Hello everyone!
Did it take me literal years?
Yes, yes it did.
Am I ashamed of that fact?
No, I am, in fact, not ashamed. Not at all.
Because, while, as you'll see, this is a book I ended up partially liking, it's still got a host of problems and I'm not all that keen on reading it again, although I possibly MIGHT before the next one releases, depending on what mood I'm in.
For me, it's all about the main characters. Or character, in this case.
Sarah J Maas usually kicks it out of the park for me, but this time it was a hit-and-miss, depending on circumstances.
Without further ado, A Court of Silver Flames.
Considering I've read the entire series, there's a handful of them, but basically, in a VERY quick recap: Feyre Archeron unknowingly kills a High Fae warrior, and as recompense, she has to go live at the court of his lord in the Fae lands. They fall in love, she goes to save them all from a spell they've been under for fifty years, dies in the process, and is resurrected as High Fae herself. She then battles her personal demons in the aftermath, flees to a different court, finds her mate, and fights a war by his side to save the world they live in. HE dies in this process, is resurrected, and they end up winning, but the costs of war are always high.
And this is more or less where we jump into Silver Flames.
Feyre's older sister, Nesta, the most polarizing character of them all (aside from Tamlin himself), takes center stage with her usual drinking, fucking, being an obnoxious asshole, until her family pulls the plug on financing her addictions, dumps her into the House of Wind with Cassian to train and help in the library there (if you recall, the library is a sanctuary for females who have been abused in some form or other), and gives her a time frame in which she has to show SOME improvement.
And before anyone starts hissing: at some point, you can't wait for an addict to want help anymore. When they're being too self-destructive, someone has to stage an intervention, whether said addict likes it or not.
Thus begins the back and forth between Nesta and Cassian in which she refuses to do what she's supposed to do and he's practically begging on his knees to get her to participate, so she doesn't get yeeted back to the human realm where, as High Fae, she really (probably) won't survive.
It isn't until he pieces together that she doesn't want any eyes on her that we get any progress, but once training moves to the House of Wind, then we can finally start moving forward, and with the added benefit of her suddenly making friends of her own outside the Inner Circle, we finally, FINALLY get a more human Nesta who doesn't grate on nerves and can actually be palatable.
Said friends, Emerie and Gwyn, both join her for training, and once she gets something into her head, she runs with it, so she manages to display what and how Cassian trains her before the other priestesses, which then leads to more of the wounded females joining, and prompting Azriel to come as a secondary trainer, too.
What starts off as a healing process turns into a sort of lifeline, in a way, and the two Illyrians actually correctly deduce that at the very least three females - in this case, Nesta and the other two - could probably pass the Blood Rite if they were accepted.
If you remember, the Blood Ride is a sort of gateway to maturity for Illyrians, wherein they're dumped at the foot of their sacred mountain, naked and weaponless, and have to survive to reach said mountain. In all their long history, only twelve managed that feat, to be ranked among their finest warriors, and out of those, only a handful actually climbed to the top - Rhysand, Azriel and Cassian among them.
Our two boys stage Blood Rite qualifiers for the women, inviting one of the Illyrian warlords to come see for himself what they're capable of, much to said idiot's disgust, but by this point, the women are like you know what? We'll just be Valkyries, thank you.
Valkyries, which Cassian also explains, were exceptional warriors whom he fought with eons ago, and they made the ultimate sacrifice to hold off a pass for the rest of the army to survive, unfortunately perishing for the most part in the process. But he definitely approves of this route for Nesta, because he, above anyone else, has a vested interest in seeing her thrive.
They've been doing it all over the House, you see, and she keeps saying 'just sex', but he's really hoping for more, because - this is something we've all known since the OG trilogy - they're Mates.
Not that she's accepting it yet, going on and on about how she'll lose the last sliver of her humanity if she does that.
For some reason, Nesta and Elain (who's actually not catatonic in this book and participates?) both equate humanity to being mortal, instead of thinking of it as all the things that make you inherently good, but I digress.
While this is all going on, and Nesta and Cassian get all handsy, we've got other stuff happening in the background.
Namely, one of the mortal queen's resurfaced - Briallyn, the one who went into the Cauldron after the experiment with the Archeron sisters turned out successful, but because Nesta took more from her transformation than she would have otherwise been given, the Cauldron threw a hissy fit and turned the human queen into an immortal crone.
She's been out for Nesta's blood ever since, and by this book we know she's going for the Dread Trove, which is BAD news, because each artifact on its own is dangerous enough, but together? They make whoever wields them unstoppable, and even Amren can't remember the last time they were used by one person.
Nesta, being Cauldron-made, can hunt these objects down, but she's terrified of scrying for them because of what happened last time, which is the Cauldron kidnapped Elain, but Elain puts it very succinctly: her traumas are her own to bear, and not about NESTA.
At this point, during a nightmare, Nesta's powers stop being dormant and unleash, and Rhysand arrives to help bank them, so we have proof that he, at least, is powerful enough to withstand what she's dishing out - not that there was much of a question there, considering he's the most powerful High Lord to walk Prythian in literal centuries, but I digress.
They find out where the Mask is, and hunt it down, in the process dealing with some mind-controlled Autumn court soldiers, Nesta fighting off a Kelpie, and controlling the Mask instead of the other way around, being able to put it on and take it off at will.
Oh and also, the Mask controls the dead. No biggie.
With Briallyn in possession of the Crown, which holds people in thrall around it, there's only the Harp left, said Harp supposedly capable of opening doorways, and a golden nugget dropped by Mass that other worlds exist, one on top of the other in layers, which we guessed at but now have confirmation of from that time Aelin was falling through what looked to be worlds, and seeing Rhysand and Feyre in the process.
Anyway, the Harp is under the Prison, so Nesta and Cassian head to retrieve it, with a sword that Nesta herself Made.
See, she has the power to create, or not-create, depending which way things turn, and one time during a blacksmithing exercise, she was hammering at two swords and a dagger, and imbued them with power. They're now HER Dread Trove, and armed with that great sword, they find the Harp, behind a secret door nobody knew about under the Prison, and Nesta hears the echoes of its last melody, along with screams and pleas of the Fae she believes were caught in the Prison stone itself.
(Actually, it's the Dusk Court, more on that later).
The Harp, being a wicked thing, also unleashed the one prisoner Cassian put in there that can't be killed, and it's Nesta who kills him, with her Made sword, a feat that was supposed to be impossible and yet she makes it possible, but I'm also sitting there like, Cassian managed to handle this dude fine enough the first time around, why take this away from him now?
Anyway, with the Mask and Harp now in their possession, and Helion having put wards on them keyed to Nesta specifically, our players need to make sure Eris, of Autumn court infamous reputation, is handled carefully enough, especially since Nesta and Cassian got into it with him on Tamlin's lands, and also Nesta told Tamlin - who's mostly in beast form nowadays - to keep his maw shut or she'd take his head next.
The Night Court uses Nesta to lure Eris, through dancing of all things, as she has vast experience there and THAT is her expression of art.
Feyre paints. Nesta dances.
Eris wants to marry her afterwards, and he'll give Rhys just about anything to make that happen, which I find funny as heck, but anyway.
As Nesta slowly, FINALLY gets some apologies out of her ass (looking at you, Amren) and sort of accepts the Mating bond with Cassian during the Winter Solstice, things come to a head on all plot points:
she gets into an argument, revealing Feyre's pregnancy will kil her and that Rhysand's been looking for ways to save her life (yes, our main couple is pregnant, but apparently, as Feyte was Illyrian at the time of conception, the baby has wings, and her body can't accommodate that, and for some reason she can't shift back into that form; Rhysand forbade anyone from telling her, so she'd be calm and happy, and is out for Nesta's blood when this is revealed against his direct orders), which has Cassian yanking her out of Velaris into the wilderness.
She finally breaks then, literally ninety percent into the book when this should have happened SOONER so her healing journey actually made sense, but anyway.
Eris gets caught by Briallyn, except he's not actually caught, but went willingly? This is a bit of a head-scratcher because I can't decide whether that was Eris, or, when Cassian and Azriel get tricked, Koschei, the death-lord who's caught at a lake with Vassa, the youngest human queen the others sold to him and he turned into a fire-bird (Swan Lake retelling, anyone?).
