Let’s Talk About: A Court of Silver Flames

For fans of Sarah J. Maas A Court of Silver Flames comes highly anticipated. The first in three standalone spin-offs to Maas’ extremely popular A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy, Silver Flames could either come as a refreshing second coming or the beginning of a swift decline to one of fantasy’s most popular fictional worlds.

I had been looking forward to A Court of Silver Flames since the teaser at the end of A Court of Frost and Starlight. I was so excited for Nesta to finally get time and character development and to see where her relationship with Cassian went. I was also looking forward to moving on from Rhys and Feyre. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but we’ve had four books on them now. It’s time to move on.

However, as I was reading there were things I kept noticing and couldn’t ignore that irked me throughout the whole 750+ pages. I thought I would be able to get over it and maybe in the grand scheme of things it wouldn’t matter. As you can probably deduce by this post, I have not gotten over it as it has affected my overall opinion and rating of the book.

So I’m going to use this post to express some of my feelings. Please be aware that I will be discussing many parts of the book in detail so if you haven’t read it yet consider this a major spoiler warning.

Title: A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4)

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other’s arms.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️

The Plot:

This book is just over 750 pages. It’s huge. So why the hell does nothing happen! From very early on there is talk of war. One of the mortal queens is missing, other fearie realms won’t sign a treaty or something, Beron (High Lord of the Autumn Court) is being shady. All things point to everything kicking off. Yet, it doesn’t.

There is no urgency at any point throughout this book. Months pass without anything happening. This consequently makes some of the characters very annoying. There are multiple points where Rhys and Amren threaten Nesta to scry (magically search for something), making it seem like if she doesn’t people will die. So she forces herself to do it, and then nothing happens. Around eight months go by in the events of this book and the only notable events are:

Nesta makes friends with Emerie and Gwyn. They all train to become Valkyrie along with the other Priestesses from the House of Wind library.
Nesta, Emerie and Gwyn compete in the Blood Rite. Emerie and Gwyn win making them the first women to do so. (Not sure if this is important in the long term, but I think it should be)
Rhys and Feyre have a child and nearly die when Feyre gives birth because they stupidly bound their lives together.
Eris wants to overthrow Beron.
Tamlin has stayed in his beast form since the war (not sure if that’s important, they don’t make it sound like it is in the book but I thought it was worth a mention)
Nesta and Cassian are mates and have a mating ceremony.
Nesta’s power is death (more on that later)
Nesta kills Briallyn (mortal queen)
Nesta uses all three items of the Dread Trove (three immensely powerful and old items), doesn’t die and is perfectly fine afterwards. (I feel like that should be important, but they never actually talk about it).

I’m pretty sure that’s it. We had 750+ pages just for that. If I didn’t like Nesta I would not have finished the book. I like that it didn’t rush through Nesta’s recovery, but that’s the only reason I’m OK with this book taking place over eight months.

I almost get the feeling that SJM got half way through and got side tracked. There’s a lot of talk at the beginning about the Dread Trove, but then the training takes over and it’s like everything with the Trove and Briallyn is completely forgotten until the end.

Koschei:

When this character was first mentioned I had no idea who it was. I know he was mentioned in A Court of Wings and Ruin but it wasn’t enough for me to remember who he was. I had to google him. In short, he’s an “Old God” and the Bone Carver and Weaver’s brother. He made a physical appearance in this book once. I can’t help but think he should’ve been in it more.

Firstly, there’s no real villain in this book. I assume it was supposed to be Briallyn but she’s never significant or strong enough to stand against Nesta. I never found her remotely threatening. I get the sense that Briallyn only went for the Trove because Koschei told her to. His power is also death. Who else do we know with that power? Nesta.

Missed opportunity. Big time.

I know Koschei wasn’t really mentioned or in the book that much, but I doubt he’s just going to go away. He was mentioned enough for him to seem like a problem going forward but it felt like SJM had the perfect opportunity to have him be a big problem here and she didn’t. Nesta could have dealt with Briallyn around the halfway point and then build to Koschei. It would’ve raised the stakes and felt like something was actually happening.

Nesta’s Training:

I’m not mad at Nesta training. My girl is a badass after all. It’s why she has to.

Everyone needs to understand that Nesta is traumatised. She’s hurting and has severe PTSD, depression, and probably other things on top of that. It has been months since the war with Hybern where Nesta watched her dad get killed in front of her amongst other things. No one would be the same after that and yet Feyre and the rest of the Inner Circle have just left Nesta. They left her! They left her to cope with everything on her own. I cannot stress this enough. Each and every one of them left her and now have decided they don’t like the way she is handling everything so are threatening and forcing her to train. They literally threaten to kick her out of the Night Court if she doesn’t do it. They do not give her a choice and then they trap her at the House of Wind.

I don’t think I can find the words to describe how much this infuriates me and it gets worse!

