REVIEW A Court of Silver Flames by Rebecca Maas

 

I needed to get in gear since there are a few new ACOTAR books coming in soon and now I'm up to date. This is the (so far) last book in the popular series by Sarah Maas that has been published and is one of, if not the, best in the series so far.

Nesta is one of the most self destructive and self-loathing characters I've ever met.  She has refused to live with the rest of the "family" (i.e. the inner circle), instead living in a filthy hovel, drinking herself into the ground every night and sleeping with whatever male seems to wander by.  Her self-hatred is through the roof.  She's a character that I thought honestly fitting of the "c" word - nasty all around but particularly to the people that love her and are trying to help her (her sisters in particular).  There were times that I have wanted to reach through the pages, grab her and tell her off. However, in this doorstop novel, I grew to have some more respect for Nesta (actually a great deal), although I cannot say that I like her (I have a hard time getting past the nastiness). She has some major trauma and guilt, both of which she became able to channel into helping other women around her, which really struck a cord with me. Nesta's transformation was quite believable.

The vast majority of this book was spent watching Nesta train with the other women.  That's fine, but be prepared, there are a lot.  I enjoyed the moments that she was working in the library better, but the other montages certainly didn't turn me off. The training, and also meditation, were used as ways to process trauma.  There is a lot about violence towards women in this novel so if that's an issue for you, I would stay away from it. 

I really enjoyed this novel - it's thought provoking and potentially healing, certainly empowering. I am excited to see what happens next and, even though I certainly don't like Nesta, enjoyed getting to see her evolve. 

Links I love

 

I hope that everyone had a good week.  I ended up improving and then feeling worse yesterday - I had to get a chest x ray and luckily it's not pneumonia but I definitely have bronchitis or something.  I'm on a Z-Pac. This has been a long road to recovery.

1. What happens to unsold Girl Scout cookies (didn't even believe that was a thing)?
2. Five expansive horror tales set in New York. 
3. More teens are getting hooked on gambling. 
4. Updates on the wonderful Carli Lloyd, formerly of the USWMNT.
5. What does nitpicking really mean?
6. Should judicial evaluations be made public?
7. How the horrors of dating can lay the groundwork for a good thriler.
8. Some revolutionary stories about and by Arab women. 
9. The best historical fiction books of the century so far. 
10. Some songs that Dolly Parton wrote, that you didn't know she wrote. 
11. Your sarcasm is showing and its history is pretty violent. 
12. Wellness hangouts are the new happy hour. 
13. Indie booksellers name the top books of 2025. 
14. Overrated fantasy novels and what to read next. 
15. 5 Classic novels that almost had different endings. 
16. Some of the best small press books of spring, 2026.
17. Ten fictional professors ranked by plausibility.
18. ALA fights against book banning bill.
19. Need more whimsy in your life? Start letter writing.
20. I could always use help with this.
21. The best horror movies from the 1990's.

Also, THIS!! This was amazing on so many levels and was SO COOL TO WATCH!!!  I was in second grade when The Challenger disaster happened and I'm not going to lie, I totally was on edge until everything was all clear - God Bless our astronauts.

I'm looking for a few new podcasts to listen to - what is everyone enjoying?  I'm currently reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and listening to Not Quite Dead (which has a really great premise).  

Please feel free to visit my Pangobooks store!

REVIEW The Academy by Elin

 

I needed something a bit more fun and a novel by an author that I have enjoyed in the past so I picked this novel.  Cunningham and one of her brothers attended a boarding school instead of public school and Hilderbrand was fascinated by the culture surrounding these settings, so together, they decided to write this book. The book follows students and their teachers at fictional Tiffin Academy, a school in Western Massachusetts and begins on move in day when the community finds that their ranking has jumped approximately 17 spots to number 2 on the rankings list. And to make matters more dramatic, there's a new app that outs people's secrets, which is in addition to the normal drama at any school.

There is a lot going on in this book - there are a lot of characters with a lot of backstory and I had to remind myself to be patient and let the authors pull everything together. It's a typical Hilderbrand book in that it shifts between perspectives, sometimes very, very quickly (which I don't mind at all since it keeps things interesting). I felt that I was there in the setting with the characters experiencing what they were experiencing as they experienced it and the book itself is very, very fast paced so it moved.  I finished it very quickly. I loved that it felt like a Hilderbrand book as I'm generally a fan of hers. 

There is one major thing that I was not a fan of: there is one story line that was begun and wasn't resolved.  I think that this is a two book series so I'm truly hoping that the next book reveals it because I'll be super upset if it isn't. 

Generally solid.  

Links that I love

 

We had some warmer weather here this week but now it's back to being coldish.  I'd like to see more 60's and 70's please.  For those celebrating Easter, I hope that you have a nice holiday!  I am working through the flu currently.  It hit me hard Monday into Tuesday. 