Azriel manages to get the hell out of dodge with Eris, but the reason I'm confused is because Eris had the Made dagger from Nesta's trove he'd been given, and apparently could be mind-controlled still, but supposedly, Made objects protect you, and Azriel holds Truth-Teller, so HE was unaffected.
This feels like it's confusing or a loophole, whichever.
Anyway, CASSIAN gets caught by the Crown, and meanwhile the girls get dumped into the Blood Rite, survive, make it up Ramiel, and Nesta holds off their pursuers while Gwyn and Emerie touch the coveted stone and win, but the pursuers are controlled by the Crown, too, and then Cassian appears, with Briallyn, who wants the Trove.
Nesta, she says, will give it to her, or her Mate dies, but because we all know the Mating bond supersedes basically anything and can't be broken, Cassian's control isn't as full as Briallyn thinks it is.
Or he's just that strong. I'd run with that, too, because I'm unhappy with how this book keeps harping that he's just a brute and bastard and low-born and stupid; as Rhysand's General, he's the LAST thing from stupid, but this book somehow makes it look like he can't tell five from twenty.
He does, however, turn against Briallyn's orders, trying to kill himself instead of Nesta, and Nesta unleashes her full power to UnMake the other queen.
Apparently, this is all happening so fast and at the same time that Azriel and Mor, the cavalry, arrive not to help Cassian - I'm not sure how to take this bit, because Azriel SHOULD have been gunning after his brother, but it doesn't look like anyone was going to come, which is another loophole IMO - but to tell them that Feyre's in labour, and it's going badly.
So badly that she's dying, in which case, Rhys will die, too. Because the OG couple made a pact to leave this world together, which inconveniently means Feyre should be watched even MORE because we kind of need Rhysand around.
Nesta summons the Dread Trove, because she finally realizes hey, I love my sister (me as I read this: you're an idiot), plucks the final string that stops time, and makes a bargain with the Cauldron to return the power she stole if her sister and her nephew live.
The Mother, supposedly, intervenes to allow Nesta at least some power left, but Feyre and baby Nyx, her son, survive, and she and Nesta now also have a body that can deliver Illyrian babies without dying in the process, something Cassian is VERY much in approval of. The two of them are having an elaborate Mating ceremony (hosted by Rhys, who's out of his mind with happiness and relief, and oh hello there, Nesta realized he's her brother, because he's with Feyre, DUH), they were gifted the House of Wind (which Nesta also kind of Made, because she wanted a friend and literally wished into existence so that the magic controlling it became sentient), and Nesta finally visits her father's grave with her sisters.
All's well that ends well, they say, if you don't think about Koschei that's still plotting to start another war, and the fact that Prythian might need to unite under one banner like they used to be, when a High King reigned before the Courts.
Rhysand my man, you ready for the battle of a lifetime?
First thing's first.
I did it. Y'all can now get off my back with this book, I finished it.
Second: it's been such a long time since I've read the OG ACOTAR trilogy that I've completely forgotten just what a vast and beautiful world, with a rich, tapestried history Maas created when she wrote these books. I tend to say this almost every time I read one of her books but, her writing really DID improve so much over time, and Prythian with all its intricacies remains my favourite of hers thus far.
Third: this book gets docked a star because of Nesta Archeron, and I’ll explain myself later on. But although I find her marginally more palatable after reading her book, I’m definitely not a fan, nor will I ever be. Before anyone comes at me, any and all problems one might be facing, whether emotional, physical, mental, or other, are EXPLANATIONS. They are not, nor will they ever be, EXCUSES for someone’s behaviour. Nesta may have had things happen to her which influenced her, but it was on HER to regulate her own behaviour rather than expect everyone else to cater to her. But like I said, she’s above the worms I likened her to before, even if not by much.
We continue.
