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A Court Of Silver Flames (ACOSF) by Sarah J Maas Book Review

4/30/2021

38 Comments

 
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Disclaimer: This review is written by a cranky reviewer and contains SPOILERS
Book: ACOSF
Author: Sarah J Maas
Genre: Fantasy
Age: For readers 17 and up (I read this as a 16 year old and that’s my fault but would recommend this for 17 and up)
Rating: 3/5 stars

I tried so hard to hate this book like I hated the rest of the Acotar series (read my Acowar rant review here) but honestly, it wasn’t as bad. Ngl, I really enjoyed some parts (even if it pains me to admit that).  All thanks to Nesta who shined in the book. As well as Gwyn and Emerie and even Cassian at times. HOWEVER, the other idiot moron characters in this book (cough cough RHYSAND and AMREN) made me tick off 2 stars.
Before you all scream at me like: “If you hate this series so much why do you read it?”. Basically I was curious about Nesta and I secretly like writing rant reviews and reading books I hate because I have no life and sometimes I like to torture myself by reading books I know I will dislike. 😅 

Ok since I know I’m going to be really harsh and picky with this book, let’s first talk about the GOOD things in this book: 

  1. Nesta- I saw a lot of people hate her because she was mean and blah blah. Yah she is mean, but you all seem to eat up toxic bad boys who are incredibly selfish and rude. How come when it comes to Nesta it all changes? Personally I think it makes her character interesting.. At least she’s not just sitting, radiating positivity and kindness but doing nothing else like miss Garden Girl over there. 🙄 ✋
  2. How there wasn’t toooo much Feysand: I am so glad we got minimal Feysand scenes in this book. THANK THE LORDS! WHOOO 
  3. Friendship: Best part of this book was Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie. End of story.
  4. Blood Rite: Best part of action this whole book had. Wished it lasted longer but SJM would rather place importance on other irrelevant scenes.​
Now it’s time for the cranky (crankier) part of the review:

What I didn’t like: 
Rhysand 🤢  : 
  • This character brings me to such fury when even his name is mentioned (Someone on Goodreads stated that his name is mentioned 791 times and that is 791 times I contemplated chucking the book across the room). Am I getting overworked and being dramatic over a fictional character? Most certainly yes. I just can’t help it. His stupid, ignorant and rude behavior irk me in a way no other character has ever done.
  • His attitude to Nesta is just downright mean. He literally has nothing better to do than kick her when she’s already down. Every word he speaks to Nesta is patronizing and condescending. 
  • There was this appalling quote in the book: “Her and Rhysand and the baby. Rhysand--her brother. That’s what he was, wasn’t he?” What bs is this? Brother my as*. He didn’t do ONE THING for Nesta. “Any offering Rhysand threw her way was solely out of love for Feyre”. We’ve already established that Rhysand doesn’t give a crap for Nesta- he only tries to help her because she is Feyre’s sister. That much is obvious. And that’s fine. Nesta wasn’t the nicest to Feyre and so Rhysand doesn’t owe her extra kindness. But does he have to go out of his way to make her feel insignificant and hated? Especially when she’s struggling? AND YOU’RE TELLING ME that SJM had to spout Rhysand’s perfectness and kindness through Nesta’s mouth? How insulting! 😒 This is the man who forced Nesta to go to some camp not because he wanted to see her better, but because he was humiliated at Nesta spending 500 gold coins at some bar. So his plan of action was to demolish an ENTIRE VILLAGE where people ACTUALLY LIVE. Who does that? He just destroyed a whole village worth of people’s homes! THIS is the man who Nesta praised at the end, even though we all know that it’s not deserved. Rhysand did not help Nesta. He insulted her every opening he could get. He does not deserve praise from Nesta’s mouth. At least not now. Because that quote was just so sudden. A few chapters ago, Nesta still hated Rhysand and now she’s calling him her brother? Perhaps this quote would have been better suited to put in the sequel to this book?
  • Hiding that Feyre’s pregnancy would kill her was a really bad move on Rhysand’s part. Feyre had a right to know. And when Nesta told Feyre, Rhysand was like “Get Nesta out of this city. Right now. I’ll kill her” blah blah. Well at least someone had the courage to tell Feyre the potential threat. If she had not, then Feyre would have given birth less than a month later all happy and then figured out on that day that she would die. 
  • But what makes that decision to not tell Feyre such a hypocritical decision on Rhysand’s part is that earlier in the book when he announced Feyre’s pregnancy, he eyed Nesta threateningly as if she would suddenly attack Feyre and kill her and her baby (what is with Rhysand and villainizing Nesta?). But the funny thing is that Rhysand is the threat here, by not telling Feyre about her own impending death. Yet he hypociritcally glares at Nesta instead. Like what?? 😑
Amren:
  • Don’t even get me started on this infuriating woman. She constantly shamed Nesta for getting together with Cassian. (And then our feminist king Rhysand agreed with Amren when she was slu* shaming Nesta in the earlier parts of the book). And she constantly insults Nesta’s appearance. We get it, Amren. You’re not exactly helping.
  • When Nesta apologized to Amren, Amren then make some irrelevant comment that had nothing to do with Nesta’s apology. PLUS when Nesta apologized, Amren should have apologized too. Amren hurt Nesta a lot and was very rude and obnoxious to her as well. 
Elain:
  • Spoiler Alert (Not really): Elain is still a gardener with the personality of a doorknob. But now she’s not just any irrelevant doorknob, she’s a hypocritical one too. The way she acted….No. Just no. When ELAIN was not speaking all of Acowar because of her trauma, I didn’t see Nesta give up on her? Nesta was there for her every. single. day. So why is it, that when Nesta needs help, Elain doesn’t care enough for her sister to help her? WHY DOESN’T SHE GET OFF HER HIGH HORSE AND HELP HER SISTER WHEN SHE CLEARLY NEEDS HER?! Before Nesta called her a useless garden person in this story, Elain clearly could have visited Nesta (there was no hard feelings then). But noooo Elain is just lazy to put in the effort to help her sister. She would rather bake cookies and water plants than visit her sister and be there for her. Sure, she might have visited her sister once or twice and Nesta probably yelled at her. But you can’t just give up after that. This is your SISTER we’re talking about. Nesta will not open up with just one or two pity visits. It takes time but Elain nor anyone else in this book put in the effort. Nesta was willing to put that effort for Elain even when Elain ignored her for months and wouldn’t speak in Acowar. It makes me sad to see that Elain never put in enough effort to be there for Nesta. 



