victoria

Rating: ★★★★★ (5)

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

This is, I believe, my favourite book in the entire A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

I devoured A Court of Silver Flames. It was, without a doubt, the type of book that you don't — that you cannot — stop reading. It might as well have ruined me for every other book I will read this year. The writing was so captivating that I often found myself holding my breath in anticipation of the next scene. This was also one of those rare books that actually caused me physical pain... My chest squeezed when reading about Nesta's self-hatred.

The familiar male’s gaze snagged on her. “What’s her business here?” Nesta gave him a secretive smile. “Witchcraft.”

Nesta Archeron was more relatable than I ever thought she could be. Seeing the story unfold from her perspective painted her character in a new light. While I wasn't Nesta's biggest fan in the previous books, the character development she undergoes in ACOSF is nothing short of remarkable. To add to that, I thought her struggle with mental health and trauma were dealt with marvellously — I liked that it took her a long while to come to terms with who she was and with the things she had done.

“I wish for us to have the courage to go out into the world when we are ready, but to always be able to find our way back to each other. No matter what.”

I cannot finish this review without mentioning THEM. One of the highlights of the book for me was the friendship between Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie. It was absolutely beautiful. I was living for their shared love of smutty novels. And the miniature pegasus. And the friendship bracelets. And the gossiping in the middle of training. There are not enough words to express how much I loved their friendship. I would re-read this book just for them over and over and over again.

Rating: ★★★★★ (4.8)

“Power taken and not returned incurs a debt. And the universe, and the debt, will always come to collect, one way or another.”

A secret society on a college campus with a strong Black main character and queer representation based on the legends of King Arthur, all wrapped up in a gorgeous cover, and… MAGIC!

Need I say more to convince you to read this book? I don’t think so, but I will.

I am so happy that I chose Legendborn as my first read of 2022. But honestly, why did I wait so long to read this? IT WAS SO GOOD. Actually, "good" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Legendborn was amazing, fantastic, marvellous, surprising, breathtaking, and all the other adjectives you can think of.

“Don't make your life about the loss. Make it about the love.”

First of all, even though Legendborn is centred on magic and a demon-hunting secret society, it doesn’t neglect to tackle important issues like racism and the oppression of Black individuals across America. The Black representation in this book is *chef’s kiss*.

This is also a beautifully told story of grief, trauma, and acceptance — of coming to terms with the pain of losing a loved one. Again, the trauma aspect of this book was handled beautifully in my opinion. Bree's pain was palpable throughout the pages. She is such a strong character, and I am so excited to see where the next book will take her.

“Some truths only tragedy can teach. The first one I learned is that when people acknowledge your pain, they want your pain to acknowledge them back. They need to witness it in real time, or else you're not doing your part.”

The magic system was a little confusing at first, but the story was so captivating that it didn’t take away from its awesomeness.

And let me tell you, there were some plot twists I did not see coming that left me speechless and heartbroken. THE FREAKING PLOT TWISTS. I seriously cried several times while reading this.

The characters were simply AMAZING (Sel *heart eyes emoji*).

Legendborn was also very unique — the magic system, the story itself, the characters. I have never read anything like this before and it was refreshing.