This book has a few clear-cut plotlines that weave and lock together then drift apart throughout, and I’ve roughly sectioned them off like this: Nesta + Cassian, Valkyrie training, Feyre + Rhysand + Nyx, and finally the Dread Trove (this last includes Briallyn and Koschei, and the High King bid, as well as echoes of the Dusk Court and allusions to Crescent City with the Horn). I’ll go through them one by one, leaving my least favourite for last.
I did it. Y'all can now get off my back with this book, I finished it.
Second: it's been such a long time since I've read the OG ACOTAR trilogy that I've completely forgotten just what a vast and beautiful world, with a rich, tapestried history Maas created when she wrote these books. I tend to say this almost every time I read one of her books but, her writing really DID improve so much over time, and Prythian with all its intricacies remains my favourite of hers thus far.
Third: this book gets docked a star because of Nesta Archeron, and I’ll explain myself later on. But although I find her marginally more palatable after reading her book, I’m definitely not a fan, nor will I ever be. Before anyone comes at me, any and all problems one might be facing, whether emotional, physical, mental, or other, are EXPLANATIONS. They are not, nor will they ever be, EXCUSES for someone’s behaviour. Nesta may have had things happen to her which influenced her, but it was on HER to regulate her own behaviour rather than expect everyone else to cater to her. But like I said, she’s above the worms I likened her to before, even if not by much.
We continue.
This book has a few clear-cut plotlines that weave and lock together then drift apart throughout, and I’ve roughly sectioned them off like this: Nesta + Cassian, Valkyrie training, Feyre + Rhysand + Nyx, and finally the Dread Trove (this last includes Briallyn and Koschei, and the High King bid, as well as echoes of the Dusk Court and allusions to Crescent City with the Horn). I’ll go through them one by one, leaving my least favourite for last.
Valkyrie training: I actually found this to be an interesting part of the book, because I love learning new things, and hearing more about the Illyrians as well as any who might have fought with them. While some of the things might have turned repetitive after a time (listen, we get it, Mind-Stilling is cool and all, but if you’re too focused then YOU end up stilling … to the point of dozing), overall I liked the fact that there IS progress happening. Cassian has now further proved it to the Illyrians, and Gwyn and Emerie have established themselves further by being the first females – and part of the coveted FEW – to win the Blood Rite. I’m also pleased Nesta didn’t get to finish that off, not out of spite for her, but because it makes more sense for her story.
Feyre + Rhysand + Nyx: alright. This one was a doozy as soon as it hit the internet, literally ripping through people because we have Feyre very clearly stating back in ACOMAF that she’d like to LIVE first, as Rhysand’s mate, his High Lady, and all that jazz, before they try for a baby. Then, not too long after, she’s actually pregnant, but actually … it makes sense, in the context of their story when you think about it. Another thing that makes sense is their pact of leaving the world together.
I’ll explain.
Because Feyre felt Rhys die, and knew a world without him, she realized she wants a piece of him to hold forever. That means a child – and having talked to friends of mine who have children, this is a want and need like no other that can’t really be logically explained. So within this context, it works for them. The pact, too, hinges on the same facts: Feyre knew a world without Rhys. Rhys knew a world without Feyre, because she died Under the Mountain. They knew it, didn’t want to live in it, and made their pact. It’s a stupid ass pact, obviously, and I’m with Amren on the face-palming, but it makes sense for the two of them in their story. It aligns with everything else.
Now we’ll look into this whole pregnancy business from the angle that apparently, the High Fae can make new tech-savvy body parts for people, can pretty much alter worlds with their powers, but have no idea how to perform a C-section without killing the female, which is the problem with Feyre and Nyx. THIS is the bogus part of the entire plot which makes it as weak as a newborn colt, and that’s an insult to a colt, actually. Plus, Rhys explains it: Feyre, with her shape-shifting, alters her very essence. HER. ESSENCE. Not that of the child. Why she couldn’t just shift into a more Illyrian body is beyond me, but if she had, then there’d be no reason for Nesta’s sacrifice at the end of the book, and thus the entire plot would have been more wasted than it already was. Let’s just all agree it was a stupid ass plot, but we got baby Nyx out of it, and we all know he’ll be a cutie, so there.
I’ll explain.