Cassian: 
  • Mostly, I liked Cassian. But I kind of hate how Cassian isn’t ready to hear that Rhysand is not some flawless god. Nesta could utter two words about him (all very valid especially after the way he treats her) and Cassian would get so angry at her-like downright mad. Not just Cassian, but why does everyone insist on treating Rhysand like the best thing that ever existed?

Mates: 
  • Ofc since this a SJM book she just had to play the Mate card huh? I hate the whole idea of mates and fate decided soulmates but whatever floats your boat. I can’t wait for the next book where I will have to read the word mate 202850183508245 times! 🤠 (Sarcasm).

Blood Rite Rant:
  • When Nesta got taken away to the Blood Rite, THE REST OF THEM DIDN’T EVEN CARE?! They only cared about FRIKIN ERIS? Feyre (who was written as someone who cares about her sister so much blah blah) didn’t even bat an eye. Cassian had the only acceptable response to finding her gone. 
  • After Blood Rite ended: Right after Brialyn was defeated, a second later Azriel and Mor came? Could they not have come like a minute earlier? How did they know Cassian and Nesta were at that part of the mountain anyways? And if they did know, why did they not stop the Queen? AND HOW COME THEY WERE NOT HAPPY NESTA WAS ALIVE, WORRIED ABOUT CASSIAN, OR ASKING WHERE GYWN AND EMERIE WERE?! They just walked into the scene so casually as if Nesta and Cassian weren’t all bloody and beat up.

Nesta’s Powers
  • The amount of disappointment I felt when Nesta lost all her powers at the end was very tangible. Like?? The whole book we NEVER see Nesta use her powers. We see some silver flame in her eyes and then it vanishes a second later. We NEVER even got to explore her powers. And then all too soon it’s gone. 

Ladies and gentlemen, do not read this book. JK you can read this book for Nesta and then skip all the parts where Rhysand and Amren show up. Then it would be a great book 😃
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Click Here to Read My Spoiler Free Review of The Shadows Between Us
Click here to read my Spoiler free review of "Heartless"
38 Comments
Lightofthelibrary
4/30/2021 04:59:43 pm

Really interesting to read such a contrasting opinion of this book than my own! I can definitely appreciate having such strong feelings about the lives of fictional characters though haha.

