Book Reviews

A Court of Silver Flames by SJM

3.5/5 stars

After surviving horrors like the Cauldron and the battle with Hybern, Nesta can't seem to find any purpose in life and falls into depression as she struggles with PTSD. When she's left with an ultimatum by her family, she must embark on a journey of self-healing or be banished to the human realms—where there is no longer a place for her. A Court of Silver Flames follows Nesta's journey as she learns to accept herself and trust those around her.

What I liked:

I really loved Nesta's POV. Her voice was captured perfectly, and her vices and responses to her traumas felt real. I've seen quite a few reviews talking about how poorly the depression and mental health aspects were handled in this book—specifically how her family and everyone around her seemed to blame her and let her know how much she was hated, among other things they mentioned out of anger or hurt. Although, yes, these bits of dialogue are NOT the thing that should be said to someone who is struggling with mental health, the writing for those bits was realistic. As someone who has struggled with depression myself, I have had many moments where the people around me—the people who are supposed to care—lash out and say things out of anger. So even though the writing most definitely can be triggering for those who are actively struggling with depression and PTSD, the way Sarah J. Maas captured the reactions of those around Nesta felt very real. Not every character is going to be flawless, and the writing reflects that and their own hypocrisies when they confront Nesta.

The part I loved the most is the plot. Unlike many of her books, this plot didn't focus so much on external conflicts at play but more so Nesta's inner conflict as she embarks on her journey of healing. Because of that, the plot doesn't have nearly as many twists or heart-racing scenes like SJM's other works, but the path of Nesta's healing journey reflects much of what people experience on their own journeys: the highs and lows, the self-hatred, the lashing out, the moments where you can't get out of bed in the morning, the disappointment and poor reactions from your family, hopelessness and the rediscovery of hope. I greatly appreciated how Nesta's healing journey was not portrayed as linear. Instead of having her progress be a steady upward progression, there were instances where certain moments and interactions set her off again and had her falling back multiple steps in her healing journey.

What I didn't like:

*warning: spoilers*

Some of the characters I formerly really liked (Cassian and Rhys) lost my respect in this book. There seemed to be a bit too much of the locker room talk/ "boys will be boys" sort of thing when it came to sex with their partners, which is gross. Rhys—who always emphasizes giving people a choice—goes back on his values and hides the real truth of Feyre's pregnancy from her. I couldn't get behind that, because hiding this information took away her choice to handle this situation in a way that she sees fit. It very much felt like Rhys was starting to control her, and everyone around her was in on it. Yet when Nesta eventually tells Feyre the truth (her delivery could've been MUCH better than it was, but hey, it was portrayed in a realistic way to how one may react when deeply hurt), everyone around her blames Nesta for doing something "wrong." Them seeing Nesta as the villain for giving Feyre information she rightfully should have, given that the topic is literally about her own body, made me loose respect for the Inner Circle even more.

Expanding on the characters, Cassian seemed very respectful—at times angry, but still in control—for most of the series in general (if my memory serves correctly.) Even when Nesta was absolutely cruel to him, he still held himself together. However, there were many moments in this book where Nesta was starting to open up to him and be vulnerable, even though they were on the verge of fighting, and for some reason his reaction was to give in to his anger and full on yell at her to "Say it" even though she was clearly struggling to find the words, he would keep yelling at her until she relented or pushed him away. The moment he started pulling this toxic behavior, I lost all respect for him. By the end of the book, this wasn't addressed, and they were described as the seemingly perfect, happy couple. I hope that if there are future books, his behavior is addressed or at least acknowledged as wrong (the way Tamlin's behavior was. I hated the first book in the series originally because I believed his behavior would go unacknowledged and that it would glorify abuse and possessiveness, but thankfully that wasn't the case.) Nesta deserves better than Cassian if he's going to treat her like that whenever she's trying to learn to open up.

I also wasn't a fan of Cassian's POV scenes. He's described (by other characters) as smart and complex, as we've seen from his experience as a successful general and his ways of thinking ahead, but at the same time his POV didn't seem to accurately reflect that. Instead, he seemed very short-sighted, constantly gave in to his anger, or—in almost all cases—just wanted to hook up with Nesta. For someone who commands armies, he seems very childish in this book. The smut was okay. I found it distracting in certain scenes whenever it was mentioned offhand about how they were doing it all around the House—it was mentioned so many times it became redundant, because at that point the reader was well aware of their habits. Some of the mentions of it also felt forced into the chapters, which disrupted the flow and pacing. Every time those odd mentions here and there disrupted the flow, it took me out of the story.

Overall:

I deeply enjoyed Nesta's story and would recommend A Court of Silver Flames to anyone wanting to read about the self-journey of learning the value of trust, true friendship and support, and the inner acceptance of your own strength despite your hardships.