Book: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas
Read From: 20th January - 26th January 2022
Rating: 5/5 stars
SPOILER WARNING FOR 'A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES', 'A COURT OF MIST AND FURY', 'A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN' AND POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR 'A COURT OF FROST AND STARLIGHT'.
Summary: Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she's struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can't seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it. The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre's Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta's orbit. But her temper isn't the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other. Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.
Sorry ACOWAR, but this is now my favourite book of the series (even though technically it’s a spin off from the original trilogy). Everything was just PERFECT. Nesta’s character development, her healing journey, the new characters and friendships that formed as a result, the romance, the spice, the plot... throughout the entire 750 pages there was not one thing I disliked about this book (except from the fact it ended).
Like many other people, before going into this book I was pretty impartial to Nesta. Of course she wasn’t my favourite in ACOTAR (she was horrible lol) but played a minor enough role for me to essentially just not care. I began to like her a bit more in ACOWAR, but the focus in that hefty book was still more on Feyre, and then her actions on Winter Solstice in ACOFAS left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth so was pretty apprehensive about going into this book. 750 pages of following a character I wasn’t sure I even liked? I was pretty scared.
I think actually being in Nesta’s head made all of the difference and I’m now an unapologetic Nesta lover. Seeing her grapple and come to terms with her trauma, as well as slowly learning how to channel her difficult emotions into something she loved, made such an impact on me. I think the mental health representation in this book was done incredibly well, it demonstrated how recovery and healing isn’t always linear as well as the importance of friendship. The bond between Nesta and our new characters Emerie and Gwyn was the most heart-warming part about this book and as their friendship continued to blossom I kept finding myself smiling like an idiot because it was just too cute!
I also really loved Cassian in this book, of course I loved him from the previous books anyway but having things told from his POV, seeing his feelings for Nesta develop... chefs kiss. This might be a controversial statement but I think I prefer him to RhysðŸ¤ðŸ˜³ don’t get me wrong, I still love Rhys though. And I believed it when everyone told me this book was spicy, but WOW I definitely wasn’t expecting that much steaminess. I loved it, but I also loved how the romance and the smut didn’t overshadow the main storyline (even if we all do read Sarah J Maas’ books for the characters and not the plot). There was always so much going on and that’s definitely why I was able to get through such a thick book so quickly.
I could sit and rave about this book (and this series) for days. Obviously I can’t wait for the next in the series to come out but I’m also really excited for the day I get around to rereading these books because I think I’ll definitely prefer books 1 and 2 this time around now that I’m fully attached (I mean, I loved them in the first place but with my new levels of attachment and investment in these characters it will be a whole new experience).
You can read my reviews for the other books here: