16 Nesta Fan Art Pieces That Illustrate Her Hard-Fought Healing Journey
No character from Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series is quite as complex and controversial as Nesta Archeron, the eldest of the three once-human sisters.
With her steely blue-gray glare and statuesque physique, Nesta Archeron struck an imposing figure long before she rose from the Cauldron as High Fae. And while widely known as a deeply flawed and highly polarizing character, she is undeniably captivating in her utter rawness and intensity.
After a sweeping search of all the internet has to offer, we are excited to showcase these 16 Nesta fan art pieces that perfectly portray the highs and lows of her traumatic transformation from haughty human to valiant Valkyrie.
And regardless of your personal opinions on Nesta’s problematic personality, we guarantee you’ll find it impossible to downplay her harrowing healing journey when viewed through the visual tributes of talented AI artists across the ACOTAR fandom.
SPOILER WARNING: In our attempt to bring you the very best versions of your favorite characters, spoilers may inadvertently be revealed. If you haven’t finished the entire series, proceed at your own risk!
01
of 16
“I’d forgotten how cunning her eyes were, how cold. She’d been made differently, from something harder and stronger than bone and blood. She was as different from the humans around us as I had become.”
A Court of Thorns and Roses, Chapter 28
02
of 16
“As if the Cauldron in making her… had been forced to give more than it wanted. As if Nesta had fought even after she went under, and had decided that if she was to be dragged into hell, she was taking that Cauldron with her … And when I beheld my sister, with her somehow magnified beauty, her ears … When Nesta looked to me … Rage. Power. Cunning.”
A Court of Mist and Fury, Chapter 65
03
of 16
“What do I care? I get to be young and beautiful forever, and I never have to go back to those sycophantic fools over the wall. I get to do as I wish, since apparently no one here has any regard for rules or manners or our traditions. Perhaps I should thank you for dragging me into this.”
A Court of Wings and Ruin, Chapter 15
04
of 16
📸: @sampaiarts
“There are many types of strength beyond the ability to wield a blade and end lives. Amren told me that yesterday.”
A Court of Wings and Ruin, Chapter 24
05
of 16
“I do not want to be remembered as a coward.”
A Court of Wings and Ruin, Chapter 42
06
of 16
“She hadn’t felt anything in months. Had days when she didn’t really know where she was or what she’d done. They passed swiftly and yet dripped by.”
A Court of Frost and Starlight, Chapter 21
07
of 16
“Some days, the sheer dread and panic locked Nesta’s body up so thoroughly that nothing could get her to breathe. Nothing could stop the awful power from beginning to rise, rise, rise in her. Nothing beyond the music at those taverns, the card games with strangers, the endless bottles of wine, and the sex that made her feel nothing—but offered a moment of release amid the roaring inside her.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 1
08
of 16
“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.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 4
09
of 16
📸: @booknuts_
“I am worthless and I am nothing. I hate everything that I am. And I am so, so tired. I am tired of wanting to be anywhere but in my own head.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 6
10
of 16
“She had failed in every aspect of her life. Utterly and spectacularly failed, and keeping others from realizing it had been her main purpose. She had shut them out, had shut herself out, because the weight of all those failures threatened to shatter her into a thousand pieces.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 24
11
of 16
“Though she had fought back against Tomas, against the Cauldron, against the King of Hybern, they had all happened to her. She had survived, but she had been helpless and afraid. Not today. Today, she would happen to him.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 36
12
of 16
“Never again. Never again would she be weak. Never again would she be at someone’s mercy. Never again would she fail. Never again, never again, never again.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 38
13
of 16
“She had been born wrong. Had been born with claws and fangs and had never been able to keep from using them, never been able to quell the part of her that roared at betrayal, that could hate and love more violently than anyone ever understood. She didn’t know how to fix it. How to make any of it right. How to stop being this way.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 49
14
of 16
📸: @sampaiarts
“And when Nesta had looked in the mirror at last, she hadn’t seen herself staring back. She’d seen a Queen of the Night. As merciless and cold and beautiful as the god Lanthys had wanted to make her. Death’s Consort. Death herself.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 57
15
of 16
“There were no hateful voices in her head. Only the knowledge that her friends lay behind her, beyond the line she’d drawn in the earth, and she would not cede that line to these males. She would not fail her friends. She had no room for fear in her heart. Only calm. Determination. And love.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 70
16
of 16
📸: @sampaiarts
“She wore the Mask. She’d placed the Crown atop her head. And she cradled the Harp in her arms. No one had ever wielded all three and lived. No one could contain their power, control them—Nesta’s eyes blazed with silver fire behind the Mask. And Cassian knew the being that looked out was neither Fae nor human nor anything that walked the lands of this world.”
A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 76
