A ​Court of Silver Flames

A Court of Thorns and Roses #4

by Sarah J. Maas

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly – proud, swift to anger and slow to forgive. And since the war – since being made High Fae against her will – she's struggled to forget the horrors she endured and find a place for herself within the strange and deadly Night Court.

The person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred, winged warrior who is there at Nesta's every turn. But her temper isn't the only thing Cassian ignites. And when they are forced to train in battle together, sparks become flame.

As the threat of war casts its shadow over them once again, Nesta and Cassian must fight monsters from within and without if they are to stand a chance of halting the enemies of their court. But the ultimate risk will be searching for acceptance – and healing – in each other's arms.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Fiction, Fae, Audiobook, Fantasy Romance

757 pages, Hardcover

First published February 16, 2021

About the author

Sarah J. Maas is the #1 bestselling author of the Throne of Glass, Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City series. Her books have sold millions of copies and are published in thirty-eight languages. She lives in New York City with her family.

Reviews

[Cece ❀Rants, Raves &Reviews❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review gonna be a lili bit of raving about this book by itself VS ranting how it was as a continuation of Maas’s series

Honestly, my biggest challenge going into this book was all my preconceptions of this world and its characters. The stakes were high.

Cassian is one of the biggest favorites in the fandom

Whereas Nesta has a reputation for being a....



So going into it, the book was better when I tried to block out all the nasty shit in previous books and high expectations. This isn’t the start of a new ✨Maas✨series, just a standalone romance happening in same world. I highly recommend that mindset cuz then it's less disappointing. Moving on,

꧁The Characters꧂

I have never liked Nesta Acheron. sorry not sorry. I didn’t like her much in the previous books but I acknowledge that her character has potential for such depth that Maas really tried to develop here.

But did it work?



Typically these characters dynamics would usually have me ✨screaming✨ with a bloodthirsty heroine and spitfire cocky guy who always comes back for her!!

I’ve always loved Cassian. But i didnt *quite* love his POV.

I felt like through an attempt of making his character more dimensional, we lost some of his key characteristics as the flirtatous badass who uses humor and adrenaline to cope... Yes it was amazing getting insight into his thoughts and Maas’s writing style easily adopted this dual perspective. But I wish we got more of the Cassian that trained Freye and let her punch out as needed while cracking jokes at Rhysands expensive.

Maas is known for her growling, purring, overprotective, asshole, alpha males. BUT I LOVEEE ITTTT

And his relationship with Nesta was so well developed. He knows Nesta as a victim, killer, broken girl, self-sufficient woman, and general badass. He's seen it alll and he keeps coming back for her.

Together, these two were the perfect combination for a hot chaotic relationship that had you swooning, cackling, and gasping.

I don't think Nesta will ever be my fav character however her story really speaks to mental health for someone who reacts/protects themselves with sharp words and anger



Some describe Nesta as ambitious and authoritative character but to me she was very selfish, cold, and distant.

She did nothing to help Feyre provide for their family. She spent the money Feyre earned on frivolous items. THEN in fey world, Nesta went on whole refusing to train/ help others but demanding they protect ONE of her sisters?! *fuck off, I have 2 sisters and it hurt from reading Feyre POV to not feel chosen in the family group dynamic*

In this book, Nesta *finally* had moments of -boohoo i’m tired of not being able to protect myself. LIKE YES BITCH THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL BEEN SAYING THIS WHOLE TIME

So on that element, I was sooo glad she was actually making progress and decisions!

At the same time, I found myself disappointed with the Inner Circle *gasp* I know, I was sad about it too. I understood why they were done with her shit. Because, same.

But the constant bashing of Nesta's drinking, sex, and weight were low blows especially compared to the violence and weight loss Feyre went thru. hypocrites much? I fully recognize this isn’t reflective of the characters we know and love. This is Nesta’s perspective of the characters acting towards her... *Shrug*

Granted this book was supposedly our opportunity to get to know Inner Circle better. But nooooo - We need another Stair scene. God forbid Nesta seeks out any truth or backstory for us readers who have been DESPERATE to know Cassian SINCE 2016. Selfish asshole.


꧁The Maas Quality꧂

Honestly, sad to report no major twists. It was just a really good, borderline dark, romance driven by character development and lotttta sexy sexy fun times since its not longer YA

If I had just randomly picked this up, then this book would’ve been off the charts with such dynamic characters, beautiful worldbuilding, and an okay plot.

But in comparison with her others, this book’s plot was basic and was missing some fun intricate details and plot twists that you usually can count on with Maas.

To sum up it was an epic story of redemption-- Of a girl finding herself again after tragedy. And along the way she makes friends, and a lover who listens to her who supports her rough recovery, and not always her actions.



Somehow this book felt soooo long and overly descriptive.. but also was not enough. No idea how that happens but there it is.

The next threat/enemy makes logical sense. So I liked that

I wanted Nesta to get fierce FOR her sisters and be finally willing to fight FOR them. I love some badass sisters dynamics of teasing each other, bitching at each other but would do anything for each other in the end! Didn't really quite get that.

I was constantly underwhelmed by Nesta. She talks lotta shit but what has she actually done?

She has continuously refused to show initiative in her own life and failed to provide for herself. Instead, she constantly chose to lean on the resources of others for her survival.

All she has done is complain. Complain about her human life while refusing to work and save herself or her sisters. Complain about the happiness her lili sister found while refusing to be part of it. Complain about the only people willing to fight and save humans while refusing to train or learn to fight FOR HERSELF.

iM bOrEd and AnGeReD by the dismissive bullshit that defined her character up to this point in the series

This book showed some sparks of greatness - Taking initiative in her life! Using all that spitfire and backbone to make something for herself! But in the end, it kinda failed to live up to the fierce powerful Nesta I was hoping she would transform into.

Reading this book you can’t help but compare to Maas’ other great heroines.

I think the big difference is that Aelin always kept moving forward. And Bryce was a little shit. But Nesta handled her depression by freezing and becoming nasty. Which is just really hard to read sometimes.

Overall, I’m glad I read this book but it won’t be a major re-read like most Maas books. The book stands on the friendship the characters build, Nesta overcoming her despair and FINALLY developing her interesting powers. I greatly enjoyed the character dynamics of how Cassian and Nesta are such strong complex characters, but I wanted their romance to be more epic and to sweep me away. I love this world and all the creatures and BADASS FEMALE WARRIORS but the plot was lacking and I hate the power change that a lot of Maas’ characters are undergoing.

If you are teetering whether to read this book, I gotta tell you to lower your expectations and try to forget the bullshit of Nesta’s past in order to just fully enjoy this book. It was pretty great seeing the Inner Circle’s relationships in the aftermath of Wings and Ruin, especially through Nesta’s harsh eye that hardcore READS THESE BITCHES and all their flaws. Plus it gives some foreshadowing and builds excitement for which characters might be next. It was a good romance, but it wasn’t a great Maas book.

ALSO I’M STIL FRIGGEN PISSED ABOUT THAT COVER

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Book thoughts

I have never liked Nesta. sorry not sorry. I didn’t like her much in the previous books but I acknowledge that her character does have potential for such depth



Some describe Nesta as ambitious and authoritative character but to me she was very selfish, cold, and distant. She did nothing to help Feyre provide for their family and spent the money Freye earned on frivolous items. THEN in fey world goes on whole refusing to train/ help others but demanding they protect ONE of her sisters?! *fuck off*

Just the idea of a sister knowingly fucking over another in how she treated Freyre as human for YEARS ... it actually hurts my heart a little bit .... that kinda selfishness



But Cassian liking her will probably MAKE me like her more *god i hope so cuz he deserves the best* I just sick of Nesta's unrelenting nastiness while also hoping she resolves her trauma and that Cassian finds the happiness he deserves

Wish list
It’d be kinda cool to find out that she was doing something —sacrificing— to help the family that Freyre never knew back when they were humans behind the wall

She just needs SOME redeeming quality for all the times she constantly bitching and lashing out at everyone. Some reason for why the whole Cassian ignoring thing and treating her sis Feyre like dirt *shaking my fucking head* Also generally she way 2 protective and angry towards people for there not to be some sorta backstory or event behind it hahah

Cover: ehhh I not really a fan of this style... also don’t think it really suited for Cassian with the hardcore Autumn court theme and colors. This just seems like such a let-down and step-down compared to the artful creativity and beauty of Crescent City *frowny face*

But its Maas so of courseeeee imma read it *duhhhh*

[Ana · Rating 1 out of 5]

EDIT: this kind of blew up so I just wanted to say that if you're one of those people writing essays in the comment section to try to change my mind: I don't care lol 😭 good for you for being passionate about something but I'm not here to read a think piece on why you disagree, stream red velvet tho x

The following will contain major spoilers.
Nobody is surprised. I knew absolutely nothing would make this book good, save SJM deciding not to write it altogether.
Now, I have to make it clear upfront: I love Nesta. I really resonate with the way that she deals with her own emotions and is consequently treated by the people around her. That being said, I loathe SJM’s books. I only begrudgingly pushed through this for Nesta, and even that wasn’t worth it. Nothing could have made this worth it.
I’m not here to give a criticism of the plot or politics, because I’m sure nobody cares (I don’t). I’m also not here to judge the sex aspect of this book, although I know many people have chosen to critique that. Instead, I’d like to cover the three cardinal sins this book committed: respect, rebirth, and rhysand.

Respect
ACOSF starts off with our heroine using drinking and sex as her coping mechanism. The third book in the ACOTAR trilogy left our main characters, especially Nesta, heavily traumatized. She witnessed her good-for-nothing father come back after he did nothing for her or her sisters as children and try to fight Hybern. She watches as he dies in front of her. She watches as thousands of Illyrian soldiers die. She watches as Cassian is nearly killed multiple times in front of her. She’s underweight, depressed, has PTSD, and gets shit all because of it.
No, in fact, she’s punished for it.
The straw that broke the camels back is the fact that she spent 500 gold on beer and gambling. Now, the problem isn’t that she drank or gambled. It’s that she used this money-which is HILARIOUS considering that Rhysand owns five houses and pays each Inner circle member a salary that is so grotesquely huge it’s described in previous books as being more than they’ll ever need in their lifetimes. Rhysand is even completely fine with the fact that Velaris is full of so-called “slums” but oh, no, NESTA can’t be living in one! It’s fine if poor people exist, she’s just not allowed to be one of them because it’s “embarrassing” to them. Obviously, they cut her off completely, DESTROYED the entire neighborhood she lived in (has anyone wondered what the fuck happened to the other people living there lmao? are they just homeless now?), and ship her off to a sexist, homophobic war camp with the one person she doesn’t want to be around because being depressed is just /such/ a sin.
She is repeatedly berated by every member in the court. Some lovely examples:
>Cassian tells her that everyone “fucking hates (her)” and later makes this out to be “oh, I just said that but I didn’t really mean it.”
>During one of their sex scenes she asks him if his friends won’t be angry with him for sleeping with her because she’s so aware of the fact that they hate her.
>“Perhaps you can find it in yourself to try a little harder this year.”
>He jokes that she might order him to kill himself, and she asks him if he really thinks she’s capable of that. Because this entire time they’ve made her feel like she is a monster.
>Mor tells her that she “never deserved the benefit of the doubt that good people like (Cassian) give her” and also says that she should be thrown into the court of nightmares. For anyone unaware, the court of nightmares is where her homophobic and abusive family is.
>Amren constantly makes fun of her appearance and berates her for having sex. She tells her she looks awful at every opportunity, and always chalks it up to be because she sleeps around and drinks too much.
>Rhysand gets his own section for abhorrent comments.
There is no end to it. Every chapter brought a character insulting her for just existing. Her weight problems are described fucking atrociously. The first time Cassian even sees her in the book he comments on how she’s “skin and bones” but guys, he still wants to tap that. Every time her weight is mentioned is either to insult her for starving herself because, need I remind you, she’s DEPRESSED, or it’s for Cassian to point out while he talks about how hot she is.
All of this. All 768 pages of insult after insult after humiliation and pointless paragraphs for Nesta to apologize to them. Because it’s /her/ fault she’s depressed. It’s /her/ fault she has PTSD. It’s /her/ fault and she needs to change for everyone else. Because everyone forced her to leave against her will because they loved her, something they make sure to remind her of every single damn chapter. Nesta is disrespected by everyone throughout the entire book and is rewarded for it by being the one who must respect them instead.

Rebirth
You have no idea how excited I was back when I was an ACOTAR fan and Nesta was rebirthed as a High Fae and got her powers from the cauldron. It was like watching someone so similar to me-someone who was mean, and opinionated, and bold hold all the power in the world. I wanted to see how SJM would write her journey of becoming physically and mentally strong-of mastering her powers.
We see glimpses of it. How her eyes shine with fire. How she sears the stairs she walks on with a single finger. The light emanating from her. The way she is single-handedly more powerful than Rhysand, who was said to be the strongest High Lord. It was incredible.
And then she gave it all up.
That’s it. Journey’s over. She gave up all of the power she had, but not before using it to mutate her pelvis so that she would be able to birth an Illyrian baby without dying.
Yeah. That’s all.