The only reason they (and by they I mean Rhys) have decided enough is enough is because Nesta spent a lot of their money on wine. That’s it.

They do not care that she is severely depressed they only care that she is making them look bad by association.

I would like to point out that Rhys is rich. He says as much in Mist and Fury, he even gives the rest of the Inner Circle a salary because he has so much money and doesn’t know what to do with it. He and Feyre have multiple homes. If home boy is so rich why are their slums in his court? Hmm? Now that is something that reflects badly on you, not Nesta turning to drink and sex to cope with the trauma she sustained defending your people.

Which leads me to…

The Inner Circle + Nesta:

Ultimately, a lot of the issues I have between characters in this book comes down to respect. Yes, Nesta doesn’t respect Rhys or Amren etc, but has she ever been given a reason to? Nesta gets thrust into a world she wants no part of, but does anyone care or help her transition? No. So why should she have respect for these people.

You have to earn respect. I don’t care that you’re a war hero from 500 years ago or whatever, you still have to earn personal respect and not expect it to be given to you automatically.

Furthermore, this is one of the main problems I have between her and the Inner Circle. They expect her to respect them but have done nothing to earn it. They literally treat her like garbage and then get annoyed when she bites back or doesn’t do what they want. What did you think she was going to do? Sit and take it. None of them support her, none of them care about her. Considering Rhys also suffers with PTSD from his time with Amarantha you’d think he’d show support to someone going through a similar thing. But he doesn’t because it’s Nesta.

Azriel is the only one that didn’t annoy me. It definitely seems like he has a quiet respect for Nesta which I appreciate. He doesn’t say much to her but when he does, he doesn’t berate or talk down to her. I feel like they could become great friends and I kind of wish they interacted more.

Mor was barely in this book but she still managed to annoy me. It truly is an accomplishment. I just get the sense that Mor thinks she’s above Nesta and I don’t get why. In the small moments Mor has she manages to say Nesta doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. Why? She fought a war for you people and is suffering because of it and you don’t think she deserves the benefit of the doubt? You’ve not even attempted to get to know her so what gives you the right to make that assumption? What annoyed me most of all though is that Mor said Nesta should go/be sent to the Court of Nightmares. Mor knows the brutality and harshness of that part of the Night Court so why would she ever wish that on someone else let alone a woman. It baffles me. My respect for Mor went right down.

Amren just needs to sit down. I get that she’s old af but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have her powers anymore so sis can just calm down and stop acting like she’s the biggest, most badass thing walking. I think just about everything she says to Nesta is a dig or an insult, she offers her no respect. She literally bashes her for drinking and having sex when it’s pretty much the only thing any of them do. There’s also this near constant mention of this big fallout that she and Nesta had even though it’s never gone into, so I have no idea what it was even about which is kinda confusing. It would have been really helpful to know.

I don’t even know what to think of Cassian at this point. There was a point where I loved him and loved the idea of him and Nesta being mates (which they are) but now I’m not so sure. He seems to value her body more than who she is. He constantly wants to have sex with her but then never offers or really tries to help her on a deeper level and it just doesn’t sit well with me. They don’t match well anymore. I don’t see them as equals.

Cassian calls her lazy when she’s suffering with depression which is a massive no no.
Jokes that she might order him to kill himself – which is horrible, because they’re all convinced she’s a monster.
Never stands up for her when Rhys or anyone else bashes her.
Had been avoiding her from months.
He never tries to see her point of view.
Pretty sure he calls her multiple names, but I can’t remember specifics right now.
He has a pretty low opinion of her for the majority of the book and yet is constantly trying to sleep with her.
Keeps things from her.
He says he’s “shackled” to her.

This book has just put me off them being a couple all together. I thought she had more chemistry with Eris than Cassian by the end.

Rhysand:

This boy needs a whole section on himself because that’s how big his ego is and that’s how much he annoyed me. I didn’t think I’d ever dislike Rhys. I wouldn’t say I hate him, but he’s definitely dropped significantly.

Let’s be honest, he’s never given Nesta a chance. I get that Feyre is the youngest of the sisters and it’s wrong that she had to grow up so fast and take care of them and the whole argument that it should have been Nesta, but that doesn’t justify Rhys’ treatment of her. I feel like his hatred towards her stems from Feyre being the one to go out hunting, but that’s not Nesta’s fault. If Papa Archeron weren’t such a deadbeat dad Feyre wouldn’t have had to do that. It has nothing to do with Nesta. He has never liked her, and he’s never hid that, there’s a need for him to be as cruel to her as he is.

Rhys may have annoyed me more in this book than Tamlin ever did in the trilogy. As I’ve already said Rhys has suffered with PTSD so why he shows no sympathy to Nesta’s situation is baffling. His remarks about her are always so aggressive and constant, the fact that he thinks Nesta would actually hurt Feyre, and the baby sends me raging. What has Nesta ever done to give the impressions she’s physically harm her sisters? Again, they think she is a monster.

