A Court of Frost and Starlight

A Court of Frost and Starlight is the fourth book in the series A Court of Thorns and Roses. The series follows Feyre Archeron, a 19-year-old human woman, as she is forced into the world of faeries and High Fae after killing a fae in wolf form while hunting. In the first novel, Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court, brings her back to his court as payment for killing the wolf fae. Tamlin and Feyre fall in love, but when Tamlin sends her home for her safety, she learns of a prophecy foretelling that she would save Tamlin and his entire territory from a curse by Amarantha, a woman who rules a court “Under the Mountain.” By allowing Tamlin to send her away, Feyre triggered Amarantha taking Tamlin under the mountain in anticipation of the curse. Feyre makes a deal to complete three trials to save Tamlin and the Spring Court. She successfully completes them with the help of Rhysand (or Rhys), the High Lord of the Night Court, whom many believe to be Amarantha’s willing servant and lover. When Amarantha kills Feyre in retaliation for Feyre succeeding, the high lords of all the courts, who were also enslaved in some manner by Amarantha, provide their powers to bring Feyre back to life as a High Fae woman.

A Court of Mist and Fury follows Feyre’s journey as she adjusts to her new form and heals from the trials. Tamlin is distant and often keeps her locked in his manor; he refuses to listen when she expresses a need for more freedom. As a result of a connection forged Rhys during the trials, Rhys knows when Feyre is in distress. He calls in their deal—which stated that Feyre would visit him one week per month in exchange for his help during the trials—on the day of Feyre’s wedding to Tamlin after hearing her mentally crying out for help. When Tamlin’s actions later cross a line into aggression, Feyre chooses to live in the Night Court with Rhys and his friends. The plot of A Court of Mist and Fury then follows Feyre’s healing process, her growing romance with Rhys (and the discovery that they are destined for each other), and a rapidly developing war with the King of Hybern, who seeks renewed war between fae and humans. Tamlin attempts to get Feyre back, and when his efforts fail, he turns to the King of Hybern and makes a deal to get Feyre back. Feyre pretends to go with Tamlin willingly to give her friends an opportunity to flee from the trap set for them. When she is gone, Rhys reveals that in addition to being his true partner, Feyre is also High Lady of the Night Court, as Rhys took the unprecedented step of making her his High Lady rather than consort.

A Court of Wings and Ruin follows Feyre as she uncovers weaknesses in the Spring Court and plans to ruin Tamlin and escape back to Rhys. When she returns to him, she finds her sisters struggling to cope with their new forms as High Fae after Hybern’s experiment of putting them into the Cauldron—the source of their world’s creation and magic. The novel continues to follow Feyre and her loved ones as they find ways to stop Hybern’s plan of domination and destruction, both through magical means and alliances with other fae courts.

A Court of Frost and Starlight follows Feyre and loved ones in the aftermath of war and defeating Hybern. It reveals the characters’ unique journeys of healing in a post-war environment and Rhys’s attempts to create lasting peace that will also protect humans from the other fae courts.