Tag Archives: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Review: A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses #4) by Sarah J Maas

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Title: A Court of Silver Flames
Author:  Sarah J Maas
Publisher/Year:  Bloomsbury USA 2/16/21
Length:  768 Pages
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Overview

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.

My Thoughts

I’ll have to be a bit honest at first here and say that I had to wrack my brain to get caught up to where we left off since it’s been quite some time since we’ve last been in this world. The War with King Hybern left a jarring memory in my brain, and remembering what happened to Elain and Nesta at the end of it all made me wonder what the future could hold. Elain, the beautiful perfect and delicate sister was taken against her wishes, put into the couldron and Made into something immortal. Nesta followed after her and took everything that she could from the Coulderon as a way to get her revenge out. What happened after though, you’ll all remember is that Nesta couldn’t deal with her pain, with her guilt and with her hatred of herself and that took her down an awful spiral.

We’re now a year or so past the war and Nesta is no better off. She’s a shell of a person, empty and all she does is spend Feyre’s money on booze and men. She’s rude to everyone who makes an effort to be around her that they are forced to give an ultimatum. either fall in line and train with Cassian, get some structure and figure out how to harness her power, or go back to the human lands where she won’t be accepted. It’s really no choice, so she finds herself training with Cassian in the morning and working in the library for the rest of the day.

It’s interesting to see how long it takes to break Nesta down in this story – frankly, I don’t know that we ever really see her break down her walls, but we see her find some purpose in her life. Figure out what’s a bigger goal and to go there. She makes friends with a priestess in the library named Gwyn who starts to play a big role as well as another Illaryian named Emerie. The notion that she’s able to make ‘friends’ makes everyone have hope that she’s going to come around, but even that is a wish that may never come true.

The undertone throughout this 4th installment is that there’s still unrest in the world. While The King of Hybern is dead, the human queens are not united as they should be ever since one went into the Cauldron and lost her beauty to become eternally old. She’s hungry for the power to get her beauty back and that means that we’re about to see the world turned upside down.

Throughout this book, we learn about things older than anyone, Amren even has a hard time remembering the full history. We’re taught about the Dread Trove, a collection of items that were so dark and evil that they have wards to hide and protect them, they have the ability to raise the dead and make people do their bidding. In the wrong hands, that means that the world that they know will be completely destroyed. The queen who’s looking for her youth wants the Trove as she’s made a deal with one of the oldest evil immortals who has his own motivation as well to get released from his prison.

So, we watch the journey as the one human Queen gets a hold of the Crown which is able to control the minds of anyone who’s within reach. That leave a Mask which is able to raise the dead and a Harp which is able to open wards and pass through time. Nesta’s ability to scry which helped them find the Couldron in the last installment means that she’s ripe for the asking to find the Dread Trove. She’s of course not willing to help anyone, especially seeing how the past turned out when she tried to help and her loved ones died or changed form. She objects strongly, and that means that Elain offers herself to do it. That’s what finally gets Nesta to agree to go on the hunt. She trains to become a warrior, to strengthen her mind body and soul, and at the same time, with her friends, they bring back the Valkryies – a female warrior unit that was stronger than many men back thousands of years ago and died off in a war that was a set up.

In addition to that storyline, we have another where Feyre and Rhys are expecting their first child, just as the Bone Carver told them from his visions. The Challenge here is that she fell pregnant when she was in Illaryian form during the war when she was able to shift her shape (thank all the High Lords who gave her powers when she was about to die in book #1). It’s a blessing and everyone’s beyond happy that she’s pregnant and then they learn that because of the form that she was in, the baby is due to have wings. An exciting time for the Illaryian’s but Feyre is now in her Fae form and her body won’t survive a birth of a child with wings. They keep this from her of course, and we watch the journey throughout the story to see if they’re able to keep Feyre alive.

I’ll admit that the first few chapters were a bit draggy for me – it took me a few minutes to get back into it even though I LOVE this series. The characters all have their deep and interesting stories that lead us on so many crazy adventures that we don’t know necessarily what we’re going to get. Some are older than others, some have other forms that were taken from them in the last war. And some really don’t know what to do with the life that they have now.

