Padma Wulandari

A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, 5)

Book by Sarah J. Maas

DETAILS

Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing (September 6, 2022) Language : English Paperback : 784 pages ISBN-10 : 1635577993 ISBN-13 : 978-1635577990 Item Weight : 1.36 pounds Dimensions : 5.55 x 2.7 x 8.3 inches Best Sellers Rank: #733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #37 in Romantic Fantasy (Books) #45 in Fantasy Romance (Books) #45 in Epic Fantasy (Books) , Sarah J. Maas's sexy, richly imagined series continues with the journey of Feyre's fiery sister, Nesta. 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. Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts. 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. Read more

REVIEW

I have read every single book SJM has ever released, and even read the bit of the Starkillers Cycle that she published. I had my mom buy the first TOG book when it had just released and I was 15 or 16. So when I say I am a fan, I mean it. I have defended Sarah J. Maas, through rough Tumblr years, and indignantly scrolled through Goodreads, annoyed that the people who disliked her just wouldn't leave the fans alone. That said, I'm not blind to some of the weaknesses I've read. Some of her books are better than others, and the representation has been missing, lacking, or seemingly shoehorned in, at times. But, I would say, she is improving, at least. Which makes this review a bit difficult for me to write. There are three categories that stuck out to me as bothersome: the themes, characterization, and the pacing. (Spoilers below). 1) The Themes In this book, Nesta Archeron has to atone for the horrible things she has said and done, while overcoming the bad things said and done to her. All this, while facing an external threat from the eastern continent. At least, that's what the audience is told. I wish this had been how the book played out. But, what I thought was something done in her books once, was not an anomaly. Something reared its head again as an unwelcome pattern: retconning, and this time, to the story's detriment. Instead of Nesta having done bad things or been a bad person, she'd merely been misunderstood. So many of Maas' characters aren't truly bad, but *misunderstood*. This works once or twice, but in Nesta's book, this shouldn't have been in here, because it works against the book's favor, badly. Why? Because even if Nesta Archeron herself was never actually bad, then what hope do the audience have of connecting with Maas' characters? Everyone has done and said things they regretted. In reality, most people probably could have related to Nesta's flaws more than Feyre's. Nesta was a pride-filled coward, which she knew and understood, making her hate herself, and then that hate spools from her to the people around her. She was too much of a coward to keep the family alive and hunt, as Feyre had done, too much of a coward to save her sister from Tamlin, too much of a coward to step in on behalf of her father. Again and again and again. But Feyre? She was never a coward, and she found love and acceptance much easier than Nesta ever did; in a way, Nesta's dislike and envy of Feyre are understandable (though hopefully not relatable). Feyre is the perfect, adored sister, and Nesta is the sullen child nobody notices, or outright dislikes. Nesta is Feyre's dark mirror; every choice Nesta chose not to make (overcoming anger, willing herself into action to help the family survive), Feyre chose the opposite and became what Nesta could have become, had Nesta made different choices. And Nesta's words and actions could then be interpreted as a guard against this because she understands and welcomes their dislike of her. Nesta is proud, and controlling. If she only shows people the parts of her that she doesn't really see as herself, then she never runs the risk of being hurt. And, as many people know well the feeling, sometimes families can typecast a person for something that would otherwise be a phase, so even when a person tries to grow out of it, their families only ever see them as the person they were, instead of the person they are trying to become. This is inferred through the third person, though as much of this book deals with internal conflict, I kept wondering why it wasn't in the first person. Especially since much of the story has to deal with Nesta overcoming much of her thought processes and feelings. And Nesta's feelings towards Feyre came across as ill-defined and inexplicable. That theme of jealousy was hinted at here and there, but never fully explored, or realized for what it was (self-hatred). Again, so much of this book would have made a thousand times more sense if done in the first person. Keeping in mind all these flaws, its important to note that most of Nesta's flaws are rationalized away. This is a pity, as this could have been distinguished as a story of redemption, as opposed to a story very similar to Feyre's in dealing with PTSD. One of the big things with redemption, and this is VERY important to understand, not only about characters, but people at large; people WANT to have consequences for awful actions. There's a scene in Breaking Bad where Aaron Paul's character goes to group therapy and tells everyone that he killed a dog for no reason. The therapist tells him that its okay, to accept it, and move on. Forgive. But Paul's character is enraged at this; he wants there to be consequences and he wants people to be disgusted by his actions. This is because, even when people stray from their morals, they want that moral compass to remain, because without it, there's nothing to pull them back. There is no reason to try in society, if there is no guiding principles to work towards. And if there's no consequences, what's to stop the other monsters from getting them? I've never been at a point like Paul's character, where I did something like that, but I have said and done things I regretted. And when I confided in