Rhysand
I have never met a character whom I loathe more than Rhysand. Perfect, feminist king Rhysand who loves giving women a choice so long as they pick the one he wants them to. He’s the most worthless, pathetic, egomaniac asshole I’ve ever read about. His name is mentioned 791 times, which is 791 times too many.
It’s made very clear from the get-go that he hates Nesta. He’s aggressive toward her in a way that makes me want to strangle him every time he speaks. Every comment toward her or about her is an ill-intended remark.
Nesta makes what he knows of him clear early on: “Any offering Rhysand threw her way was solely out of love for Feyre.”
Wait for it, things are about to get comedic.
When Nesta finds out about Feyre’s pregnancy, Rhysand looks at her threateningly, because of course he thinks she’s a danger to his kid. It says, “Rhysand was not only male, but a Fae male, and he would eliminate any threats to his mate and child.”
Here comes the funny part—
Absolutely hilarious to me that Rhysand wants to be the white vanilla king who loves women (and is definitely not misogynistic) and his wife SO MUCH that he hid from her the fact that her giving birth could potentially kill her.
Oh yeah!
Because wanting to protect your mate (gag) involves lying to her about her own body and child. He strictly forbids anyone tells her about it, so, naturally, Nesta tells her.
Now, I’m not going to sit here and pretend like she had good intentions. She was just doing it to be an ass. But at least she told the god damn woman that the kid inside of her was going to KILL HER! And then, Feminist king Rhysand declared, and-I-quote, “Get Nesta out of this city. Right now. Before I fucking kill her.”
Round of applause for our cracker saltine lord ruler Rhyse Hall, everybody.
I have no other words. No words for how every single time Nesta dared to stand up to the awful way she was treated by him Cassian would get angry at her. As if Rhys was some infallible God who could do no wrong and must never be criticized. No matter how large his wrongdoing was, it was always her fault. Always her who was the problem.
I just feel like...I don't know. I like Cassian, or I did, at least. I think that a good love interest should both support the heroine and call her out when she's being a dick, but relentlessly siding against her is just so ??? What's even the point? His entire family hates her guts, and he doesn't do much to make her think otherwise or to comfort her about it. He definitely doesn't act like he doesn't share some of their views. I don't see how a male lead placing his family over his girl could be very romantic?

Concluding thoughts and my 13th reason
This is the worst book Sarah J Maas has ever written, and that’s saying a lot. From her worthless white feminism to the complete and utter mind-numbing torture I had to face through this Bible-length tome, I could not have thought of a worse thing to read. It’s sad because I truly love Nesta Archeron so much, but this book made it evident that Sarah Janet hates her and wants to give her the worst story ever. Also, Feysand baby had a stupid name. Sorry

EDIT:
frequently asked questions so that you can stop asking them:

Why would you read something you know you'll hate?
It's a free country! Why did you read this entire review if you knew you would hate it? (Yes, I /am/ a miserable person. I enjoy writing hate reviews. I think it's funny)
It's a fiction book, it doesn't need to be realistic.
By mistreating mental illness and eating disorders in fiction you perpetuate the idea in real life. The thing is, writing about something is not an endorsement, but neither is it a condemnation. SJM could have written about these situations in a way that was respectful, but, at least in my opinion, she completely missed the mark. I'm not saying she shouldn't have written about Nesta's mental health and weight issues. I'm saying that the way she wrote about them made it seem like they were just...her fault? Do you know what I mean? Like, as someone who has received comments about my weight many times, I felt deeply uncomfortable by how people treated her.
If that's what you think then what do you think about... (enter character/ship I didn't mention)?
I like Gwen? I don't have any further thoughts.
Do you think having mental illness excuses someone to be a bad person?
Mental illness is an explanation, not an excuse. It /explains/ why Nesta wants to be left alone. It /explains/ why she has a hard time being around anyone in the Inner Circle. It /explains/ her complicated feelings toward them. Nesta was already a mean person before this book—the actual question is whether or not any of her rude behavior needs to be excused in the first place. And that's for you to think on. Personally, I don't care.
What Red Velvet song?
All of them!

[✩ Yaz ✩ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It feels like coming home after a long journey.
That is precisely what I feel whenever I read a Sarah J Maas book. While Throne of Glass is my favorite series but ACOTAR is special to me. It helped me during one of the most difficult periods of my life and in particular, ACOMAF.

I have no words to describe the beautiful familiarity of returning to a world you know you have always missed.

I swear I could almost feel the gentle breeze of Velaris caressing me, welcoming me back while knowing that the story will start from a very dark place.

Because this is Nesta's story.

In the beginning
And in the end
There was Darkness
And nothing more.

I will be writing two sections of the review soon:
• a non-spoiler section that will come first
• a spoiler section because I DO need to highlight some points.




---------- Non-spoiler review ----------


Nesta's healing journey was not a smooth one. I did not expect it to be. She clawed her way out of the the darkness that engulfed her ever since she had turned into a Fae.

For her to heal, Nesta had to rip her soul apart to find her self again.

I will tell you that I disliked Nesta so much in the ACOTAR books, I just kept a tight hold on the grudge against her.

But Nesta is not a person that was meant to be liked. She is vicious and her sharpest weapon has always been her tongue. She could inflict a wound so deep with a mere word. But I came to realize Nesta is the most "human" character among all of them. Humanity does not equal good morals necessarily, Nesta is heavily flawed and her flaws are what makes her human.

She is guilt-ridden to the point she allows her guilt to rot within her, poisoning most of the traits that makes her a good person. She carries such a deep disdain towards herself that she acts on it and you often see it in the form of lashing words.

Why does she allow this to happen to her? Because she holds onto one belief:
She deserves it.

When I started seeing Nesta's soul more clearly after she began to tear it open, I felt my soul resonate with hers to the point that I cried.

She was a prisoner in her own head, reliving certain deaths and nightmares that she can no longer see the light in the world. She can no longer see the goodness in her.

It was powerful. It was raw. It was ugly.
It was devastatingly beautiful in a way.
That is what Nesta's healing looked like. She was such a damaged person inside that she gave up on the hope of healing herself.

Does that mean all is forgotten about Nesta's past behavior? About the fact that she hurt and wronged many people? That she at many moments was a horrid person?
The answer is No, and this is what makes Nesta's healing journey so impactful and emotional.

Her trauma after the Cauldron and the War wrapped its adamant chains around her. The devastating war still haunts her and pulls her back from that light at the end of the tunnel where her family await her, a family that are bent on believing that she chose to remain in the darkness.

No one was willing to go deep into the darkness to her and gift her a fragment of light that will guide her steps out.
No one was willing to go as far as to shatter those chains and spare her from that misery.
No one except for Cassian.

Nesta and Cassian's romance was maddening, passionate and wild.

They were feral with each other, they were mad for one another, they were perfect for each other. I expected no less of them.

Sarah J Maas was not kidding when she mentioned that this was the filthiest book she has written so far.

I was very impressed with her writing style, I really enjoy seeing an author's journey throughout the years and how much they grow. Of course, ACOSF comes with its own set of flaws and issues but it does not ruin the overall experience for me.

If it shredded my emotions, if it made me cry, if my heart felt attached to this world after turning the very last page. It deserves a 5-star rating from me regardless of the issues and flaws that I will highlight in the spoiler section.

Not to mention now that I adore Nesta, I adore the person she had become in the end and this is coming from a person that never liked her in the previous books.

A Court of Silver Flames is sexy, emotionally gripping and powerful.

WARNING
I will go into detail about the book in the other section of this review below which will contain MAJOR SPOILERS, so please this is a heads up for those that have not read the books to not continue further unless they are willing to be spoiled.



-------- MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD --------






Spoiler-review:

The following review will be summed up in points because this is the best way to sort my thoughts and make sure I left nothing out.

Yes people I am about to let it all out.

Also, this is my own experience and my opinion should not be treated as a fact. To each of us their own unique reading experiences. I do not want to ruin anyone's experience and I do not want someone to ruin mine.

So, let's get on with it!

* ACOSF's backbone was Nesta and her found family: Gwyn and Emerie. I adore their precious bond and the fact that they are badass female characters whom are also passionate readers of smutty romances. I love that Nesta found other friends outside the IC, they all found something in each other and helped one another heal.
* The House is my new favorite character.
* Unpopular opinion but I am glad to see Rhysand playing the High Lord role. Of course we'd find him to be more broody since we are no longer seeing him from Feyre's perspective, we are seeing him in his true element. I've noticed that a few readers said they didn't like Rhys in this book, well.. Rhysand isn't the epitome of perfection many make him out to be and I appreciate that because he is heavily flawed too and yes I do like Rhysand.
* My heart bursts with so much love for Cassian! He wasn't without flaws too but I finally saw the raw version of him.
* Although I was in no rush to see Feyre's pregnancy, yet it warmed my heart because Feyre deserves that kind of happiness after everything she went through. Of course I cried when she announced that she was pregnant I already suspected it early on.
* It's refreshing to see the Inner Circle from two other perspectives especially Nesta's and their treatment of her as if she was a hopeless case. Not saying that Nesta wasn't at fault here but they too are not cutting her some slack.
* I think in regards to the romance I have a few things I want to address: there were some romantic scenes that felt repetitive from ACOMAF + the intimate scenes were sometimes spicy in a good way and sometimes sloppy with weird descriptions.
* I loved seeing Nesta's growth because it was beautiful and ugly at the same time and you can easily notice the shifting points in her healing.
* I rolled my eyes at the Nessian mating bond, sorry everyone. I let it slip because I grew fond of them both but I do not want the romance to always be attached to some invisible bond. It's supposed to be rare we already had that with Rhys and Feyre.
* The plot did not feel stable, it felt like it went to so many different directions. I was kind of hoping there would be more politics and human queens involved but it's not like I wasn't happy to where it ended up.
* I was missing the open-conversation I was looking forward to between Nesta and the Inner Circle, both acknowledging their wrongs.
* The rare Red star blasting through the sky that rattled Rhys, freaked out Cassian and the Priesstesses is none other than Aelin!.
* Can we talk about the fact that Helion wanted to enter the Night Court in a Golden Chariot led by four white horses with manes of golden fire and Rhys was like no so he settled for a Pegasus still having the best entrance of any character in the book.
* the whole High King situation is a big No No. I love the dynamic of the Seasonal and Solar Courts and that what makes Prythian unique. Making Rhys a High King would ruin that and the fact that each Court is associated with its High Lord's power. I've had it with Rhys being the most powerful high lord in history so I do not need him to be upgraded to a High King especially not with using weapons that are the products of Nesta's power. That's giving Rhys way more power.
* The scene that hit me the most was when Nesta let it all out. I cried because I am familiar with that level of self-loath.
* I cried at the scene when Feyre was giving birth, it was intense and so emotional. Deep down I knew SJM wouldn't just end it here but it did not stop my heart from breaking.
* The aftermath was so precious.
* I do not mind that Nesta lost the power she took from the Cauldron. She will lead the Valkyries whom she revived with her two other friends. She will grow even stronger without relying on powerful magic that makes her a target of other enemies. Her power has been a heavy weight lifted off her shoulders, and she gave them away in the most emotional and beautiful way.
* Unpopular opinion: I have no issues with Azriel's POV because this is the first time we are exposed to his thoughts and he definitely was not OOC. Azriel is not some dark cinnamon roll, he is a deep inner turmoil. I find his notion of love and thoughts of Elain to be unhealthy. He has no experience with love besides the 500 year old unrequited love for Mor which brings me to ask... how come Az would get over Mor, his 500 year old crush just for Elain? They have not even spoken about their feelings. Anyhow, I do believe Azriel to be at a very dark place and it saddens me that many readers disliked him after this. Azriel has always kept to himself, he was never brought into the light, he does not know what love truly is. Having an Archeron sister does not guarantee the happiness his brothers found, this is a very wrong mindset.
* Yes, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Azriel needs a ray of sunshine kind of character and we find that in Gwyn. I think she is perfect for him and there is a reason SJM gave her the spotlight in his POV. Her name literally means happiness, blessing, white, fair while Az's is God is my help and Azrael the Angel of Death. Such a stark contrast, like yin and yang.
* I hope SJM won't use Gwyn, a SA survivor, as a plot-device for Elriel and then discard her that is too cruel.
* Yes, not all Illyrian brothers should end up with every Archeron sister so I'll be rooting for Azriel and Gwyn in the next book.
* Also, many people called Rhys a hypocrite for his actions with Azriel. No, what he did makes sense and he is pulling rank because this is how Rhys asserts his role as High Lord with a responsibility toward his court. Az ignored the Mor question, Az did not express his love or feelings towards Elain only his desire to have her and I'm pretty sure there would've been a different reaction from Rhys if Az told him that he genuinely loves her. With a baby on the way, Rhys won't risk any more conflicts that targets him and his family nor will he risk alliances with the other courts because of Azriel. How many times throughout the books did Rhys ask something of Azriel like to stop spying or not engage in a battle and he refuses until Rhys pulls the High Lord act on him and tells him that's it's an order, people forget how stubborn Azriel can be.
* I appreciate the fact that this book gave us a new perspective to the Inner Circle and their flaws. I still adore them.

I may add points later on, I'm not quite sure I covered everything but I hope I did.

Another note I would add is please be careful with posting spoilers in the comments. Try to be vague about it because it will still show on Goodreads feed to other readers that haven't read the book.