Because Feyre felt Rhys die, and knew a world without him, she realized she wants a piece of him to hold forever. That means a child – and having talked to friends of mine who have children, this is a want and need like no other that can’t really be logically explained. So within this context, it works for them. The pact, too, hinges on the same facts: Feyre knew a world without Rhys. Rhys knew a world without Feyre, because she died Under the Mountain. They knew it, didn’t want to live in it, and made their pact. It’s a stupid ass pact, obviously, and I’m with Amren on the face-palming, but it makes sense for the two of them in their story. It aligns with everything else.
Now we’ll look into this whole pregnancy business from the angle that apparently, the High Fae can make new tech-savvy body parts for people, can pretty much alter worlds with their powers, but have no idea how to perform a C-section without killing the female, which is the problem with Feyre and Nyx. THIS is the bogus part of the entire plot which makes it as weak as a newborn colt, and that’s an insult to a colt, actually. Plus, Rhys explains it: Feyre, with her shape-shifting, alters her very essence. HER. ESSENCE. Not that of the child. Why she couldn’t just shift into a more Illyrian body is beyond me, but if she had, then there’d be no reason for Nesta’s sacrifice at the end of the book, and thus the entire plot would have been more wasted than it already was. Let’s just all agree it was a stupid ass plot, but we got baby Nyx out of it, and we all know he’ll be a cutie, so there.
The Dread Trove: is a political plotline which I would have LOVED to actually have as the first and most important focal point of the book, rather than the snapshots we got when we needed a break from the incessant Nesta drivel. There was SO MUCH good there to unpack, particularly because there’s now a second Trove that Nesta herself made, and a whole lot of WTH moments, starting with the Making, to her killing someone unkillable (I’m on the fence about whether this was a forced #girlboss moment that purposefully weakened Cassian for her to achieve it, or if it makes sense, I’ll probably chew on this a while), to the UnMaking Briallyn at the end. Not just that, but because the Court lost Amren’s super powers, they needed a replacement, which was Nesta – or would have been, if, one, she’d actually give a damn, and two, the plot didn’t force her to nerf herself.
But beside that, there is A LOT to this. We get rumblings of the Dusk Court, a court we KNOW existed, and migrated to Midgard, where it fell to the Daglan, and we also know the Trove originally had FOUR items, one of them being the pesky little Horn which gets used in the Crescent City series. This is the first step in the cross-over that follows in the other series, which I have to get to still (and judge for myself if it’s as bad as people said it was), but I want to take a moment to disappoint every single Nesta stan out there:
She’s not bringing the Dusk Court back, y’all. Calm down. She says it herself, spells it out: she doesn’t want or need a crown, and honestly? She’s be terrible at it, because one, even I can see her healing journey is FAR from over, but also two, she’d just suck at it, if her decisions from the past can be any judge, and the only judge. Three, possibly most important: Cassian is her Mate. He is also, if you lot remember, General of Rhysand’s armies. Who’s going to lead THOSE if he tags along to the Dusk Court with Nesta, hm? Azriel? Don’t make me laugh, that’s not his skillset. I could potentially see a POSSIBILITY with Nyx, when he’s old enough, but that’s the stretchiest stretch I’ll allow. Otherwise, they’re staying with Night Court and crowning Rhy High King, end of.
And finally.
But beside that, there is A LOT to this. We get rumblings of the Dusk Court, a court we KNOW existed, and migrated to Midgard, where it fell to the Daglan, and we also know the Trove originally had FOUR items, one of them being the pesky little Horn which gets used in the Crescent City series. This is the first step in the cross-over that follows in the other series, which I have to get to still (and judge for myself if it’s as bad as people said it was), but I want to take a moment to disappoint every single Nesta stan out there:
She’s not bringing the Dusk Court back, y’all. Calm down. She says it herself, spells it out: she doesn’t want or need a crown, and honestly? She’s be terrible at it, because one, even I can see her healing journey is FAR from over, but also two, she’d just suck at it, if her decisions from the past can be any judge, and the only judge. Three, possibly most important: Cassian is her Mate. He is also, if you lot remember, General of Rhysand’s armies. Who’s going to lead THOSE if he tags along to the Dusk Court with Nesta, hm? Azriel? Don’t make me laugh, that’s not his skillset. I could potentially see a POSSIBILITY with Nyx, when he’s old enough, but that’s the stretchiest stretch I’ll allow. Otherwise, they’re staying with Night Court and crowning Rhy High King, end of.