Maybe I liked ACOSF so much because I have experienced a lot of these situations in my own life? (Obviously not literally, because I’ve never competed in a Blood Rite LOL) 🤔

I love how you made a disclaimer about secretly enjoying writing rant reviews 😂. Keep it up 👍

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
4/30/2021 05:12:34 pm

Thank you!!! Haha us readers are way too invested in fictional lives 😆

Oh that makes sense! I understand how it offered different emotions and perspectives to different people based on their personal experiences!

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regallywritten
4/30/2021 05:49:36 pm

I definitely think a lot of the characters and books by this author are overrated, and I agree with some of your thoughts. I was a fan of the friendship and fighting too.

P.S.- I don’t like Feysand either. Or most of these characters. But I do like Elain 🙈

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
4/30/2021 06:15:03 pm

YESS finally somehow who agrees with me on how this series is overrated! Honestly, I know I hated on Elain in this review but at least she's better than the other characters in this series!

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mybestfriendsbookshelf
4/30/2021 05:54:35 pm

It’s honestly refreshing to see such a dislike for SJM and the characters from the series, even though I’m absolutely head over heels for them. I feel like everyone in the world is obsessed with them so I liked reading your review from a different perspective! I did not come into this book expecting to be as invested in Nesta and Cassian’s relationship as I was with Feyre and Rhys, but I was PLEASED to be proven wrong. I love Cassian SO much, and Nesta even grew on me by the end. Rhys IS a bonehead in this book though, 1000%. And while I enjoyed seeing Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie kick butt in the blood rite, parts of it felt a little Hunger Games-y to me. But overall, I did truly enjoy the book!

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
4/30/2021 06:22:58 pm

Thank you!! I'm so glad you liked hearing my perspective! I totally understand why you love this series because it is a fun series to read! I just tend to be way too picky on books I read lol! Ikr! I did not expect to like Nesta and Cassian's pairing as much as I did! Trueee I'm glad you agreed about Rhysand!
What a coincidence! When I got to the blood rite ritual I had the exact thoughts as you! I was like "Did I go from reading Acosf to Hunger Games". I wasn't complaining since THG is my second fav series!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!

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Nida
5/14/2021 06:16:30 am

Oh I so agree about Rhysand being so different in this book. His character was literally so much varying then the actual gentleman and Feminist he had been in the other books. I thought that my disliking him in this particular book was a bit wrong of me but thank goodness someone else also feels like he was thick in this book.

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Littlebooklight link
5/1/2021 09:49:45 am

Oh I 100% agree that the best part about ACOSF was Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie and their friendship, that really sold it to me!
I also got so frustrated with Rhysand and the whole losing power thing?! Like comeon give me more!!

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/1/2021 10:21:11 am

Yes!!! Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie is made this book special! Ugh yes Rhysand was so annoying in this book! I was really disappointed with Nesta losing her powers because I wanted to see the extent of how powerful she was!

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Liv Evans link
5/2/2021 01:57:29 am

Not gonna lie, your review had me giggling! You made a lot of good points. As much as I usually enjoy SJM books, no matter what I read, I just can't get behind the 'mates' thing! 🤮

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/2/2021 07:25:34 am

THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF COMPLIMENTS THANK YOU SO MUCH! Haha yah the mates thing is not for me either!

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readingindarkness
5/2/2021 08:40:31 am

Yess the best part of ACOSF was the whole rite thing with Nesta, Emerie and Gwyn !! I love the rant !

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/2/2021 08:47:55 am

I totally agree! The Blood Rite was so interesting and it gave me Hunger Games vibes- which I really appreciated :)

Thank you so much!

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Cookie
5/2/2021 01:40:24 pm

I love the acotar series tbh but i kinda agree with u on some points and in the extra chapter of acosf with Azriel, rhys(who i loved alot) told him not to be with her and not to do anything with her just becuz it could make things harder for them with their allies and it was kinda insulting the way he talked about lucien, i personally believe that if lucien found out that Elaine likes az he would hav been very angry at first but after seeing her with him, she would hav given up tho im kinda happy cuz i ship Azriel and gwyn ❤

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/2/2021 04:09:33 pm

I haven't read the bonus Azriel scene yet but thank you for reminding me because now I'm going to search it up! Really? Ugh I don't get Elain, Rhysand's and the Inner Court's hatred to Lucien. He didn't even do anything bad! Everyone paints him a villain in this series :( I ship Azriel and Gwyn too!

