A Court of Silver Flames

“Her father. The man who had never fought for his children, not until the end. When he had come to save them—to save the humans and the Fae, yes, but most of all, his daughters. Her. A grand, stupid waste.”

In previous books in the series, it was apparent that Nesta hated her father. This dismissive comment hides a great deal about her emotional state. As we learn later, Nesta is corroded by a sense of guilt because she couldn’t save her father. She can’t even bear the sound of a fire crackling because she relives the sound of her father’s neck being snapped by the King of Hybern.

“Everything in her life, from the moment she was born, had been controlled by other people. Things happened to her; anytime she tried to exert control, she’d been thwarted at every turn—and she hated that even more than the King of Hybern.”

Nesta’s comment indicates just how other-directed her life is. However, this quote is also a grand excuse. As Feyre points out a few lines later, Nesta needs to learn how to control herself. It doesn’t matter how much she blames others for controlling her actions. The real problem is her unwillingness to control her own thoughts and emotions.

“They had thrown them all, mere children and a crumbling man, to the wolves. So Nesta had become a wolf. Armed herself with invisible teeth and claws, and learned to strike faster, deeper, more lethally. Had relished it. But when the time came to put away the wolf, she’d found it had devoured her, too.”

After the loss of their family fortune, the Archerons are reduced to living in a hovel. Nesta justifies her angry attitude by blaming others who threw the family to the wolves, figuratively speaking. At least in this quote, she shows a glimmer of self-awareness by admitting that she should have put the wolf away by now. Of course, the quote also implies that she believes she has no control over the wolf and is incapable of doing so.