And finally.
Nesta and Cassian: gods, I wish this were better. And it’s not because their relationship is so physically focused, because I DON’T have problems with that. It’s more the fact that I will never understand Nesta, and I won’t apologize, because I’ve tried, by reading this book. I still don’t get it. This is basically Nesta: woe is me, I’ve been mistreated, abused, poor, and my sisters love me and want the best for me having gone through the same things, so I hate them for it. Also Nesta: woe is me, I’ve been mistreated, abused, poor, and I have new friends who love me and want the best for me having gone through the same things, so I love them for it.
I don’t mind that she has her own friends, I really don’t. But can you see the point I’m making? This is what bothered me the whole book through. What still pisses me off to no end. Found family is great and all, and I’m all for it. I APPLAUD her for actually accepting any kind of family at all. But she does a lot of things for all the wrong reasons and the wrong motivations, and her actual blood family never did the things they did with the same negative motivations, yet she treats them as such. People who defend Nesta often compare her to Amren, saying well, Amren is a bitch too! Heck yeah, she is. But she’s the bitch who moved her ass when Rhys needed her to, before he even said so, prowling Velaris to hunt down their enemies without prompt. Nesta is the bitch who sat or stood there looking at them like they’d lost their minds for CONSIDERING asking her for help.
See what I’m getting at?
You can be a bitch, but you can be a good bitch. Nesta, unfortunately, is just a bitch, period, and I feel bad for Cassian for panting after her so much, although I suppose he’s just the kind of person she needed to kick her ass. I still think he deserves someone a little bit better, because I feel like Nesta will ALWAYS triple think any motive she might have and not just willingly help because it’s the fucking right thing to do. And I can’t with characters like that.
I give her definite points for her end sacrifice (and for letting us know that Elain isn’t ending up with Azriel), but she’s got a long way to go for me, if she ever reaches it in my mind. She might never. She might someday.
All I know is I liked this book for several reasons, and Nesta still grates my nerves and needs lightning years of work. But she’ll probably be instrumental in getting Rhysand to that throne, so, I can’t even be fully mad at her, just about three quarters mad.
It’s a good book, is what I’m saying, the main character just wasn’t for me.
I don’t mind that she has her own friends, I really don’t. But can you see the point I’m making? This is what bothered me the whole book through. What still pisses me off to no end. Found family is great and all, and I’m all for it. I APPLAUD her for actually accepting any kind of family at all. But she does a lot of things for all the wrong reasons and the wrong motivations, and her actual blood family never did the things they did with the same negative motivations, yet she treats them as such. People who defend Nesta often compare her to Amren, saying well, Amren is a bitch too! Heck yeah, she is. But she’s the bitch who moved her ass when Rhys needed her to, before he even said so, prowling Velaris to hunt down their enemies without prompt. Nesta is the bitch who sat or stood there looking at them like they’d lost their minds for CONSIDERING asking her for help.
See what I’m getting at?
You can be a bitch, but you can be a good bitch. Nesta, unfortunately, is just a bitch, period, and I feel bad for Cassian for panting after her so much, although I suppose he’s just the kind of person she needed to kick her ass. I still think he deserves someone a little bit better, because I feel like Nesta will ALWAYS triple think any motive she might have and not just willingly help because it’s the fucking right thing to do. And I can’t with characters like that.
I give her definite points for her end sacrifice (and for letting us know that Elain isn’t ending up with Azriel), but she’s got a long way to go for me, if she ever reaches it in my mind. She might never. She might someday.
All I know is I liked this book for several reasons, and Nesta still grates my nerves and needs lightning years of work. But she’ll probably be instrumental in getting Rhysand to that throne, so, I can’t even be fully mad at her, just about three quarters mad.
It’s a good book, is what I’m saying, the main character just wasn’t for me.
xx
*image not mine
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