Meagen Today I finally let myself finish A Court Of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas. I’m sure some of you tore through this on the first day it was out, that was my plan too!
But in the end I decided to force myself to read this one slowly. I wasn’t ready to be at the end of the story for what could be another year or two after just a day or two of fun in the Night Court.
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Let’s dive on into the details. There was a lot to read and a lot to think about and a lot of moments where I wasn’t sure if I would cry from anxiety, anger, or just sheer heartbreak!
This one has all the feels and all the steam. It’s probably a good thing someone finally wised up and decided this is not a young adult series…how did that ever happen to begin with?!
What is this book about?
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas is book five in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. It’s a story that we read mostly from the perspective of Cassian and Nesta, two of the main characters from the previous books.
The book follows Nesta’s journey as she works to either drown her sorrows or work through her trauma after the war with Hybern. We also see the Night Court battling to keep the all too new peace that was won during that same war.
Nesta and Cassian are forced together and they catch fire, if it will bond them for life or eat them alive remains to be seen. Meanwhile the human queens have popped their ugly heads out of their hiding places to stir up trouble. Naturally, the only person who can save the Night Court and likely the world. is Nesta…but that’s only if she can stop feeling sorry for herself long enough to sober up and fight…for herself and everyone she loves to hate.
What did you love about A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas?
Nesta! Okay, I was also thrilled to be spending so much time in Cassian’s head. If I can’t be in his bed (LOL…but like really…) then I just want to live in his perspective for as long as possible.
But my main love for this book is all Nesta. It was so so good to dig deeper into all those dark places in her past and her history. I feel like anyone who has trauma in their past can see the merits of Nesta’s journey through this book. If you’ve never felt like you needed to mask your pain or fear or disappointment with anger just to get through the next minutes, hours, etc. you probably don’t relate to Nesta or particularly like her.
I think her journey in this book is probably a little too relatable for me, in as much as one can relate to a fictional character in a dream world full of faeries and ancient made objects. I found myself examining old habits and thinking back to days when I was lashing out in anger because I didn’t have the coping mechanisms I have now. Seeing Nesta work through everything that should have broken her was cathartic for me.
A good portion of the book focuses on Nesta’s journey from kind of a broken garbage fire of a person to a warrior. I really enjoyed that Cassian was there working with her and training her but also letting her get through what she needed to get through.
I felt like at the end Nesta had saved herself from herself and everything else 😉 no spoilers. All that to say: she wasn’t sitting around waiting for Cassian to just wiggle his nose and make it all better!
What did you not love about this book?
When A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas ended I was bummed. I could have kept reading for another 500 pages. I found that I really loved reading this story from Cassian and Nesta’s perspectives.
I know that we’re meant to be focusing on Cassian and Nesta in this installment but I would have liked to have had more from Mor, she spends a good deal of this book off on assignment in Vallahan and I found myself missing her more than I missed Feyre or Rhysand in this one.
That said, they’re in the book, don’t get nervous, these characters are still part of the novel they’re just not our main focus, I’m not sure why but I just missed Mor being in the mix as part of the gang. I think it would have been interesting to have her around as we see Cassian and Nesta working through their complex relationship and issues.
I love the narrator for the audio books of this series so I’m excited to listen to it when my hold is available through my library. Pro tip: if you aren’t already using your local library for books on some level, get on that! Libby is a great app that lets you connect your library card and it will instantly show you what digital resources are available!
Will you read more in the ACOTAR series?
I will without a doubt be back for anything else Sarah J. Maas throws at us from these characters in this world. I love them all in their own ways.
I’m partial to Nesta and Cassian after ACOSF but I also would really love to see more from Az and Mor’s perspectives. We get to learn so much about Rhysand and Feyre and their story clearly still has a lot of potential for the future so I wouldn’t mind checking back in with them some more as well!
In any case, yes, I’ll be lining up just like I have for ACOSF for whatever comes next. I’m in. A Court of Silver Flames didn’t change that about me 🙂
Overall opinions of this book:
Since I’m finally finished I’m sharing my review! No surprise here but this was a 5 ⭐️ read for me. I’m a big fan of the ACOTAR series and this installment was no exception.
ACOSF was different in the fact that we were getting Cassian and Nesta as our main narrators. It’s fairly obvious that we are meant to be seeing these two as a pair from this perspective shift alone. I was actually excited to see this world through their eyes. As much as I love Rhysand and Feyre it was a welcome shift to see things a little differently and finally be inside Cassian’s head for awhile!
There are a lot of mixed feelings on Nesta. I haven’t always loved her but ACOSF changed that. I never hated her (certainly not as much as some readers) and I think after this book I understand her so much better, even see something of myself in her and the way she reacts to her circumstances.
Hopefully this book helps people understand Nesta’s character as a whole. I feel like people who have never endured trauma in their past or felt let down by their parents probably can’t relate to the character of Nesta in a meaningful way, I get that. Nesta is certainly not a lovable character for everyone but I was sad to be done with this one because I just wanted to keep reading her journey.
As with all the ACOTAR books we have a main struggle that we’re working towards with a lot of that wrapping up juusssttt at the very end along with some minor struggles along the way and some characters working through their issues (primarily Nesta in ACOSF).
I don’t want to give away any spoilers but there’s a lot of action in this one, not surprising, I feel like most of this series is paced really well and there’s always something to draw us back in. If you aren’t into the romance aspect of these books you probably won’t be thrilled with ACOSF. There’s a lot of steam between Nesta and Cassian and it’s not always quite the love connection we’re used to with Rhysand and Feyre.
It’s a satisfying ending with plenty of openings for the series to continue on. I also noted a bunch of questions brought up throughout the book. We’re talking 700+ pages here so there’s definitely some things happening and glances between characters that we’re meant to notice and remember for future reference 😉
Where can I buy A Court Of Silver Flames for myself?
You can grab a copy at Books A Million, Barnes & Noble (both released special editions with unique extra chapters at the end) you can also get copies from Target, Walmart, and online shops like Amazon.
Grab the physical copy here:
Grab the Kindle version here:
Kindle Unlimited Membership PlansWhat else has Sarah J. Maas written?
Sarah J. Maas has written a bunch of insanely popular books. You might know since you’re checking out a book in the ACOTAR series (A Court of Thorns and Roses) as well as the Throne of Glass (TOG) Series which is more YA appropriate for those of you looking for something in that realm.
She has also written House of Earth and Blood which is Crescent City #1.
It’s never a bad time to dive into her worlds! If you haven’t tried out her other series yet check them out! Check back for reviews on the Throne of Glass series. I promise I’ll have them up soon. (So many books so little time, right).
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Looking for more reviews to check out?
Check out these other book reviews and bookish posts. I think you’ll love them! Make sure to let me know in the comments what kinds of books you like to read and what you’d like to see more of.
I’d love to hear about your favorite books, I’m always adding to my TBR (to be read) pile so leave those suggestions below!
