Ima be real i haven't read past acowar cuz i just stopped reading her books by the time the 4th book came out. HOWEVER!

dude i didn't know that the idea of rhys becoming high king was canon. i thought that was made up for a fic where the inner circle was the enemy.... why are they so different after the trilogy?? I mean they were already a little off but from looking at what people are saying (and reading a lot of fics with inner court slander) they've gotten weird weird weird

Quotes from ACOSF: “But you, Rhysand, are not.” Amren nodded to the still-rotating weapons. “With these three blades, you could make yourself High King.” The words clanged through the room. Cassian slowly blinked. Rhys said tightly, “I don’t wish to be High King. I only wish to be here, with my mate and my people.” Amren countered, “All seven courts united under one ruler would give us far better odds of survival in any upcoming conflict. No bickering and politicking required to dispatch our armies. Malcontents like Beron would have no ability to threaten our plans by allying with our enemies.” “We would have to fight an internal war first. I would be branded a traitor by my friends in other courts—I’d be forced to make them kneel.” Azriel stepped forward, shadows trailing from his shoulders. “Kallias, Tarquin, and Helion might be willing to kneel. Thesan will kneel if the others do.” Cassian nodded. Rhys as High King: he could think of no other male he’d trust more. No other male who would be a fairer ruler than Rhys. And with Feyre as High Queen … Prythian would be blessed to have such leaders. So Cassian said, “Tamlin would probably fight, and lose. Beron would be the only one standing in your way.” As for the Inner Circle being OOC... I think Rhys has remained the exact same since book 1. And that's actually a huuuuuge problem. He has had absolutely zero development, he's still an absolute dick, and somehow everyone licks his boots. Cassian I'd say went through a retcon through ACOSF. I genuinely shipped Nessian (even tho I despised the idea of the IC) until this book and it just ruined the ship and Cassian's character for me entirely. Mor...I mean she has had some character development but she was a fucking bitch to Nesta which I can't forgive. Amren I think is OOC in ACOSF too. This bitch should've stayed dead in ACOWAR. SJM ruined her sacrifice thing by bringing her back (also she's 100% ace, why did SJM make her heterosexual???) and then proceeded to have her trash Nesta in ACOSF. Pre-ACOSF Amren wouldn't have cared enough to be a bitch. Anyway the Inner Circle gets worse with each book and I hate how some people act like Rhys is the perfect selection for High King. If SJM goes down the High King road, the only High King I'll ever accept is Lucien.

The main reason why I call bs on that argument, that it's Elucien Sjm had in mind when talking about the whole "mated but wrong for each other" is because it's so unlike Sjm to make them mates, only to have one reject it and both go they seperate ways without exploring first. Like... what would be the point? Just so El/riel could have an obstacle to go through? Because nothing else really stands in their way and honestly, elucien's mating bond would be a cheap obstacle. Elain isn't forbidden from anything, it's Elain who has the choice to decide and Rhys doesn't want Azriel to get in the way of that. If she'd were to reject it, Rhys would be on her side no matter what and provide protection. Lucien would accept the rejection anyway... so, we'd read a whole ahh book about characters playing hide and seek for nothing. Sjm would've paired Elucien for no nothing at all.

It would've been far more epic if Tamlin was Feyre's actual mate but she still chooses Rhys. 1. Based on how Tamlin reacted without a bond, imagine him having one? 2. Feylin already bonded, so to have her choose someone else over someone she has a bond with and was in love with would make sense and prove, that her love for Rhys is very strong. 3. Spring court vs Night court. Rhys can't do much without risking his people. There would be an actual blood duel. And the other courts might hold Rhys back for the simple reason that no one has any business to come between a mated pair, least of all a mating bond that includes a high lord and they just don't want a useless war.

Well, we already kinda have that story, just with Rhys being her mate. Just saying that it would worsen their situation if Tamlin was her actual mate.

Elain and Azriel literally isn't forbidden anything, no one gives a shit, including Sarah, which is why she hasn't given people who ship it anything since his chapter.

And what she gave there was a clear sign of "ummm, this is dark and awkward and feeling ashamed of being with someone probably isn't the way to go???" juxtaposed with Azriel feeling better and more lighthearted when thinking about Gwyn's smile. The woman wasn't even in the room and the thought of her made him smile.

People who don't admit the importance of that are being intellectually dishonest.

we'd read a whole ahh book about characters playing hide and seek for nothing.

Is THIS why Elain has barely been on the page? lol

You are so right about Feyre, Tamlin, and Rhys. If she really wanted to explore those questions in such a way that the answer always came down to making your decisions, what a perfect - and still super impactful - way to do that by making Feyre Tamlin's mate, and for her to still choose Rhys because she loves him. That would actually be such a good story, someone should write that fanfic. But that's just not the type of story sjm writes. She gives relationships a much cleaner path to endgame. And the Feyre/Tamlin/Rhys triangle really proves that to Sarah, the answer is both - freewill and fate. Love and a mating bond.

A while back, when the forbidden romance trope was a hot topic of conversation, I brought up that sjm doesn't tend to write external conflict for her couples, but internal. What I mean is that her couples don't get together right away because of their own trauma, the emotional journeys they need to go on, or how they relate/react to one another. She has never written a ship where the people can't be together because of a third party - another person, a political situation, another love interest, someone who is jealous, whatever. The closest I can think of is when Maeve was going to control Rowan and then he took the blood oath to Aelin - but they weren't romantic at the time. They weren't for another full book.

