Rating: 3.5 STARS Genre: Fantasy Standalone/Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1 How I got this book: Bought The Winter Solstice. In a week. I was still new enough to being High Lady that I had no idea what my formal role was to be. If we'd have a High Priestess do some odious ceremony, as lanthe had done the year before. A year. Gods, nearly a year since Rhys had called in his bargain, desperate to get me away from the poison of the Spring Court to save me from my despair. Had he been only a minute later, the Mother knew what would have happened. Where I'd now be. Snow swirled and eddied in the garden, catching in the brown fibers of the burlap covering the shrubs My mate who had worked so hard and so selflessly, all without hope that I would ever be with him We had both fought for that love, bled for it. Rhys had died for it. I was so completely and utterly excited for this book! I fell in love with the A Court of Thorns and Roses series last year when I discovered it for the first time. I devoured all three books and couldn't get enough of Feyre, the Inner Circle, her sisters, the other courts, Velaris, the Suriel, the entire world. I was fully immersed, I wanted to live and breathe it and I was devastated when it was all over.
That is until I heard about A Court of Frost and Starlight. I could not contain my excitement, I pre-ordered it on Amazon the day it became available although I knew absolutely nothing about it. I just knew that I had to have it. It felt like forever until the release day arrived and then it finally appeared two days ago. It was so small! I was initially shocked at the size, not having realised that it was a novella, but I wasn't deterred, nothing could contain my excitement. Until I started reading. I quickly became frustrated with a few things, namely: 1. Not a great deal happens. 2. It's pretty depressing - understandable given the events of A Court of Wings and Ruin but still, there's a lot of pain in this book. 3. Feyre is portrayed as a saint. 4. All Rhys wants is sex. 5. Most of the characters besides Feyre and Rhys have very little page time. 6. There's a lot of shopping involved. Then, I realised that the problem wasn't necessarily the book, it was me. I'd built up all this hype, OMG it's the next ACOTAR book!! I NEED IT NOW!! Etc. that I think I was expecting more from it than I was ever going to get from a novella which is basically trying to bridge the gap to the next book (spin-off book) whilst providing what is essentially an ode to Feysand. So, let me start over. I truly loved falling back into the ACOTAR world, back to Velaris and other parts of Prythian that I'd missed. I loved being back within the Inner Circle, even if it was hard to see how difficult some of them were finding it to adjust to life after the war. It's was nice to see that some things never change. There are still lots of sweet moments, lots of fun (the snowball fight and sauna scenes), plenty of laughs (Elain's gifts to Az), and there were a lot of heated moments (all involving Rhys, of course). What I would have liked more of, and what I really, desperately want from future books is:
What I loved most about ACOFAS was the sneak peek we get at the end into the next, as yet untitled, book that will follow. I won't give anything away but it looks promising and fingers crossed there will be more substance and a few of the things from the list above in the next one. I'm giving this book 3.5 stars because, whilst I did enjoy being back in the world of ACOTAR, I just didn't feel that there was enough of a story here, or at least, not as much as I would have liked. If you read my unboxing of Book Box Club's April Theme, you'll know that I'd planned on buying a couple of different UK boxes to see which I preferred. I already mentioned the pricing differences in my previous blog so feel free to check that out at the link above. Since then, I've also stumbled across Illumicrate, another UK book subscription box, the only difference is that this one ships every 3 months instead of every month, so...can you keep a secret? I may have also purchased the May Illumicrate to see what that's like. 🙊 Oops... On the positive side, that means I'll have 3 book boxes to share with you in May! Anyway, the FairyLoot box is finally here, and I'm super excited to dig into the 'Whimsical Journeys' theme. This is the info FairyLoot provided about this box when ordering:
Who's ready to lift the lid? First impressions: This box usually ships on the 20th of each month but was delayed for 10 days due to a 3rd party supplier issue. I completely understand that, these things happen and seriously it was soooo worth the wait!! It was delivered by My Hermes and arrived 3 days after shipping so not bad and the box had no damage. Another point to note is that the box itself is so freaking cool! I want to keep it just so that I can stare at the wonderful design both inside and out. The label is also underneath which makes for a nicer unboxing photo. I am so overwhelmed by how amazing this box is, so let's get started! The first thing you'll notice upon opening is a spoiler card listing all of the items in the box, which is super helpful so that you can track down the suppliers on Instagram, Etsy etc. What's in the box:
Overall, this box is absolutely incredible. It far exceeded my expectations and I cannot wait for next month's box to arrive since the book features SPRAYED PAGES and a BOOK SLEEVE!! I'll be posting the unboxing as soon as I get it, so watch this space. P.S: You'll notice in the photos that there are a couple of comparison photos between the two book boxes I've received so far, just to show you the difference in size. There was also a lot less packaging in the FairyLoot box and absolutely no wiggle room - it was jam packed! |
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About Kay (She/Her)
Book addict, film mad, music lover, business owner, writer and mum (not necessarily in that order), living in the UK. About Sophie (She/Her)
Sophie loves books (obviously). She has a passion for photography and spotting wildlife, and is interested in anything made with passion and creativity. THIS BLOG IS SPOILER FREE!
Rating system: 5 Stars - AMAZING!! 4.5 Stars - Almost perfect! 4 Stars - I really loved it 3.5 Stars - I liked it alot 3 Stars - I liked it (I don't typically review books that I rate below 3 stars)
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