Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
Pages: 229
Format: Hardcover/Own
Hope warms the coldest night.
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: So I loved this little novella. I don't get why people are getting so upset about it. I mean, when you think novella, you think mini story that tells more about a certain person or event. Not a full blown novel with huge story line. I mean, I compare this to reading like Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi or Queen Song or Steel Scars by Victoria Aveyard. Its supposed to bridge a gap and kinda tell what happens during a certain time or event. I think a few people may be mistaking what a novella is supposed to be by getting angry that it doesn't have a plot like the full blown books. For a novella this was awesome! We get to see the inner circle celebrate their first winter solstice since the war. We get to see how certain characters are coping with the events and just some overall fun scenes.
I can't state enough how much I love Feyre and Rhys! Love love love these two. Yes, Rhys thinks about sex a lot. I think this has been established already. What do you want? He clearly loved Feyre and has a serious attraction to her. I mean, if you ask me, its better than being in a sexless relationship. That's kinda boring. And no offense, but Feyre clearly doesn't seem to mind their sex life either. Why make a big deal when she clearly has no issues with it either. I do have to say I love that we finally get the wall scene! Hehe. It finally happened and we can all be happy now.
But the book doesn't just talk about Rhys wanting Feyre. We also get this adorable scene with Rhys, Cassian and Azriel having a snowball fight! Apparently its a yearly tradition with the three. Rhys still makes time for his brothers. It was so cute seeing this little tradition they have. And hey, why not. Snowball fights for the winter solstice. That sounds like fun! But we also see Rhys visit Tamlin. The first time he kinda taunts him about what he's lost instead of trying to fix things and make sure he's not gonna do anything with the human lands. But the second time he sees Tamlin alone, in his wrecked manor, clearly not eating like he should, completely depressed. He even asks if he thinks Feyre will ever forgive him for what he did. It seems like Tamlin finally hit rock bottom and has maybe come to realize just what exactly he has done. Rhys literally had to cook his food for him and set it in front of him and pretty much insist he eat. Rhys despises Tamlin for what he did for Feyre, but yet you still see him trying to make Tamlin want to live after everything that's happened.
I also loved that Feyre became interested in painting again. She finally sits down and started painting some of the events that happened. She even becomes the owner of a shop and starts teaching painting classes along with a bunch of the other artists in Velaris for children needing a way to work through everything they dealt with if they can't talk about it. I thought this was so beautiful. I also loved Feyre's decision about having kids. So many people have questioned why she changed her mind all of a sudden. Like clearly you missed the conversation in this book. Feyre meets a weaver whose husband died in the war. She talks about how they never even had kids so she doesn't even have a piece of him with her in that way. That realization hits Feyre so hard because she almost lost Rhys for good. She comes to realize that she does want to have kids with Rhys sooner rather than later because of this. She saw someone else struggle with the fact they waited and never got the chance and doesn't want to end up doing the same by waiting and then having something happen and regretting it. Plus its a lot harder for the fey to conceive than humans so why not start trying if it might take a while anyways.
We also get some of Mor and Cassian's POV. We see Mor still struggling with the alliance with her father and Eris. She's still so upset by it she doesn't say anything at their visit to the Court of Nightmares. She's also not enthused by the fact everyone in the Court of Nightmares will be allowed to visit Velaris, though Rhys is trying to make it as unwelcoming for them as he can to discourage them from staying there too long. We also learn Mor has a very secret estate in the Winter Court that no one knows about save for the person that gave it to her. I thought that was very interesting. We also see Cassian dealing with things. He's trying so incredibly hard to make the Illyrians train the women, but thats a battle in itself for him to deal with. We also see him struggle with Nesta. He clearly cares about her after everything that went down in ACOWAR, but Nesta has just closed herself off and is wallowing in self pity. She refuses to see anyone except maybe Amren. Cassian tries to talk with her on the Solstice but she just blows him off. Poor guy just wants to help her but she refuses to do anything to move on.
