From someone who read Azriel’s POV bonus chapter without having read any of the ACOTAR books beforehand:

Couple of months ago I stumbled upon Azriel’s POV bonus chapter and I have no idea how or why because I hadn’t yet started reading the books. I had some basic knowledge of the story and the characters thanks to TikTok and it was probably one of the ship war videos that made me search for the bonus chapter because I was intrigued what the heck was going on that was making everyone go to war over. So, I read the bonus chapter without being influenced by liking one ship or the other, just wanted to see why everyone was fussing over Azriel.

The first part of the bonus chapter with Azriel and Elain made me SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE. I read a lot of smutty books and dark romances so sex talk is not something I shy away from. But the way that scene was written made me physically uncomfortable and not just because of Azriel’s thoughts, but Elain’s behaviour also. I can’t explain it, but both of them felt so cringy. I kept reading because I wanted to understand the fuss over the other part of the bonus chapter but if I had to decide on entering the world of ACOTAR based on that first part I would have thrown it in the trash. Needless to say I was super happy when Rhys interrupted them.

And then came the second part of the bonus chapter with Gwyn and oh my God but what a change. Azriel transformed from a creep (sorry but that was the vibe he was giving me in the beginning) to romance books hero in 2 paragraphs just by changing the scenery and the female protagonist. His scene with Gwyn felt so genuine and warm and just like he felt something restless settling inside him I felt all of the uncomfortable feelings leaving me from the first part of the chapter to give room to this warmth I felt for the 2 of them. And then for me it was pretty obvious that the author was telling the readers: this is his girl. The scene, the way it is written, the words used for the training scene but also at the end in the library, for me it was pretty damn obvious they were gonna be a couple. And then I understood that the first part of the bonus chapter was supposed to make us feel uncomfortable so we could see the contrast with the second part, literally obviously saying: The first girl ain’t it. The second girl is who you should be looking at.

So all of this without having read the books. And no, I’m not lying about it. I’m 27 and have better things to do than make stuff up for a ship war.

And then I read the books and entered the SJM world (TOG, ACOTAR, CC) and I was super confused with all of the E/riel fans and their theories and arguments that made me question whether we read the same books. I saw no ‘build-up for 4 books’ (which he spent mostly in love with Mor), sure little cute moments here and there but without that bonus chapter I would have even said Azriel looked at Elain as a little sister to protect. The bonus chapter only told me he has deep personal trauma to heal. Sorry but the fact that he hadn’t thought about a future with Elain but just sex is no way in hell romantic. So, 4 books of build-up led to, well, that? And the fact that Elain was willing to kiss another guy in the same house where her mate was sleeping (whom she hasn’t rejected yet) doesn’t speak volumes of her either, only that she also has a lot of stuff to deal with.

When Sarah in her interview said that she thought it was pretty obvious about who the next book will be and that she left breadcrumbs in the bonus chapter, for me it was pretty obvious it would be Gwyn and Az (I felt that literally by having read only the bonus chapter before the books). All of their little moments in ACOSF, how Sarah wanted us to pay attention to their reactions to one another, left no room for doubt in my mind, just like I saw it instantly with 2 glances the first time Nessian met, and I felt the chemistry right away.

I could go on ‘till tomorrow but probably should stop here. Just had to write this out of genuine confusion at how people try to deny the obvious (literally what Sarah said) by using theories and arguments that only show they probably haven’t even read ACOSF or other SJM books, because she couldn’t be more obvious than that with her writing.

P.S. This feels the same like when season 1 of The Vampire Diaries aired and I instantly knew Damon and Elena were it. Didn’t even need proof, just had a gut feeling. And Stelena fans then were also aggressively explaining there was no way Delena would be a thing much less endgame, but oh, guess which ship won in the end?