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smolone13's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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
5.0
Ratings:
Goodreads: 4/5
Storygraph: 4/5
My Rating: 5/5
Synopsis:
Nesta has an intervention and ends up under Cassian’s care to get better.
My Review:
Since the first book I had drawn attention towards Nesta, as an older sister myself, and at first I did kind of dislike her. I honestly saw Nesta as someone who just didn’t actually care about anyone around her except for herself. But after A Court of Frost and Starlight, I quickly realized that she was going through PTSD. She was traumatized.
Nesta is the prime character of this entire book and it shows how destructive her current lifestyle is. The PTSD, the trauma, and most certainly depression. Nesta sleeps around with other fae males, drinks until she cannot remember the next day, and she isn’t eating. She lives in a disgusting apartment, doesn’t clean up after herself, and doesn’t allow any fireplace anywhere near her to be lit. She doesn’t even take baths. Quickly it is noticed that she is broken. Probably for a long time as well. As seen from the first book, it’s almost like she has given up and the only person that she wraps herself around is Elain. Nesta’s destructive behavior ends up leading her to have an intervention. Feyre and Rhysand, mostly these two, decide it would be best that she lives up at the House of Wind, train with Cassian and work in the library with the priestesses. Although Nesta is pissed off about these turn of events, she goes through with it.
Cassian, the sweet man that he is, does his absolute best trying to get Nesta to join practice. Nesta does well with no drinking, working with the priestesses in the library and does an okay job socializing, just not training. Just when Cassian feels like he won't get anywhere, he decides to change the setting by training at the House of Wind instead of training at the military camp. By a miracle, it works. Cassian helps her gain some confidence, helps give her the push to heal, and honestly it made me fall in love with him as a character. Cassian just keeps his hand held out until Nesta is ready to take it. Cassian also heavily protects her when some of the others are just being dicks. Besides Azriel of course who just minds his own business.
Rhysand was actually one of the characters I started to dislike. The excuse being that Feyre is pregnant. However, I find it ridiculous. Rhysand, as old as he is, including the others don't recognize that Nesta is hurting. Only one to truly notice that is Cassian. The others don't understand why she's destroying herself, including Rhysand who truly believes Nesta has some form of hatred in her to hurt Feyre. Amren as well made me upset, but I also understand that she is technically a new mortal. She has been a being of no feelings for a long time.
Feyre believes Cassian is able to help her and has noticed that she has been improving so she isn’t completely involved. Not to mention, she has been trying to have a successful, safe, and healthy pregnancy. Elain was honestly just useless in this book besides showcasing that she doesn’t want to interact with Nesta. Elain I am almost positive is not as innocent as she makes herself appear and that she is a more hate-filled character than we see. Elain almost strikes me as two-faced.
Now for my two favorite additions! Gwyn and Emerie. I love these two women and they gave Nesta a way to interact, become a stronger woman, and even gain a sense of leadership but also understand teamwork and passing the baton around. Gwyn is a priestess who came to the library after witnessing her twin get beheaded in front of her and then gets gang-raped. Emerie was brutally abused by her father, including the rest of the males in her family, and now runs her father’s shop as a way to distract herself. NEsta, Gwyn and Emerie become close friends and create their own group with other priestesses to become Valkyries, an old forgotten group of female fae warriors. The three of them together made me fall in love with this entire book. They bonded over their hardships, overcame their trauma, and in the end became strong females.
The book had multiple plots. The first plot is Nesta overcoming her trauma and becoming a stronger character. The second was her finally letting go of her fear, being able to openly communicate and finally end up allowing Cassian into her heart. The third was stopping the “young” evil queen from taking over.
I truly did love this book and I completely fell in love with Nesta. I would read this book over and over again. It was comforting, it had some depressing topics within the book, it had suspense, it had adventure, it had the spicy romance and I just could not get over this book. Out of this entire series, this was my favorite book.
Next is The Assassin’s Blade and after that is The Crescent City Series! I absolutely can’t wait to get through these books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Cursing, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Blood, Death, Rape, Death of parent, Body shaming, Kidnapping, and Child death
eblankenship23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexism, Death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Violence, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Rape, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy
lini_jh's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-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
4.75
Nesta and her growth, grit and perseverance are why I give this a good score. How the other character's treated her was why I docked off marks, the other characters were judgmental and challenging to read about because of their attitudes towards Nesta. SPOILER: she should not have had to sacrifice so much for people who put her through hell as a way of showing her character development, that's simply not fair.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Death, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Violence
the character who suffered an eating disorder was constantly scrutinized by many (including lover) yet objectified by lover as well.taowlette's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
WAYYY too long, even when listened to at 2x speed 💀 Cannot imagine how it feels for people to sit down and read the entire book in print LOL. SJM's characters and themes always ring so hollow for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Gore, Sexual content, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Eating disorder, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Pregnancy, Sexism, and War
quietlex's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
fast-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 really hated Nesta throughout the beginning. The self sabotage and rock bottom spiraling was just too much. But it was all necessary, to watch her climb tooth and nail up that mountain to find true happiness: a chosen family, honest friends, and a burning love. I’ll always love a deadly powerful female ripping at the seams with unknown strengths; Nesta truly lived up to the title “Queen of Death.”
