A Court of Thorns and Roses Book 4
I was in two minds when I started this book. My experience with the others in this series was mixed at best. However, I so wanted to read Nesta’s and Cassian’s story. Despite being horrible to everyone, I had a soft spot for Nesta, and Cassian, well, swoooooon. But I was worried that my enjoyment would be marred by the writing style as it was in the other books.
I’m writing this review completely from memory because, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I just flew through the book. Now I’m suffering from a serious book hangover and I hope writing this will get it out of my system so I can move on.
Why did I find this so easy when my reviews of the other books are filled with complaints about the author’s style? In truth, I think the writing style in this is much better. There’s only the infrequent jarring syntax and I can’t recall a great deal of purple prose which interrupted the flow of the narrative as it did in the other books.
The other thing I think that helped was the characters. Nesta and Cassian felt a lot more relatable. There was something a bit off about Feyre, and Rhysand, while swoon-worthy, was always pushed as being Mr. Perfect.
I think the love story in this book also felt more realistic. It wasn’t instant acceptance by either of them. They both had to work hard to accept the feelings between them and they both made mistakes. It wasn’t immediately stated whether they were fated mates or not and I like for once that the author didn’t tell us. Instead, we’re given little clues to help the reader piece things together on their own. That’s another plus compared to the other books where the word “mate” must have been used on every page.
This is much steamier than the other books too. The tension between Cassian and Nesta is high from the start. Hell, it was high from the moment they met in book 2 and here we get to see it play out. The author has moved on from the young adult readership of the earlier books.
I think Nesta and her character development make a big difference in this book. We get to learn why she is the way she is. Whether you like her or not, it’s impossible to deny that she feels the need to punish herself, and lashes out to push others away because she’s afraid of what she has become. She finds it difficult, but eventually, she does let Cassian in and accepts herself for who she is.
I adore a heroine that fiercely protects those she loves and Nesta is a fierce as they come. Plus, she’s a heroine that doesn’t expect her man to do her dirty work for her. I liked that she learned to fight to protect herself and those she loved, and if she had to slit a few throats to do it, then she did.
If you haven’t guessed, this is my favourite in the series and I may just go back and re-read the others so I can get more of Cassian and Nesta from the beginning.
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Feels: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