The fact that she has all of her mated couples be endgame and in love tells me that she thinks the answer is a bit of both - fate and what you make of it.

I’m curious as to what you think elain and Lucien have in common, personality wise? What do you think their story will be about? What will be their conflicts? Obstacles? Suspense? That kind of thing.

I love you for this ask and I apologize because you're probably about to get way more than you bargained for.

I'm not sure SJM has created two characters who so strongly mirror one another. Rhys and Feyre were similar but they had noticeable differences to me in terms of their personality. Like Rhys really struggles with forgiveness and letting go of the past while Feyre is pissed at 3 pm, then over it at 3:04 pm (with Tamlin it was more like 3:55 but she's even moved forward since ACOFAS while Rhys is still holding a grudge as of SF). 😂. Feyre is also more open while Rhys still tends to hold his schemes close to the vest.

But Elain and Lucien. They are these two characters who have both suffered immense losses and violations to their bodies. Yet they still internalize their anger and sadness and don't lash out at others. I think people mistakenly believe they don't have much depth as a result but I actually think it's because of their reactions that prove how much they actually feel. All the times they aren't talking, yelling, or demanding to be seen is time they're spending turning everything over in their head. They're also observing the world around them, they're watching the interactions of others. And all that time they're spending simply paying attention adds to their knowledge of how relationships and society in general function.

They have also both ended up in places that they did not choose for themselves. Their responses to that are what I'd consider both a strength and a weakness. I love their optimism and attempt to make the best out of any situation they find themselves in but at the same time, they can be too complacent as a result. They haven't learned to fight for what they want and where they want to be and instead just allow life to happen to them.

Some other very similar core values they seem to share is a respect for tradition (I actually could provide text from the books to support all this but that would end up being extremely long so I’ll spare you).  They have both mentioned an awareness of traditions and values of a certain place and why it’s important to uphold them.  

They both share in the ability to apologize for having made mistakes and we actually see them make changes to their behaviors showing that they've learned from those mistakes. 

It’s a weird thing to note but neither Lucien or Elain have said “Fuck”.  Lucien has said “Shit” and “Hell” and Elain has said “Hell” but I find it interesting that they both share a similar manner of speaking and neither is what I’d call crass or vulgar.  Speaking of “Hell”, they actually insult people in a similar manner and make similar jokes.  After the Human Queens left, Elain said they could all “burn in Hell” and Lucien told Amarantha she could crawl back to the shit-hole she came from (we find this out after he tells Feyre about something that was sent (Amarantha) from the shit-holes of Hell.  And they both made a joke about Amren being cranky.

They are both extremely social, good at talking to people, enjoy parties, enjoy the outdoors, and neither is afraid to show love and affection to their loved ones.  Lucien told Feyre she was a better friend to him than he was to her (I don’t necessarily agree but Lucien felt it) and Elain acknowledges that she failed Feyre (it's note worthy that it happened before Elain even has a book) but realizes she’d always been the foundation that held them up.  And both Lucien and Elain have held Feyre in their arms to comfort her at different points in the series.

 

As far as their story, I think it will start in Spring. Lucien is permanently stationed there as of SF and while I’m not entirely sure how Elain will end up there, there seem to be definite hints that it’s coming.  I have this weird head-cannon that I can’t seem to shake that Elain is going to feel the drums of Fire Night and find herself pulled there because the magic is calling her to restore Spring (and she’ll possibly perform in the Rite with Lucien though I could see a few problems with that, one being that if the Magic chose someone for her (even if she were unaware of who that Male was), would she again feel violated as a result?  Or would she feel connected enough to the lands that she was comfortable with it.  If she is an owl shifter than her physically get there would be easy enough. I've also considered that the book will open with her staying in the townhouse to give herself some independence after some of what happened in SF.

Even if Calanmai doesn’t happen or doesn’t happen right away, I’m still certain she’ll be going to Spring where she and Lucien will begin interacting.  I think they will both be extremely instrumental in getting Spring back on it’s feet, helping the people believe in the leadership again.  Once that happens, the armies will be in a stronger position to join in the upcoming war efforts. And I do think the reason Elain will be capable of this is that she's been gifted Goddess of Healing like powers to restore a fallen land.

I also see them traveling to the continent to help free Vassa.  It’s possible Koschei is Valg and from TOG we know that fire can defeat him though I don’t think Lucien’s fire can stand up to the lake where he’s at.  There’s a line in SF where Briallyn states Eris’s fire wouldn’t have withstood it so I think that’s a hint of something that will be a problem for Lucien.  Either this would be an opportunity for Elain to step up and use what I think are her healing powers (again, something else we know that can defeat the Valg) or maybe along with Elain’s powers, Lucien will discover more of his Day powers.  I’m not 100% if they’ll actually defeat Koschei or just manage to free Vassa while Koschei finds a way to escape from the lake.  If SJM plans on bringing the Asteri to Prythian in the final book (and depending on what number book Elucien’s would be) than I could see her having them defeat Koschei in their story since the Asteri would then be the new big bad.    

