Review: A Court of Frost and Starlight

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Repetitive. The style is repetitive.

Question marks. There is still a lack of question marks.

Nothingness. This book was full of nothingness.

Characters. The characters are the single redeeming point.

Style. Did I mention the style is incredibly repetitive. And that there were no question marks. Did you have any questions. Because this book doesn't.

I am actually a big fan of Sarah J Maas but her writing is getting real old, real fast. I started with the Throne of Glass series, which I love, but the writing is exactly the same between the two series, and it seems that she clings to new style devices once she discovers them. For example: duh! the lack of question marks! See my last few Maas reviews to read more of me complaining on this topic. IF IT IS A QUESTION IT NEEDS A QUESTION MARK. And I get that it's a clever way of implying that the words are stated but 8 TIMES IN 229 PAGES IS TOO MANY FOR IT TO REMAIN CLEVER.

Also. Sentences like this:

Decadent-it felt decadent ...

A year. Gods, nearly a year ...

Pizza. She was craving pizza.*

(*Not an actual sentence from the book.)

Again, a neat way to write a sentence, but when it pops up enough to notice it, the style gimmick gets annoying. It's hard to concentrate on the forest when the trees all have the same ugly branches.

So yeah. The writing blows.

Then there's this obsession with writing detailed sex scenes which, granted, has been there since the start of this series (and is totally out of place in ToG, IMO) but is also starting to get old because there's only so many times I can be entertained by cosmos-shattering smut. That just ain't my thang, yo. YOU LIKE EACH OTHER A LOT AND SEX IS GOOD I THINK WE GET IT.

Now we come to the actual story. Now, this is more like a novella, so it's short and sweet, but rather than actually telling an interesting story, it seems to just be setting up for the next book. This one is just about the Night Court residents celebrating solstice. There's no real drama to keep things interesting, just lots of romance and present-buying. Plenty of foreshadowing for drama to come, though.

So to recap: the writing kinda sucks, the smut kinda sucks, and the story kinda sucks.

So what does that leave?

The mighty, saving grace of the entire series and my love for SJM: THE CHARACTERS.

I love these characters. Even if Feyre and Rhys are SO BORING with their constant declarations of The Strongest Love in the World Ever. I love the ragtag band of heroes - Az, with his calm deadliness, and his soft spot for Elain; Cassian, the loud and obnoxious one with the warrior spirit; Mor with her dark past and loving, wild spirit; Amren who has no filter, and Nesta who is a badass living on her own terms. Even wishy washy Elain has a bit more personality these days. I love these characters. I would read about them celebrating paint drying because there is so much sass and the dynamics are so different that they make every interaction entertaining. The way they relate to one another is beautiful, and is the sole reason I'll keep reading this ridiculous series and basically everything else SJM decides to write.

I really do hope we get the question marks back soon though.

***
On reading the burb:

Man, I don't know ... it sounds kiiiiiiiind of lame.

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