A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. MaasMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I've been on the waiting list for this for a long time, looking forward to the publication date and then to my turn at the library book. There are 111 people waiting for their shot, so I felt I should get to it asap.
Here's the thing—I need my romance novels to have a strong plot outside of the actual relationship. This novel has that, keeping me happily reading along for the entire 700+ pages, just faltering during the last chapters. It also features one of my mfavourite romance tropes, two people struggling not to care about each other and failing spectacularly.
Nesta is a strong main character. Her magic is off the charts, but she has anger issues to deal with. The Night Court stage an intervention and she refuses to co-operate except under her own conditions. When she commits to combat training, her conversion is nearly instantaneous. She can learn how to protect herself, not depend on others. Any independent woman will understand this motivation. It feels real.
The book is of course about her romance with Cassian, but it also about a young woman learning to value herself, to take control of her own life, to make friends, to reconcile with her past, and to speak up for what she wants.
This is a romance novel, so you know you're going to get a happy ending, but this one was just a bit too saccharin sweet for me. A woman as tough & determined as Nesta shouldn't have life tied up with a pretty bow. There should be rough edges or sand in the shoe, not all sweetness and light. I mean, she's a fucking death goddess ! Her life can't be all flowers and fluffy bunnies. It's the ending that decreased my enjoyment of the reading experience as a whole.
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