Major conflicts would be both Lucien and Elain addressing their past loves and finally letting go of them so they can move forward.  Elain learning to let go of her stubbornness over something she believes wasn’t her choice and realizing that even with accepting her destiny, she still has a choice in it.  I don’t think Elain will act quite as hostile as Nesta did towards Cassian but I have no doubt we’re going to see a little fire from her when she first starts interacting with Lucien. She might touch upon how her sisters and even Az view her as someone in need of protecting when she no longer needs it.   I also think we’re going to witness the emotional bombshell that is Lucien discovering who his real father is as well as making some sort of peace with both Eris and Tamlin.  I’m not sure Lucien will ever have the same close relationship with Tamlin as he once did but I can see them finding peace with one another and then maintaining a casual acquaintance in the future.  I do see his relationship with Eris growing stronger though.   

Really, there are so many loose threads surrounding both Elain and Lucien.  She would take their story in so many directions.  (Will they stay in Spring for awhile or head to Day? Will Helion be High Lord for years to come or will SJM find a way to have Lucien take over? Could Lucien step up as High King? ). Personally I don’t think the Autumn Court will play a huge role in Lucien’s book only because I feel like it would make more sense to be a focal point if Gwynriel end up together (what with her unknown grandfather and all and Eris, looking to take over the throne, as an ally of the NC.  But still.  Lucien does have ties to Autumn, Spring, Day, the Human Lands, etc. and Elain has always wanted to travel.  They both have unknown powers, they’re both sort of the underdogs of the series, they are the only Mates of the series who instantly knew they were Mates and had the bond snap into place.  

I could be way off base with all of this but I just hope that the one thing I’m not wrong on is an Elucien endgame!

Also, I apologize because I was rambling with my thoughts and it might all sound a bit convoluted!

ACOTAR Book Review Pt. 2

For this post I will focus on some of the issues I had with specific characterization. The points aren't fully related to each other, apologies. Also...spoilers ahead....obviously 1. The references to Feyre's love of painting. I liked the idea of her interest in painting but the application was poor and unnatural. She will randomly add one sentence about painting during a very intense scene with no transitions in or out of the thought (this also relates to the point I made about 1st and 3rd person pov in my first post) for example: pg 296 “To paint her would have driven me to madness”. It distracted from the scene and didn't really add anything. 2. Tamlin’s character. Since we don’t learn Tamlin’s real motivations until about 250 pages into the book, the majority of the romance seems surface level and his character is incredibly one-dimensional. The author expects us to accept that he would fall in love with the murderer of someone in his court with little apprehension. I could not get invested in the love story because his flip from wanting to kill her to saying she could live with him was so jarring and unnatural that I couldn’t tell if it was going to be revealed later that he was lying to lull her into a false sense of security. After the first hundred pages or so when his reasons still weren’t revealed I began to believe that he had no reasons and it was truly just poor writing. Even still, we saw none of his internal conflict with the idea of living with his friend’s murderer. He seems to view her as a lost pet and does not express any righteous anger or discomfort with living with a murderer. In an attempt to make him kind the author has taken away his humanity (I see the irony yes). I am aware that this is an interpretation of Beauty and the Beast, but it was more of a caricature than anything. 3. Expanding on that, Andras was an important piece of the plot and yet given no characterization whatsoever. I was expecting to learn that Andras was Tamlin’s brother or close friend or literally anything about him past the fact that he was a part of Tamlin’s court, but was given nothing in return. A character whose death is meant to facilitate the main character’s growth should have been given a story to help show why she should care about his death. She understands on a surface level that he was Tamlin and Lucien’s friend, but they never talk about him as a person and she never asks, even after realizing her wrongdoing. I will discuss these a bit more in other topics but that's the general issues I had with those two.

Random thoughts about the Blood Duel

(And why it won't be between two males. Check out this post)

The more I think about the possibility of a BD, the more I think Elain will participate in it, possibly against Beron.

When I first saw the idea of Elain participating, I didn't think it could actually happen, but... after rethinking, it is VERY plausible. So here me out.

Elain cut in sharply, “I am not a child to be fought over.”

I will begin with the line that was the start of my thoughts.

We all know SJM'S patterns, so just the ideia of two male characters fighting over a female is ridiculous. I can't see it happening, not when these books are supposed to be about strong females. So yes, when Elain said she wouldn't be "fought over", SJM was telling us that the agency will be Elain's, she won't just sit down like a pretty doll and watch as two males fight for her.

Even when I read the bonus chapter for the very first time, my first thought was "this is not going to happen like this, SJM will somehow make it different".

So that's why the possibility of being between Beron and Helion seemed more likely at first, however it makes no sense from a narrative perspective. None.

First, we need to have in mind that the Blood Duel would be the major conflict. Therefore, it needs to be responsible for two things: 1) the climax of the story (speaking plotwise) and 2) characters' growth.

Not any character, however, but the main characters. Why? Because it's their stories, their journeys, therefore the climax, the most important moment, has to be about them as well. It can't be about any other character, so that's why I don't believe is going to be between Helion and Beron, because neither of the main characters would grow from this experience.

