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Title: A Court of Silver Flames
Author: Sarah J Maas
Sub-genre: Fantasy
Trope(s): Enemies to lovers
Oooh boy. I don’t know about you, but I have been waiting to read this book for a long ass time. Like seriously, as soon as it was announced Nesta and Cassian were getting a book, I started the countdown. And because of that long wait, I did something I don’t normally do: I purposely read slowly. I wanted to savor and enjoy this book because I waited so long for it (and I imagine we will be waiting a long time for the next one too). And I will just say right now, I freaking loved this book.
I’m not going to spend too much time on plot because it’s a dense book (750 pgs) and obviously a lot happens. But the crux of it is once Nesta has slid so far into a life of what her family considers debauchery that they can’t take it anymore, they give Nesta the choice to live in the House of Wind and train with Cassian and work in the library, or go back to the human lands. Which isn’t really a choice. So Nesta and Cassian are thrust (hehe) together, basically living in the House of Wind on their own. Nesta spends her mornings physically training and her afternoons working in the library. There’s big bads and new friends and of course lots of steamy sex, and even more of Nesta really actually dealing with her feelings. The one spoiler I will give is that there is a happy ending here. We know we’re getting more books in the series so there are definitely loose ends, but when it comes to Nesta and Cassian’s relationship, there is an HEA.
Alright. So let’s get into what makes this book so fantastic. First and foremost, I will say that I have always been a Nesta fan. Even though it was hard to like her in ACOTAR, when we got to know her better in ACOMAF and ACOWAR, I loved her. And I love her even more after reading this one, because all of those things people say they don’t like about her are explained in this book. Nesta has experienced a ton of trauma in her life and none of it was ever dealt with until now. I really enjoyed getting to peel back her layers and see why she is the way she is (and I have always been here for her the way she is). And then there’s Cassian. Cassian is basically my favorite kind of hero. He is sarcastic and tough on the outside and a squishy ball of broken feelings on the inside. He is alpha without being an asshole. He cares about people and he respects people and he will break your face if you hurt someone he loves. Basically, we must protect Cassian at all costs.
While I absolutely adored every single second of watching Nesta and Cassian’s relationship, what really sold this book for me was its themes of sisterhood and female friendship. Nesta makes new friends while training and working in the library, and they bond over their shared traumatic experiences and I freaking loved how they showed up for each other. Nesta also has to grapple with her relationships with Feyre and Elain and it was truly lovely seeing how they came to fully embrace their sisterhood. One moment in particular that stood out to me was Nesta and her new friends sharing their past trauma and there’s this common thread of how they (all women) collectively blame themselves for the violence inflicted upon them by men. And oof if that doesn’t just kick you right in the gut because how true is that? How often do the victims (usually women) feel guilty because of the trauma we endured from (usually) men? Honestly, reading this book felt a lot like therapy, and I needed it and cried over it and loved every second of it.
And yes, the sex scenes are also bananas hot and delicious.
Overall Rating: 5 stars