Elain has found herself mated to someone that she’s got adverse feelings towards, and we see hints of something perhaps between her and Az. Azriel is one of the main characters that we’d do anything to see happy and when it seemed as though there was something more between them at Winter Solstice. Maybe that will come in the next book since we know that there’s a continuing story here.

We have the battles of good and evil in this forth book. We have the notion that everything is NOT what it seems and you never know who you can trust even if you make allies. We also see that there’s redemption for even the worst offenders. We see that there’s transition in life and when you’ve had some of your greatest horrors take away your very breath, there are people out there who care enough to lift you up, support you and never leave you behind. And there’s love. That’s likely the most important of all and perhaps the one thing that we see carry us through this vicious forth installment.

Now I don’t know about any other reader, but I know for myself that i’d love more than anything to get book five sooner rather than later. It’s been years since we had the last one and I think i’ll scream and wither away if we have to wait that long again. On that note – ENJOY!

Review: A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1) by Sarah J Maas

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Title: A Court of Frost and Starlight
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher/Year:  Bloomsbury 5/1/18
Length:   215 Pages
Series:  A Court of Thorns and Roses

Overview

Narrated by Feyre and Rhysand, this bridges the events in A Court of Wings and Ruin and the upcoming novels in the series.

New in the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series, A Court of Frost and Starlight is a glimpse into the lives of Feyre and Rhys as they begin to recover from the war that changed their world.

Feyre, Rhysand, and their close-knit circle of friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly-changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it, a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated — scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their Court.

My Thoughts

i LOVE this series and i’m so glad that while it’s short, we get another installment to the series.  Where we left off with all these characters – the war had ended, and Elain and Nesta were ‘MADE’ and kingdoms are shattered and lives were lost.  It’s a troubled time, yet we know that this group of family/friends will do whatever they can to get back to normal life and make sure that they are with the ones that matter most.  the Winter Solstice is the perfect time for them to come together and enjoy each other’s company.

Of course, it’s easier said than done when Elain is still in her shell and wants nothing to do with Az who is her mate.  And Nesta wants nothing to do with anyone, including her mate Cassian.  So we get to see how that all starts to affect the larger group.  Rhys and Feyre have found that their love is stronger and runs deeper than ever and that’s the thread that carries the gist of the story.

So i consider this to be a novella – i guess it’s kind of noted as it’s a #.1 but it’s a bit longer than a traditional novella.  Each chapter is based on a different characters story at the time in things, and we get to see how the results of the war shape what their path is.  Amren now as a human, Mor trying to get past the fear that she has of looking weak, the men who are both macho and who want to make things right with their soulmates.

On top of that lighter part of the story, we have the undertone of what’s going on in the bigger picture of the world now after the war, and what i assume will be the main factor of the next installment.  There’s unrest among the people, there’s fear and hatred that so many died and there’s no longer a divide between the human and fae worlds, so we know that there’s bound to be issue and catastrophe there as well.  Tamlin is a shell of a man now and his land is the one that borders the human world, yet he won’t accept help from Rhys since there’s too much pain and hatred tied to Feyre.

Anyhow-  while this is a lighter more surface installment, it’s a good lead into what’s to come and i know that it’ll be great since the other installments were AMAZING.  The pre-read chapter in the end of the next book really shows us that Nesta is going to take a main role – her journey into the cauldron was something that even it did not expect, and she’s taken from it and will hopefully use those powers to help Rhys and Feyre and their allies v. against them.  we’ll have to wait and see i guess.  On that note – enjoy your day all!

Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3) by Sarah J Maas

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Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher/Year: Bloomsbury 5/2/17
Length:   626 Pages
Series:  A Court of Thorns and Roses #3

Overview

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

My Thoughts

AMAZING.  beyond AMAZING/  that’s what i have to say about this third book.  There’s so much that happened in the last book to set this one up, deceit from Hybern and the Queens – friendships and loves broken up.  Where we were left and therefore where we started this story is such a place that you know that something catastrophic was going to happen.

