Matcha & Motifs Book Review: 4.5/5

As Nesta Acheron is forced to train with the person who gets her riled up the most, Cassian, can she confront her spiteful actions and learn to heal? 

***CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!***

Nesta

I have a lot of feelings about this book. 

I did not like Nesta. Throughout all of the books, I’ve never really enjoyed her character. I acknowledge that there were hints of her strength and relevance throughout the previous book that made her seem worthy of being a main character. 

She pointed at the King of Hybern and ended up beheading him and holding it up like a trophy. She came out of the Cauldron with fire in her eyes, a promise of power. She’s cold, fierce, and prickly. Tamlin’s glamor didn’t work on her because she has the mental strength and mind of steel. She has all the makings of a main character, and yet, I really did not like her. Perhaps it was because she was a villain in Feyre’s story. Her hatred for their father prevented her from even protecting her sisters! She only cared to protect Elaine. I never understood why she only cared about and cherished Elaine. Her pickiness and preference for Elaine always rubbed me the wrong way. Feyre was the youngest, and she set out into the woods to hunt and provide for her family, and Nesta wanted to waste that money on frivolous things. Even in this book, when they asked her to find the Dread Trove items and threatened to use Elain’s gifts if Nesta wouldn’t agree, she countered with “Why can’t Feyre do it?” As if Feyre hadn’t already been doing everything this entire time, and Nesta still gives her shit for everything! Nesta blames Feyre for being put in the Cauldron. She blames Feyre for bringing the Fae into their lives and uprooting everything, and that just pisses me off so much. I hate her cowardice, unwillingness, and selfishness. And in a way, I understand that she hates it too; that’s why she punishes herself so much. 

I understand that this is supposedly Nesta’s redemption story. This is her healing arc, like Feyre’s in A Court of Mist and Fury.  With how much I do not like Nesta, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy her story so much. Her story was good! I love the development of friendships and her own chosen family, especially because joining the Night Court’s inner circle felt so forced.  

I love the bond she built among her friends, and it was incredible when she wanted to empower the women in the library to fight. I cried when Emerie, Gwyn, and Nesta shared their personal stories and traumas during the Blood Rite. That moment was so beautiful, open, and understanding, and so essential to all their healing. It was *girlhood*.

I enjoyed the pacing of this book. Everything happened at just the right time. Nesta’s struggle, her resistance, her reluctance, her slow change, her relapsing mistakes, moving forward from that again. It shows us that healing isn’t linear, but I like that she didn’t give up, at least not completely.

I really enjoyed Cassian in this book. I do think that Cassian is too good for Nesta. Of course, Nesta thinks that too. But I think this story is cute because everyone who is a Nesta- angry, bitchy, and defensive wants a person like Cassian. Someone who is warm, good, and will stay and keep reaching out no matter how many times they’ve hurt them. 

Also, I liked how this book was smuttier. I think it worked really well for this couple because they had a lot of tension. Their chemistry was electrifying, and I was convinced for a bit that they weren’t mates. Of course I should’ve seen that coming. 

Also, the stairs! I get that the stairs are supposed to be a motif or symbol of some sort. Though, isn’t going down the stairs the easy part? How do you give up going down, but now force yourself to exert even more energy to climb up?

Final question: did she redeem herself? Do I forgive her? Do I like her now? 

I think she did the right thing for her friends; she was willing to lay down her life so that her friends would win and live. Although this was great, shouldn’t her redemption be about the person she’s hurt the most, Feyre? 

Nesta was willing to give up her power to save Feyre and the baby. But if you ask me, the power didn’t even mean that much to Nesta. Yes, there were countless hints of Nesta’s power being able to take over the world, but she never wanted those powers to begin with. It didn’t feel like a true sacrifice. But I mean… at least she did save Feyre???  

Do I like her now? No, I do not like her. Although I do commend Maas for writing about such a controversial protagonist. Nesta alone has so much discourse, which I think is one of the signs of a good author.  Although I do not like her, I can understand her and appreciate her healing journey. 

ALSO! I have a couple qualms about Feyre and Rhysand’s storyline. For starters, I’m not a fan of the pregnancy trope. I thought it was super rare for Faes to have children, so why are we just allowing pregnancy to happen because they are the main characters? Also, Feyre and Rhysand initially wanted to wait, but now they want to let fate decide? I don’t know; they felt very bland in this book. Not a fan. It felt like a convenience tactic so that Nesta could “save” Feyre, but she could’ve redeemed her relationship with Feyre in so many other ways besides saving her unborn child. In my head, I’m just going to pretend the series ended in book 3 for this couple. 

Final thoughts

I would consider this book to be slightly separate from the main series. With Nesta and Cassian being the main characters, it feels more like their story and not a continuation or expansion of Feyre’s. 

I also think that although this is the end of the ACOTAR series (is it?), it’s weird to leave things so open-ended. Yes, Brialyn is dead now, but what about Koschei? Also, is anyone going to say anything about this possible attraction Elaine has for Azriel? I kind of feel bad for Lucien; I mean, we were all rooting for him a little. However, I do feel that Azriel is so slept on. But do Elaine and Lucien not end up together? Is Maas making an example of mates that don’t accept each other? What about Tamlin and his self-destructive behavior, does he get a redemption arc too or is he just going to die? What about putting Eris on the throne? Does Mor ever come out? I’m not sure I like how open-ended or inconclusive it is. It’s almost as if there was supposed to be another book…

Additionally, this book lacks the same war-like urgency that drives the plot forward. Nesta and Cassian literally took a week-long hike. Despite the slander, I kind of enjoy the “mundane” things. I like the day-to-day Nesta training and healing in this book. It does feel more like a side book than part of the main series, though. In my opinion, I felt that the series could’ve and maybe should’ve ended with the third book. End of war, yay. Except now, in this book, we’re introducing a new plot and a continuation of the main storyline. The cleanup plot, where the characters are facing political and social issues of the post-war period. Which is also why I don’t like how it’s all open-ended it is. Because why are we introducing new problems only to leave it hanging? 

The English major in me says this is meant to emphasize their immortality and long lives. They have forever to figure it out, so it’s not that deep. But no. I would like a conclusive ending, especially when things are being reopened. 

Overall, it was a complex read filled with lots of thoughts and emotions, but I enjoyed it. Also, I think this book has great discourse, which is always fun! 

Let me know your thoughts on Nesta; are you a fan? Do you forgive her? How do we feel about this series?