Remember that this is my own personal experience of the book and my own personal opinions that in no way invalidate your own, so please do not invalidate mine if you do not agree with it.

ACOMAF remains at the top but ACOSF managed to take over the second place, I will definitely be rereading it some time in the future.

This is the longest review I have written so far, so thank you for sticking around.

[areeba ✿ · Rating 1 out of 5]

✨hardcore fans need not engage. shoo !!✨

she drew up short. “i’m not afraid of anything.”

but you will be afraid of me when i start ranting.

now, on to the point—which is this book. oh, this book. this has been one of the worst experiences of my life. i'm salty and i need a refund of my expectations.

let me make something clear: this book actually made me realize that i used to like the original trilogy a lot. but sjm ruined every. single. thing. she ruined everything good about those precious, loveable books and characters. so now i just hate everyone 😊

now, what are the actual good things in this book, you may ask? anything that is not Cassian, Nesta, Mor, Amren, Feyre, Rhysand
• lucien
• azriel
• he said feyre darling and she told him no goodbyes rhys
• the end

things this book has include:
• cringey talk
• nesta and cassian (what's their ship name?) scaring me to death
• redundant writing
• nesta's inner fire
• cassian's cock rubbing against the seam of his pants every two pages (literally, i'm not even joking)
• sex
• mate
• everyone looking at nesta and falling to their knees (hulk smash)
• everyone looking at nesta and saying mother save you (i will gouge my eyes out if i have to read "mother save you" ever again)
• nesta getting a new superpower every 50 pages. i mean it. and then losing all those powers wtf what was the point i mean
• nesta and cassian being oh so pretty
• a lot of boring girl talk
• cassian and nesta doing it everywhere
• another chapter of us finding out feysand banging in another position
• some boring side characters
• an absolutely boring plotline (non-existent is a better word)
• and as soon as things between nesta and cassian are resolved, the plot was dissolved into thin air

basically, this book sucked. badly. i wanted to crawl into a freaking hole and die. and the similarities i can draw between this book and acomaf (but let's be real acomaf is superior with a really good plotline, an actual love letter for people to heal, good chemistry, excellent characters and with an amazing ending).


firstly – nesta’s character, her journey, and cassian

nesta. ugh. she did nothing, nothing, while feyre provided for them — and still she blamed every single person around her. she was mad that feyre found a new family, but basically nesta spent all of their human life pushing feyre out of the picture. i get that some people protect themselves with anger, but to me nesta just felt so selfish.

and before anyone comes at me and starts bashing me for not understanding certain characters, let me just say this: we’re not supposed to understand every character 😭😭😭 when we meet people in real life, not everyone resonates with every single person or likes them. so if someone resonates with nesta in a way i don’t understand, then good for them.

but i also feel like so many people who resonate with nesta's character are older children and as the feyre of my house (youngest child) it fucking hurts my heart every time i think about how nesta was at the start of acotar. y’all will never understand the strength it must've taken on feyre's side to forgive nesta for all the shit she pulled on her. moreover, your trauma cannot excuse your toxic behaviour. i don't dislike her "personality". i dislike her toxic traits.

and her pov was so boring. is this character growth? :’) i didn’t like her before, but maybe i could’ve understood her if her journey had been written in a better way. but the thing is — nothing happens in terms of character growth in the entirety of the book. we were at the 600+ page mark and still nesta didn’t change one bit. all her character growth came out of the blue in the last 100 pages which just felt like the dumbest, most miserable attempt at making her seem better (it failed btw).

again, i don’t blame nesta for her personality or struggles. my problem is with how the story made her toxic traits stick around way too long without meaningful change. i wish her character was handled with more nuance and a proper resolution, instead of just throwing in a last-minute ‘redemption’ that didn’t convince me.

(saying this for the insane ahh fans in my comments for the 100th time: this isn’t me bashing nesta for her personality, it’s me saying her arc was written so poorly that it didn’t land at all.)

also she literally said cassian tastes like crackling embers?? c r a c k l i n g e m b e r s. and then fire roared in her blood and there was an extremely cringey makeout scene after that. oh, the sex scenes were so cringey, i skipped them whole 😌✊

and just to show her powers, we are constantly told that:

• amren shivered (ohhh scary)
• her power … is death herself (dramatic much?)
• rhysand’s face grew white (eye roll)
• mother save you all (okay but pls shut up with that line)

that was so cringe pls. at this point, i am begging sjm on my knees to stop making every single person in her world the epitome of power.



and then there’s cassian. i used to like cassian, i liked his jokes and attitude.

but sjm turned him from an interesting character into a sex addict. he makes such stupid jokes the entirety of the book, and there is a single thought in his head: his cock. 👏👏👏 idk why people even like him in this book. i was so sick of reading every two minutes that he wants to bang nesta and wants her sucking and fucking and slurping his dick. bestie pls, we get it, now move on, think about something else.

my good sir, you are a general of an army of the biggest court in prythian. do you seriously not have anything else to do?




secondly – the plot that never was:

their world used to be so interesting to me and i don’t gaf what anyone else says, the entire concept of courts and worlds and gahh i loved it and i wanted to know more about it.

but instead of discovering more about this world, we spend 700 pages reading nessian fucking each other in every position instead of discovering more about this world. i wish the plot was given the attention it needed but sadly — it wasn’t. this is in no way a fantasy, even labeling it as such is an atrocity. nothing happens in terms of plot.


thirdly – rhysand and the inner circle

and then there's the elephant in the room. rhysand. i cannot for the life of me believe this is the same person from the previous books. if a man treated me the way rhysand treated the women around him in this book, i would eat him alive. and this is a major statement coming from me since i loved rhysand to the point of pasting his face all over my house and i spent all my teenage years worshipping on his shrine.

sjm gave his character a 180 degree turn from the man we all met and fell in love with in acomaf. is this the same man who helped feyre heal in acomaf? you’re actually telling me that rhysand would do this to feyre? do y’all remember chapter 54 of acomaf? do y’all remember all the things he did for her? how in seven hells is this the same person?



i will never in a million lifetimes forgive sjm for destroying one of my favourite characters. a character i genuinely loved, a character i cried over, a character i trusted — now forever destroyed. rip rhysand.

and this isn't just the problem with rhysand. sjm made the entire inner circle go from people who suffered and were full of empathy for others to these immature childish bastards whose sole purpose is to somehow berate nesta. i hate the entire circle now i can’t even talk about them without losing my mind a little because where did those characters go? they acted so so shitty towards nesta and even if I don’t like her, in no way does anyone deserve that type of behaviour. especially when you consider the amount of bullshit all of these characters have pulled in their past, like this “family” forgave rhysand for everything but nesta is unbearable now? okay.


conclusion:

i've said it before, i'll say it again. mass is not a bad writer. i love her tog series with everything in me (her superior series btw). she's good when she wants to be and i just wish she bothered writing acosf and writing nesta’s character and her journey in a better way.

you can't argue with the fact that nesta is a pretty toxic character whose redeeming qualities came at about page 600+ after doing inexcusable shit the entirety of the book. and then there's the matter of everyone around her being so horribly disgusting, i don't even know who i dislike more.

what this world needs is for these 500-year-old hooligans (who haven’t learnt a single thing in their entire millennia of living) to step aside and let me rule the night court (i’d be a better leader than any of them anyway) with azriel by my side.

let's just hope the next book is a huge ahh book about azriel because no one deserves it more 😭 pls sjm give him the book he deserves.

-----------------------------------

that cover is 2020 in the flesh

[Yumiko · Rating 1 out of 5]

*This review contains no spoilers.*

(very scared and had to edit my review after i pressed control + f and saw how many times i used the word "fuck"). i have grammatically de-fucked this review. enjoy.)


Ranting and Raving
Let's get one thing clear: I am a hard core SJM fan. I have read and loved every book this woman has ever written. But can I be real a second? This book was shit, and I hated everything.


Characters
I hated every single person in this book. Well, except Azriel (he can have me any day). But everyone else can die.

I don't understand how you can make a fantastic, wonderful trilogy about love, friendship, healing, and everything beautiful in this world, and then come out with a disgusting, trashy, smutty "romance" that has absolutely no plot, shitty character growth, and an overall shitty book. Not to mention the cover. What is that, anyway??? An orange mask? A tiger?


SJM took her perfectly developed characters and pretty much just let them rot. From the first three books, I loved every single person. Everyone. Now I hate Feyre. I hate Rhysand. I hate Cassian. I hate Amren. I hate Mor. For ** sake, I despise Elain. Why is she a character? Why does she exist? What does she add to the book? What role does she play, other than to collect people’s sympathy and make them feel sorry for her? I’m sorry (not), but Elain is a ** idiot. I cannot STAND this hoe. Sarah, please write her death. I can't deal with her constant whining and bitching, running to Rhys and Cassian and telling them she wants to go back to the human world, just because of Nasty Nesta. Elain, you've been living with your sister your entire life, and you choose now to complain about how much of a bitch she is? Where were you the past eighteen years? Please, sweetie, grow a spine.


I loved Feyre and Rhys so much (note *past tense*). I would've done anything for them. Now I despise them with every atom in my body. The entire book is just them fucking, and Rhys bragging to Cassian that they’re fucking. And now Feyre and Rhys have a child and now my life is over. I hated this book. I hated everything. No way I've already mentioned that.


On to the next bitch of the month: Cassian. Why the ** do I hate Cassian now (who I ADORED in ACOTAR)? For a simple question, there's an equally simple answer. Mostly because Cassian doesn't know how to keep his ((())) in his pants, and all he can think about is Nesta sUcKinG it and fUckInG it and doing whatever kinky shit they did that I can't even mention with a straight face. I hate you, Cassian. I hate you. Get me characters whose lives don't revolve around their OTP and who think about things other than fucking, bucking and yucking the love of their life. Which—not to mention—Cassian and Nesta don't even seem to love each other. It's all about the rElEaSe for them, because apparently, these fictional bitches have so much sexual tension that they can't help rubbing up on each other every twenty ** pages. Bye. Every one of you nasty lil bitches disgust me.


Wait, you're still not done talking about the shitty characters? No bitch I'm really not, because I'm so angry at how many trees died for this pathetic book.


The next shitty character I’ll be talking about is none other than Amren the hoe and Mor the bird. I honestly feel a little bad talking shit about them just because I adored them so much in the trilogy, but this shit has got to be talked about!


Heads-up to all those authors out there: when you are describing a character and how pOwErFuL they are, please. please. please do not get other powerful characters to "shiver" or "pale" when they are around the character you want to MAKE powerful. It is the cringiest thing I have ever read in my life. It’s so painful. Come up with some unique way to describe their power and make readers admire them, NOT get powerful characters like Amren to "shiver" and Rhys to "pale" when they are around Nesta. I don't necessarily hate Mor and Amren, but they’ve become so ** irrelevant in the fourth book that there's really no point talking about them anymore.


Character Arc
The character growth in this book actually made me laugh. It was so minimal that it was astonishing. It was just Nesta apologizing to everyone because she realized everyone ** hated her guts and she had no one to go to. How can apologies possibly show character growth? I agree, Nesta's bitchy behavior throughout the book was inexcusable. However, that was why I liked her. It would've been better if she continued being the bitchy little shit she was, but rushing her character growth towards the last 100 pages is stupid and inexcusable and straight up lazy, and it was a complete waste of my time.


Love Interest
Now let's get into why the ** I hate Rhysand's guts. Mind you, I used to love this hoe. I would’ve died for him. Now? I’m just glad I was never faced with that decision. If I was in Prythian, I would rather breathe raid smoke than the same air as him.


First, Rhys is the only form of character growth in this entire book. I'm sorry, did I say character growth? I meant character depletion. Rhysand has accomplished it, y'all. He has accomplished his Unbecoming. Where was that sweet, kind, playful man that helped heal Feyre and helped her and everyone around him? Where the ** did he go, because I sure couldn't find him.


Throughout the book he also brags to Cassian about fucking Feyre nonstop. You have sentences like:


"'Feyre initiated this round.' Cassian could hear the pure male satisfaction in Rhys' voice as he said it."
"I dismissed the maids bc I don't want them hearing what we're up to."
Cassian, laughing: "Give the poor female a break"
Rhysand: "We're taking a break. For now." (Did this bitch really just say for now?)


But really though, why the FUCK is this necessary? Does Sarah J. Maas think it's attractive for a male to talk about his partner like that? What has she done to perfectly amazing characters? I am confusion? And disappointment? Now he is an egotistical jerk, a typical overprotective alpha male (*coughs* did someone say Rowan? - I despised him in EoS), and a ** shitty ass friend.


I wouldn't go so far to say that ACOTAR was one of my favorite fantasy series ever, but it was definitely up there. Now, it is down there. I don't ever want to read about these thirsty whores ever again.


Plot
Hold up, there was a ** plot? Unfortunately, there was nothing in this book resembling anything of the sort. There was no plot whatsoever, to the point that there weren't even any plot holes. In order to have plot holes, you must have some semblance of a plot. I was just waiting for some crazy SJM shit to go down, for her to pull some astonishing bullshit on us, for some hoe to declare war on another hoe. But then the book just ended. And I was confused. I didn't understand. I thought someone had ripped the last 200 pages from the back of my book. Alas, it was not my book's fault. It was the author's.


