A Court of Silver Flames

Alright. This review for A Court of Silver Flame may be the longest I've ever written. Not only will this be a review it will be a reflection of a trauma victim reading a book about a trauma victim. So there may be triggers as I reflect back on my life as a victim and my coping mechanisms. There will be spoilers in this review. 

I am going to start off by saying this was by far the best book Maas has ever written. I felt Nesta was truly redeemed by the end of the book and we saw some serious growth in her as the book plays out. I may also add it was extremely spicy so this book is definitely not for young eyes as are any of the other books. I digress though. 

The start of the book was probably the hardest and most hard-hitting connection of the book to me. If anyone knows me well they know I am an abuse trauma survivor. This isn't the same as Nesta's. Though trauma survives can cope in similar ways. We both resorted to drinking and find pleasure in the sexual side of life. We took out our anger on those we care about and love. We push away those who want to help us or see the good in us even though we don't see it at all. 

I'm still processing the whole thing as an experience. Normally I can move on pretty quickly from a book and start the next, but I am definitely needing more time to really gather my feelings here. The adventure Nesta went through from her self-loathing, coping skills to the self-sacrificing sister was really a transformation. She willingly gave everything up for her sister, Rhys, and Nyx. She saved them with everything she had. She trained hard in order to overcome her trauma and gained some friends along the way. Two friends, who would go on with Nesta to beat the Illyrian Blood Rite. We find out more about another impending war that may be coming their way. 

I have this constant question though. We see Tamlin briefly throughout the last couple of books and he is an utter mess. I would definitely like to see a redemption arch for him. Not necessarily a romance redemption arch. Just something. I have this theory that Elaine will end up with Lucien in the end. They will go back to spring and Elain will be this beautiful friend for Tamlin. Not as a lover, but as a genuine and honest friend. Someone who will help him grow and help Elain heal too, maybe while also working on her mating bond with Lucien. Elaine just always struck me as someone who belonged in the spring court. Her gardens were her joy, so where else would fit her best. Especially after reading the Azriel chapter that was included in this book, I definitely started shipping Azriel with someone else. For those of you who have read the book and the extra chapter from Azriel's perspective will know exactly who I am talking about. It seems too obvious for Azriel to end up with Elaine. He actually says something along those lines. It's kind of a, "Why do Rhys and Cassian get a sister, but I don't" kind of thing. Though I think this new development might be better suited to Azriel than Elaine will be. 

Sorry, that was a tangent on my own theories and not really a review of the book. I did love that we got a glimpse at more lore from this series. We learned so much more about the past of the world and how dangerous somethings could be. We even saw a revival of an ancient group of female warriors, the Valkyries. I would love to this become the female equivalent of the Illyrians and maybe even something more powerful. 

I feel I really can't tough enough on the fact that Sarah presented a realistic trauma coping response. This is great. I feel a lot of the time trauma is presented and it's either not realistic or it's viewed from someone else's perspective and not the actual victim. We don't normally see this raw negative reaction where you see the character fall back from progress and then climb back up. It always seems like they never fail. It's nice to read in stories, but it's refreshing to see a realistic character on the pages of a fantasy book. We really see so many facets of Nesta and see her go through many of the stages of grief when it comes to recovery. We even see her at her final breaking point. This was in chapter 50. She had done something out of spite and eventually beat herself over it. She broke emotionally without anger. She has this moment where Cassian thought she was going to erupt into a burst of anger and instead we see this vulnerable Nesta who needs someone else. She lays herself out bare. She finally met her breaking point and this is where the true healing begins I feel. She's still hesitant about a lot of things. But she starts accepting things and letting things happen. 

I know this isn't like a chronological review. But I just felt there were aspects of this I really needed to touch on. To really show to you as readers why I felt this book deserves the amazing review and words I have for it. This book struck a real chord with me as I read. I felt I was Nesta. Sarah really did an amazing job after the bomb of Crescent City. The character depth through these pages really wowed me to the point I literally had to stop at times, process the pain and the reactions I was having as I felt for Nesta and connected on a very intimate level. 

On a lighter note, this spicy scenes were fire. I mean literal fire. lol

10 out of 5 stars for A Court of Silver Flames

The Atlas of Dreams Episode 1: Sins of the Maker by Daniel Cuervonegro

 So this will be a written overtime review. I am starting this review on 8.18.20 and will continue until I finish the book.

I just want to start with I actually came across this author completely on accident. I was going the Bookstagram Academy challenge and was searching under the tag #adultfantasy and was scroll and found some super cool pictures. Turns out these photos were for a new book by an indie author. I looked up the synopsis and I was completely interested in the book. The cover and synopsis sold me. The maps, the art, and everything about this book completely captivated me at first glance.

As I begin reading this book, I get to chapter 2 and immediately have my heart torn from my chest. Somehow Cuervonegro has this ability to build a connection to a character in the span of a chapter and then just tears it all away from you in a second. Talk about rude, in the best way. 

10 chapters into the book and we are still getting a lot of backstory for the characters in the book. There are a lot of them, so this is super important to the plot of the book. Making sure we have a good understanding of who each of the key players is and what they are meant to do, in this world that feels like Final Fantasy. It feels a bit overwhelming at the beginning, but I feel that way about most books that have a lot of world-building in them and character development in the first handful of chapters. 

So let us start off with the belief system of this world. It feels similar to the Christian faith in the sense that there is one God and the people who believe have this idea of you give all to God and that's how you reach salvation. You give away your old self and follow only God. This belief system is also unique though in the fact that God comes back in incarnations. They are currently on the 35th, I believe. 

As I continued on into the book there is some light-hearted moment spread throughout. One with the God Incarnate Sara. She is three and just wants to act like a child. She enjoys her fun and doesn't mind getting a little dirty. This was a moment in the book where you see the innocence of childhood even through the life of God. 

It seems that the author seems to know a lot about Christianity as a lot of the faith system seems to connect to the Christian faith as we know it today. What really interests me is that the characters ask a lot of the same things of their God, as we do as Christians. So it makes it really easy for me to understand their thought process when questioning what God is doing or has done. But what interests me more so is the fact that he has God questioning herself in the form she is in as she sees the world shes made. She looks at the violence and the turmoil going on and begins to wonder how on earth she can fix it. Wondering why they want to kill people to purify the world. 

This is definitely a book you should take slowly. I'm really glad I'm reading it as slow as I am or I feel I'd miss out on a lot of stuff. The more I keep reading the more I see this being a final fantasy video game and I am loving it!