A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

My rating: 5/5 star – it deserved more thank this, but this is the maximum rating for a book, so…

I missed so much reviewing one of Sarah’s book, and “A Court of Silver Flames” was out, I found myself in the position of actually having it on my kindle for me to enjoy. It was an excitement like no other and in less than 5 days I finished the story, reading like crazy with every chance I’ve got. When I began the first chapters it really hit me how much I’ve missed all this universe, the characters (Rhys!!!!!!!!!!!), the plot and everything revolving around it. I’ve read “A Court of Frost and Starlight” as the last installment, but let’s be serious, it was just an appetizer, something to keep you breathing until the real deal comes out.

I was never a fan of Nesta, although I like Cassian very much and he intrigued me a lot, wanting to see how his story develops and to get to know him more, at a personal level. My attention was solely on Rhys in the first trilogy, but now, having these 2 as main characters, your focus changes and you pay more attention to them and to all the details. After reading the book, I really think I was right about Nesta, that her exterior was exactly what she managed to sent through, but after certain events and lots of love, people can change if they have the right incentive.

I consider that Nesta was never something different from what she portrait to be, she was straight forward, sometimes cruel, but that was her upbringing and considering everything that happened, she couldn’t turn up in other way. Her association to the Fae world and the change within her was the starting point, but it was a vicious ride, full of false appearances and glimpses of the real her. When Feyre is more than tired about her sister behavior and irrational spending on account of the Night Court, she sends Nesta to train with Cassian at the House of Wind. Of course Nesta was not OK with the decision and made Cassian’s life a living hell, because she was not a warrior, she didn’t fully embrace the Fae life and that was not her focus. She was still traumatized by the war, by her fathers dead and their transformation, so the path she embraced was to just be numb and not feel anything. She fully took upon herself to make everybody hate her, including Cassian and her sisters, as punishment for what she believes she did. This will be the starting point of the story, a story which finds Nesta on full display, showing us how she managed her emotions, her relationship with Feyre and Elain, her love life with Cassian, but most of all, the powers she took from the Cauldron which was burning inside her and more than gladly wanted to rise and destroy. This will be the trigger to the story which finds Nesta in full bloom, using her powers to stop another war from happening.

Nesta and Cassian were very different from Feyre and Rhys. The first pair is mostly driven at the beginning by an atomic chemistry and sexual tension, while the second had chemistry, but not that explosive. There were more lured in by an invisible connection, which bonded them and never let go. Both of them are super, mega, awesome, but I remain faithful to my fist love. 🙂 Nesta has this tendency of making Cassian completely crazy in certain situations and because of this, there scenes were more raw, full of content and not to mention, frequent. Their love scenes were more in quantity that all the scenes from the first trilogy + the novella. :))) I can’t say I complain, because they were beautifully written and included at the best moments, but you can take a minute to contemplate how frequent they are vs the other books. Their pace and passion is different from Rhys and Feyre and this is why I enjoyed them, because Sarah made a clear difference between the couples and offered them their whole story, from all perspectives. Nesta will be facing a lot of challenges, which will show the extend of her powers and of her training. It will challenge her heart, her believes and her strength in ways nobody suspected. She is a true fighter, on and off the ring or battle and Cassian was really her equal, giving her space to be herself, but helping her when the time came. Nesta’s transformation was beautifully crafted and the story behind it was amazing.

I like Cassian and he is very different from Rhys. Exactly like he is on the battle field he is in every aspect of his life and boy, he was patient. I admired this virtue because Nesta can seriously drive you insane. He tried so hard and even if at the beginning only took what he could, he found a way to get in Nesta’s mind and show her all the possibilities. But yes, I think that their love story is 70% due to Cassian and the way he handled the situation. Not to mention he was very persuasive when certain parts of the book came. After their scene on the battle field during the war, I really thought things will be easier, but nope, Sarah made Cassian and Nesta work for it.

I love this idea Sarah has regarding equality in a pair. All the characters have their own plus and minus, but they are constantly on a balance, there for one another in compensation and love. Beside Nesta and Cassian all the gang is together again and even at the beginning I though I won’t see them a lot, I was wrong. They are all over the plot, hand in hand with the main couple. It was amazing seeing them again and be witness to some incredible and breathtaking scenes. There are an amazing family and even if at fist, the tension is palpable, after tears and sobs and so many raw emotions, the plot is put into place and everything is where it needs to be. They really managed to provide some WOW scenes and I really feel lucky that I managed to read this story and see all the developments.

So, now he will have to wait a lifetime until the next book which I believe will be Azriel’s and I have already read the bonus chapter from his POV. The main questions is: Who will Azriel end up with? I could guess, but with Sarah, you never know. 😆😆