Additional Points
I woke up at 9:38 AM to write this hateful review because the hate is overwhelming. I wanted to die reading this. Nesta is oh-so-powerful because her power is "pure death," as Rhys puts it. I couldn't stand this. The only person that was tolerable in the slightest was Azriel, who I would probably marry. But everyone else in this book has turned shitty and disgusting. The other character who I sort of like is Nesta, who everyone says is a selfish bitch, but that's really the only reason why I like(d) her.


I was going to reread ACOMAF and the rest of that damn series before I started this book, but now I can't even bring myself to, because then I'll just end up remembering the utter failure that was ACOSF. I'm not putting up with these characters anymore. Y'all can all die and I would laugh. Which is certainly a surprise, since I balled my eyes out when I thought Rhys was dead in ACOWAR. Now I myself would brandish the knife on him. I’d gladly throw him in that ** cauldron while cackling and sit there watching that bitch burn (that sounds really evil and i should delete this sentence but i won’t because i’m feeling resentful and bitter)


Overall, i you're looking for a book with some steamy, smutty romance, then by all means, this might end up being your favorite book! But for those of us who have brains and who are sensible human beings and actually like content in a book, with likable characters, a plot driven story ... go home. Get your money back. Don't even get yourself hype for this book. I walked down that path, and honestly, there is no going back.


And trust me, I know how popular SJM is. I can't scroll through the GR homepage without seeing some unsuspecting victim starting ACOSF. People probably won't stop talking about it for the next few months, which is unfortunate, because it's trash. I genuinely feel like this dumb shit is overshadowing some really top-tier books, so I'm going to redirect y'all to my favorite series of all time, An Ember in the Ashes. Read all four books, it'll do you some good, especially after shit like ACOSF fucks with your sanity. AEITA will put this trashy, slutty book to shameful tears.

-1,000 stars

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[llana · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 STAR.

Nesta Acheron is the only interesting character that SJM has ever managed to write and yet she was treated like complete and utter shit throughout this whole book.

THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE STORY BUT INSTEAD A DISCUSSION OF SJM’S HORRIBLE “FEMINISM” AND HOW SHE DID NESTA ARCHERON DIRTY.

SPOILERS BELOW.

I knew before even starting this book that I would dislike the journey that SJM had obviously planned for Nesta but I elected to power through because I genuinely liked Nesta’s character and she resonated with me on a personal level. I shouldn’t have.

Within the first few chapters of this book, I was already infuriated beyond belief. Not even 20 pages into the damned thing and we have Cassian, who is worried about thin and unhealthy Nesta has gotten when he suddenly goes off on a mental tangent about her “magnificent breasts”. What the fuck? Unfortunately for us all, this is not even the worst thing to happen to Nesta in the first chapter. We are immediately greeted with Nesta being furiously slut-shamed by her once-friend Amren and our captain feminist Rhysand agrees.
“ “Though I bet it’s hard to look good,” Amren went on, “when you’re out until the darkest hours of the night, drinking yourself stupid and fucking anything that comes your way.” … Rhys seemed inclined to agree with Amren. “
It seems Rhysand, who is famous for always LETTING women have a choice, does not agree when it comes to women he doesn’t like. Furthermore, Amren’s blatant slut-shaming is brushed off;
“ - did Nesta notice the faint glimmer of worry in Amren’s smoky eyes-understand how rare it was? ”
Who literally gives a shit. I don’t care if this is the first time Amren has ever been concerned for someone, you don’t say that type of shit to your supposed friend.

Poor Nesta is then evicted from her home and ordered into doing what Feyre and Captain Feminist Rhysand want or she will be forced into the human world where she has no place and would be shunned. Some sister, huh? Not only this but Feyre and Rhysand take it upon themselves to tear down a whole block of APARTMENTS where PEOPLE LIVE just because they don’t like that Nesta stays there. SJM has not even tried to stop her privilege from seeping through her characters and if I didn’t already loathe Rhysand I would most definitely be leading the mob to his door at this point. And so Nesta is forced to obey Mr “You always have a choice” Rhysand and attend training with Cassian.

We’ll skip a few chapters; Cassian whines and lusts and does a remarkable performance as a “Nice Guy” tm until Nesta insults his precious perfect High Lord and he tells that her everybody hates her. Everybody. Now, it’s remarkably obvious to even the characters in this god forsaken story that Nesta has been struggling after the war (after all it was the supposed reason they sent her away) and yet dear old Cassian gets upset that Nesta doesn’t like his bitch of a High Lord and tells her that everyone hates her. Everyone, you can assume, includes her sisters and himself. This gets resolved in typical SJM style with a “I didn’t mean it, I was angry” apology that is literally faker than me in my online lectures.

We move on to some sort of conflict and Rhysand and Co. decide to “ask” Nesta to do something incredibly dangerous, the last time she had done it resulted in the capture of her younger sister Elain. Of course, Nesta doesn’t exactly want to do that and so our quirky inner circle quickly remind her that her aforementioned sister can do instead. The sister that Nesta would die to protect, that one? Yeah. And so, our lovely little Nesta is once more forced into doing what President Feminist wants because her only other option is to sacrifice her sister’s safety. But yeah, you always have a choice, right?

Speaking of choices… time for the big one.

It’s revealed to us that our darling couple Feysand are with child, cue cheers! Except, the baby has wings and giving birth to him will probably kill Feyre. Rhysand obviously goes around and makes everyone swear not to tell Feyre for… reasons? Captain Choice not telling his wife, mate whatever, that the child she’s carrying will pretty much kill her? Feminism.

Now, this stays a secret for a while until Nesta finds out that the glamorous Inner Circle have been discussing her and taking votes on what is or isn’t essential for her to know about her own powers. So, Nesta’s pissed (as she very well should be) and has a confrontation that leads to her telling Feyre the truth about her little fae baby. Shock horror, Rhysand isn’t pleased. In fact, I believe his exact words were:
“Get Nesta out of this city. Right now … Before I fucking kill her.”
Charmer.

Sure, Nesta only told Feyre the truth because she was angry and wanted to hurt her, but I hardly think Nesta is the villain in this situation. Yet she’s treated like one by everyone except Feyre (this is perhaps the only time Feyre has shown some sense). Not only that, Rhysand literally threatens to kill her. When I tell you, I had to put this book down because I was SO INFURIATED, I could barely breathe. If a man ever did that shit to me, he’d be dead in a ditch. But unsurprisingly, SJM pins the blame on Nesta.

When I tell you, I could rant about SJM’s purported “feminism” for hours I am not lying. This review could go on for another 20 pages if I wanted to. However, spending that much energy on SJM would be a new low, even for me. So, a wrap-up.

A Court of Silver Flames is potentially the worst book I have ever read, especially in terms of character development. We start with Nesta, traumatised and lashing out, and what do we finish with? A Nesta who had to go and beg for everyone’s forgiveness and nobody, not once, apologised to her despite everything I’ve just discussed. I think maybe Feyre apologised once and Rhysand buys her dresses at the end like … are you SHITTING me?!

Throughout this story, Nesta finds her own little group of friends and this is probably the only good thing about this stupid fucking book. Nesta’s friendship with two other women was surprisingly heart-warming at times and perhaps the only thing SJM did not screw up completely.
This book was a complete and utter fucking monstrosity and I sincerely hope SJM never writes another book again.
Fuck you,
Allana

[Natalie Monroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

“So Nesta had become a wolf. Armed herself with invisible teeth and claws, and learned to strike faster, deeper, more lethally. Had relished it. But when the time came to put away the wolf, she'd found it had devoured her too.”

I am irrationally annoyed by how much I enjoyed this. I read the reviews and was prepared to snicker my way through the purring, the ridiculous sex scenes, and constant assertions of "my mate." However *sigh* this series just does something to my cold cynical heart. I laugh at it, but I am incapable of hating it.



So take my hand, lovelies. Let us venture into my detailed thoughts, which I have thoughtfully assembled into a list with no discernible pattern or theme:

-Nesta is so bitchy sometimes. I get that it's complex and there's a certain feminism in portraying someone like her as a protagonist instead of a villain, but jeez, girl. Learn some basic manners. I occasionally wonder if SJM went too far in making Nesta the selfish stepsister in ACOTAR. It's hard to shake off that image. She does attempt to justify it in this book by explaining that Nesta was angry at her father for giving up and not providing for his daughters. Nesta was ready to let them all starve to prove a point

-Rhys says to Nesta, “Of course you have a choice. You always have a choice here,” like he didn’t force Nesta out of her flat, force her to live in one of his residences where she can't leave, force her to train with Cassian, force her to work at the library, etc. Surely there are better ways to stage an intervention. I know they did it out of love, but Tamlin did what he did out of love, too

-Speaking of, everyone hates Tamlin because he gave Nesta and Elain to the King of Hybern (which he did to save Feyre), but when Rhys threatens to kill Nesta if she hurts Feyre, that’s somehow okay. Nesta literally had to flee for her life after telling Feyre the truth about her pregnancy

-Rhys and Feyre are supposedly equals, but he refuses to tell Feyre about the dangers of her pregnancy. Nesta is portrayed as the bad guy for telling her sister the truth

-Can we stop worshiping Rhys now? Please?



-I like that Nesta asks Cassian how he likes his blowjob. It normalizes communication during sex

-SJM is too lazy to think of actual names for magical places and items. Under The Mountain sounds ominous if you think about it, but then there’s the Harp, the Mask, and the Crown

-I really liked Nesta's character arc: her struggle with trauma and depression, her cold rage at her father for refusing to provide for them and the steel pride that prevents her for apologizing to Feyre for her past behavior, the self-loathing and insecurity, the female solidarity with other victims of sexual assault and misogyny. On that last note, I've never understood why Nesta and Elain were so upset with being being transformed into beautiful, powerful High Fae back during ACOWAR. SJM explains it more by linking the violent act of being forced inside the Cauldron and changed against her will with rape/sexual assault.

-While I adore the themes mentioned above, SJM writes the same arc over and over. All of her female protagonists (Aelin, Feyre, that girl from House of Earth and Blood) wrestle with crippling depression at some point. She recycles plots and characters and writing phrases. Gets pretty old

-The ending is thematically confusing. Nesta and her friends are thrown into the Illyrian Rite of Passage thing, which has traditionally forbidden female warriors because sexism. They get through it together without magic, symbolically smashing the patriarchy. This ties in with all the themes ACOSF has been pushing.

Feyre's childbirth near the end is where it gets confusing. Both Feyre and her kid die, but Nesta saves them by stopping time and bargaining with Death (or the Cauldron, can't remember). She alters the shape of Feyre's pelvis so a kid with wings can pass through and transforms hers as well for her far-off future kid with Cassian. In exchange, Nesta gives up some of the power she took from the Cauldron, but gets to keep a little because God forbid a SJM character is anything less than overpowered.

Thematically, the childbirth scene doesn't make sense in terms of the book's overall plot. What is the implication? That women have to sacrifice power in order to have kids? That doesn't fit the whole feminist angle.

Maybe the scene can be interpreted as Nesta finally repairing her bond with Feyre? ASOSF has seen Nesta feeling disconnected from her family (guilt over her dead father, anger towards Elaine for supposedly turning her back on her, both rage and guilt regarding Feyre). Here, Nesta is restoring family by saving her sister and nephew's lives. She communes with the Mother, the harbringer of life. It contrasts her power of death, which is connected to her feelings of rage and desolation. Nesta believes she is too prickly to love, but through her hand (and better mental health), life blooms.

That's a better interpretation than SJM had a baby in real life and wanted to work in motherhood somewhere. Also, Feyre has been resurrected twice now. Another three stamps and you get a free ice cream scoop at Scoops Ahoy!



My review of A Court of Thorns & Roses
My review of A Court of Mist & Fury
My review of A Court of Wings and Ruin
My review of A Court of Frost and Starlight

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I read this 757-page novel in one day?
Yes.
Do I have any regrets?
No.

This was my most anticipated book of the year, which is shocking.

It's no secret that I don't like this series. ACOMAF and ACOWAR had basically no plot. Rhys and Feyre are annoying to me because they are perfect and have no flaws and that's boring. I literally could not care less about any of the other characters besides Nesta, Cassian, and Azriel. SJM also uses repetitive language, and I swear she gets paid per ellipsis. There are many things I don't like about these books. But dang it, are they entertaining! And I would be lying if I didn't say that I shipped Cassian and Nesta like I never have anyone before!

I was so ready for this ship to sail. And now that it has, I gotta say, I'm disappointed. I wanted more. I can't even tell you what I wanted more of. I just wanted more of it. I think I hyped this up in my mind so much that there was no way it could ever live up to it. I wasn't consumed by the romance the way I wanted to be. I wanted an epic love story and I didn't get one. The whole romance felt 'meh' to me, which sucks since it's the main reason I read this book. I wanted the angst, the longing, the pining, the yearning! You romance readers know what I'm talking about. Instead, I got a lot of sex scenes. And while I don't mind it, I wanted more romance than sex. It didn't live up to my expectations.