So as the description says, Feyre is back in the Spring Court – playing the part of the returned lover to Tamlin, who wants nothing to do with Rhys or the Night Court.  This is all in the hopes if getting information that will help the Night Court and hopefully get her back to her true love and mate.

Of course things get complicated – where Lucien, Tamlin’s closest friend even starts to show that he’s maybe a bit skewed in his loyalties.  Ianthe – the high priestess that sold out Feyre’s sisters returns and the wrath that Feyre has towards her, well you know it’ll be unleashed at some point and it’ll be HUGE.

We spend much of this story trying to understand what it is that Nesta and Elain became from being sent into the couldron . We also see Amren playing a larger role in the hopes of finding a way to break the spell and the couldron so that some of the power shift that seems to be happening doesn’t sway in the wrong direction.

We also see that the biggest underlying story here is who’s alliances are truest and what does family mean.  The High Lords are all called to take a side and Hybern seems to have a power over folks that makes you wonder who will be successful.  He’s got the queens still in his power as they were the ones who laid seige to Velaris and Jurian is playing his lackey quite well so you wonder if there’s any room for error.

The end goal – breaking down the wall is not something that the Fae are willing to allow happen because it means that the humans will be doomed and set for death.  The problem becomes that while they all spend all their energy to find solutions, Hybern manages to wake the couldron to bring the wall down and start an all out war far sooner and far trickier than anyone expected.

A few things about this book that i feel like i have to call out .

1)our author – i don’t know how she does it with this series or ‘Throne of Glass’  – she makes is so that there really isn’t even a supporting cast – all are major characters with really important stories that are intertwined.  their histories so deep and detailed that you are engrossed from moment go

2) this third installment is quite a bit more passionate than the others – Very much so given the nature of Feyre and Rhys’ relationship.  I think that the heat and sexuality was taken to the limit here with how these scenes really portray what this couple means to each other and it was hot.  especially for the genre

3) the way this story unfolded – it makes you need not just want another installment – and thankfully in the last bits it says the story continues.  i feel like there can’t be an ending since there’s an open eded question about a few characters, ones that we love, ones that we lost, ones who’s role and powers changed. Definitely so much more to enjoy.

So on that note, i’m beyond bummed that i read it in a few days since now i don’t have their world to be inside, but i’m so happy with how the story played out as is.  Enjoy!

 

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J Maas

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Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher/Year: Bloomsbury USA 3/21/16
Length:   527 Pages
Series:  A Court of Thorns and Roses #2

Overview

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court–but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms–and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future–and the future of a world cleaved in two.

My Thoughts

It’s taken me quite some time to finish this book and i have to say that it’s NOT at all because of the story since it’s amazing.  I’ve just been beyond busy with life so apologies.  In any event, in this 2nd book of the series, we are taken to heights and places where you’d never imagine, seeing bonds form and grow, seeing the threat of war come over and over and seeing so much hate and deceit appear that you can’t even believe who’s the liar and traitor anymore.

As you remember at the end of the first book, Feyre was able to break the curse that Amarantha had on the people, Rhys was free from her and could go home, and Feyre was able to go back to be with Tamlin, her love – with the hitch that she’s not immortal, and has the powers of each of the 7 high lords.

While life seems to be returning to some sense of order, we see that Feyre is unsettled, she wants to be included, she wants to be able to make her own choices and that’s not something that Tamlin allows.  It’s not until the day of her wedding that we see truly how unhappy and terrified she is of that life, when she begs in her head to be saved, that Rhys comes and takes her away – and her life is changed forever.

That’s where the story takes us – we are now in another place, with Rhys, his close friends and ‘family’ and we see what they truly are – what caused their friendships and bonds to form and how completely tied to one another they are that they would give their lives to protect each other.  It’s Rhys who allows Feyre to be strong, to participate where she wants, even if it makes him uncomfortable because she continues to prove herself.  She begins to own her powers and that’s something that becomes quite handy throughout.