It would be like reading a sports commentator narrating the most important moment of a story that isn't his: this is not the role of a literary narrator, especially considering that SJM uses internal monologues (we can see the line of though of these characters, we are in their heads, so why on earth the climax of their story would be them just casually watching a fight between two people they don't care about?).

If they are main characters, they have to be responsible for moving the plot forward and for the climax of the story. Not to mention: these are standalones were talking about, so the main characters need to be the ones participating in the biggest event, so they can have their growth in their books.

But why Elain? Because it follows SJM's pattern: the female always holds more agency in her books, especially in ACOTAR.

In ACOTAR, Feyre fought her battles and did the three challenges, not Tamlin or Rhysand. In ACOMAF, she was able to steal the Book of Breathings and kill the Attor, not Rhysand. In ACOWAR, she was responsible for fixing the Cauldron, (ok, Rhysand helped a little, but you know what I mean). In ACOSF, Nesta tracked the Trove, fought in the Blood Rite and kill the queen, not Cassian.

You could say: Elain isn't a warrior. I agree, she isn't (and I hope SJM agrees as well). However, SJM never gave us details of how this Duel happens. She didn't say it's a fight with swords, she just said it is brutal, could end in death and it's an Autumn Court tradition. That's it.

We assumed that is a Duel with weapons or physical strength, however SJM never, never told us how it happens. It could very well happen with magic or other abilities could be useful as well, we don't know.

Besides, Elain is a Seer and most likely to find the Fourth Trove, so maybe she could use it. In ACSF, it's said the sisters have powers to match Rhysand's, so we don't know the full extension of her powers.

But why Beron? Because if he's dead, the NC honors their deal with Eris and the possibility of the truth about Lucien's father is still there, since the Lady of Autumn wouldn't have to deal with Beron anymore.

So the villain, Beron, dies without killing the plot, because Koschei is still there, the possibility of Lucien learning who his real father is remains open, we get a climax of the story and Elain's growth.

NOTE: My only intention is to say this is plausible according to Sjm's books. Do I like it? Not necessarily. I would have to see how this plays out (Elain avenging someone for example) and I didn't made this post with ships in mind, so just don't.

Elain and Azriel’s book is ACOTAR 5, and here’s why:

Disclaimer: if you are not a fan of the couple or unwilling to open up to the possibility of them being together then please refrain yourself from reading this. This is just my opinion, if your opinion is different then that’s okay, it’s natural, people think in opposition anyway. And I’m not Native English speaker, so shall you find incorrect use of terms or grammar please forgive me, I know how frustrating it is when we encounter them.

For me, what makes me believe that Elain’s book is next is solely based on what she did on ACOSF, when she owned up to Nesta that she is capable of doing things herself, when she declares she is a part of the Night Court. Sure, some people would say that Elain shows little development but so does Nesta in ACOFAS. Her development would be shown in her own book. I’m a fan of Elain and she definitely takes me by surprise with her talking back to Nesta, and for me that scene is showing her biggest development yet as Elain is often thought of as this meek, feminine, and pushover female. Other than that, ACOTAR 5 is most likely dealing with finding the fourth trove which we know Nesta couldn’t find and it only leaves the possibility of Elain finding it.

All of that is then solidified further by Feysand’s POV and countless evidences of Sarah implying the second book is Elain’s. In my opinion, Azriel’s POV is intended to confirm him as Elain’s love interest and to set up the conflict for their relationship. The thing with Gwyn is very much similar with Cassian and Emerie in ACOFAS, if Sarah has done it before why would you think that she will not do it again? And to be frank, I don’t interpret their scenes as romantic at all, it is up most very ambiguous. Sure, they could be mates but then Azriel’s reaction to Gwyn when she is kidnapped does not show mate behavior at all, quite the opposite when Elain is in danger or threatened to be honest. And it is definitely a possibility that Gwyn has the ability of a lightsinger seeing as both Nesta and Azriel’s shadow are drawn to Gwyn, particularly her voice.

Hence, there is literally no point of Elain being the common denominator in the two bonus content if her book is not going to be the next. Here’s how I view it:

Feysand: Why of all equally important scenes in ACOSF does Sarah highlight the very scene where Elain takes anyone by surprise? And why does it go further by Rhysand mentioning that Elain is not who we think she is, that she is hiding her true identity in favor of pleasing everyone which stems from how she was raised by her mother.

Azriel: If Sarah’s intention in writing Azriel’s POV is to showcase only his lust and entitlement over Elain then it definitely backfires. Why? It completely ruins Azriel and his characterization, at least for me. The text implies that Azriel pleasures himself to the thought of Elain nightly, which for me, makes him a creep and ruins his future interactions with Elain if in the end they are not endgame. Thus, I firmly believe, if that’s what Sarah’s intending then she would’ve gone low and detailing his lust to a minimum instead of going on full detail that only left the readers uncomfortable in the future reread (similar as to many readers feel when they reread ACOTAR with the sex scene between Feyre and Tamlin, and we know now that Tamlin is hated in the fandom for his toxicity toward Feyre).

Thus, if you are going to use Azriel’s POV as the indication that his book is next, then why don’t you extend the same courtesy to Feysand’s? Both are exclusive content, both are only available to US readers only, both are not being restocked, and most importantly both can be not read by the readers.

