Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - A Court of Silver Flames

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

240 reviews

ktmcd26's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was my first time re-reading this book, and I think I enjoyed it more than the first.

I have read all the published works by the author at this point and was able to see and make connections this time that I missed the first time.

I had a skewed memory of how Cassian acted in this book, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that he acted better than I remember. There are still some things that I am incredibly angry at him for, but I don’t completely dislike him as a romantic lead anymore.

I think this series severely needed this change in POV as it helped form more holistic views of the different characters.

The one thing that suffered greatly from the re-read was the lack of development in the magic, fantasy and political elements. The magical artifacts are not well explained and the back stories are all poor rip-offs of classic literature. That being said I was able to fill in the gaps (and correct parts of the ending that I didn’t like/ didn’t think made any sense).

The story of self-loathing and friendship was as good as I remembered and a critical part of what makes this book excellent.

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inaylalinyah's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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meredith_williams_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Once again, my sincerest and deepest apologies to Mrs. Sarah J. Maas for ranking this a 3/5 the first time I read it. I did not understand your vision.

Nesta has always been, and will always be, the best character in this entire series. The first go around I did not understand why there was so much extra lore and seemingly random side plots. I felt they distracted from Nesta’s emotional journey (which is impeccably written!) and the plot seemed too disjointed. It turns out all of the side quests in this book were actually so necessary for the next steps in the series and I just wasn’t paying attention because I was too distracted by the next time Cassian would be on the page.

I maintain that the end of this book is absolutely chaotic and the Edward-and-Bella-fication of Rhys and Feyre is criminal, but not enough to warrant a mid-level rating. Again, sorry, Sarah! I recognize Silver Flames for the top tier book that it is.

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kittykels's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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bubblegumbruno's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I won’t lie I thought during most of the entire first HALF of this book that I would be giving this book no more than a 2 star rating. But the second half of the book was so good that I have to bump the rating up.

I didn’t like nesta at the beginning. And I mean, she wasn’t written at the beginning to be likeable, but that’s not really what I mean. I felt like the portrayal of her ptsd was, as someone with ptsd, at times jarringly unrelatable. There were lines and moments that were so real and written in a way that felt well informed to what it’s like to have ptsd, and lines and moments that snapped me out of that so entirely. The extent to which she was purposelessly cruel to the people around her just bc she hated herself and what happened to her just did not feel well done or like a fair or intelligent representation at all.

But her journey of healing and her inner monologue were really fantastic to read anyway. The friendships she formed with emerie and gwyn, watching their healing and their stories and watching all of them train to be valkyries. All of the chapters and scenes with emerie, gwyn, nesta, the house, and the Valkyrie training would have been enough to boost this book up to 4 stars………

But the sex and the horniness was written so uncomfortably and raunchy and cringe that I literally cannot bear to put this at 4 stars. I legitimately skipped the sex scenes. They stretched on and on and on and read like actual just straight up pages of porn from a fanfiction website. Im not prude, it was all just so painfully cringe that I was literally crinkling my nose before I gave up entirely on trying to read through the sex scenes. Thumbs down. Stop that, SJM. I felt violated everytime I had to glance over the words “his seed”. Yuck!!!!!!! That was so uncomfy.

Nesta, Gwyn, Emerie, the House, the rest of the priestesses/valkyries are pretty much the sole reason this book got a 3.75 rating from me. Love the girlies thank you for carrying this book on your shoulders

Oh also a warning that there is a lot of talk of sexual assault/violence, rape, a loss of control and agency and autonomy in this book. Most of it is simply talked about, so i found it in that sense tastefully and well done. BUT. There was one scene/chapter that was a bit more of a graphic portrayal of sexual violence than we got in the rest of the book. So if that bothers you, just be wary of the chapters in the bog of oorid. The chapter with the kelpie was difficult to read.

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kurohaneshizumi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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hellotheremaryrose's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was incredible!!!!! I can’t compare it to the rest of the series because it felt so different to me.
Nesta is incredible!!! Her challenges with mental health felt so incredibly real.

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