I also liked but didn't love the characters. I used to love Nesta, and while I liked her growth and seeing her overcome her trauma, she didn't feel like the Nesta I liked so much in ACOWAR. Maybe it's just my disappointment, but she and Cassian felt off to me. Just slightly out of character when compared to what I'd seen before. Then again, people are different from different perspectives. Having seen it all before from Feyre's POV means that we got a biased, not necessarily accurate representation of who they are.  

That brings me to the fact that I actually liked the Inner Circle more in this book than before. I still don't love them and think they're all lowkey horrible in their own way, but I was more ok with them. Maybe because unlike Feyre, who saw them as perfect people who could do no wrong, Nesta isn't afraid to point out their flaws. Unfortunately, Cassian is blind to the fact that Rhys has flaws at all. It bothered me so much how angry and borderline violent he'd become whenever Nesta mentioned she didn't like Rhys. I also hated how Cassian was so unbothered when Rhys threatened to kill his mate. I kept waiting for Cass to stand up for Nesta in front of Rhys. It didn't happen. I don't know why everyone in this series insists on acting like Rhys is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

All of that said,  I did enjoy watching Nesta come into her own, and find happiness with her new friends. I also loved Nesta's relationship with the House. The House and Nesta is a friendship I didn't know I needed. By far the best relationship in the book.


!!!THE FOLLOWING IS A SPOILER!!!

I hate that Nesta had to lose her power. She was death incarnate and could wield insanely powerful objects as no one else could. Then it was taken away. It's like SJM didn't want her to be a match to the ever-perfect and powerful Rhys. Same with Amren in ACOWAR. Why can't powerful women stay powerful? Also, while I'm all for girl power, Nesta and her friends shouldn't have won the Blood Rite. How do girls who have been training for three months win against warriors that have been training for years? It makes no sense.

!!!SPOILER OVER!!!


Also, this had a weak plot. All of the books in this series do if I'm honest. It's definitely a character-focused novel. The plot feels distant from the story. It's worse because the plot of this is very obviously a setup to other novels. The villain in this story was irrelevant, they didn't even make an appearance until the end. It feels like the introductory book in a series, which I suppose it is, but I still didn't like it. This made the book feel longer than it was, and it was already pretty gosh darn long (not that it stopped me from reading it in one go).

Overall, this book was OK. Nothing more. Nothing less. I am still eagerly awaiting Azriel's book.

Also!! Apparently, Feyre doesn't suck at painting! Shocking right! This is the first time that her paintings were described in detail and people actually commented on their beauty rather than just vaguely acknowledging them. In my mind she still sucks though.


Ok, now I'm about to get controversial. Don't come for me, I don't have the energy for it.

Apparently, all the SJM haters have been bullying people for buying this book because it's not diverse enough? WTF.  If you don't want to read this book, don't. If you don't want to buy this book, don't. If you're mad because the author is writing the story she wants with the characters she wants, go read other books. It's truly that simple. Don't bully people for spending their money how they want and for reading what they want. As far as I know, Sarah J. Maas hasn't disrespected anyone in her books. Sure, her books are hella white. But if it bothers you, go read more diverse books. Don't be an asshole to people who want to read this. And don't be a hypocrite and tell people that you don't support the story but then say you're gonna pirate it because you're still interested in reading it. Read it or don't. That's all there is to it.
- Sincerely, a person of color who is entirely impartial toward SJM

[Warda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whilst ACOMAF will always remain elite, ACOSF is superior in my eyes.

Yeah, I said it. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Especially in terms of the mental health representation.
Especially in terms of character study and growth.

And the girls that get, absolutely fuckin’ get it!

Nesta’s arc was incredibly well done. I really fuckin’ like that she wasn’t likeable.

We get a lot of heroes that are as much of a dick as Nesta is. And they easily get a pass.

Well, I wanna see more dickish women in my stories.

This is a book that will always have value to me and it was far, far better the second time round.

It’s equally exhilarating and unnerving to see yourself so well represented within a character. Many things about Nesta made sense to me.

The negative self-talk, the toxic mentality, her viciousness and cold-hearted nature felt deeply relatable.

Her depression is relatable!

She had an armour of the biggest kind and it was impenetrable.

Nesta is a character that’s unique.
You have either experienced her in some capacity or you cannot relate and thus, do not understand.

Her pain was painted vividly, it was jarring.
There’s no saving someone that’s in the business to self-destruct and it was conveyed beautifully, albeit depressing to read.

At the same time, it felt healing to be surrounded by all of her.

I love Sarah J. Maas for writing this story. ♥️

CW: depression, suicidal ideation, sexual assault, loss of a parent, grief, parental abuse.


———————————————


🔥 ORIGINAL REVIEW 🔥

"So Nesta became a wolf. Armed herself with invisible teeth and claws, and learned to strike faster, deeper, more lethally. Had relished it. But when the time came to put away the wolf, she'd found it had devoured her, too."

Just out of respect for this book, I feel like I should be going through a mourning phase, sit with this story a little while longer and let it simmer, rather than trying to move on. I can't even begin to tell you how much of a therapeutic reading experience this was.
It had all the SJM trademarks, great friendships, great emphasis on found families, great character development, and even greater sex. Of course.

I'd call this Part 2 to A Court of Mist and Fury. It echoes that book very much in terms of the themes discussed, i.e. depression and going through the process of healing from trauma, which she very much highlights is never linear.

With Nesta that depression took on a different, more aggressive form:
• Nesta is a stone-cold bitch. I relate.
• Her anger was fierce. I relate.
• She pushed people away with her attitude. On purpose. I relate.
• Lack of self-worth. I relate.
• Extreme discomfort to emotions so anger is the easiest option. I relate.

Do we see a pattern developing here?

”Did she count–was she worth being counted? It was the question that sent everything crumpling inside her.”

She had every right to be one (anyone that has carried this much anger and depression on their shoulders knows how much this weighs you down and debilitates you), though I initially hated how her anger would attack anyone that remotely showed any care. But your circumstances shape you. Trauma leaves an imprint. Hurt people hurt people. She was trapped in a vicious cycle of self-loathing and hatred and grief and it took a tremendous toll on her mental well-being. All due to her dysfunctional childhood, her body being invaded without permission and being thrust into a world she was conditioned to hate.

I could write essays on Nesta’s character. I adore what Sarah J Maas did with this. There was so much attention to detail when it came to Nesta’s overall well-being, all which attributed to her growth and healing and it blew me away. It became about the little things, celebrating the small growths, embracing setbacks and moving forward in your own way and your own time.

This is very much a character driven book, which is probably why I loved it so much. I’ll take that over plot any day, especially when it’s done well. However, there is a plot present. The world-building become even more epic in this book. It was so much more solid, since it was built upon from the other books in the series. I mean, that House? I want one!

I didn’t want this book to end – it could’ve been longer. This almost felt like an extensive prologue. We just got to see the cusp of her capabilities as Nesta and I’m craving more of her. It was incredible to see her personality come forth and shine through, behind all the layers she hid behind for so, so long.

———————————————

TITLE! 😭😭😭😭 I can’t believe we get to go back to this world again soon. And be with these characters.

MY EMOTIONS!

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got my dust jacket cover! Yeah, baby. I bought another hardback so I’d have both 😉. It’s beautiful



I got my awesome book sleeve of Cas and Nesta!!!!



🖤💕🖤💕🖤💕🖤💕

FYI: ONCE AGAIN! THIS IS A NEW ADULT BOOK WITH SMUT!!! THIS MEANS, DON’T READ THE DAMN BOOK IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ SMUT AND THEN RUN YOUR DAMN MOUTH! I DON’T READ MUCH SMUT, BUT I DAMN WELL KNEW IT WAS IN THE BOOK!! THIS BOOK MEANT A LOT TO ME FOR REASONS DOWN BELOW AND I’M TIRED OF ACCIDENTALLY SEEING A BIT OF CRAP REVIEWS. OH PLEASE, TAKE ME OFF YOUR FRIENDS LIST IF YOU DON’T LIKE WHAT I SAY SO IT WILL BE EASIER ON ME TO CLEAN MY FRIENDS LIST!! I’VE HAD IT WITH PEOPLE!! I WANT TO DEDICATE MY TIME TO RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS TO MY WONDERFUL REAL FRIENDS ON HERE AND IN LIFE. NOT WASTE TIME ON BOOK DRAMA!! (Funny how no one skimmed the smut they bitch about) 😉🤣😂😏

My thoughts are wayyyy down below. And if anyone doesn’t like what I say or the book that I love so much or the author just go eff off! I don’t give a rats ass what you think. I’ve already deleted and blocked a person I didn’t particularly like their comment on my review so... 😘

This is a whole damn mood for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!







When I read fantasy books I try to remember to put on my favorite YouTube music. It just sets the mood!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6nRFaOF...

In the beginning
And in the end
There was Darkness
And nothing more

***I have this image coming from my UK woman on a booksleeve! 😏

Nesta didn’t, couldn't, move as Cassian leaned in to whisper in her ear, "The first time I saw that look on your face, you were still human. Still human, and I nearly went to my knees before you." His breath caressed the shell of her ear and she couldn’t stop her eyes from fluttering shut. His smile brushed against her temple. "Your power is a song, and one I’ve waited a very, very long time to hear, Nesta."

I didn’t have a clue how much I would love this damn book! It’s my favorite out of all of the series so far.

I’ve been deeply hurt mentally and physically in my life. I used to be in a fighting school until my physical/medical shit has mostly taken things away from me. I have a couple real life girl friends, but nothing like this book, oh how I wish!! So, this book hit all of the feels for me!

Nesta is an asshole, but she has some reasons with mental trauma - I can relate - I’ve got a lot of mental issues myself but not for the same reasons.

I loved the fighting and strengthening scenes, I so much loved this in my life and miss it tremendously. I love the girl friends made and the girl empowerment in the book. These women went through hell!!

I love Cassian so much. I love Nesta! I love all of the family and I love that damn house! Oh if I could have a house like that!!

I love some of the things Sarah said in the acknowledgments.

This book made me cry tears of sadness and happiness!

The strength these women showed through the help of Nesta and Cas and Az were amazing. But ultimately they did it themselves. I love finding characters that are like this as I can try my hardest to be the same way. Among the many things I deal with I fight wanting to kill myself. It’s been really bad lately and I’m working with my doctors and my nature. These characters made me so happy, which I don’t have a lot of happiness and I’m so grateful. There’s only so much a person can hide about themselves trying to act all happy on the other side of the internet.

Anyway, I loved this book dearly.

And if it didn’t have enough action for you or was too smutty or written without certain characters and bullshit you wanted, f*ck off and write your own damn book and quit your damn bitching. I’m just sayin, I haven’t read any shit reviews and I won’t. I’m keeping to my own happiness of the book.



Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Miranda Reads]

A FREAKING GLORIOUS UPDATE

If you've been following this epic, I've been so disappointed about the mid-series cover shift..

BUT I'm really happy to announce that Alexandra from Stars that Dream finished her cover jacket design.

And it is so above-and-beyond my expectations. Simply. Gorgeous.

Here's the link to the cover if you'd like to buy one too!!! (Note - she's doing a limited run of them,
so pick it up while you still can!)

The Original Review

That cover reveal hit me.

AND I DO ADMIT this is a pretty minor thing in the grand scheme of the universe... but the way this cover DOESN'T MATCH the original series bugs me so much.

Don't get me wrong, the new copies have an interesting concept and while I don't quite get the symbolism on the covers... it's not the worst.

BUT WHY would you change it halfway through the series? Now I'm either stuck with unmatching covers OR buying all new covers.

I just feel a bit frustrated.

Especially because at first glance, this Mardi-Gras-mask-on-concrete appears to be Lucien themed (despite this being Nesta's story). After all, Lucian wears a fox mask for 50 years, has autumnal fiery magic... like... am I the only one making this connection??

Anyway...I think I found a solution.

I know this is JUST a print but THIS was the cover I was expecting!!

Gorgeously made by StarsThatDream

And I found out that she's going to make a dust jacket once the dimensions for the book is released. Hopes and prayers are answered!!!!

[Alana · Rating 2 out of 5]

No one is a bigger Nessian stan than me...so imagine my surprise at this rating.

This review WILL CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS so please read at your own risk if you haven't finished or picked up the book. But to adequately rant (like, truly rant) about all the ways this book didn't work for me we just need to air it all out without an vague mentions of what went down in this book.

My biggest problem with this book started and ended with Rhys and Feyre. Y'all, I truly do NOT care about them anymore. They had their time to shine and they did...so can we please move on? The second I read about Rhys having his shield up around Feyre so no one could detect her scent I was 1000% sure she was pregnant and pissed the fuck off because I knew somehow this was going to circle all the way back around them. And sure enough Rhys went off to be an absolute piece of garbage and not tell Feyre that she would die delivering their child since it had wings. So, when Nesta FINALLY has her big moment to show how much she's grown as a character it's overshadowed by Feyre going into labor and almost dying. Which pissed me off in itself, however, I made it 730 pages and nearly put this book down because of how triggering it was. A warning would have been nice instead of having to read about a lifeless child being born because some of us have actually been dealt that shitty card in life and would rather not have to relive those moments. I was truly ready to vomit and ended up having to skim those pages.