And if you are going to use Sarah’s word of ‘by the end of ACOSF we would’ve known who’s the next book going to be’ then only apply it to Azriel’s POV, how about the people who have Feysand’s POV? Is Feysand going to be the second book? We all know that in the end of ACOSF Sarah foreshadows Elain through Nesta placing a carved rose on top of her father’s grave which he made for Elain. And not to mention both exclusive content take place in the early and middle of ACOSF.

Let’s play hypothetical game and say that ACOTAR 5 is:

Azriel and Gwyn:

Then, the international reader wouldn’t know that there is something going on between them as the possible evidence that they are mates is included in his POV only, which is only available to the US readers, as most of international readers interpret their scenes in ACOSF as a friendly banter and definitely incomparable with Elriel’s interactions alone in it. Adding to that, Gwyn and Azriel doesn’t have enough evidence to tie them with the overarching plot (i.e. Koschei) thus, the plotline would be static, contributing nothing to the main plot of the series.

Elain and Lucien:

Then, the international reader would be confused as hell since in ACOSF there hadn’t been any progress between them, and quite contrary, instead we got Elriel’s confirmation from ACOSF alone (i.e. the charged glance between them) and Elriel is completely left open-ended which begets possible endgame.

What about ACOTAR 6 then? In my opinion, we shouldn’t speculate who’s going to be the stars of ACOTAR 6 since what’s going to happen in the third book is a direct result from the second book. But, let’s play another hypothetical game again shall we:

Let’s just say that Gwynriel’s book is the last, to see Gwyn’s role in defeating Koschei and a possible build up to their relationship, but then why does Azriel get a POV in the end? The same goes for Elain, if her book is ACOTAR 6 then why Feysand’s POV showcasing Elain’s future development and blankly pointing that after they are done with Nesta they will deal with Elain? It still doesn’t add up since both POV is supposed to be a teaser for what is to come as well as extra content (Rhys and Feyre choosing Nyx’s name).

Thus, in conclusion, Elriel’s endgame is the logical road for me. Not only their relationship has the most realistic build-up in the span of four books, but also some significant moments between them to just be dismissed as ‘nothing’. I also believe if Sarah doesn’t intend Elriel being endgame then she wouldn’t have developed them as romantic in the first place. Why? It only complicates the matter further for Elucien when their conflict can be from Elain’s feelings toward Graysen, instead Sarah makes Elain move on from Graysen in favor of Azriel. The same goes for Gwynriel, Sarah could use Azriel’s feelings toward Morrigan instead of making him get over Morrigan in favor of Elain.

In addition, Elain and Azriel's relationship has the highest chance in resolving Beron’s situation. Beron is a part of the overarching plot, shown in his allegiance with Briallyn thus indirectly with Koschei. As of ACOSF, Beron-Briallyn alliance didn't make any sense and it ended in a cliff-hanger. Will Beron ally himself with Koschei? Will Beron stay idle? One thing for sure is that Elriel’s relationship will trigger that particular conflict as it is mentioned in Azriel and Rhysand’s discussion. More on that note, Beron’s situation would be dealt first, similar as Briallyn with Nesta, before Koschei is dealt in the last book.

Burning Questions I Still Have:

You know SJM really hasn’t given us too much substance in these book talks so I’m just going to put down these questions as my own way of expanding the topic of the book beyond Eris, Azriel, and the copious amount of sex they’re going to have (Nesta and Cassian) though all of that is very exciting. 

1. How much does Mor factor into this story? Are we going to see her at all or would she be more focused in on an Azriel story if we get one? 

2. Does Elain have any say in sending Nesta away? Will she have some involvement in Nesta’s healing? Will we see her in Illyria, visiting her sister perhaps, or will it be short instances? 

3. Does Nesta make new friends? Assumedly she does, but right now it’s looking very established character centric, but you know with these lack of spoilers. (rolls eyes)

4. Will the witch concept brought up in ACOWAR come up in ACOSF? Is Nesta technically a witch? Because her power extends beyond her natural reserve “technically.” Will we see other witches? Witches vs Illyrians... Maybe?

5. What is the main conflict in Illyria? And how will it be resolved? So far we know it has something to do with rebellion, but how do you fix that realistically? 

6. How will the women in Illyria gain some autonomy, because lets be honest, everyone learning to fight is and is not going to fix everything? 

7. Where is Bryaxis? 

8. Eris has a deal with Rhysand to help him kill his father. How would that work? Does it involve Nesta, does this then involve her more in the Inner Circle’s antics in which she’ll gain a job in some way? Whether she wants to or not. 

9. How does Nesta suffer? We know emotionally, yes. Power, yes. But how does that come about when there’s so much potential conflict in this book. 

10. What is the main conflict of this story? There seems to be many, that I’m sure will be extended to the other books that come out, but to what to extent does this book extend to the others. Will we see all of the same characters in the books after this one? 

11. Eris’s mom and Helion; Helion and Lucien. Enough said. 

12. Nesta dealing with her father’s death. 

13. Cassian’s mom, who is supposedly dead. (Jury is still out on that one; no dead body, no dead)

14. What’s that shadowy evil substance that Mor discovers by her estate?

15. Will Mor get a story? Especially since if she does then she’d be the first LGBTQ character from the SJM universe to have their own book... I think. Don’t quote me on that. But she’s got a lot to deal with too and I think she deserves a book. She’s a very interesting character. She reminds me of a mixture between Aelin and Bryce and the more secretive aspects of Nesta. 

