This book was beautiful. It was that sort of needed read between the war and every chaos of the previous books and what's coming next. It was relaxing, to just read about festive times and love. Love how we also got so much more insight in the other characters their lifes. It's a little treasure and SJM nails it every damn time. Onto the next one!

Definitely the slowest and least action packed of the series. Feels like a filler book to set up the next.

Did I go into this novella thinking it was a Christmas story? Absolutely not. 

Did I live for it? Absolutely. 

Was it the most draw dropping, crazy, thrill ride? No. 

Was it cute and sweet and wholesome? Yes, yes it was 🥹

Not ready to be done this series after ACOSF 😭

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. 

 

Goodreads: 3/5

Storygraph: 3/5

My Rating: 4/5

A short story on Feyre and Rhysand helping their community/city while also preparing for the Winter Solstice. 

This is going to be a pretty quick review since it is just on everyone preparing for the Winter Solstice. It delves into not only Feyre’s and Rhysand’s POV but also the side characters, such as Mor and Cassian. It does show for the next book how the war and the change to becoming immortal has effected Nesta, so there is a preview of that, but besides that fact it is just a sweet, simple short read. (It honestly could be skipped if you don’t want to bother since there really isn’t any plot). I did enjoy the short story though. It was like taking a break before reading the behemoth that is A Court of Silver Flames.

4/5 stars; now to explain why lol. 

A lot of people told me they didn’t like this book. After reading it, I can understand why they might not; it’s a different kind of book when compared to the series. This one (at least in my opinion) was meant to show the softer side of some characters as well as shed light on their mental health struggles. It wasn’t meant to be a fantasy novel. It wasn’t meant to be about a huge buildup, conflict, and resolution. It was meant to show that even fantastical character have struggles. Even High Fae have to deal with the mundane/boring parts of life. The novel was meant to humanize the series, not continue to storyline. 


I truly enjoyed getting to know each beloved character better. Everybody’s personality quirks really got their moment to shine! Relationships between a lot of the characters were deepened, some rifts widened in heartbreaking ways, and ALL the characters were addressing some heavy feelings/emotions. A huge thank you to SJM for taking the time to acknowledge, complicated emotions and concepts like grief, guilt, PTSD, and self esteem.

So, 4 of 5 stars for the book this is, not for the series people want it to fit into.

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!