Next up, and almost just as disappointing was the romance between Nesta and Cassian. I have loved them since day one and was so looking forward to watch their love story unravel. On one hand, I loved the physical aspect of it. SJM upped her smut game for sure in this one but that's pretty much where it ended. There was something major missing between the two of them that left me feeling next to nothing for them and all the tension between the two of them in the prior books was so far out the window. Truly a letdown and please don't even get me started on how abysmally underwhelming the "mate" reveal was.

Third, was Nesta's growth. Just like I loved Nesta and Cassian together, I loved Nesta by herself. She's always been one of my favorite characters in this series even when she was a shitty person. So, I was always looking forward to the day when we would get Nesta's story because she needed a major glow up growth wise and usually SJM is really great at writing good, solid growth in her characters. But again, this fell so short that majority of it just seemed physical instead of mental. While I'm aware she has a lot of growing to do and this book was essentially her realizing that it leads me to wonder...did we really need 750 pages just to get to that point? I think not.

The only, and when I say only I really mean it, thing I thoroughly enjoyed in this story was the "Valkyrie" training and the friendship that Nesta, Emerie, and Gywn had. I was flying through the part were the girls were thrown into the Blood Rite and cheering them on to make it all the way to the top of Ramiel. But that's basically it...and to get that little enjoyment in 750 pages is just a total fail for me.

Of course, even though this book totally didn't cut it for me and left me beyond furious (Rhys & Feyre, I'm looking at you) I'm still a clown and will buy the next book when it comes out because I need to see what in the hell SJM is doing with these characters. Specifically Mor..why was she nonexistent this entire book? And Azriel... are him and Elain mates or not? Because I will riot if they are, he deserves so much more than miss garden girl.

Okay, rant over 🙃

[Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the Stars ⭐️✨⭐️✨⭐️

I know a lot of people don't like her...but Nesta is my favorite ACoTAR character, and has been since the end of book one/beginning book two.

I love female characters who are unashamedly prickly...who have defensive outer shells and soft inner cores...who secretly care that people don't like them...but also simultaneously don't give a shit.

Ever since Maas has been dangling the Nesta/Cassian pairing in front of us like so much chocolate, I have been dying for the focus to be on them. And after A Court of Frost and Starlight (which I also really enjoyed, although I know a lot of people didn't), I was basically pining for their story.

Enter the announcement and wait for this book...the long, loooooooong wait...



Then it came out and I inhaled it. And it was everything I wanted it to be and more. Seriously, this was so fucking good, I could cry, folks.

Nesta's transformation was amazing...her and Cassian's transformation together was amazing...their banter was amazing...Rhy and Feyre as side characters were amazing...the main plot and all the sub plots were….amazing...

I think I’ve officially used up the word “amazing” for the day, so I’ll move on.

Simply put: I just loved everything about this book and enjoyed every single page.

Also, Maas is not even pretending anymore, you guys. This book was NOT young/new adult. It was FULL-ON adult. And it was...fucking delicious.

I'm already starting a re-read.

[jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

going into this book, it already had two strikes against it:

strike 1 - i hate nesta with every fibre of my being

strike 2 - i hate the mid-series cover change to something so low budget

so not a great start.

but honestly, shame on me for doubting queen SJM.

she took a character i hate and made me admire, sympathise, and root for her until the very end.

i dont quite love nesta (i may forgive her nasty behaviour, but i will never forget it) and she wont be my favourite character any time soon (i wanted soooo much more feyre, rhys, and az), but wow. her character development, her growth, her understanding, her progression. its all a thing to behold.

her story is something i think us readers needed, even if we didnt originally want it.

and i love how good cassian is to and for her. i fully support them as a duo.

so SJM did the impossible - she made like nesta. who would have thought.

↠ 4.5 stars

[chan ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

sometimes i forget i can read things with my eyeballs so to prove it to myself i read 750 pages of unexciting smut

(also that random shit in bold below was when i thought this was going to be another nonsense feysand book but honestly... still fits for nessian)

----------------

here for the butt crack play ONLY

[Andreea Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars ✨ And I'm chuckling at how my prior ramblings were about how this book would be out in Autumn 2018. Well, that aged like milk!

[NickReads]

I swear reading Sarah J. Maas feels like a battlefield. Your ships get destroyed by new ships constantly.

[Claudia Lomelí · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uh.

[chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

yep. absolutely. yes.

[Cindy Pham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took an edible and now I'm too high to write this review

[ELLIAS (elliasreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

thank god im not straight. this was all parts good and bad.

you know who was the best-straight-alpha-broody-hot-guy in here?

my boy AZRIEL!!!

Can the next book be about him please. maybe being single. or just gay. (sjm would never though.)

rhysand can burn in hell goodbyeee .

3.5 STARS.

check out my full review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAg98...

Twitter | Bookstagram | Youtube |

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made a lot of choices. Most of them were bad. A Court of Silver Flames feels like poorly written ACOTAR fanfiction. It has all the tags and features: making you hate the canon main characters, an uncomfortable pregnancy, the incorporation of lore you didn’t ask for and don’t need, ridiculously toxic love interests, and an unnecessary 200,000 word count.

Let’s talk about the High Lord of the Night Court, a character who was a villain, then an adored main character, and now a villain again. Rhysand is so violent and overprotective and his only personality trait is “I will shred you to bits if you touch or breathe on or think about Feyre.” He literally put a shield around her so even her friends couldn’t be around her. Rhysand is only respectful to women who are submissive to him and obey his authority. He was nice to Nesta only after she made a huge sacrifice at the end for his sake. He’s so bitter, and I don’t know why Feyre finds that attractive. I liked him before because he wasn’t overprotective. He let Feyre do what she wanted. But now…

“Cassian knew [Rhysand would] shred anyone who so much as blinked wrong at Feyre into a million bloody ribbons.”

lol.

Feyre is just a decoration in this book. Although she does have power, we don’t see her use it like she did in the previous books. What happened to that important and empowering fight to make her High Lady? Now she has no agency.

I’m especially angry because this is so out of character for the Inner Circle. Mor’s development horrified me in particular. She was abused badly in the Court of Nightmares, so she knows how terrible and sick they are. Azriel even describes the way she “savored every moment in the sun… as if the first seventeen years of her life, spent in the darkness of the Hewn City, still lurked around her.” But then Mor says this:

Mor sipped her tea, the portrait of elegant innocence. “We’d be better off throwing Nesta into the Court of Nightmares. She’d thrive there.”

What happened to the Inner Circle who accepted Feyre with open arms and helped her heal from her sorrow and trauma? Is Feyre’s grief more palatable to the Inner Circle than Nesta’s? The sisters process their hurt in different ways, but Rhysand acts like Nesta is an embarrassment to the family because of it, like they would be the perfect family if it weren’t for her. In contrast, Feyre gets all the support she needs. There are ways to build up new protagonists without turning the ones we already love into villains.

I haven’t even talked about the worst part of the book yet: Feyre’s situation. (I think this was revealed pretty early in the book, so it isn’t a spoiler. But you can fast forward to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know.) Feyre is in the middle of a life-threatening pregnancy with a baby that could literally rip her apart. Guess who decides by committee that it would be better not to tell her this vital information about her pregnancy, her health, her life, and the baby inside her body. That’s right: Rhysand and the Inner Circle. A really important theme of ACOTAR is individual, personal freedom. But this threw that all away. I cannot describe how infuriated this made me. And when Nesta made the decision to tell Feyre that childbirth would kill her (a decision made out of spite, but still a good one for Feyre), the response from the other characters was bizarre. From what I remember, Feyre was upset but ultimately supported the Inner Circle’s decision to hide this from her, and Nesta was forcibly and emphatically rejected by her family. I can’t make this stuff up.

Parts of A Court of Silver Flames were good, although they were few and far between. The Blood Rite was pretty cool. The tension and high stakes and character development and the way the Valkyries bonded in their struggle was amazing. I really liked Emerie and Gwyn, and I’m invested in their backgrounds and their journeys to come. They are refreshingly unproblematic and normal. They are easy characters to love.

Besides the ending, the plot wasn’t very good. The search for the Crown/Harp/Mask felt arbitrary and too random for my taste. It also got sidetracked constantly, so it wasn’t satisfying to me. However, this gripe seems so minor compared to the rest of the dumpster fire that is A Court of Silver Flames that I don’t even care.


“My mate” every other page
Has filled me with unending rage
Breaking Dawn-esque pregnancy
Feels like a fanfic fever dream
Azriel, he shadow-sings
Cas doesn’t have the longest wings
Feyre does interior design
Nesta walks a narrow line
Gwyn and Emerie are true heroes
Cassian’s over five zero zero
Sister’s sick? Don’t fret, just kiss
Throw me into the abyss
Dot dot dot, dash dash dash
Down the stairs you crash crash crash
Bones will bark and eyes are dark
Red flags are Rhys’s trademark


The day I forget about this book will be a good day indeed.


1.5 stars

[She-who-must-not-be-named · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edit: As much as I loved the romance and smut in the book, I don’t understand how it won in the Fantasy category. It’s so unfair to the other books :((


Quick Warning: Have an aspirin handy because what goes down in this book will mess with your heart.


Reading this book felt like having a cold breeze brush my face after being out in the hot sun; of honey-ginger tea making its way down my sore throat. It gave me an adrenaline rush I don't think even confronting a Polar Bear would've given me.


This book was definitely flawed and I wasn’t a huge fan of the plot (if there was one). Nesta and Cassian’s relationship however was like a weightless joy. Every conversation, every emotion had so much depth and every character grew in their own roundabout way.

This book highlights the ramifications of the War with Hybern- Nesta's trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. After losing her mother at a very young age, having to watch her father's neck being snapped right after he told her how much he loved her, being turned into a High Fae against her will, and the pain of almost losing her sister Elaine, broke something in her. Everybody has their own way of dealing with trauma. Nesta deals with it by building an invisible wall around herself and pushing away the people that love her the most by hurting them with her acid words.

As she embarks on a journey towards self-development, she finds that the only one who can decimate the wall around her is Cassian- A fierce Illyrian warrior and the General Commander of the Night Court.

As her wall keeps degenerating over time, a deliciously romantic and sex-drenched relationship develops between them. There's obviously LOTS of steamy, ragingly passionate scenes but what is most appealing in their relationship is the minor displays of affection and the respect they have for each other and will set your soul on fire.
They each challenge the status quo and reveal themselves to be stronger than anyone imagined through rigorous training and practice.

I love how Sarah J Maas redeemed Nesta's character in tiny steps and not like how she redeemed Rhysand in ACoMaF. Nesta's journey toward self-love wasn't smooth. She kept falling down, picking herself back up only to realize she fell deeper. This falling-down-climbing-back-up-thing went on for a while and it was so raw and real that my tear glands vowed to empty every drop from my body.

For all those who hate Nesta after reading ACoFaS, let me tell you: I come from the same place. But do not let that stop you from reading this book because what's the worse that can happen, hmm? You will either hate it in which case you can always DNF it or get back to it later. But if you love it, then there's no stopping you from jumping around like a maniac. But if you don't even try, you will never know, will you?

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Forgiveness is not that easy.”
“Forgiveness is something we also grant ourselves.”

So did I really wait three years for ACOSF only to binge read it in 14 hours with 0 sleep? Yeah I did and it was so worth it.

And before you start looking for it in this review, yes we find out what was in the box and yes we find out if they are mates or not but no I will NOT spoil those in this review. I also included links to the bonus scenes at the bottom.

SPOILERS BELOW

So I’m just gonna go ahead and say SJM fed us so good after almost three years! So many theories were proven and the filler chapters were giving me life. It’s perfect for those who’ve followed her series as they come out and have had to endure the torturous wait for more.

But first thing’s first: what the hell happened to the conflict that was building up in ACOFAS?

I can’t have been the only one bamboozled with the way Sarah conveniently just resolved The One Big Thing that could have been the center of ACOSF. You should’ve seen my face when Cassian mentioned that Kallon DIED IN THE PREVIOUS RITE without a fuss. Like? What? Isn’t…that… why… we’re here…. ? No? Okay?

And also what happened to the “You’re coming with me to the Illyrian Mountains” bit?

Again, another misdirection (for lack of a better word) on what we were expecting ACOSF to be. Soooo many people, me included, were expecting Nesta to move in with Cassian in a small cottage to actually live in the Windhaven Camp! I’m actually pretty sad that that didn’t come to pass BUT I’m not complaining with how things turned out.

WITH THAT SAID;

1. Put simply, the wait was worth it.

I loved this book.
I loved the plot.
I loved Nessian
I loved the smut!!!!!!
I loved the House of Wind.
I loved Eris.
I loved MOR (I know I’m surprised at how that turned out too).
I loved Azriel-the-chaperone!

“You two need a chaperone up here?”
Yes. No. Yes. “I thought you were the chaperone.”
Az threw him a wicked smile. “I’m not entirely sure I’m enough.”

The full quote is even better than I could have hoped for!

2. Another thing I love about ACOSF was the passage of time!

The entire book spans about a little over a year, which justifies the crazy amount of events that happen in this behemoth of a book.

Remember when the entire TOG series was said to have happened in only one year? Yeah I didn’t like that.

3. I have a feeling that the red star that shot through the sky was Aelin falling through Prythian in KOA!

PLEASE TELL ME YOU GUYS SAW IT TOO.

