Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

385 reviews

maddyford's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Look, I’m not gonna lie, when I found out that this book was going to be centred around Nesta, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it that much. I didn’t feel like I could root for her initially, probably because she reminded me of someone in my life who hurt me. However, she totally grew on me, I grew to understand her more and I really loved the journey she went on. I felt emotional about it all really.
I already loved Cassian and this book just made me understand and love him more. 
Only criticism really is that the ending felt rushed. It was kind of a slower read for me compared to the other books but the last few chapters - SO MUCH HAPPENED! I would’ve maybe liked less stairs and more depth on these later chapters but really I’m just being picky. A really emotional, dark, inspiring and contemplative addition to the series. 

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l_ankz's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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cxsmiccxtie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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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jessgraph's review against another edition

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4.5

She put her whole Sarah J M-ASS into this book 🤌. 4.5 because there are some plot holes that are major plot points in this story cough cough
can’t walk down 10000 steps but can qualify for the rite
and cough cough
can alter dna to become an illeryan by shape shifting
there are more small things but those really were what bothered me. But I mean the story and the energy. Ty queen Sarah 👸

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mrdonohoe's review against another edition

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

3.0

One of my favorite parts about this book was that it was written in third person. I was also a fan of switching POVs to Nesta's and Cassian's, instead of only Feyre's like the first books. The first two parts I found to drag a bit--I did like to see Nesta's character develop, but I found that it was just a never ending cycle of brooding, training, and sex scenes. The final part was what saved the book for me; the pacing and anticipation during
the blood rite
chapters kept me captivated and reminded me why I keep coming back to this series.

More to add after reading other reviews:
A lot of people think that
Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn succeeding in the blood rite
is unrealistic, but I think that the entire
blood rite
is unrealistic? Obviously there has to be consistency and logic in fantasy world building, but I think there just needs to be a certain level of suspension of disbelief. I'm willing to accept that
a group of women would be so underestimated by the Illyrians that they would be able to succeed. Also, I think that Briallyn's interference (and the inclusion of weapons) made it a whole different competition than all the past years. 


As far as the way that
the Night Court inner circle treated Nesta
, I think it's completely realistic and consistent with their characters. They're fiercely defensive of Feyre so it makes sense
they're not fans of Nesta,
and
Nesta was acting like a spoiled brat for the entire year since the war
. I'm honestly surprised
Cassian warmed up to her as fast as he did.


I also think that the portrayal of
Feyre and Rhys
in this book is ultimately consistent with their characters; they're almost god-like in the way that their friends think they can do no wrong, and that lines up with how they've been portrayed in the previous books.

Overall, this book was good enough. It was too much book for so little plot, but if I condense it down to the essential parts, I found the story captivating and the characters compelling.

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encore_un_chapitre_et_dodo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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laurenmartin17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.5


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witcheep's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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hjb_128'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
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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booitsbam's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I rarely give 5 stars for anything I review, but the entire book held a tight grip on me. As someone who has witness what PTSD does to a person and as someone with trauma I’m trying to work through as well, Nesta’s journey was incredible to follow. The portrayal of multiple  types of PTSD, the different ways of dealing with it, and the reason to overcoming fear that developed from it, all feel realistic and I appreciate it being addressed in a series where a main character, or someone connected to the main character and plot, is severely affected by the events of previous books. 
As I mentioned before, there are different ways the characters decide to initially deal with their trauma. Some hide away, some continue their fight alone, and some drown themselves in distractions; and all are also addressed as unhealthy, in varying degrees, ways to cope. It’s clear the message of this story by the end is that you shouldn’t face your trauma or past alone, it’s necessary you be open to overcome. And if you’re only open with people who relate, that’s perfectly fine. It’s okay to rely on others for help, you don’t have to isolate yourself or try to ignore your pain. 
There’s even the fact that each character shown starting the journey to regain any sort of semblance of normality starts for different reasons. To prove themselves, to do better in the future, or because their family hopes, and knows, it’ll help them out of blaming and self-loathing to have a sense of purpose. 
The relationships (family, platonic, and romantic) all have their own journeys as well and they develop in very realistic ways, especially for a book with a main character who just wants to push all sorts of relationship away.
This is definitely, by far, my favorite of the ACOTAR series and has made Nesta one of my favorite character.

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