Review by lindsinmco - A Court of Silver Flames

lindsinmco 's review for:

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I honestly did not expect to like this book much, given that Nesta is pretty much the worst and I hated her in the other books. Every time I thought she was possibly redeemable, she went out of her way to prove me wrong. So I went into this book with more of a sense of duty to continue the series I have loved, even though I knew the focus would be on a character I’ve loathed. I did not expect to like it.

Imagine my surprise at the conclusion when I found myself most impressed by this book out of the entire series. It’s not my favorite in the series by far (that’s reserved for Mist & Fury), but WOW, was I impressed with the skill involved in this one.

This story is, at its heart, a portrait of grief, self-loathing, a toxic mentality, depression, self-destruction, self-discovery and ultimately healing. It’s a loooong, agonizing, frustrating, infuriating, slog through to one of the most rewarding character arcs I’ve ever read.

Be aware the spice in this one reads differently than in previous books. This is intentionally crafted as a part of Nesta’s journey is in learning the difference between actual intimacy and using sex as a tool to disconnect and self-harm, but it is clearly different.

There were so many things I did love about this story -

the sentient house (need this in my life!), Gwyn and Emerie and the badass Valkerie training. I didn’t love that Cassian was fairly useless at either reading Nesta or assisting her in her mental health journey in any other way than the bedroom (or dining room).

I’m not sure I’d re-read this book in the series, but it was great in its own right.

Content Warnings