I do wish she was able to unleash herself and her powers more, and learn to hone them to become even deadlier. She finally begins to embrace her true self right when she offers up her stolen power back to the Cauldron. Also, what the hell happened with Mor and Eris! They keep alluding that someone different happened, that Eris isn’t actually this awful male that left his betrothed to die in the woods.
I really enjoyed the friendships that blossomed between Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn, their pure strength and determination that kept them together and pushing on. The love that they had for each other, no judgement, just acceptance and understanding. Exactly what Nesta needed, just as much as the other women needed it. They are the parallel to Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel.
I’m upset she had to give up a portion of her powers to save Feyre and Rhys and the baby, despite understanding her reasoning. Not just to save them, but also the fact that she never wanted her powers, never really used them at all. I saw another review talking about how instead of a redemption arc, Nesta should’ve been given a villain arc. Really let loose and go feral with all that power of Death. She was truly unstoppable if she could’ve just kept training her magic. I wanted her to go Red Witch style, burning everything in her path with those icy flames of silver. Not give up before she’s even started. Especially not to use her one chance to alter herself with fleeing powers to change her womb for future winged babies. Barf boring lame. I figured one baby was enough pregnancy drama. At least it was only kept to a portion of the book, and we didn’t have to hear whatever insufferable narration would’ve accompanied from Feyre. Sorry but I don’t care about that kid, even if it’s supposed to be something insanely rare. No one even mentioned Mor’s friend being pregnant either. I just felt no connection to that storyline. I wanted Rhys to be High King, not turn into a diaper changing snore.
I do wish she was able to unleash herself and her powers more, and learn to hone them to become even deadlier. She finally begins to embrace her true self right when she offers up her stolen power back to the Cauldron. Also, what the hell happened with Mor and Eris! They keep alluding that someone different happened, that Eris isn’t actually this awful male that left his betrothed to die in the woods.
I really enjoyed the friendships that blossomed between Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn, their pure strength and determination that kept them together and pushing on. The love that they had for each other, no judgement, just acceptance and understanding. Exactly what Nesta needed, just as much as the other women needed it. They are the parallel to Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel.
I’m upset she had to give up a portion of her powers to save Feyre and Rhys and the baby, despite understanding her reasoning. Not just to save them, but also the fact that she never wanted her powers, never really used them at all. I saw another review talking about how instead of a redemption arc, Nesta should’ve been given a villain arc. Really let loose and go feral with all that power of Death. She was truly unstoppable if she could’ve just kept training her magic. I wanted her to go Red Witch style, burning everything in her path with those icy flames of silver. Not give up before she’s even started. Especially not to use her one chance to alter herself with fleeing powers to change her womb for future winged babies. Barf boring lame. I figured one baby was enough pregnancy drama. At least it was only kept to a portion of the book, and we didn’t have to hear whatever insufferable narration would’ve accompanied from Feyre. Sorry but I don’t care about that kid, even if it’s supposed to be something insanely rare. No one even mentioned Mor’s friend being pregnant either. I just felt no connection to that storyline. I wanted Rhys to be High King, not turn into a diaper changing snore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death of parent, Confinement, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and War
sammymilfort's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual violence
redheadsuperpowers's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really liked this book,which I was a bit surprised about, as the main character in this is Nesta, who has consistently been a PITA the rest of the series. I love the found family feels in this, and the deeper exploration of friends that turn into family. The dive into the magic system in the one was great. We got to see just how varied powers can be in their world. The background info on the Archeron's life before their Father's original downfall was interesting, especially since it was presented as Feyre was too young to really remember the events shared. I love love love Nesta and Cassian's interactions, and while I am not the biggest fan of spicy scenes, there was enough plot around it for me to enjoy the book. The thematic arc of women taking back their power was just *chefs kiss*. I quite like Emerie, and would love to see more of her in future installments of the series hopefully. I also really appreciate the triumphant moments that the characters get. This was such a good book. I am glad my coworker Jordan got me to continue reading the series after the disappointment of the first book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Minor: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical content, Death, Grief, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, and Blood
farmpaws's review
2.0
Like all SJ Maas books in this series, it would be enormously improved by getting rid of the over complicated plot, branding it erotica, and really having fun with the court intrigue/politics. The author spreads herself too thin trying to cover sex/rivalry/plot and ends up with a product that is just too confusing to understand. I don’t remember anything that happened in this book apart from the rampant gender essentialism and coercion control dressed up as a clash of personalities in one case, and a ‘protective’ lover in another case. Her writing is fine and the characters are at least a bit interesting, but I find that once they become the main love interest they all become the same. Unfortunate, because I originally thought Cassian was the most interesting of all the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Body shaming
This relationship has every red flag possible dressed up as sexydani_reis's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexism, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Rape
Minor: Body shaming
So much smut it's hard to find the plot.