them to other people, I did not want their absolution. I wanted their reassurance that atonement was possible, and that redemption is possible. That it is possible to be at a point that is bad, but have a path leading out of that darkness. So, when Nesta complains that she didn't save her father, its weakened by the fact that she *couldn't* save her father, despite her wanting to, as she didn't know how. I understand that type of guilt, but its also a blameless guilt. Unfounded. Ultimately, her actions were rationally and logically guiltless. Just as Feyre killed those faeries in ACOTAR in order to save Prythian, Nesta's guilt has a silver lining because there was a justification for Nesta to ultimately not blame herself. And there's a big moment when Nesta learns to stop blaming herself for something that's not her fault. Retreading familiar territory. What if Nesta had done something that was her fault, something horrible, and something she deserved blame for? That's new and different territory. Those moments of self-hatred and self-acceptance would have been so much more powerful, if the hate Nesta had in her heart for so many years, made her hesitate to save her father, despite knowing how to save him. It would have been more consistent with her character. Finding a road to redemption is much more relatable than finding a way to forgive oneself over something that wasn't really even Nesta's fault. Overcoming blameless guilt is a story beat that's becoming repetitive in Maas's works. (minor gripe here as well: as someone who has lived in poverty, and has known people who have lived in absolute poverty, I didn't really connect well with how Nesta grapples with that past. Its not just, oh I was starving and that was traumatic. There's this whole mentality and safeguards and all sorts of things. In particular, I felt it would be more suiting for Nesta if she rejected conspicuous consumption and harbored a bit of resentment at the Night Court for having so much, while others have so little. It is, after all, well-established that she reads a lot. As Prythian has a technically longer written word history than the planet earth, it stands to reason, she would have encountered differing philosophies and politics regarding this, especially as she was so affected by it.) 2) The Characterization One of the nice things about ACOMAF is that when the Night Court is introduced, all the characters have such distinct personalities. Unfortunately, that is not as apparent in this book. Cassian's personality is vague. He's a tough guy who's insecure about being thought of as a brute? Not really a personality. I found his perspective to really drag. In ACOMAF, I kind of saw him as this sort of Himbo, that's warm, kind, and funny. Not a bit of evil cunning, but only because he has a charming sincerity to him, and is loyal as all get out. So him, being all torn up inside about not being cruel enough, is off-putting. When he is capable of coming up with insults for someone else enough to make them feel bad about themselves, this is upheld as a good thing. His characterization is vague, and so is Mor's, who as the only person openly LGBT in this book, spent the majority of the book, not in the story or at the Night Court. Its also important to note that Nesta could have easily been written as bisexual, but this was not done, even though representation is sorely lacking. And, in keeping with a more consistent take on the character, and a more realistic arc, Nesta's cruel words could have been honed to softer truths. After all, much of what she says, though blunt and tactless, is her being honest when no one else is. This would have kept consistency with her character, as she learns how to navigate kind honesty (that people need to face) and vulnerability, instead of just vulnerability or a type of angry reaction. 3) The Pacing This book had spots that were very much unnecessary. In fact, Cassian's perspective wasn't really necessary at all. And the SEX! There's just... so much of it. SO MUCH. And I read romance books, but this just had a distracting amount of it. Parts of it did not serve the plot or the characters well, or seemed just awkward. So many times, I felt as if Maas had to throw in a, "someone gasped," "he gaped," etc. And it didn't really feel earned, or genuine. Instead of letting the audience know that Nesta entranced the crowd as she danced, Maas has some over-the-top descriptions about world-shattering adjacent, gasp-inducing, etc. etc. Not every moment that is profound to the characters has to be profound to the audience around them. It felt misplaced and distracting. And here's where my headline comes in: does SJM have a new editor? Because some of the choices made in this book veered from what SJM has done. A good editor could have gone in and gently guided some of these excesses away. Even the choice to use words like "smut" or "Valkyrie" was strange. So much of the world to that point had used original wording, but why couldn't the Valkyries have their own unique name, such as the Illyrians? This is kind of a rambling mess. Its just, as an invested fan, I hope this isn't the direction all of SJM's books will go in. This felt like a downgrade. And I feel kind of bad saying that because she spoke in the acknowledgments about how much she related to this book, and how she was dealing with a mental health crisis while writing it. I felt that Feyre's book grappled with many of these issues in a more genuine manner that was consistent with her character. And really, that's what this whole criticism boils down to: a lack of consistency, in themes, characters, and pacing for A Court of Silver Flames. I am eager to read Crescent City's sequel, and can kind of see a potential team-up novel she might do in the future, where a sort of threat emerges to the multiverse, so her various protagonists team up to fight against it. Fingers crossed for now, but my expectation is tempered.

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