Mental Health is a Big Deal

Raven Sharada
May 4, 2022
5 min read

Updated: May 30, 2022

The fourth (official) book of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series is A Court of Silver Flames. I started this book on April 10, and finished April 14. I simply devoured it. In previous novels, we have seen Feyre and Rhys as the main characters (and Tamlin, if you want to count him). Over the course of the books, Sarah J. Maas introduces us to new characters - Rhys' Inner Circle and Feyre's sisters, Elain and Nesta. Feyre's story has come to a close, or most of it has, and she seems to have found her happy ending; this book focuses on other characters, specifically Nesta, Feyre's eldest sister.

Summary

In the previous novella, A Court of Frost and Starlight (check out my post about that one here), it was established that Nesta is having a hard time with her transition to High Fae. She's shutting everyone out and engaging in some pretty self-destructive behaviour. Feyre and company, concerned for her welfare, stage an intervention. They refuse to pay for her apartment any longer and insist that she move into the House of Wind to train with Cassian and work in the library. Nesta is furious, but she doesn't have much of a choice - the only way out of the House is by a staircase of 10,000 steps. Since living on her own she hasn't been eating much, so even with her transition to High Fae she has little strength in her body. She can't get down more than 100 steps the first time she tries. As for training with Cassian, she has no intention of doing that. She simply sits on a rock and watches him train for the first few sessions, and Cassian becomes increasingly frustrated. He wants so much to help her, but he doesn't know how. Meanwhile, Nesta struggles to understand the new powers she took from the Cauldron - and what they mean for the rest of the world.

Initial Reaction

I. Loved. This. Book. So much. I was somewhat hesitant to continue when I realized Feyre and Rhys wouldn't be the main characters in the book, but the depth of Nesta's and Cassian's characters kept me glued to the page. Nesta's character development is nothing short of miraculous, and yet it's still believable.

What's Important?

What stood out to me most in this instalment of the series was the focus on mental health. Nesta is suffering from mental illnesses left, right, and center - depression, PTSD, panic attacks, and a whole lot of anger at herself, which she projects outward. We learn that Cassian has struggled from these as well - as an Illyrian warrior, and as a bastard who was cast out of his family at a young age and left to fend for himself, living on the streets. Cassian, however, has had five centuries to deal with his experiences and find ways to cope. Nesta is barely twenty-five. Cassian is there to help her move through it. He says, "I can’t tell you when, or how, but it will get better. What you feel, this guilt and pain and self-loathing - you will get through it. But only if you are willing to fight. Only if you are willing to face it, and embrace it, and walk through it, to emerge on the other side of it. And maybe you will still feel that tinge of pain, but there is another side. A better side." That quote got me right in the feels. Cassian plays a big part in Nesta's eventual decision to recover - she doesn't fully recover, of course, as one cannot just be "cured" of mental illness and trauma like that - but Cassian convinces her to try. She even makes some friends, and becomes a fearsome warrior to boot.

Another important aspect to this book is Nesta's powers and just how powerful she has become. Thanks to her anger at being Made (transformed into High Fae) against her will using the Cauldron, she has massive amounts power that she doesn't understand. Cassian describes it as "silver flame" behind her eyes (thus the title of the book), and through the course of the book they discover that her power is (SPOILER ALERT) Death itself - she is Death personified. Thus, she gets lots of fancy new titles from people who encounter her power - Lady Death, Queen of Queens, and Witch of Oorid, to name a few. I encountered the song "Yellow Flicker Beat" by Lorde while listening to a playlist on Spotify and I thought that song embodied Nesta almost perfectly - so if you want an idea of Nesta's character, just go listen to that song.

Rating

You can probably guess from reading the rest of this post, but I give this book 5 out of 5 stars for sheer awesomeness. It gets 5 out of 5 peppers for spice - it made me blush rather a lot while reading it!

Five stars for awesomeness! Character development and thematic material especially stood out to me, but the romantic plot was also very engrossing.

5 peppers for spice! Do not read this book in public. Seriously, almost all of it is NSFW. The thing I did like about the spice is that it didn't seem like a gratuitous thing just added "because" - it still had a place in the story. If you like some spicy romance and fantasy, this is the book for you.

Favorite Quotes

"I can’t tell you when, or how, but it will get better. What you feel, this guilt and pain and self-loathing - you will get through it. But only if you are willing to fight. Only if you are willing to face it, and embrace it, and walk through it, to emerge on the other side of it. And maybe you will still feel that tinge of pain, but there is another side. A better side." (Cassian to Nesta)

- I thought this depiction of recovery from mental illness to be both accurate and empowering as a person who has similar struggles.

Keep reaching out your hand. (Rhys’ advice to Cass)

- Good advice for anyone who wants to help someone with a mental illness - just keep trying.

Never again would she be weak. Never again would she be at someone’s mercy. (Nesta)

- Nesta decides to take on Cassian's training and become a badass warrior girl.

I am the rock against which the surf crashes. Nothing can break me.

- Nesta and her friends Emerie (an Illyrian) and Gwyn (a High Fae priestess) find out about a group of female warriors from history who called themselves the Valkyries - they decide to model their own training after those females. This is one of their maxims.

Your power is a song, and one I’ve waited a very, very long time to hear, Nesta. (Cass)

- It's so cuuuuuuuuuute

Fearsome warriors making friendship bracelets. frostbite.studios

Two hours later, Nesta found herself fully clothed in a bathtub in the middle of the private library, the entire thing filled with bubbles. No water, just bubbles…each bubble held a tiny bird fluttering about inside.

- Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie have a sleepover. Seriously, they make friendship bracelets and everything. It's just so funny and great to see these girls, all of whom have experienced massive emotional and physical trauma, just let go and do some girly stuff.

Ataraxia, she had named that magic sword. Inner peace. (Nesta’s sword that she Made)

- I loved this name for a sword - it's an oxymoron but it makes sense given how Nesta has been able to find her own inner peace - through combat training.