Rhys on the other hand, would not hesitate to throw Nesta out of the Night Court. If he had his way, I’m sure she’d already be gone.

Don’t get me started on the sheer audacity Rhys has when he threatens to kill Nesta after she tells Feyre she could die in childbirth – a fact everyone else has known for months and refused to tell her. If Rhys didn’t want anyone else telling Feyre this he should have done it himself, he has no right to get mad at Nesta for doing the thing he didn’t have the balls to do.

Furthermore, he’s so cocky and everyone is so far up his ass that I’m astonished I haven’t noticed it before. Its Rhys’ way or the high way and he can do no wrong. I hate it.

Side note: I find it hilarious that Rhys thinks he could kill Nesta. Boo she’d lay you out so fast.

Feyre and Elain:

I don’t have a lot to say on these two because neither of them do much. It does annoy me that they’re Nesta’s sisters and they care about her just as much as everyone else in this book, which isn’t a whole lot.

I feel like Feyre pushes Nesta away. I get that she’s High Lady but there’s no way she wouldn’t find time for her sister. She says in ACOFAS that she thinks Nesta feels too much, she knows the after effects of being Cauldron made and yet ignores Nesta just like everyone else. Plus, if I had a sister, I would never let someone talk to them the way Rhys talks about Nesta. I also found it irritating that Feyre painted portraits of all the inner circle and her family and hung them in her house, except for Nesta. It makes it seem like Nesta has to earn or fight her way into her sisters family. How can you justify that.

Elain just does nothing. You could cut her character out of this series completely and it would make no difference. What I don’t like is how high and mighty she comes across here. She has a two-minute conversation with Nesta and has the gall to say she’s not trying. Get out.

It’s Still the Feyre and Rhys Show:

So, this book was supposed to start a new trilogy of standalones that aren’t centred around Rhys and Feyre…so why did everything in this book come back to Rhys and Feyre?

I get that the whole thing started with them, or Feyre anyway, and I expected them to be in it to a certain degree. However, they’re barely out of it for more than a few chapters at a time. Cassian is constantly going and talking to Rhys and if they aren’t talking to them then they’re talking about them.

Can’t we just move on. Nesta’s story and character is strong enough to carry a whole book she doesn’t need Rhys and Feyre to bulk it up.

Additionally, they’re story was kinda dumb. Firstly, it has been barely a year since Rhys basically died in a war. Everyone knows that even when the final battle is over there’s still a lot of work to do. If anything else is going to kick-off or someone else makes a bid for power, it is going to be not long after the war when strong forces are likely still weak. So how is this a good time to have a child? Oh wait, it isn’t.

Instead of spending time with Nesta and developing her character we have to sit through Rhys and Feyre’s bad choices. Not only is having a child now a bad choice, but then we learn that they bound their lives together so if one dies the other does. Rhys and Feyre are basically world leaders in a sense so why is them binding their lives together a good plan. It’s not a good plan just after a war and it still won’t be a good plan in 500 hundred years. That will never be a smart decision! The idiocy!

I wouldn’t mind as much if it were just on the side, but it took too much of the focus of the book especially at the end. Nesta had just competed in the Blood Rite, destroyed Briallyn, caused a massive shift/quake across Prythian, had a moment with Cassian and instead of dealing with all that, we go straight to Rhys and Feyre. We then pretty much stay with Rhys and Feyre for the rest of the book. Nesta doesn’t get an ending and they sure as hell don’t talk about all the things they should probably talk about, like Briallyn, the Dread Trove, Nesta’s power. Everything is overshadowed by Rhys and Feyre.

Nesta’s Power:

What was the point? In short:

She’s more powerful than Rhys who is the most powerful High Lord
Her power is death although we never really know more than that.
It’s cold and this weird silver fire stuff that never gets explained.
She never masters her power
She never trains her power
And then she loses her power

Trust that I was raging when this happened.

I thought the whole point of this book was for Nesta to master her power and train with it. Not only is it never stated what power she has or what she can do, but she never trains with it and they never try to find out what it is. So what was the point!

To make matters worse she then gives it back at the end! It says she still has some of it, but it’s never said how much so really, we’re in the same place we were at the start. We have no idea how much power she has, or what it is.

It makes no sense! Especially if we’re heading to war again. It’s like if Feyre spent the whole of ACOWAR mastering her power to then loose it before the battle with Hybern.

What is the purpose of this! I can’t quite put the words together to explain how pissed I am about this. She was an amazing Queen of Death and then she lost it. Even worse is that she lost it saving Rhys and Feyre and their child’s lives. She gave up her powers to save people who didn’t give a damn about her. I come back, to what was the point.

Overall:

750+ pages and we have nothing to show for it. Nesta didn’t deserve this. She deserves real character development, a real story, a real villain. Not this. I am so disappointed.