16. Will Elain ever get a mate or significant other? Honestly, I’m on the fence with this. Mostly because one, Elain is purely side-character to me. She’s interesting, but not enough right now to warrant a whole book. I also just think that right now she’s kind of useless, and I don’t mean that to be mean, I just mean that she doesn’t have a purpose yet and most of her personality right now is purely fodder. It’s her main personality I say. Maybe not the honest to god deep one, but she’s got at least the surface level personality with hints of iceberg feelings. 

Interestingly enough it makes more sense I think to have the next book centered on Lucien and Azriel if they’re going to settle that conflict. Even though I hate love triangles in any sense, but none of them love each other right now anyways... And I think that it would be hard to figure out these three relationships when they’re already linked together in ACOWAR and ACOFAS. 

17. Will we ever know why Amren and Nesta got into a fight? Will their relationship be fixed? Also where she at in this whole conflict of interest that is this book and Nesta being sent away? Will we see her often? 

18. Will Rhysand have a good amount of time in this book? What is his involvement with Nesta--his sister-in-law lol? Will their relationship reach some level of understanding? Will they hate each other for ever? Will they have some semblance of mutual respect and a common denominator that is the love for Feyre and their protectiveness for their family? 

19. What are Cassian’s conflicts? To be quite honest, I feel this book is very Nesta centric, and I do hope that Cassian is not just thrown in there for romance and that’s it. BUT we know the Illyrian conflict, the Mor/Azriel conflict, the issue with being born a bastard, not belonging with his people. The Nesta conflict, the war probably. But like besides Nesta, all of these conflicts have existed for as long as he’s lived. So is that really a conflict or an issue to be dealt with... A lot of this will be resolved through the “Powers of Love” lol and whatever else they can do in Illyria, but then what else? Internally, I don’t feel he has too much to deal with because well... a lot of his problems center around other people. 

20. What will Feyre being doing? Let me be honest, I don’t like the thought of Feyre being pregnant. I understand her body her choice, but this girl literally went from let’s spend time with each other to let’s have a baby, because maybe it won’t happen in a few hundred years. But let’s be honest, if I was her I would not be thinking that it would happen in a few hundred years. Things happen in the most inconvenient times, and right now with all this, it’s very inconvenient. I also think I really don’t like it because right now she is really playing into that role of a wife and not as everything we know her as. I mean she’s allowed to relax, to be loved and what not, but I don’t know. Lame, I think, that she became high lady in name, but probably not in any sort of empowerment way, and I think that’s sad because she could do an awful lot of good, and should do it, because right now her court has soooooo many issues, even issues that Rhys kind of just puts in the back burner and hopes for the best. She is the equal to Rhys, but so far she’s not seeming so equal and she also seems to have lost some purpose. So I’m also wondering if this want of a child and planning for it is Feyre’s way of being useful again... because she spent so much of her life taking care of other people. Which again..... ehhhhhh. 

21. What the f*** are Nesta’s powers? What do they do? I hope it does not end in some vague inclination like Mor’s truth power whatever. But like, she should be all powerful, death god status. I want to see Nesta as the goddess she is. 

22. Koschei??? The stealer of the hero’s wife or whatever as he’s referenced in Russian lore... I think? Is he going to be more involved in Vassa, or Elain even (because Elain right now has always been the damsel) or Nesta, because of the queens and “their powerful ally.” Wouldn’t he be the best teacher for Nesta’s power really, when he’s a powerful sorcerer in the book/death god that has worshippers and what not and collects women.   

>>> My theory is that if Elain and Lucien are the next pov’s then maybe Nesta will be kidnapped by Koschei at the end, and Elain gets to really show what she’ll do for her family, and what she’s made of. But it also keeps the story going without cutting it off completely, and we keep the bigger conflict which is that there’s a whole world of problems and rulers and that Nesta’s story can’t really end at this book, because again she’s suppose to be all-powerful, cauldron incarnate, the wind has heard of her, spreading the news around, and that she does need to learn her powers and I doubt anyone can really teach her, but she for sure probably can’t teach her self. 

23. Will the love triangle situation not be between Elain, Lucien, and Azriel, but Vassa, Elain, and Lucien, or maybe a love square like A Midsummer Night’s Dream? That would be kinda cool. I just don’t really know if Azriel will be a love interest for Elain, even if he has that fondness for her. Azriel has a lot of problems, but he’s also like... I don’t know. Off topic. 

24. The Queens--what the hell? What about that one who turned old and is now immortal? They were chilling in Vassa’s kingdom. Where are they so Nesta can beat their asses? Also, these human kingdoms--what? What are they doing now that their queens are just in hiding and that allied with Hybern to be fae? Do they know? 

25. Magical humans--fae blood sometimes trickle into human lines from that one fae whoever she is. Doubt she’s the only one. Probably will have magical humans, realistically. 

26. Vassa--all of Vassa. Maybe Vassa and Mor.... You never know. I doubt they’ll get that curse reversed and she’ll be completely human, so maybe she’ll a be a shifter of a sort. If I can remember she’s like the only successful experiment. So maybe she got some fae blood and she can live for a long time and can be with Mor. I certainly hope Mor does not give up her immortality for her love interest, which I’m assuming you can do like in TOG. 

