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A review by literaryelephant
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I was neither planning nor planning not to read this book, it just happened to be shiny, new, and ubiquitious at a time when I needed something low-stakes, and it fit that bill. I have no doubt Maas fans are going to continue to love this series, but I think my reading taste has changed enough since I started ACOTAR that this was never going to be a top-tier read for me in 2021. I probably won't do a separate review, so I'll just touch on my main complaints here.
1) There are more cringe-worthy sex scenes than plot points in these 700+ pages so it just reads like thinly veiled porn. I don't mind a few explicit scenes but personally I'd rather have angst than excessive smut. No shade to others who may be looking specifically for this content.
2) I swear the sexism just gets worse with every volume of this series. I think a drinking game based on phrases like male pride, arrogance, smugness, etc. would be deadly. I know Maas uses 'male' and 'female' as nouns as a way to show these characters aren't human men and women, but it is... awful to read. She would've been better off making up new terms, but either way there should be more than two genders in play. Even beyond terminology, misogyny seems to be what makes this whole world spin, so enter with caution.
3) The rules of operation in this world are too fluid for my preference. There's no way ever to get a grasp on how things work or what to expect because so much of the plot is driven by characters accidentally using magic in ways they didn't intend and don't understand, not to mention new ancient world-changing magical items appearing 4 books into the series. The latter is explained in the book but it feels like cop-out rationale; Maas is clearly improvising as she goes and it's all a little too convenient and hard to pin down for my taste. I like clear constraints. And
4) Nessian's relationship is basically Feysand Take 2. I was hoping that fresh character perspectives might push this series in some new, interesting directions, but instead it just feels like a repeat. If Feyre had been the eldest of her siblings and Rhysand had been born Illyrian rather than High Lord, this would have been their story. The personalities are... exactly the same, the characters are just in slightly different life circumstances. It's boring.
And far too long.
1) There are more cringe-worthy sex scenes than plot points in these 700+ pages so it just reads like thinly veiled porn. I don't mind a few explicit scenes but personally I'd rather have angst than excessive smut. No shade to others who may be looking specifically for this content.
2) I swear the sexism just gets worse with every volume of this series. I think a drinking game based on phrases like male pride, arrogance, smugness, etc. would be deadly. I know Maas uses 'male' and 'female' as nouns as a way to show these characters aren't human men and women, but it is... awful to read. She would've been better off making up new terms, but either way there should be more than two genders in play. Even beyond terminology, misogyny seems to be what makes this whole world spin, so enter with caution.
3) The rules of operation in this world are too fluid for my preference. There's no way ever to get a grasp on how things work or what to expect because so much of the plot is driven by characters accidentally using magic in ways they didn't intend and don't understand, not to mention new ancient world-changing magical items appearing 4 books into the series. The latter is explained in the book but it feels like cop-out rationale; Maas is clearly improvising as she goes and it's all a little too convenient and hard to pin down for my taste. I like clear constraints. And
4) Nessian's relationship is basically Feysand Take 2. I was hoping that fresh character perspectives might push this series in some new, interesting directions, but instead it just feels like a repeat. If Feyre had been the eldest of her siblings and Rhysand had been born Illyrian rather than High Lord, this would have been their story. The personalities are... exactly the same, the characters are just in slightly different life circumstances. It's boring.
And far too long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent