A Court of Silver Flames

Title: A Court of Silver Flames
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year: February 2021

Pages: 751

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #4
Genre: Fantasy
Reading Time: 16 - 17 Feb
Binding: Kindle Edition
Goodreads

Stars:
★★★★★

Review:

 I didn't get a chance to do a re-read of the series again before I launched in to this, so I expect I'm going to be re-reading this again very soon (exam revision willing). I'm going to keep this as non-spoilery as I can and then do a full on spoiler-filled review following my second read. I'm excited.

  Oh my, so much to unpack here. Maas has done it again, another book of redemption for a character I couldn't stand turns out to be another highlight of all her works. I couldn't stand Chaol yet entirely appreciated that Tower of Dawn was a good book. I couldn't stand Nesta, she's a hateful person and yet I loved this book. If you're a Nesta hater, still give it a try. She's only unbearable for a few chapters.

 Seriously though, the opening chapters ignited my rage at Nesta and how awful she is. We have an opening prologue of her going in to the Cauldron, which answers so many questions (lots of answers for many, many things in this book for me). The first few chapters I have so many highlights of Nesta's thoughts where she is just. . . grrr. She just seems to think everyone is poised against her, remains totally ungrateful for any assistance she receives because she's so damn entitled and refuses to see what are the consequences of her own actions. I'm glad we don't spend too long in that mind set, it would have made for a harder read. She does back in to small moments of these in the book and it's a punch to the gut every time.

 So yes, Nesta goes through a lot in this book, it's a redemption and self-discovery book. For me it does not redeem her actions and words of the past (nothing ever will either) but it does make me now appreciate her presence in the series. Be aware that perceptions of a few characters are changed in this book. Seeing things through Nesta and Cassian's eyes mean we see things in a very different light to previously in the series. There are a few characters it doesn't reflect particularly well on but I'm not letting that change my feelings around them, I feel like their actions and words are all justified in the grand scheme of things even excluding the revelations of this book.

 Maas let us know this was Nesta and Cassian's book and oh boy, it was. Nesta being promiscuous in Frost and Starlight gives us a bare glimpse that Nesta's a little bit more . . . adventurous that Feyre was. It's different scenes than what we've seen before but personally I didn't think there was a whole lot more of it than Mist and Fury, I feel like there could have been a lot more given the shift to an adult rating. The tension between Nesta and Cassian is a highlight of the book but so is all their other communication. We saw how Cassian is able support someone hurting back when Feyre was training with him and he's set to perform the same thing with Nesta, someone he feels more of a personal connection to. There are real similarities to Feyre and Nesta's healing, books and exercise playing a key role. One particular measure of Nesta's growth is something I really enjoyed seeing her go back to.

 Fear not that this is the only part of the plot, all you Nesta haters (including myself). There is plenty else going on than Nesta being trapped in her own head and verbally battling Cassian at every turn. Possibilities left open at the end of the last series are opening up into a much more elaborate plot. Characters we've met causing further trouble, characters we've only heard of before coming in as a whole new major plot point but also new characters coming in as friends. Beautiful, wonderful friends whom I am loving because I can see some ships coming in here that are going to utterly destroy what others have been hoping will happen. In short, I'm in love with a house, so many comedic moments come in there.

 Despite these new characters. . . diversity is not massively improved in this book and I know there's a lot going on with this at the moment as a criticism of this book. Way I see it, damned if you do and damned if you don't. Honestly, there is diversity within the species that are introduced in the book by half-breeds etc. (an arguably more important diversification in this world that causes it's own problems). In terms of LGBTQ+, still waiting but I did pick up on the barest hint of something to come.

 This book is filled with fantastic one-liners. Nesta's sharp tongues and it comes with benefits. There's action to fill your boots. Looking at you, Illyrians! A bit of magical and fantastical creature exploration as well and I think there's really something for everyone in this book. It's a wonderful mix of character development, world building and plot development that's setting up for a great few additions to this series. The emotions are allowed to run high, anger, sorrow, tension, love, laughter just everything you could hope for. This book is dedicated to all the Nesta's out there and I can see this book will mean a lot to many, many people.

 I have only one problem. When is the next book due?