinning as I read each chapter. I love that it was written from various character's POV. I feel like it gave me the chance to get to know each character better and see how they fit in to their little found family. I just finished this book but I already want to reread it!

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bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Given my usual opinion on books in this series I was pleasantly surprised by this one. While it had the same issues of dragging and over repetition as the other books I felt like it happened less often.

Once again, I don’t really enjoy Rhysand’s POV all the much. Something about the way he talked/thought about Feyre felt off to me. Not to mention a lot of his side of things seemed to be concerned over the extremely sus age gap between him and Feyre. I understand it’s fantasy and I can uncomfortably hand wave that sort of thing, it really rubbed me the wrong way their 516-ish year age gap with dismissed with the ab*sive relationship between his parents that had a 882 year age gap. Maybe it’s foreshadowing Rhysand turning into his father.

I will also note that this felt like a really strong starting point to build Rhysand and Feyre as budding villains. Something about their behaviour/thoughts just established this for me, but that could be wistful thinking.

Outside of that, I enjoyed the non-Feyre and Rhysand characters and their dynamics. This felt like a good way to build up to Silver Flames and I’m interested to see how/if the characters grow and develop relationships (and by characters I mean Elain and Azriel.)

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mangofraiche's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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amylynn44's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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kal517's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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angelofthetardis's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I am well aware that a lot of people think this instalment is a bit pointless. It doesn't add a lot to the story overall, and it just really a piece of holiday fluff. And I don't care. I love this little gem! It's funny, sweet, and just a chance to glimpse behind the curtain at what happens after happily ever after. Of course, it also sets up the next book nicely...

I loved the fact that Rhys got more narration time in this one - it's a nice little treat, not only to get to hear things from his perspective, but also to see that High Lord 'mask' drop and him just be a man with his family. And it doesn't hurt that there are a few lines which, said in that voice, make you go a bit wobbly! The only disappointment was that it was just Rhys and Feyre who got to narrate their own sections - while the narrator for the other parts is far from the worst I've heard, I would have much preferred Cassian, Nesta et. Al to speak in their 'own' voices.

I also love the fact that no-one seems to have a clue what to get their friends for Solstice. It's just a subtly funny repeating motif, but at the same time I guess it makes sense; it's hard enough buying family presents for Christmas for a human lifespan... can you imagine what it must be like trying to come up with something original after 500 years?!

And, oh, the snowball fight and birchin... that scene never fails to make me smile in written format, so I howled hearing it! I know it's ridiculous, but it is one of my favourite passages of any book.

Equally though, the dour note of Nesta brings some much needed gravity to proceedings. However, it does its job perfectly, illustrating Nesta's feeling of ostracism without dragging down the tone of the book overall. The only criticism I have of this is that, while Nesta has been a pain in the backside for the most of the previous books, by the end of ACOWAR there seemed to be a thread of a relationship between her and Feyre again, and that is very causally disregarded in this book. I've always found it quite jarring and I think it could perhaps have done with a little more explanation in this book rather than it being left to explain in Silver Flames.

Unashamedly pro-Frost and Starlight here!

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deedireads's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Originally, I hadn’t planned to read this book; I had heard that it was a fluffy little filler story between ACOWAR and ACOSF, so I figured it was more of a side novella (it’s actually novel-length, but compared to SJM’s other books, it’s practically a novella, lol). However, fortunately someone set me straight: it does provide a necessary set-up for ACOSF. So I added it back into my TBR, but I did decide to just do audio.

I’m happy to report that while this IS a pretty fluffy in-between story, it doesn’t feel like a waste of time. I enjoyed it, and I was definitely glad to have read it when I got to ACOSF. Also, it was a lot of fun to get POV chapters from the entire cast of characters. Finally, I was surprised by just how much of a Christmas story it is, so I’m glad I happened to pick it up in December (recommend!). TLDR; don’t skip it if you’re doing the ACOTAR thing; it won’t take you long and you’ll have fun.

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katiecoconut21's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This novella is a description of what happened after the war in A Court of Wings and Ruin. The characters face the repercussions of all that happened,

the Cauldron being destroyed, Rhys' death, and Nesta killing the King of Hybern

.

A Court of Frost and Starlight is almost slice-of-life in nature; there is no true "plot" other than following the characters as they adapt to what happened and future challenges, and setting up the plot between Nesta and Cassian in A Court of Silver Flame.

And the big thing that happened between Rhys and Feyre? While it was very clear that Sarah J. Maas was setting up the fact

that Rhys and Feyre were having a child

in previous books, I can't help finding myself dissatisfied that

Feyre wanted to try to have a child

so soon. She mentioned that she wanted to live life, and I can't help feeling that Feyre is far too young (in Fae terms) especially compared to Rhysand. It just felt a little bit rushed is all.

Overall, though, I enjoyed seeing the "mundane" aspects of life in Velaris among the group.

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