When the threat of war becomes real, when we see that the King of Hybern is resurrecting someone that should be left for dead, they know that they have to get their hands on a sacred text in the hopes that they can keep this holy war  from happening, but as they think they are making progress, they find that they have been tricked.  Too many die, too may are hurt, and we see the family split up.  Feyre’s sisters are now not what they were, and Elain finds herself bonded to a Fae in a way that she would have never thought.

Feyre’s role in everything is quite intense, she’s not just the cursebreaker, not just the immortal human, but she’s got more power than anyone’s ever seen, and she needs to choose carefully how to wield it so that she can be successful.

Where we end up at the end of this 2nd installment is a place of confusion, anxiety, and heartbreak.  Loves are torn apart, and families are broken beyond repair.  there are still liars and people playing both sides – and i think that where this story goes in the next installment will show everyone’s true colors.  We still don’t know if war is coming to the mortal lands, to break down the wall, and i am almost afraid to see whats going to come of it.

This series though, to be clear is so nicely written – it’s so much more than a story about faerie realms which is something that i don’t like.  Yes that’s part of the premise, but our author wrote it so well that the character development, the relationships, the bonds and loves, those are so deep that you can’t help but to be so wrapped up into the story.  I’m excited to see what comes next and completely sad that i have to wait.  Have a great day all though!

Review: Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J Maas

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Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher/Year: Bloomsbury USA 5/3/16
Length:   394 Pages
Series:  A Court of Thorns and Roses #1

Overview

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R.R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin–one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin–and his world–forever.

My Thoughts

To be honest, i’ve seen the cover for this book for the longest time and never managed to really get into it, but at least now i have and i think that there’s something interesting here.  The real hesitancy that i have is that i’m not sure that i’m super into the whole Faerie thing which is the premise for this story, especially because i spent a lot of time in that spaces years ago, but this one has a bit of a twist to it that i’m ok with.

So as the summary hints, we have Feyre who is our leading lady, a mortal who’s forced to care for her family when they have almost nothing to support themselves and then because of a mistake that she made in hunting a faerie, she’s ‘kidnapped’ and brought to the one place that mortals are told to fear most.  The Faerie realm.

That’s where our story really continues – we get to see how Feyre’s life changes from then on – her fear of being a slave for the rest of her life but in seeing that the reality is quite different, she’s given everything that she could want, and her captor Tamlin isn’t at all what he seems.

Of course there’s an underlying story here  the fact that the mortals are kept in their space because of a Treaty that was put in place from a war with the Faeries, but that we slowly learn that it’s not just that simple.  There are courts of Faeries that are on one side of things or another, and yet another kingdom of Faeries that has a completely different and darker agenda here that means that whatever sense of normalcy we hope to find here will never be the final bit of happiness since someone’s out for more.

Tamlin, our leading man we learn is not just the captor of sorts, but a High Lord and the ruler of his court.  He’s the one that other High Lords actually fear because he’s supposed to have the most power of all – that is if ‘She’ didn’t steal all their power. His ’emissary’ Lucien becomes Feyre’s confidant in a want, and we get to see how knowledge is shared throughout in the hopes of finding a solution.

The journey that we go through in this story is one of trust, history, and trying to right past wrongs.  We know that everyone’s trying to overcome some ‘blight’ that’s stolen the faerie’s powers, and there’s really no understanding on how to get it all back.  We know that people are going to have to die in order to get to a resolution, and there’s a question of how close firendships and bonds will get in the hopes of making any progress towards overthrowing the bad kingdom.

Where we are left in this story is a place where we think that things are settled, yet you know that there’s going to be a war on their hands.  We see friends go back to their courts, and yet we see a bunch of death to make us wonder who’s going to be the one to rule those spaces in the interim.

All in all it’s an interesting story.  enough mythology to keep you interested, with bits of romance sprinkled though in ways that i was completely not expecting it.  it gets downright dirty for a few scenes which caught me off guard given the overall tone of the story.  I think that there’s enough of a mix of characters and a deep enough plot though to carry this one through so i think that if you haven’t read it yet, you should and if you have, i’d love to her your thoughts.  Happy Thanksgiving and have a great night all!