27. The fae kingdoms, that conflict needs be somewhat resolved. Doubtful. There’s three main ones I think. No one’s been signing treaties. How? That is all. 

28. Azriel powers, shadows, how did that happen? Does it elude to something bigger. 

29. Cassian’s background. Who the hell is he? Will we know papa? Mama? Past? He’s the most powerful Illyrian commander, he can’t be normal. The laws of fiction dictate otherwise. 

30. Last names? Middle names? Titles. Give me everything Sara. 

31. Eris. After daddy is dead, what next? Is his conflict so small and easily taken care of. He is very interesting to me. 

32. Did they actually take care of the cauldron? Miriam and Draken, will we see them again and their ideal world? 

33. Will Nesta travel? Because she should. She deserves to, it was her plan in ACOTAR, but then she stayed, and now she’s a shell. Please have Nesta see the world. With Cassian or without. Don’t care. Maybe both. 

34. How is a treaty going to be established, when humans hate fae, fae enslave humans, and the fact that there is so much more than fae that exist as we know????? Hmmm???

35. Oh Tamlin! Where he at? What he been doing? How will he help this conflict? Assuming he’s probably going to factor more in Lucien’s story, I’m almost positive he’s the next POV. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise to my fanfic writer/ obsessive reader brain.  

36. The objective of different worlds. I know SJM probably won’t get into it too much and it would probably be very complicated, but other worlds. Are people still coming in? Do some want to leave? Is it easy to travel between them--provided you know how? *whispers* can Nesta do this?

37..... I don’t know. I will add more if I can think of any, because I probably can. Honestly this was like therapy and made me feel so much better than any of SJM’s lives about the future of this series.

38. ADD YOUR OWN; unless I wrote almost everything. But doubtful!

as I’m writing this fic, it’s occurring to me that one of the weirdest and weakest elements in acowar is that no one has auxiliary goals. there are no subplots. There is only Rhys and What Rhys Wants To Do, which is Defeat the Bad Guy. (And this was also true in acomaf, tbh, but in acomaf we have Feyre’s internal journey of recovery and the slow-burn romance to provide interest, at least.) Everyone who’s not Rhys exists solely either to help him, to provide superficial pushback because they have to be convinced before helping, or is Hybern aka The Bad Guy. (Or: briefly looks like they’re not helping wait surprise yes they are, hi tamlin and jurian)

Not only is this terrible because, uh, isn’t this supposed to be Feyre’s story? Where is her initiative in all of this? But this is like, crazy boring. Characters having conflicting or just generally Not Aligning goals is what makes a narrative interesting. But the inner circle members in particular have! no! goals! They honest to god have no (non-romantic) desires that aren’t direct offshoots of Helping Rhys Because Rhys is The Best.

It’s hard to give an example of what I mean because the whole fucking story would have to be restructured, because good subplots are entwined with it. But maybe, I dunno, Mor has a secret girlfriend and is hiding it from everyone! Cassian has been conducting a search for his mom for 500 years, and this becomes a plot point somehow! Azriel is training for a different, less violent job which he thinks will make him worthy of Mor! Cassian has been involved with the secret society of illyrian warrior women i’m still convinced exists! Mor is tired of Keir’s shit and so has politically engineered his total disgrace in the CON! Something! Anything! Anything that has an effect on the plot and gives these characters a fucking life outside of Rhys! These books are 700 pages long and so much lip service is given to how cool and important the side characters are, why are they not fleshed out in ways that would contribute to the plot?

So I finished ACOWAR

This is in no way a coherent or articulate piece of writing in the same way my ACOTAR/ACOMAF piece tried to be, and I don’t think it even can be called a review, because I don’t tend to review books that already have this much visibility in the booklr community. It’s more just the notes I made while reading ACOWAR, which I kind of felt was the weakest book in the series so far (and if you haven’t already guessed it, I’m not much of a fan to begin with).

This entire piece is basically just spoilers, and salt, so please don’t read unless you already know/don’t mind finding out some major plot points!

First off, can I just say that every time ‘the male’ or ‘the female’ is used as a descriptor, I wince. I think it is a) bad writing and b) cis-centric as fuck. There needs to be more non-binary people in fantasy!

This book was so….bloated. It needed to be edited down a lot – the sheer number of chapters is insane. I had this poignant realisation when I read five chapters of High Fae trash talk at the faerie High Lord meeting and then…the thing they were having a meeting over just…happened anyway? And the meeting suddenly had no meaning whatsoever?

So many abusers are now being made into sympathetic/rehabilitated figures. I took Rhys’ redemption arc in ACOMAF because I kind of suspected that that was the way his and Feyre’s relationship were going to pan out but….both Eris and Tamlin received sympathy, and were made into heroes or forces for good at some point in the plot? Feyre forgave Tamlin? Mor’s abuse at the hands of Keir and Eris is pushed aside because ‘times are hard’ and ‘tough choices have to be made’? And Mor had literally no say or agency in that decision?