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Lattania
5/2/2021 08:39:25 pm

I loved this hate. It just shows how another reader can find a lot of things problematic about a series you love. But I've always been hesistant about Rhys. Even though Tamlin completely blindsided me because I actually thought he wasn't bad in the first book. But the second, he just suddenly felt too claustrophobic. With Rhysand, I'm extremely cautious about liking him. Maybe he's great with Feyre but I just don't get him and his rudeness with Nesta. Elain is sooo low on my list right from the first book - her crying and weeping was just annoying. Even Amren and Mor didn't make a dent with me. We don't have enough of Azriel to know if I like him or not. Cassian is nice - I like how he defends Nesta. The characters are definitely not perfect. But it's still fun to read.
I love your site ❤️

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/3/2021 05:43:51 am

IKKK Rhys was completely rude in this book! Glad you feel the same way about Elain and Amren. (Lol I forgot Mor was in this series because she made like no appearance in this book besides one). I agree about Cassian! I love the way he defends Nesta too! Thank you so much!!!

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nestasbitch
5/3/2021 08:38:13 am

i personally love the acotar series,and pretty much all the characters (that said i am still waiting for elain to ‘grow’ a personality🤭) though i definitely agree there are some pretty big flaws.

you brought up a really good point about people hating nesta when they love the typical toxic, bad tempered, asshole male characters who are labelled as ‘mysterious’ or ‘bad boys’ or (prepare yourself, this is the worst one) ‘misunderstood’. and for the same qualities nesta archeron is called a cold hearted bitch (not in the my no.1 baddest bitch way). so fuck double standards in books -and it’s not so much the author’s fault as it is the fandoms, so yeah. big middle fingers all round.

secondly, HER POWERS. i am SICK of characters losing their powers - especially female ones when powerful male characters never have to sacrifice theirs. and i understand why authors do it but really it gives the message that you can either be an uber powerful woman with abilities to conquer the whole damn world OR you can save your family and friends. not both. so fingers up at that.

however, i LOVED the friendships in this book, and though i don’t think acosf had much plot, i really liked the character focus. and ofc i am a sucker for romance and the snarky banter between nesta and cassian was great.

as for elain, i joke about her lack of personality but i party think that’s bc she’s had so little book time and we’ve had nothing from her pov so i think she still has a lot of potential as a character, we just haven’t had the chance to see it yet.

so yeah, that’s my thoughts! i really like acosf, i don’t know if i’d go as far to say it’s my fave acotar book but it’s up there, and i’m really excited for the next book (hopefully switching it up and it’s an azriel book #gwynriel) where i hope that sjm resolves some of the conflicts and we also learn more about the world and the whole koschei drama. and lots more mor content. and hopefully mor x emerie bc I NEED THAT.

all in all, though i don’t agree with all of your points as i do love acotar, i think they’re important and i respect your opinion! also it was very funny😂

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/3/2021 08:34:23 pm

That's totally fine if you love the Acotar series and love the characters! You're right! The characters are flawed and that's normal. My only problem is that even though characters like Rhysand are flawed, the book doesn't acknowledge the flaws and the other characters continue to treat him like a god.

YES the double standard in books is so REAL! Yah that's the fandom's fault not SJM's.

Ugh ikr! There was no need to remove Nesta's powers! Since her powers are death, she could have used her powers to bring Feyre back from the dead or something.

I LOVE Gwynriel! I hope that ship is cannon!

Thank you! I respect your opinion as well!

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nestasbitch
5/4/2021 04:24:50 am

yessss i think it’s really good how we get to see rhys from someone else’s pov, someone who’s not part of his inner circle and doesn’t dote on him and that’s always really important with characters. i do totally see how he’s viewed from both povs :))

Mandy
5/4/2021 03:37:43 pm

Very interesting review! I agree about Rhysand and Amren so much! They ticked me off this entire book. Also I was waiting for some praise or relief from the characters that Nesta survived the blood rite but we didn’t really get that and the focus was back on Feysand.

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/4/2021 08:38:21 pm

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you agree about Rhysand and Amren! The Blood Rite thing annoyed me so much because Nesta literally had the odds against her and she was going to die, but she endured it. Yet no one even said one sentence like "I'm glad you're alive". Nothing.

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Jasmine @ Sheswellread link
5/6/2021 09:58:18 am

Your rating system is interesting! I never thought about breaking my reviews down that way... will definitely use that as inspiration:) I also liked how you analyzed each character, great review!

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/6/2021 12:15:28 pm

Thank you! Glad I could be of use for inspiration :)
Thank you so much!!

