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Please note: Spoilers for the series do follow. Nikki tries to minimize them while describing 5 books, Ashley does not, and there’s a big ole warning image before the spoilers turn up. Proceed, or not, as you prefer.

Just last week, Ashley stated I’m the reason she got into the worlds of Sarah J. Maas.  Today I’m going on record (again I think) with the fact that Anne Bogel is the reason I got into the worlds of Sarah J. Maas. #BlameAnne I listened to this episode back in 2017, and promptly put A Court of Thorns and Roses Series on my library holds list (because of course I did).  In the fall of 2017, it came available, and I read it, then A Court of Mist and Fury, and then at stupid dark thirty, I discovered it would be weeks before I could borrow A Court of Wings and Ruin, so I one-clicked it and kept reading (and also started loading all the titles in a series in my hold before starting the first one).  This was before A Court of Frost and Starlight was published, and definitely before A Court of Silver Flames was a gleam in a reader’s eye, however confident we are it was one of many things contributing to Maas’s personal gleam (very much a la Aelin).  

I saw a readerly acquaintance post about the first book in the A Court of Thorns of Roses series recently, and she said it’s good and she’s interested in the next book.  I agree with that whole-heartedly.  Like in the Throne of Glass series, ACOTAR starts off good, but A Court of Mist and Fury is where the genius of Maas really starts to shine.  (To the point that ACOMAF is a 2017 favorite, and I still stand by them all!)  In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Maas plots the long game.  I’m convinced she has some room full of white boards, and red threads tying everything together and I cannot wait to see how it all keeps going.  Yes, Maas is a season pass, I will pre-order whatever she writes, author, and y’all know I don’t tend to spend my cash dollars on books, thank you library and Kindle Unlimited.  

A Court of Thorns and Roses opens with Feyre going deep into the snowy woods in search of food for her family.  She’s the youngest of three girls, her father isn’t able to work, her mother died years ago, and her cunning, determination, and hunting are the only things standing between her family and starvation.  (The irony is not lost on me that my yard is covered in snow as of this writing, still, the street is a sheet of ice, and I’m carefully monitoring how many dinners I can come up with in my house that my people won’t fight me to eat.)  This hunting trip does result in food for her family, and her being carried off into the faerie realm shortly thereafter.  Little does she know, there’s a blight on the land, one that only she can save them all from, if only the ding. dang. Males (mostly love interest Tamlin) will stop “helping” and let her handle things.  Yes darlings, most of this is in the marketing copy, and yes it’s a New Adult (classified as YA, but the series is open door NA) fantasy romance, so of course the teenage girl has to save the world.

I went into A Court of Mist and Fury expecting it to be a fun next chapter and I was not ready.  Feyre is broken by what she went through in ACOTAR, and so is Tamlin.  There’s still a threat in their world, slowly revealed, and then there’s the bargain Feyre made to keep herself alive while she was trying to save the world in book one.  It all comes tumbling down in the most amazing, gorgeous way!  Feyre learns so much about herself, the people she’s met north of the wall, and the different courts of Prythian as she has some merry adventures and some not so merry adventures.  Readers who struggle to get into the first part of this book, please take note – if you didn’t get through the wedding, keep going.  Trust me, I know.  I’ve given this advice to a friend of the blog, who gave me side eye, trusted, and was grateful.  If no shoes have been thrown, you’re not far enough yet.  I also want to add, readers struggle because the content isn’t easy as we watch characters navigate serious mental health issues.  It’s also one of the reasons I love this title so much, because it’s all there – the reasons, the struggles, and how she works through it, with help.  There is hope, and that’s an essential message we all need more of.  

At this point, you might have realized ACOTAR is a dramatic trilogy, so we meet our characters in the first installment, they make it to the worst place possible by the end of the second (sort of, Maas shares some on the page, so I was giddy and excited to keep going, not scared), and in the third, they dig themselves out, barely.  That’s the gist here, except this trilogy, and the series, is about so much more than just Feyre and her friends digging deep to save the world.  It’s also about overcoming your past, turning your “weaknesses” into strengths, and trusting yourself and your friends.  This is very much another ensemble cast, even if the story follows Feyre (until A Court of Silver Flames), and is almost exclusively from her point of view.  The digging them out action of A Court of Wings and Ruin does include a court in ruin, because that’s what happens when leaders refuse to do the work of healing and try to take the easy way out, and some really fabulous scenes of snark and wit as our merry band works to find allies to defeat the foe trying to take over their world.  It’s a wild ride, albeit less romantic, as we found HEAs (ish) in the first two novels, and nothing but questions for other relationships in the third.

After all the action of ACOWAR, readers have strong feelings about A Court of Frost and Starlight and those readers need to read and remember the marketing copy (the irony of me saying that, I know).  This novella (yes, even at 200+ pages) is an extended epilogue to transition from Feyre’s trilogy to follow other characters more closely.  As it’s almost winter solstice in Velaris, we get a peak at what life is now like after the threats of the trilogy have been handled.  It’s a fun hang to see where our ensemble finds themselves celebrating, complete with four points of view, and a sneak peak at who we’ll follow in the first novel in the next section of the series.  Perhaps this is best viewed as a winter solstice special “episode.”  

