I need to preface this by saying that I love A Court of Silver Flames as a story. It absolutely works for me, and is tied with Mist and Fury as my favourite book of the series so far. But, objectively, there are many things wrong with it. This fic is not a rewrite, but instead explores how things might have played out if Nesta had been given a little more support and understanding in the aftermath of the war with Hybern, and she wasn't subjected to forced proximity with Cassian. 

Firstly, this softer version of Nessian is just beautiful. They still spark off of one another, still bicker and drive each other up the wall and the core of their characters remains true to the source material, but the fact that they are given the time and space to explore eachother and come to more of an understanding of eachother is so satisfying. It's more of a gentle fall than a raging inferno, and it is brilliantly done.

Nesta standing on her own two feet is a sight to behold. She is a powerhouse character in this, showing what feels like a more true to life recovery. The relationships she builds, both that mirror Silver Flames and the ones of the author's own creation, feel like they do far more service to her as they are so organic - again, she's not forced into the circumstances that introduce her to her friends, so the relationships are missing her self-loathing undertone that comes through in the book. And the Balthazar that's in here is my official headcanon from now on - LOVE his characterisation, and need more of him!

Likewise, Eris is the character I didn't know I needed more of until I started reading fanfic. I adore his characterisation in this; still a snake, still not someone you are going to completely trust, but at the same time he and Nesta have full on bromance vibes and I am here for it! Throw in something of a Tamlin redemption arc (after a fashion) and my goodness does this fic do great things for the 'villains' of the piece! 

That being said, as much as I get the scorn poured on the Inner Circle as a result of Silver Flames, I do struggle with them all being treated as being vile because of their treatment of Nesta. Somehow though, the author of this fic has managed to walk the line between making it crystal clear that the IC are in the wrong and are not treating one of their own in a disgusting way, and yet still managing to maintain a healthy respect for the characters we came to know in the previous books. They're not the idealised group that we see through Feyre's adoring eyes; instead they are seen with Nesta's sharper, more critical and world weary view, with a healthy dose of disdain due to the way they treat her, Illyria and so on. I think this was what SJM was aiming for in the books, but it didn't quite come through properly.

The pace of this fic is spot on; it kept me reading to such an extent that I did not want to go to work! It ebbs and flows like the tides, with moments of stillness, calm and romance interspersed with moments of heat, drama and flair. It's a spectacular take, and I've gone so far as to download it for reading over and over on my Kindle (LOVE that AO3 gives you that option!). As it's fanfic, there are of course occasional typos, formatting errors and so on, but they do absolutely nothing to spoil your enjoyment of this epic read.