“The mood hadn’t been helped by a rare red star blasting across the sky one day—an ill omen, Nesta had heard the priestesses muttering. Cassian reported that even Rhys had been rattled by it, seeming unusually contemplative afterward. But Nesta suspected that the omen wasn’t the only thing contributing to Rhys’s solemnity. Feyre was only two months from giving birth, and they still knew nothing about how to save her.”

4. I’m just gonna take a minute here to talk about the smut.

So ACOSF is officially an adult book and it shows in the smut! There is so much of it and I have only one complaint - that SJM did not flesh out a particular 34+35 scene. She no longer uses her oh-so-famous “velvet wrapped steel” innuendos. We go straight to the point with “cock” and even the word “cunt” now.

It also goes without saying that the smut is decidedly more intense than what we've seen from her previous books. SJM was not kidding at all when she said she's descended into new levels of filthy when writing ACOSF.

I did, however, still have some slight issues with the book

For one, I did not love how Feysand hijacked certain parts of this book *cough cough the ending cough cough* It’s a Nessian book and yet Feysand is still the center of their world. No, I’m living in Nesta’s world. I want it to be all about her!

I also had a slight disconnect with Nesta’s character although I can’t tell if she was acting out of character or if she was just grossly misrepresented in books 1-3 since we read it from Feyre’s POV. Nevertheless, I still love how she arced as a character and how she healed.

START MAJOR SPOILERS SECTION

Ending spoiler
I’m very sad that Nesta pulled an Aelin and lost majority of her powers in the end. I loved powerful!Nesta. I loved that everyone was afraid of her. I loved that she was rewriting Prythian history by merely existing. Gods that are older than Prythian itself were afraid of her. I hate how she gave that up in the end. What is it with women being rendered powerless in these books (Aelin and Amren)?

Nesta spoiler
I am also upset that Nesta ended up melding back with the IC? Everyone was expecting her to move out to Illyria and have her own family outside of the Night Court - I wanted that for her too. But, oh well.

Azriel POV spoiler (Bonus scene https://drive.google.com/drive/folder... )
I’m SO excited to see where his story goes. I’m not a heavy shipper for Elriel or Moriel or Azgwyn (??) but I’m interested to see who gets to be with Azriel in the end!

Feysand POV spoiler (Bonus scene https://www.reddit.com/r/acotar/comme... OR https://wetransfer.com/downloads/abec... )
THAT TEASER OF RHYSAND’S LAST NAME??? GIVE IT TO US SARAH WE ARE SO CLOSE.

Generic spoiler
…..And is anyone else scared that not even one minor character died… That’s kinda sus….

END MAJOR SPOILERS SECTION

All in all, I would give this 4.8 stars because it was just so good, save for the extremely high expectations which were kinda curbed with her sudden plot change.

The Azriel bonus scene was also super interesting and I’m excited to see what book 5 has in store for us!

So I'm gonna go and digest this for a few days before rereading it all over again because I am a slut for Nessian.

———

PRE ACOSF RELEASE PREDICTIONS BELOW

Because Feb 2021 is coming nearer, I'm going to post my expectations for ACOSF because I'm a simp for Nessian.

These will be a mix of stories from ACOTAR 1-3 I want told from their POVs as well as their own character arcs!

FOR CASSIAN
> More about his upbringing and his mother
> Him wrecking one BUILDING in the Summer Court that resulted in him being banned lol
> His first encounter with Bryaxis
> Cassian taking Mor’s v*rginity
> What the hell was in that box he threw into the Sidra 😭😭😭😭
> Training the female Illyrians and Nesta
> Seeing him more as a General Commander and not the class clown/comic relief in the IC that we saw him from Feyre’s POV. I need to see Warrior!Cassian

FOR NESTA
> Learning more about her bond with her mother
> Exploring her powers and what she is
> Her initial days in Velaris after being Made
> Acknowledging her destructive habits and learning to heal
> I want to see Amren vs Nesta OR Mor vs Nesta and have Nesta KICK THEIR ASSES
> Nesta and Emerie bonding
> NESTA IN ILLYRIAN LEATHERS AND WALLOPING CASSIAN IN THE RING
> Nesta taking the Rite!!!!
> Kicking some Illyrian butts who try to make her feel inferior
> Finding her own Inner Circle because I’ll be damned if she works for Rhys
> Speaking of Rhys, I wanna see Nesta make him cry (I love Rhys but we all know he and Nesta hate each other lol)
> Have her let go of Elain and finally be her own person with her own life that isn’t all about protecting her younger sister

These are just off the top of my head but obvs there are more angsty Nessian scenes that I neeeeeed to happen or else I will die

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

1.) A Court of Thorns and Roses ★★★★
2.) A Court of Mist and Fury ★★★
3.) A Court of Wings and Ruin ★★★
3.1) A Court of Frost and Starlight ★★★

[2024 reread] ★★★★
i feel like this book is very polarizing among readers, but i think i land on the unpopular side with believing this book is maybe sjm’s best. this is truly close to a five stars for me, and i think i was able to appreciate even more rereading it.

in this first book of the acotar spin-offs, we see nesta and cassian, both doing immense healing and growing. this book does star nesta, and truly seeing her reclaim her life, her safety, her agency… it was so beautiful. the very basic premise of this book is that nesta and cassian are tasked with tracking down three magical items, one of which one of the human queens may be using. we get to see nesta learn her own powers, we get to see her train with cassian, we get to see her love - both herself and new friendships… and yes, cassian - and we get to see her heal the way she needs to heal. it was honestly very powerful and, again, i really do not think sarah gets the credit for this book that she deserves.

oh, and there is a romance novel loving sentient house who stole my heart all over again. sometimes, all you really need is a friend who knows how to keep you warm in the way you need to be kept warm. i just loved this with my whole heart, friends.

i have now finished my reread of what is out in the acotar series and… i had such a good time rereading all of these. I think my biggest takeaway is… i didn’t love rhysand (this feels wild to even type). i feel like he was truly book boyfriend status back in the day, but now? i feel like he made me upset way more than he ever made me swoon during this reread. And this book really solidified that, and i think it was extra amplified because cassian is such a good boy. but again, this was such a fun reread that i really enjoyed doing, and we will see if i can reread throne of glass very soon!

trigger + content warnings (with minor spoilers for this story!): ptsd, grief, loss of loved ones in past (parents, siblings), blood, domestic abuse in past, child abuse in past, sexual assault in past, talk of rape in past, murder, death, talk of war, sexism, misogyny, nightmares, talk of captivity in past, drowning, attempted assault and rape, talk of suicide ideation, withholding very important medical information, high-risk pregnancy, ableist and dated language for people with disabilities, emergency child birth scene (involving death of both mother and baby… this world has the power of magic so things end up okay, but i think this could be very triggering to some readers, so please use caution.)

[2021 first read] ★★★★
listen, i can't believe we are here either. but this just truly impacted me (and made me cry) so much. i will say I feel a little biased because nesta and cassian are two of my favorite characters from this entire series but... i still didn't expect this to be so beautiful. and nesta finding these friendships and seeing them heal together, see their worth together, love unconditionally and unapologetically together? regardless of how hard and scary the journey to those steps were to even get to? seeing nesta realize she's not a bad person, no matter what the world makes her mental health believe? i really loved it.

blog | instagram | youtube | kofi | spotify | amazon

[SK · Rating 5 out of 5]

✅ Reread -Sept 2023

This was a whole new reading experience. I got so much to say, so jumping right in.

Why I rated it 1 star when I read it the first time-

1. I read the whole series in one go instead of pacing myself or giving a break in between the ACOTAR world. Reading it immediately after ACOWAR and ACOFAS backfired. It led me to be bored.

2. I thought it was too smutty. Which it still is fyi but this did not concern me in my reread oddly.

3. I had not liked Nesta. Jumping straight from Feyre's journey was not an ideal decision. Feyre had a trilogy, so spending a lot of time with her compared to just one book of Nesta's did make an impact. I was still angry with Nesta and her treatment of Feyre.

4. I simply forgot about the majority of events that were correlated to the Crescent City series when I made my GR account and rated it.

Why I give it 5 stars now-

1. I paced myself. Gave myself some time in between ACOWAR, AOCFAS and ACOSF. This worked brilliantly for me. There was proper balance.

2. I did not expect much as I was concerned about how this reread will go. With my expectations low, the reread ended surprising me.

3. I ADORED Nesta this time around. I found her journey admirable, relatable and far more understandable. Her struggles were portrayed in such a raw manner and the way she overcame them bit by bit was chef's kiss. I too, like the other characters had not given her a fair chance but when I did the way she blossomed into a wonderful character was worth rereading!! Nesta is such a badass and although I am not saying she was not wrong before (she was) but I understand now. I see Nesta Archeron, her being, and she is worthy.

4. Romance and banter was so fun. Cassian is such a softie and marshmallow at heart. I swear I just wanna give him a big bear hug.

5. I loved reading about the possibilities of different worlds connecting. There's so much that can happen.

6. The ending was so emotional. I swear I was sobbing.

Some things that might be controversial but I wanna state my take on it-

1. I see people call Rhysand an arrogant asshole a lot in reference to his persona in this book.

I disagree.

Sure, he was harsh a bit but never arrogant, never an asshole. Rhys was always honest, never lying to anyone or Nesta. He has his mate to look after, his court to look after. People think that just cause he is Feyre's mate that's all there is to him. Wrong! Rhys is also High Lord. Trained to be a leader and warrior, he talks and acts like one. He doesn't have to act soft towards others he doesn't know well. And Nesta was that one person, he did not know.

Just cause someone criticizes you, does not mean they are your enemy. The amount of hate Rhys gets is just uncalled for imo.

2. This might not be so controversial but Nesta's powers??? The thing that happened at the end should not have happened. That's all I'll say to keep it spoiler free lol.

Without elaborating much on my private life, I just wanna say- I felt Nesta's journey deeply and it resonated with me. There have been some changes in my own life since the last time I read this book and all I say to Nesta is, I get it.

Man, I just had a completely new experience reading this lmao. Am sitting here as I draft my review, thinking wtf did I read the first time😂🙈

~•~•~
It's time to give Nesta another chance. The first time I read it, I thought it was kinda boring and too smutty (I know I know😭🫣) but hopefully this reread will be better.

[astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Males and females, children darting amongst them, gawked at Nesta as she exited onto the street. A few hurried their children along. She met their stares with cool indifference.
You’re right to hide your children from me, she wanted to say. I am the monster you fear.

•3rd time - march 2023•
I tripped and fell into this book. so clumsy.
My number one comfort novel never ceases to comfort me.
Can't wait for the GA.

▪️2nd time - december 2022▪️
and here I thought I couldn't love Cassian and Nesta more🫠
Can't stop thinking about this book.



✨𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 - 𝗕𝗬 𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗛 𝗝. 𝗠𝗔𝗔𝗦✨
★𝗬𝗔/𝗡𝗔/𝗔: 🅽🅰/🅰️
★𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦: 𝙰 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝚁𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚁𝙽𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚁𝙾𝚂𝙴𝚂 #𝟺
★𝗣𝗢𝗩: 𝙳𝙾𝚄𝙱𝙻𝙴 𝙿𝙾𝚅 - 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝙳 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽 - 𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙴
★𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: 𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂, 𝚃𝙾𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝚇 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙳𝙸𝙴, 𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙶𝙰𝙿
★𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: 👥👥👥👥👥/5
★𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼/5
★𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧: 📜📜📜📜/5
★𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦 & 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦: 💀💀💀💀/5 (𝙿𝚃𝚂𝙳, 𝙰𝙽𝚇𝙸𝙴𝚃𝚈, 𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙴𝙼𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙰𝚁𝙲, 𝙽𝙴𝙰𝚁/𝙳𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷, 𝚅𝙸𝙾𝙻𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴, 𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚁𝙰𝙿𝙴, 𝚃𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙱𝙻𝙴𝙳 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝙶𝙽𝙰𝙽𝙲𝚈)
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧/𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬: 🔥🔥🔥🔥/𝟱 (𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙻𝙸𝙲𝙸𝚃 - 𝙺𝙸𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶 - 𝙾𝚁𝙰𝙻 𝚂𝙴𝚇 - 𝙿𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 - 𝚂𝙴𝚇𝚈 𝚂𝙴𝚇)
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬: 🚒🚒🚒🚒🚒/𝟱 (𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙱𝙾𝙰𝚁𝙳𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚁𝙽)
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗬: 💣💣💣💣/𝟱 (𝙱𝚈𝙴𝙴𝙴𝙴𝙴𝙴𝙴𝙴)
★𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 🤐🤐🤐🤐/5 (𝙼𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙶𝚄𝙰𝙶𝙴 - 𝙶𝚁𝙰𝙿𝙷𝙸𝙲 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚅𝙸𝙾𝙻𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴/𝚂𝙴𝚇)
★𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘: 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹/5 (𝙾𝚃𝙿 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴, 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳𝚂 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙱𝙴𝙽𝙴𝙵𝙸𝚃𝚂)
★𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: 💔💔💔💔/𝟱
★𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘: ❌
★𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦-𝗧𝗢-𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 🖤/5 (𝚁𝙴𝙻𝚄𝙲𝚃𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂, 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙿𝙾𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙽𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙰 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝚁𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝙵𝙾𝙾𝙻 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵)
★𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚: 🎶𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶'𝚂 𝙷𝙾𝚁𝚂𝙴𝚂 - 𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙰; 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙻 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽 - 𝙳𝙸𝙶𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝙳𝙰𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁𝚂; 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙸 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙷𝙰𝙳 - 𝙻𝙸𝙼𝙸🎶
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

▪️1st time- july 2022▪️

I can't remember the last time a fantasy book has made me cry this much.
I've got so much to say about this novel, about the way it was written, about how it made me fall in love with Nesta and Cassian and the bond they've created, about how it made me connect with Rhys and Feyre and Mor and the rest of the characters in newer and deeper ways, but most of all I want to talk about how Nesta's journey to healing and redemption was handled. How strongly and personally it touched me.