• This emotion seems to play a big role in addiction.
• Study further identifies estrogen's positive3 effects on women's health.
• Three habits to help with stress management - these make sense. 
• These real life women inspired Disney Princesses.
• Anthony Palmini and narrating romantasy audiobook.
• What we know about coffee's impact on the heart is wrong. 
• I may try this practice. 
• Which Disney Princess are you?
• Why do we say "hit the sack?" 
• What do palms symbolize on Palm Sunday?
• Tana French has a new book out.
• The 2026 shortlist for the International Booker Prize.
• Here's an easy looking recipe to try. 
• 5 discontinued easter chocolates that people want back. 
• I like big books and I cannot lie. 
• How addiction became a big motif in crime fiction. 
• Every state's favorite Easter candy.
• Takeaways from the men's tune up World Cup games. 
• 15 short nonfiction audiobooks that are 7 hours or less. 
• 12 dark revenge filled books if you're feeling ragey. 
• The finalists for this year's Lambda Literary Awards.
• For those of you interested in WW2, please check this out.
• This looks fantastic and I want to try!
• If you like Rebecca Yarros, try these books.  If you do ACOTAR, keep reading past the first book. They get better. Promise.
• How much sleep do you really need and is getting too much sleep a bad thing?
• The story behind alpine divorce.

If you can, please gift to this 529 account. I also have a Pangobooks store - visit if you can!

REVIEW I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

 

This book satisfies two of my challenges: the Popsugar Challenge (book where there is a non binary or trans main character) and the Library Love challenge.  I loved this book and I loved that this was the sort of book that Mason Deaver needed when they were a teenager.  So wonderful for me too.  I feel like I learned a lot. The literary world is so much better because this book is here.

I knew that I would love this book when it made me cry in the first few chapters.  It is absolutely nightmarish but not in your face or over the top and it was that subtleness that really got me. Ben DeBecker has been kicked out of his home at Christmas time after coming out to his conservative parents about being non-binary.  He luckily is able to call his older sister, Hannah, who is estranged and had left right after graduating from high school. She jumps into action and picks him up, gets him enrolled in school and gets him a (good) therapist. Ben spends the first part of the book in fear that they will be outed, rejected and have to return to the terrible environment that they were in previously. However, he has a lot of support and some bright lights - Mariam is a non binary social influencer that is very supportive of Ben and Nathan, a young man that Ben meets at his new school. 

This was a very compelling story that captured me and moved quickly. It is so effective in establishing that young, non-binary (or even anyone that has a sexual or gender orientation that is different from what the dominant society says is "normal,") are always experiencing a baseline level of fear and stress - nothing is ever seemingly safe in their world. Every word, action and look is second guessed.  Are they going to be outed? Is the person that learns of their gender or sexual expression going to accept them or be violent or something in between? What would be considered normal questions, are not necessarily normal questions to Ben - they are still trying to figure themselves out and then they have to figure out the world around them, all the while being a teen. 

When I put this book down, I felt much more emotionally and intellectually intelligent. I learned about the non-binary landscape all the while enlightening me on an experience that I never had and helping me to have compassion for people that are going through these difficult transitions in their own lives. I adored this book and would recommend it highly. 

REVIEW: Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

 

Not going to lie, I've had this book forever but I only started reading it because Netflix has released a limited series. THe first line was so promising: " When I was a child, I loved old men and I could tell that they also loved me."

And that legitimately sets the tone for the rest of the novel. The narrator and main character is a female professor in her late 50's at a small liberal arts college in upstate NY. She has a crisis when her older husband, also a professor, is accused of sexual harassment and improper relationships (many of them sexually consummated) by former students of his.  They have always had agreements about boundaries in their relationships but now that everything is so public, the narrator gets her revenge by developing an infatuation with another much younger professor - Vladimir. He's a wildly successful, young and attractive novelist that arrives on campus with his wife and their child. 

I generally enjoyed how the novel started - it was so promising. I enjoyed seeing an older woman embrace her sexuality and who she was.  Her creativity started to blossom after her infatuation started. And I really appreciated how it took on things like relationships - the narrator and her husband seem the most solid even though their boundaries may be questionable, but the gender roles in the relationship are still so strict. She has his dinner on the table for him. Every night. No matter what.  He took care of all the finances. But then we got the last third of the book and things just went completely off the rails in a way that I just couldn't get behind. I honestly wondered if the author felt like me - and just wanted to get to the end of the book in a rush and so ended it the way that she did. 

Not my cup of tea, this one.  Pass on it - you're not missing anything. 

Links I love

 

Last week had a lot going on for me work wise and life wise. At least I have some fun links to share though! I'm listening to Future Boy by Michael J. Fox and reading I Wish You all the Best by  Mason Deaver and The Academy. 

• Memoirs about losing a parent when in childhood.
• The Bell Jar is getting an adaptation with Billie Eilish. There's an adaptation of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow too!
• This supplement can help in perimenopause.
• What is the Kennedy curse?
• 6 female writers that shaped modern science fiction.
• Why you should consider holding hands during your next fight?
• Morning might be the best time to exercise.
• Ten best books to read with interesting female protagonists. 
• Microwalks and your steps.
• 9 Novels about women in the wild. 
• Because who doesn't need a new podcast to listen to?
• Why readers are taking up Grannycrafts.
• Historical novels set in South Africa.
• The winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards have been announced. 
• Bridgerton's diversity - what's up with it?
• Cursive is back, but should students be learning it?
• The Inside Literary Prize announces its shortlist. 
• Lift your weights, especially if you're female. 
• 8 coastal cities that look divine. 
• Emotional abuse in college sports.

Please feel free to make a gift to our child's 529 account or visit my Pangobooks store.