A Court of Silver Flames – Book Review

• Main focus of the novel is Nesta’s journey
• Master-Class-Level character development
• The same steamy romance Maas fans love
• Beautiful expansion of the world 
• Added intrigue to the tensions of post-war Prythian
• Rushed ending and wished for a little more plot about the world outside of Nesta

A Court of Silver Flames (ACOSF) picks up a few months after the war against Hybern ends, though the world of Prythian is still walking a tightrope of tension, especially with mounting rumors of threats from the human queens. While this is told from new character perspectives and in a way, feels like a new series, you most definitely had to have read the A Court of Thorns and Roses original trilogy to understand and care about what’s happening in this book. I also want to start the review with a big disclaimer that unlike the other books in this series, Sarah goes full-steam ahead into the adult age bracket with a LOT of steamy, graphic sex scenes and sex talk. So if you are young or like to stay away from that kind of writing, I do not recommend this book for you.  But other than that, a lot about this book continues to emphasize what Sarah excels at in her writing: tight plots with mounting tension, swoon-worthy romances, and characters with extreme personalities and incredible growth. 

The thing I noticed most about ACOSF is that it’s not quite as plot-heavy as her other books. Sarah is a master of weaving together complicated plot threads in a way that builds intrigue and keeps suspense and mystery alive without ever letting the reader feel like they know what might happen next. I didn’t see as much of that in this novel. It is much more focused on Nesta’s character and her journey to overcome her trauma and mental setbacks. This is a character-driven story, so we don’t get as much detail and information about the world outside of Nesta. Sure, it’s there, especially in Cassian’s chapters since he’s not always with Nesta. But make no mistake, Nesta is the center of this book’s universe.

Speaking of Nesta, I went into this book expecting to absolutely despise Nesta in the beginning, but if I pushed through I’d grow to understand and like her by the end. Not the case, in that I didn’t ever despise her! Right from the beginning, Maas establishes lots about Nesta’s mental struggles from the trauma in her life and her childhood. I found her to be an incredibly relatable character. All that Sarah revealed about Nesta made me understand why she acted the way she did and said the things she said. Nesta’s character development was a slow and steady growth that left me in awe.

But there were other characters besides Nesta. I enjoyed getting to know Cassian a little bit more, but he didn’t have as much of a character arc as Nesta and others did. I did enjoy watching Nesta make friends. While to me it seemed like the only purpose of the two new friends in Nesta’s life was to bring out a different side of Nesta and give her someone to relate to, it was heart-warming and encouraging to see a strong female group of friends form. Probably one of the best gal pal groups I’ve read.

As for the plot, I thought it was very well crafted. Perhaps not quite the exciting, thrilling ride I’ve come to expect with Sarah, but like I said, this book was about Nesta’s journey. There is a lot of background mentions of the rising tensions in the world outside the Night Court which did help to keep a certain level of suspense throughout the book. And I appreciated how well Sarah weaved in the parts of Nesta’s storyline, like her training, to the exciting events in the last third of the book. The ending felt a little rushed and I wondered if it was because she spent so much time focusing on Nesta’s character arc that she didn’t develop the sub plots enough. And one of the things I’ve come to expect from Sarah novels is a huge, earth-shattering plot twist or surprise at the end. I personally didn’t think ACOSF had this, but I’m not docking points because I don’t think it lessened the quality of the story.

Real quick, I loved the way ACOSF expanded the world of Prythian and painted new settings for us.

And finally, I’ll address the part of the story I think people look forward to the most-the romance. No one does enemies to lovers like Sarah. Nothing is rushed about it in this book, and I loved the combative no nonsense dynamic between Nesta and Cassian. But I have to admit, I didn’t enjoy this relationship as much as her others. The biggest reason was all the sex talk. Full disclaimer, I’m not a huge fan of sex in books, which is just a personal preference, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I don’t mind the occasional sex scenes if they fit with the story. If they add to the romance. Etc. But the amount of smut disrupted the flow of the story for me.  A lot of it felt unnecessary, and that’s the part that bothered me. But again, that could be rooted in my personal preferences, though I will say, sex or not, I don’t like things in stories the distract too much from character growth and plot momentum.

Overall, this was a very good book, though probably towards the bottom of my list for Sarah J Maas books. I didn’t mind at all that it was more character focused than plot focused, but I still would have liked a little more plot throughout. And, it’s one of the best examples I can think of in terms of strong character development.