If I wasn’t ready for ACOMAF, which is still my favorite, then I really wasn’t ready for A Court of Silver Flames, and I’m not just referring to its strong ownership of being a New Adult open-door, romantasy novel.  Yes darlings, ACOSF is a fantasy romance novel, complete with HEA, AND it’s got all the drama, intrigue, and personal growth I’ve come to know and love in a Maas novel.  Here’s the deal about these heroines so far – they make me want to want to (not a typo) work out and they give me hope for the healing of us all.  Obviously the working out part would be so much easier if I had Chaol or Rowan or Cassian to train me, and less of real life to demand my time.  As it is, well, I don’t workout much, even if reading does provide me some inspiration.  And to be ordered to train in the morning and work in the library in the afternoon, be still my heart, especially while living in a house that caters to my every need and reading tastes, yes please.  Those steps though, no thank you, hard pass, even if their mental and physical healing does feel essential to Nesta.  And if you’re hesitant to read a book focused on Nesta, I have two things to say to that – it’s also about Cassian who is darling (pun intended) and the redemption arc is solid.  Maas doesn’t gloss over Nesta’s faults, she and Nesta face them head on and it’s phenomenal (and makes ACOSF stiff competition for my favorite).  Readers should be aware that this novel sets up the next chunk of the series, so while we do have a solid ending (no cliffs around), there is a bigger arc in the works, and I’m so ready to see where that leads us.  

If my feelings were not clear enough, Goodreads says I’ve read the main trilogy four times, but it lies, as I read books two and three so quickly the first time, and enjoyed them so thoroughly, that I still had book one on loan and read them all through a second time before turning in my loans, because I needed to see those easter eggs with some perspective.  It’ll be five officially soon, don’t worry!

What’s a title, or a series, that you keep going back to because it still makes you feel some kind of glorious way with each reread?

~Nikki 

P.S. Why I am just now thinking of this, I don’t know.  If you’ve read and enjoyed a series by Maas, please know there are numerous bonus chapters for each series.  (There may be spoilers for series you haven’t read in the descriptions, but here’s a listing of many.)

Let’s start with the important information. I have read each of the titles in the A Court of Thorns and Roses Series, respectively, four, six, five, four, and three times, according to Goodreads. I would say that this is an accurate representation of all but A Court of Silver Flames as it is my absolute favorite. This is one of those books that I pick up and read sections of when I’m feeling a certain way about something. And, no, I’m not just talking about the smut parts, but that is a factor. There’s also the part where Nesta joins Gwyn for the music service in the library, which makes my eyes moist every time… But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I think it’s important that we have a discussion of the characters in this series because not only is it an ensemble cast, we add points of view as the books progress. When we meet Feyre in ACOTAR, we get her story told with a first person point of view. That continues through the first trilogy until we get to ACOFAS where we also get chapters from Rhys, Mor, and Cassian’s perspectives – but in third person. A Court of Silver Flames is also written in third person point of view, and makes it easy for mentally switching from Nesta’s to Cassian’s view point – like any good romance novel we love knowing what each main character in our bonded pair is thinking at any time. But all this talk of which point of view these books are written isn’t giving you any information about what these books are about, so let’s try this again…

Who is our cast of characters you ask? That’s a long list so let’s get started. As Nikki stated, Feyre is the youngest of three sisters, with Nesta being the eldest, and Elain the middle. Their father is nothing more than barely present and inherently trauma inducing on several levels. (Read more for specifics on that!) Tamlin is High Lord of the Spring Court and Lucien is his friend/right hand man/son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court. Then we meet Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court. Attached to the Night Court are Morrigan, Rhys’ (distantly related) cousin, Amren, Rhys’ second in command, and Cassian and Azriel, two bat-winged Illyrian warriors. Feyre first starts in a romance in ACOTAR with Tamlin. Then figures out in ACOMAF that he’s a possessive alpha hole Tool and that Rhys is inherently better suited for her and is her actual mate. We also learn that Lucien’s fated mate is Elain in ACOMAF (but Elain doesn’t approve this message), but the Nesta and Cassian mated saga isn’t confirmed until their feature book ACOSF. Azriel is pining over Elain for the three sisters for three blood brothers trope of tropes, but we’re as of yet UNCONFIRMED that this is a canon possibility. My theory and hope is that Elain pulls the Why Choose of the Maasverse and we get our first throuple with her, Lucien, and Azriel. Amren’s got a boy toy from Summer Court, and Morrigan, well, she has special needs. Besides all these romantic pursuits, Nesta has two best friends in Emerie, an Illyrian female, and Gwyn, part Fae and part river nymph. These three besties form our favorite Valkyrie warrior tribe in ACOSF, and the biggest part of the reason why Nikki and I would give up pretty much anything to have Cassian as our personal trainer. (And why we don’t give up on our random acts of fitness.)

All these characters and we haven’t said anything about the LITERAL MAGIC in this universe. Or, the way Maas starts ACOTAR with just a few important locations, broadens our geography in ACOMAF, even more in ACOWAR, then brings us back in from the world to ‘focus on the family’ in ACOFAS and ACOSF. The Family is the Inner Circle of Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, Morrigan, and Amren, with the later additions of Feyre, Nesta, and Elain…and sometimes Lucien. But, never, ever Tamlin. (Still pulling for a redemption arc, here, but I don’t see how it can be for the poor Tool.)

After writing all these words, I’m wondering why I skipped over this re-read in preparation for the new release of House of Flame and Shadow in a few short days. But, I’m loving my time in Crescent City with my fave badass redhead, Bryce, her enemy-to-wannabe lover? Hunt, and her hotter than sin half-brother, Ruhn Dannan, Crown Prince of the Valbaran Fae. #iykyk  And you can read more about Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood here!

Get Thee to Reading!

~Ashley

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