A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Silver Flames

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #4

Very satisfied with this long-awaited sequel

This is more fangirl speculation than a review, but I do mention my few criticisms of the book in the first couple paragraphs.

I could have done without the very explicit sex (a lot of it was unnecessary, too; for example, Amren and Varian did not have to be going at it when Nesta went to confront her), and some readers might think the pace was slow as molasses or that all the training was boring, or that it wasn’t the same without being focused on Feyre and Rhys, but I love this world and the characters so much that personally I was very, VERY satisfied with this long-awaited sequel and its delicious romance, epic lore, and high stakes. And thank you, Sarah, for not leaving us with the gigantic cliffhangers I was afraid you’d leave us at, and please god don’t let the next book be three to four years away like this one was; save Crescent City for later!

If I loved this series any less, I might criticize it for the fact that Nesta was unrecognizable by the end, like she’d had a personality transplant that made her Feyre’s twin, or that her love of music seemed uncharacteristic, came a bit out of nowhere, and was barely utilized, but ppffftt I don’t care, everyone’s alive and happy and I won’t ask for more than another book! Preferably many more! There are so many stories to tell. I’m excited to see how this new conflict with Koschei unfolds, but not as excited as I am to just spend more time with the characters—and watch their romances develop. Gwyn and Emerie are wonderful additions, though I don’t quite care about them as much as I do the OG crew.

I’m avidly curious to find out what happens in the messy kind-of love square among Lucien, Elain, Azriel, and Gwyn (I could toss in Vassa as well, but I think it was hinted that she and Jurian have a thing). If I had to guess, I would say it’ll be Lucien and Elain / Azriel and Gwyn. (It won’t be Az and Mor, Maas shut that down in book 3.) I know Azriel’s noticeably protective of Elain and that there was something about an electric current between them at Solstice, but he’s still hung up on Mor at the moment, plus I can’t imagine he’d be the kind of guy who’d stand between mates, especially knowing Lucien already had one love taken from him, and a less-delicate Valkyrie, someone who could fight beside Azriel, would suit him better. Sure, he saved Elain, but he saved Gwyn, too.

Lucien and Elain are mates, and while Elain could reject the bond, I don’t think she will in the end. I don’t know why Elain doesn’t want to so much as speak to Lucien, but I would guess at first it was that she was still in love with Graysen and super traumatized by being Made and the war, and perhaps Lucien reminded her of those things. I can imagine someone eventually being like, “Elain, you either gotta get to know him and see if you could love him, or officially reject the bond so you both can move on.” So I bet she’ll learn to disassociate him with her trauma and find out he’s a sweetie. Plus it wasn’t said that Nesta also changed Elain’s anatomy so it could handle bony-winged babies, just Nesta’s own and Feyre’s, though I suppose that could be easily retconned. But I don’t think Maas forgot to include Elain; I think Maas already knows who Elain’s paired with, and it won’t be an Illyrian who’ll give her bony-winged children.

*Edit 2/24: I did not realize until just a moment ago that there’s an edition of Silver Flames that includes a bonus chapter written in Azriel’s POV, and apparently there’s a different edition that includes a “special scene” with Feyre and Rhys. Aside from how much finding that out pisses me off, from what I’ve read happens in the exclusive Azriel chapter, it more or less confirms that Azriel and Gwyn will get together and probably become mates. But she’ll have the bony-wing problem . . . well, either Maas will come up with a work-around for that, or they won’t have kids. Or she’ll die in childbirth, but I doubt that’ll be the case. We’ll have to wait and see. (This should be a link to the Az chapter. • And this should be the Feysand scene. (© Sarah J. Maas 2021))

As for Mor—I’m dying to know what really happened that day when Eris left her alone in the woods. Not gonna lie, despite knowing Mor’s into females, I’m kinda hoping she and Eris end up together just for the sheer, utter irony of it. But I don’t truly think they will. At first I thought Mor might have been falling in love with another human woman during all the time she spent in Vallahan (my brain refused to pronounce that in any way besides “Valhalla,” so that place is officially called Valhalla to me), but then Emerie showed interest in Mor, and I was like, “Ohhh, okay, so that’s happening?” They could bond over having shitty, abusive families as well as having their bodies violated because they were trying to make their own decisions and defying the role their cultures tried to force on them due to gender.

Who else is there… I hope Beron’s eventually destroyed and Lucien’s mom can be with Helion (not to mention I can’t wait for Helion to find out Lucien’s his son. There’s absolutely no way Maas won’t pay that off). Otherwise I think it’s just Tamlin and Eris—and Tarquin, I suppose, but he’s even more peripheral—and while I don’t need to see them mated, or even just in love (supposing they survive the series), it would provide a bit of closure for their characters.

Just… please don’t do any three- or foursome romances, Maas. Please. If the characters want to fantasize like Nesta did, fine, I can ignore that, but please keep them monogamous.

But yeah, overall I loved this book! Books 2 and 3 are still my favorites, but I’ll be happily revisiting this one as well.

*Edit 2/24 (three hours after the first): Just spent three hours falling down the rabbit hole that is Tumblr, found copies of the Azriel chapter and the Feysand scene, and can confirm that the general consensus is Gwyn and Azriel / Lucien and Elain / Mor and Emerie / Jurian and Vassa. I can also confirm there’s lots of mixed feelings about those pairings.

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