This is not an easy book to read and understand.
I guess that part of its rawness and bittersweet tones are to blame on the fact that it's told from Nesta's pov, a character who was firstly written to be hated and who probably hates herself more than the audience ever could and eventually did.
She's a very intense fictional person, and I'd lie if I said she didn't frustrate me to no end in more than one occasion.
But I guess that's exactly what SJM wanted from this character.
I could literally feel the self-hatred exude from the pages. The self-sabotaging, the way Nesta, who's never been a saint but who maybe was programmed to feel like she was one, denies herself everything that makes her feel even remotely worthy of light.
I know how that feels, and I wanted to see what she would do to use her pain, her trauma and her past to mold herself into a new, damaged yet not spoilt, perpetually-evolving creature.
I wasn't disappointed.
I actually got more than I expected, because I eventually ended up falling in love with all the nuances this character possesses.

Not one of them had offered to help save the Archeron family from poverty.
They had thrown them all, mere children and a crumbling man, to the wolves.
So Nesta had become a wolf. Armed herself with invisible teeth and claws, and learned to strike faster, deeper, more lethally. Had relished it. But when the time came to put away the wolf, she’d found it had devoured her, too.

I must admit I never really was a fan of Nesta, but I didn't really ever hate her, either. I was simply indifferent to her and her antics, especially considering I knew being ACOTAR a Beauty and the Beast retelling, at least one of the sisters must be an asshole, and that's Nesta for you.
I started getting interested in her as a character at the start of ACOWAR and, confession time, I mainly did it because of a pretty awesome Nessian fanart I've seen on instagram.
Oh, don't judge me.
The point is, as weak as I am for a good and steamy romance, it takes more than fantart and a few stolen glances to make me appreciate a difficult character, and if SJM managed to steal my heart with her Nesta, in the end, it means she did a great job that goes way beyond ships and smut.
For the majority of the previous novels, Nesta is an unlikeable character, and for obvious reasons, the author doesn't want you to like her, so that it feels even more genuine when you start seeing there's good in her, and that she's perfectly nuanced, just like a real person.

“There can be nothing more than sex, Cassian.”
His jaw tightened, and he seemed to struggle with some internal battle before he said darkly, “Then I’ll take whatever you offer me.” He leaned in, his body still not touching hers, and said against her ear, “And I’ll take you however you wish me to.”
Her toes curled on the stones, her hair dripping. “And if I wish to take you?”
He smiled against her ear. “Then I’ll beg you to ride me into oblivion.”

I want to discuss her character's journey in this review, because the book itself was good and the plot -the amount that was there, at least- was okay, but A Court of Silver Flames is a charcater-driven novel where the protagonist wasn't always a good person.
For example, I've read at least a dozen reviews complaining about how this book makes you love Nesta and hate the rest of the original characters, or the opposite, and I can't say I don't see wher they come from, but I was lucky enough to fall in neither of these two categories since I've ended up loving Nesta and loving the other characters, as well, at the same time.
They didn't always treat her with kindness, but I feel like they treated her in a very realistic way.
When someone keeps pushing their luck, it's only a matter of time before people lose their patience.
I loved how they each had a chance to connect and tangle their story with Nesta's, getting to know her, getting loved and understood by her, all of them finally getting a second chance at redemption and healing.
One of the scenes I loved the most, is in fact, towards the end when Rhys kneels in front of Nesta after she's saved both Feyre and her baby's life. I lost it completely when they hugged.
Nesta isn't an easy person to get along with. She's got a past that pretty much justifies her actions, but the way she choses to handle the consequences is all her own. And that's the point I feel like we need to remember. All her flaws are on display right from the start and there are moments when it even gets worse, but it's all part of her journey.
It's only when you reach rock bottom that you can do anything but go up, right?

“You could have ruled the world with your power,” he said carefully.
“I don’t want to rule the world.” Her eyes were unguarded in a way he had never seen. Mate, she had called him.
“What do you want?” Cassian managed to ask, voice rasping.
She smiled, and damn if it wasn’t the loveliest thing he’d ever seen. “You.”
“You’ve had me from the moment you met me.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind an arched ear. “I know.”

I loved how Nesta's relationship with Elain and Feyre was addressed. Elain could never do anything wrong in Nesta's eyes and the moment she (presumably) turned her back on her, Nesta was forcefully faced with a truth she wasn't ready to see, or better, that she didn't want to see.
Same thing with Feyre. I felt like the sybolism of Feyre hanging paintings of everyone but Nesta in the new, opulent house she and her husband created, was for Nesta worse than any offense the inner circle ever thrown her way (and not without merit).
One of the things Nesta resented most about about Feyre, in fact, is the fact that Nesta needed her to survive but Feyre didn't need her in return. Feyre was nothing but kind to her, all the time, but she hit her in the most subtle of ways, in a way that is more important to Feyre than words.
Mind it, I don't mean what Nesta did and how she acted in the past is condonable, I'm just saying there's a reason behind her actions, reasons that will definitely help you (I don't say like, because you're allowed to still not like a character even if their past is justified) understand her a bit more.
Nesta, as I see her, didn't like the hate and anger she felt all the time, especially towards her little sister. She, in fact, hated it and hated herself for feeling it.

I've seen reviewers claim Nesta's friendship with Gwyn and Emerie made no sense, since she already had two sisters she could connect and make up with; I see their point, but I feel like Nesta was re-discovering herself and creating bonds tentatively presenting herself as the new person she was trying to become.
Her relationship with the House, for example, was my absolute favorite. In my opinion, the fact that the House was stubborn, sweet, sarcastic in its own special way, warm and curious, added to the knowledge that Nesta Made it, makes me wonder (and hope) if that's exactly how Nesta sees her true self, if that's what she'd like others to see her.

Rhys lifted his head. “This is a bad idea.”
Cassian winked. “That should be written on the Night Court crest.”

I loved seeing her through the eyes of someone who didn't fully know the darkest sides of her trauma and grief; I feel like it gave Nesta a glimps of what her life with her sisters could have been had her mother not gaslighted her into needing to be perfect at all costs, filling her head with conjectures and prejudices and depriving her from being free to decide what to do with her personality and future.
And that's where Cassian finally jumps in. God bless that guy, honestly.
I absolutely LOVED how he wasn't afraid to call her out on her bullshit but still knew (my god, he just knew) she needed some love despite it all, simple as that, and without asking anything in return.
And sure, both Feyre and Elain loved Nesta, but I feel like the relationship the three sisters always had was always taunted by what they had to endure for and with one another.
Feyre and Rhys will always own my heart, but Cassian and Nesta gave me the best emotions and I will never forget how beautiful they are together.
And, holy shit Nesta at the end, deciding she one day will want to have a baby with her Cassian completely destroyed me in the sweetest of ways. I don't consider motherhood as something essential, something you need to experience because it's mandatory to feel like a real woman. If a person feels complete and accomplished without ever having kids, I totally support it, but as a mother who has a problematic mother, I think it's one more proof of the fact that Nesta's journey is heading to a genuinely happy path.

“I’ll be with you every step of the way,” he whispered into her palm. “Just don’t lock me out. You want to walk in silence for a week, I’m fine with that. So long as you talk to me at the end of it.”

Plotwise speaking, there wasn't much going on, but I enjoyed it, nonetheless.
One of the chapters I liked the most is when Nesta, Cassian and Azriel (instert Brooklyn99 Boyle My fantasy threesome! gif) went to the Bog of Oorid looking for the Mask.
I was fucking terrified by the whole Kelpie encounter.
And the gift sharing moment was e v e r y t h i n g.
I love Az with all my heart sigh.
Also, I adored basically every scene with Gwyn and Emerie, especially when they were together.
Maas's writing is exquisite as usual. I'll never stop being amazed by how vividly I can picture in my mind the scenes she describes.
The only plotline I wish was handled a little better was the Rhys/Feyre and you know what one. Every choice Rhys made from that point, felt a bit uncharacteristical and not well thought enough.
I decided to blame it on the emotion, because I refuse to think our Rhys would be anything but pragmatic when it comes to his Feyre's safety.

Sorry if all of this makes little sense. This book and this character in particular made me really emotional in a way I'd never thought I'd feel toward a fantasy book carachter.

Oh, and to lighten up the mood after this sob fest...this book also taught me something I've suspected for a while now, and that is, that everyone in acotar wants a piece of Azriel. Who am I to disagree.

Nesta could hardly remember words. But she found them when she whispered into the darkness, “Stay with me.”
A shudder rocked through him, but he only smiled as he tucked her into his side.
And warm and safe and home at last in Cassian’s arms, Nesta slept.

[Ali L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nesta, the most unlikeable person in literature, is understandably upset about being turned fae against her will. The lightning rods of her ire include her family and a magical bathtub. When her brother in law finally puts his foot down and sticks her in the Tower of Sauron, she pouts until a 500 year old man with bat wings yells at her. Nesta decides to retaliate by learning how to use stairs. She and the very old but hot winged man proceed to have PornHub sex in every room of the tower, which is also sentient and is 100% watching them all the time. How Nesta’s cervix survived the sex described is a mystery. She eventually stops being a huge bitch all the time (in too much cervical pain?) and saves her sister from a death her brother in law knew was going to happen and did nothing to prevent. Also there’s a hike that almost kills her. And a Death Swamp. Maybe lesbians? And Eris, who is my toxic trait.

2/24/25 reread update:
Once upon a time there was a woman who thought Cassian was a useless himbo and that woman was me the end.

Bonus Chapter: Azriel’s POV
Azriel is infatuated with Elain and his ardor is understandable — who wouldn’t want to bang a bowl of cottage cheese? He gives her the thoughtful, personal gift of a necklace at solstice and we find out what a little horndog he actually is when he practically takes her in the living room in a tornado of lust. I don’t yuck anyone’s yum so if he’s super into life-sized marionettes who garden, more power to him. They’re interrupted by Rhys, the High Lord of cock-blocking, who reminds Azriel that Lucien is upstairs and could challenge him to a fire duel or whatever fae dudes do, and also that he’s in love with Mor (thanks, boss). This is a bit of a sanctimonious stance to be taken by Rhys, who once sent his mate into a cannibal’s house for fun, but what are you going to do. Stamping off loudly, Az goes to the House of Wind and his shadows flirt with Gwyn because they’re all ramped up with nowhere to go. Azriel regifts his thoughtful, personal necklace to Gwyn. Could this be a new romance? Or is Azriel just going to be alone forever because it sure seems that way.

[Ind ✩☽ · Rating 1 out of 5]

NESTA IS GARBAGE. STOP ROMANTICIZING SHE BEING TOXIC WITH "she suffered". This book is a big NO for me. And before you come with "internalized misogyny", don't worry, I also think Tamlin sucks. However, he was just a guy that Feyre barely knew, NESTA WAS FEYRE'S FUCKING BIG SISTER.

And just in case you forgot, that are some examples of Nesta being an incredible person:

"I needed new boots, but Elain needed a new cloak, and Nesta was prone to crave anything someone else possessed."

"[...] I glanced at Nesta’s stillshiny pair by the door. Beside hers, my too-small boots were falling apart at the seams, held together only by fraying laces."

“What do you know?” Nesta breathed. “You’re just a half-wild beast with the nerve to bark orders at all hours of the day and night. Keep it up, and someday—someday, Feyre, you’ll have no one left to remember you, or to care that you ever existed.”

Illiterate, ignorant, unremarkable, proud, cold—all spoken from Nesta’s
mouth.

She refused to help even though everyone was in danger. “Find somewhere else,” Nesta said again, straight-backed. “I don’t want them in my house. Or near Elain.”


On top of that, Nesta loves to read and she never wanted to teach her younger sister how to read, but there was no problem in encouraging Feyre to hunt while Nesta herself was sitting at home.

"The story is told from Feyre's point of view and she may not have interpreted it correctly." Yes, because there are really many interpretations for your older sister to leave you to die while hugging the other sister. Thank you, next.

[JAMIE · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel the same way about Sarah J. Mass being lauded as a woman who writes strong empowered female heroes the same way I feel about Ivanka Trump being heralded for championing women's rights. Like how?????!!!!! You don't get credit for doing something you haven't done and all Maas's characters do is serve to get boned and rescued every few pages by a guy with "powerful back muscles". You know feminism works by having the occasional unfuckable male character too right? I feel like no one has paid attention to these books thoroughly or they just don't know that feminism also entails having a freaking male character that isn’t just defined by how ENORMOUS their cock is