A review by radipede
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

emotional reflective medium-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

3.0

not super much to say about this one. i skipped a court of frost and starlight (not a fan of fantasy!christmas) and yet was still bombarded with fantasy!christmas in here... unfortunate.

nesta's struggles, her growth, her training and friends, i think all was dealt with remarkably well. the self-deprecating spirals got intense and happened a little too often for me personally; it felt like it teetered on the edge of misery porn. in the author's note at the back of the book which i (surprisingly) read, it came across that she had personal experience with, well. nesta's struggles, training, growth, friends... etc. makes sense why it feels so grounded and realistic; i appreciate it.

the romance between nesta and cassian (that doesn't need to be spoiled, right? you saw it coming from book 2?) i could somewhat enjoy! it was okay; i don't think the author quite has the hang of the balance between romance and plot, though. also, really? nesta and cassian's "just sex" thing echos feyre and rhysand's exactly, down to the "sad, tired man who knows about the mating bond and the woman who doesn't". seriously?
they all seem to have the same taste in sex as well, with all the roughness and biting. with this and the similarity in the start of both relationships, it makes me wonder about the author's experience. she has to know everyone has different tastes, right? it just seems a bit stale to me, like, i've read this in book 2, give me something new.
the prose has improved i find, there were a handful of lines that are really compelling to me, and a bunch of funny moments that were actually *meant* to be funny this time! the sentence fragments got tired, though.

i liked the training, the priestesses, the valkyries (even if there was some cringe. vakyries? really? and valhallan? *really?*) and nesta's drive. i think the pov shift worked well, and i enjoyed seeing both their perspectives; there was even some difference between them this time.

wasn't a huge fan of the end.
feyre escaping death a second time? i think it would've been more powerful and impactful to have her, rhysand, and the child die than have nesta save them all. her sacrifice/vulnerability was... i guess it fit in her arc? i don't think it was particularly emotionally compelling, considering i didn't really believe either of them would die (they've cheated death once already, what's one more time?) and i think it would've been much better for nesta to have kept her powers, *maybe* find a way to manipulate death to keep it from touching her family this time. it really feels that maas can't let feyre die, and in turn, can't let rhysand die, *and in turn,* can't let the child die, because ~perfect happy family~. nesta had to be nerfed (much like amren) because how dare someone else be more powerful than rhysand or feyre? it feels, again, tired. like i said, i think it would've been much more compelling to have nesta stay powerful; my sister the death god is a catchy title, don't you think? joke, joke, but it would provide an interesting point/advantage/obstacle for future books.


AND
THE CHILD IS TAN??????????? HOW???????????? **HOW?????????????????** FEYRE AND RHYS ARE WHITE AS FUCK, HOW????????????????????????????????????


that's all, really. not much else to say. oh, feyre annoyed me by--
Expand filter menu Content Warnings