Review: "A Court of Silver Flames" by Sarah J. Maas ★★★★★

Review: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

My favourite of all the ACOTAR books (thus far). A Court of Silver Flames centres on mostly Nesta, the eldest and coldest of the Archeron sisters, following her trauma from previous events which has caused her to shut herself away from the world, even more than before. Tall, dark and handsome (not to mention hilarious and flirtatious) Cassian brings her out of her shell by training her daily and unveiling more about his own dark past until eventually the two share a very strong bond. Nesta also meets priestess Gwyn and female Illyrian Emerie who have their own traumas that they are overcoming. War has returned, and Nesta decides to train the priestesses so they can defend themselves, as Valkyries reborn. Not only is this book about the power of friendship, love conquering all but there are deeper, touching aspects of self-awareness, forgiveness, redemption and healing.

Honourable mentions in this book have got to be firstly the ball when Nesta dances, need I say any more? And then when Cassian goes to visit Nesta to give her the Winter Solstice gift. I was screaming, giggling and kicking my feet reading it that I had to read that chapter again! Like um hello, a man customising a Symphonia with music that he knew you'd love, just for you to listen and dance to whenever you wish? I'd swoon - and marry that man! Cassian is the standard in men.

The interesting part of this is that so far the books have been written in first person, from Feyre's point of view. This one is the first (aside from A Court of Frost and Starlight) of which to use the third person, with insight into both Nesta and Cassian's points of view, which is something I prefer. It gave an interesting viewpoint of looking at the characters such as Rhysand without looking through Feyre's rose-tinted lenses and overall bias.

I was looking forward to this story the most because of Cassian (of course), though was skeptical about whether or not I would enjoy this because I have never been sure whether or not I could like Nesta. I could not have been more wrong. I have never resonated so much with a character in my life: her struggles, the depths of her despair, but her resilience to keep getting up and keep going, against all odds. This is THE best ACOTAR book.

The only unbelievable thing (yes even in a fantasy book) is the wingspan and being able to go down 10,000 steps - and back up!