Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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.
Well my lovely Bookwyrms, it has now been 3 weeks since my most anticipated book of the first half of 2018 has been in my hands, devoured and finally processed into coherent sentences that are actually readable.
Let’s start off by saying that I was obviously excited for this one. I knew that we were only getting a novella, so my expectations weren’t too high, but who am I kidding, I’ll always expect the stars and the moon in their entirety when it comes to Maas.
Overall, I really bloody enjoyed this book. I loved being back in Prythian with all of my favourite characters, it was almost like an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, fae-style! There were so many fun little scenes which were just an absolute joy to read, and had me beaming on my commute train, including the notorious snowball fight, and of course the solstice decorating with Feyre and Azriel!
The point of this novella was to set us up for the next part of the series, and so for this reason, multiple POVs were introduced as opposed to it just being 1st person from Feyre’s perspective. Now, at the beginning this felt a little clunky to me. I don’t know quite what it was, I can’t put my finger on it, but something just felt a little off tonally. It turned itself around after the first few chapters, but when the book is only 230 pages long… well. But I have to say that reading from each character’s perspective was wonderful, and actually I did really enjoy this aspect of the book, especially Nesta’s chapters towards the end – she is definitely turning out to be one of Maas’ most intriguing characters, and I really hope that she continues to develop in this way and not become generic in the next books.
Honestly, not much happened in this book. There wasn’t the usual action-packed, on-the-edge-of-your-seat, throw-your-book-in-anger kind of plot we’ve come to expect from Maas, but I think for this reason, I loved it just as much. Was it necessary to have this as a whole separate book? Realistically, probably not. But I still loved it and I’m glad we had something from SJM in between the agonisingly long wait for her next book.
What were your thoughts on ACOFAS? Let me know in the comments below!
Leigh Bardugo is an author I only discovered in the latter half of the year; I can’t believe I hadn’t read any of her books before now! This book really took me by surprise: I’m not really a lover of superheroes, but boy am I glad I read this. It has an awesomely diverse cast of characters, the story line was fun and action packed, and the MC KICKED ASS!
When this book was released, I knew I had to read it. I was so interested in the setting (London during the Suffrage) and it had been given such a good press release by the publisher, and it still, somehow, managed to take me by surprise. A very powerful novel that made me laugh and cry, sometimes simultaneously. I love historical fiction when it’s written well, and this was no exception.
Schwab is another author where I find myself obsessing over everything she writes… This duology had me sitting on the edge of my seat, and won a spot on my top 5 because it broke me. Crushed my heart into a thousand tiny pieces and then continued to stomp all over them until it was suitably destroyed. If you’re looking for a quick, exciting and dark duology, be sure to add this to your list!
What list would be complete without a SJM book on it? This book got me out of my HUGE slump during the summer, so it has to be on this list! Let’s be honest, there were probably more innovative choices I could have made for this final spot, but I’m total trash for SJM and will ALWAYS love her books. They give me life, okay? Sorry not sorry.
See also:
Synopsis:
In Case Of Bookishness 