From the sneak peak of the next book, it definitely seems interesting. We clearly are getting Nesta as our main character and I'm torn on that. While it might be interesting, she's not exactly my favorite person. But I trust Sarah J. Maas that she has a good story lined up for Nesta that might not make us hate her. Plus from the sneak peak it seems like Feyre is putting an end to Nesta's wallowing bullshit by kicking her out of Velaris. So that seems really interesting.
I can't state enough how much I love Feyre and Rhys! Love love love these two. Yes, Rhys thinks about sex a lot. I think this has been established already. What do you want? He clearly loved Feyre and has a serious attraction to her. I mean, if you ask me, its better than being in a sexless relationship. That's kinda boring. And no offense, but Feyre clearly doesn't seem to mind their sex life either. Why make a big deal when she clearly has no issues with it either. I do have to say I love that we finally get the wall scene! Hehe. It finally happened and we can all be happy now.
But the book doesn't just talk about Rhys wanting Feyre. We also get this adorable scene with Rhys, Cassian and Azriel having a snowball fight! Apparently its a yearly tradition with the three. Rhys still makes time for his brothers. It was so cute seeing this little tradition they have. And hey, why not. Snowball fights for the winter solstice. That sounds like fun! But we also see Rhys visit Tamlin. The first time he kinda taunts him about what he's lost instead of trying to fix things and make sure he's not gonna do anything with the human lands. But the second time he sees Tamlin alone, in his wrecked manor, clearly not eating like he should, completely depressed. He even asks if he thinks Feyre will ever forgive him for what he did. It seems like Tamlin finally hit rock bottom and has maybe come to realize just what exactly he has done. Rhys literally had to cook his food for him and set it in front of him and pretty much insist he eat. Rhys despises Tamlin for what he did for Feyre, but yet you still see him trying to make Tamlin want to live after everything that's happened.
I also loved that Feyre became interested in painting again. She finally sits down and started painting some of the events that happened. She even becomes the owner of a shop and starts teaching painting classes along with a bunch of the other artists in Velaris for children needing a way to work through everything they dealt with if they can't talk about it. I thought this was so beautiful. I also loved Feyre's decision about having kids. So many people have questioned why she changed her mind all of a sudden. Like clearly you missed the conversation in this book. Feyre meets a weaver whose husband died in the war. She talks about how they never even had kids so she doesn't even have a piece of him with her in that way. That realization hits Feyre so hard because she almost lost Rhys for good. She comes to realize that she does want to have kids with Rhys sooner rather than later because of this. She saw someone else struggle with the fact they waited and never got the chance and doesn't want to end up doing the same by waiting and then having something happen and regretting it. Plus its a lot harder for the fey to conceive than humans so why not start trying if it might take a while anyways.
We also get some of Mor and Cassian's POV. We see Mor still struggling with the alliance with her father and Eris. She's still so upset by it she doesn't say anything at their visit to the Court of Nightmares. She's also not enthused by the fact everyone in the Court of Nightmares will be allowed to visit Velaris, though Rhys is trying to make it as unwelcoming for them as he can to discourage them from staying there too long. We also learn Mor has a very secret estate in the Winter Court that no one knows about save for the person that gave it to her. I thought that was very interesting. We also see Cassian dealing with things. He's trying so incredibly hard to make the Illyrians train the women, but thats a battle in itself for him to deal with. We also see him struggle with Nesta. He clearly cares about her after everything that went down in ACOWAR, but Nesta has just closed herself off and is wallowing in self pity. She refuses to see anyone except maybe Amren. Cassian tries to talk with her on the Solstice but she just blows him off. Poor guy just wants to help her but she refuses to do anything to move on.
From the sneak peak of the next book, it definitely seems interesting. We clearly are getting Nesta as our main character and I'm torn on that. While it might be interesting, she's not exactly my favorite person. But I trust Sarah J. Maas that she has a good story lined up for Nesta that might not make us hate her. Plus from the sneak peak it seems like Feyre is putting an end to Nesta's wallowing bullshit by kicking her out of Velaris. So that seems really interesting.