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Michaela link
5/9/2021 01:28:02 am

This is such a great review, I overall I really enjoyed this book mostly die to my love of Nesta however I do agree with you on a lot of these points. Particularly about Rhysand and the way he treats Nesta and even the way that the rest of the inner circle treat her throughout the series it very much comes across that they don't care about her trauma and only want her to stop being a problem for them and I feel they should have apologise to her at some point during the book.
I was also annoyed at how Elain treated Nesta however I do feel that there is something else going on below the surface for her that we might see more of in coming books.

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/9/2021 07:41:14 am

Thank you so much!! I love Nesta too so that's the only reason I liked this book lol! Ugh yes Rhysand and the Inner Circle's behavior was so exclusive to Nesta! They were very rude to her and then they complained how she didn't make an effort to be with them! Well duh if you're going to treat her like that, then she's not going to show up to your parties and events!

Oh yah! You offer an interesting perspective about Elain! I do feel like something is bothering her too

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Rustlingchapters
5/12/2021 03:18:37 pm

Even though our views on this book are quite opposite ( I gave it 5 stars) I agree that Rhys and amren were unfair and cruel to Nesta. I really loved the valkyries storyline and overall Nesta's healing journey 😊

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/12/2021 08:07:08 pm

Totally fine if we have differing opinions on this book! I would have given it 5 stars if it were not for Rhysand and Amren lol! Glad you agree about them! I loved the valkyries storyline too!!!

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coffee_lovin_bookdragon
5/13/2021 11:01:17 pm

This is such a good review! I find it so interesting how our thoughts on it differ so widely. I do agree that Rhysand and Amren treated Nesta terribly throughout the book though. I really enjoyed both characters in the previous books but definitely did not like them so much in this one. It was nice to finally see a change in attitude from both of them at the end, though I wish it hadn’t been quite so hard for Nesta to gain their respect. I honestly thought her efforts with the Valkyrie training would’ve given her more points with them. Overall I really enjoyed her journey though and ended up giving it five stars 🙈 lol but I really did enjoy reading your opinions on this book! You have such a fun way of explaining what you liked and disliked! 😊

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/14/2021 09:48:04 pm

Thank you so much!! That means soooo much ❤️❤️❤️ Ugh yah Rhysand and Amren were so patronizing towards her and made it so hard for her to feel belonged! It was horrible!

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Nida
5/14/2021 06:26:18 am

Oh I so agree about Rhysand. In the previous books I loved him ( maybe even drooled a bit, all the purring ya' know) but in this book he was just SO unbelievable. Like literally I found I hated him just as much as Nesta hated him. Amren saying he should be High King no matter how bad he was after his previous good Feminist side... Seeing through Nesta's POV who doesn't love everyone like Feyre I understood how bad the good characters can be like. And Rhys shouldn't be worshipped like a god, after all the bad things he did or say to the least.

Nesta losing her powers was the worst thing. I honestly hope she gets to keep the mask crown and stuff rather than Rhys taking over when he seriously shouldn't have been made her brother all of a second when Nesta pulled him into a hug. It was totally absurd.

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/14/2021 09:50:41 pm

I 100% AGREE! HE WAS SO FRIKIN RUDE OMG 😒 I actually wasn’t a fan of him the whole series but I totally get the purring thing lol 😂 Glad you agree about Nesta’s powers! It was so disappointing!

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Lauren
5/20/2021 02:32:57 pm

I actually really liked Nesta until after the war when she just got really bad so I was glad to see her get herself out of all that. I couldn’t stop laughing at your “garden girl” comment 😆😆 I’m not an Elaine fan either!

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
5/21/2021 08:48:24 pm

I'm glad to see Nesta better too! HAHA thank you!! YESS you and me both! Elain haters unite!!

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Jolanda (@bibli.jo) link
8/24/2021 09:12:05 am

I love your review!! It's so good that you have lots of opinions on the characters (mainly Rhysand and Amren and I totally agree with you on those). This book made me love Nesta so much and I also remembered why I didn't really like Feyre in the other ACOTAR books

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
8/28/2021 07:32:50 pm

Thank you so much!! Glad you agree about Rhysand and Amren! They were so annoying 🙄🙄
And yah I’m not a fan of Feyre either!!

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Nothingbutfiction
10/8/2021 10:36:45 am

OMG!!!!!! Did you just make me HATE Rhysand??! I agree with every frikin thing you wrote.

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Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)
10/9/2021 10:22:55 am

HAHA it's my pleasure lol 😌 AHHH AND THANK YOUUUUUU

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