Meanwhile we have Ianthe. an abusive woman who’s entire character is one-dimensional villainy and demonised female sexuality. She is portrayed as having not a single scrap of goodness in her soul, not one redeeming characteristic, someone who Feyre has no moral quandary over letting be munched up by the Weaver. Even though her use of sex could realistically be portrayed as a product of internalised misogyny? And yet the men who ‘nailed a message’ into Mor’s womb get nuanced portrayal, the benefit of the doubt in the run up to the war, and even moments of heroism?????

I’m not saying that Ianthe should be redeemed, I just don’t understand why this instance of sexual abuse is so utterly condemned to the point where we watch her smash her own hand in some kind of medieval punishment, and yet the instances of sexual abuse perpetrated by men are all given a degree of either redemption or pardoning because of the circumstances of the plot. Is it because female to male abuse is more taboo and thus seen as more ‘evil’? Because SJM has so ingrained male-to-female sexual abuse into the very fabric of her patriarchal fantasy society, that we and Mor are expected to just accept that this is ‘the way things are’, or even write it off out of necessity as ‘boys will be boys’? I HAVE NO IDEA AND IT MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE.

Given my recent essay on the subject, I was interested that SJM tried to problematize and dismantle the concept of mating bonds a little in the conversation Feyre and Rhysand have about Lucien and Elain. It’s made into ‘Some natural function, not an indication of true, paired souls’ (Chapter 24). There was even the handwave of ‘oh this homosexual relationship may be the product of a mating bond, but they’re probably keeping it a secret from everyone’.

To be honest, I don’t think it succeeded in explaining away the problematic elements of mating. The biological imperatives were still there, ‘the bond is nothing more than...preordained guesswork at who will provide the strongest offspring’ (Chapter 24). Aggression was still a major part of the male side of the bond (like when we get the internal monologue of Lucien and witness him fighting his ‘instincts’) and it’s still implied that men are slaves to the desire that the bond generates, whereas women don’t feel it as strongly/can control their physical desires? ‘But the males...It can drive them mad. It is their burden to fight through’ (Chapter 24) This has some serious ramifications in terms of gendered conceptions of sexual drive. In my opinion, mating bonds are still squicky.

I now mostly just want SJM to put her money where her mouth is and follow through on her attempts at muddying the water: if she insists on pairing the spares, have Elaine get together with Azriel rather than Lucien, and show a relationship where the mating bond is terminated not because of outright physical abuse on the side of the male, but because of a romantic attraction overcoming a sexual/biological one. (Yes, I ship it. Or rather, I ship Elaine overcoming her trauma and going on to be a badass seer, building herself a temple and calling out bullshit like Cassandra in ancient Troy. But if she needs to have a boyf – and it’s SJM so she probably does – I want it to be Sad Shadow Man.)

‘Helion favours both males and females. Usually together in bed’ (Chapter 47). I’m not saying that bisexuality can’t work this way, but I gather that SJM has used the hypersexualised bisexual trope before. 

I think that perhaps Mor’s jealousy of Nessian is because she’s attracted to Nesta (a la season 1 Korrasami)? But even so her possessiveness of Cassian and her hostility towards Nesta was horrible and OOC and made me angry every time it happened. I hate it whenever female-female relationships are sacrificed because of a guy, but it is particularly frustrating in a book where male-female relationships are definitely already the priority. And given the way that Nessian is reaching canonical status, even if you do attribute the jealousy to female-female attraction, it’s only going to end badly for Mor.

Feyre used Mor’s sexuality as a weapon against her after she was justifiably called out on reckless behaviour. Fuck off Feyre.

I know that Azriel is a good character. I know this. And yet this book turned his relationship with Mor into this awful poster child ‘friendzone’ dynamic, where Mor feels pressurised to hide her sexuality because of the hurt it will cause *him*. I don’t think this is a fault of the characters, but of the entire treatment of their friendship and SJM’s portrayal of Mor’s queerness as a burden.

No main characters die. In this apparently impossible war that basically ends in an afternoon. No – everyone is magically resurrected after barely five pages.

Bonus points for not even having the courage to keep Amren out of fae form and thus rip up her incipient ship with Varien. You could have written an entire book on the inner circle going off on a quest to find and subdue a superhuman dragon Amren unshackled from the bonds of human morality. But no. She’s ‘in the cauldron’.

DEUS EX MACHINAS (dragon ex machinas?) MAKE ME WANT TO SCREAM. Find a better way to resolve your conflicts. Especially when even the decision to unshackle Amren from her human form in order for her to become the Deus ex Machina in question has literally no lasting consequences.

Speaking of deus ex machinas: is anyone else annoyed that the only death god who survives the battle is Bryaxis, the one who only asked for a window in exchange for his services, rather than freedom and an implicit murder spree? This means that there are literally no consequences to these so-called ‘tough decisions’ that have to be made in times of war, and everything can just go on fine. ‘No evil death gods were permanently unleashed in the making of this war.’

Can I forcibly rip SJM away from the Russian mythology that she is no doubt going to butcher in the continuation of this series? As soon as I read the name ‘Koschei’ I groaned aloud. You can’t just take whatever mythology you like and use it to make your own magic system! You’ve already detached the Morrigan from any semblance of Celtic Mythology!!!

That being said, I did like:

That the Archeron sisters FINALLY seem to be forming a strong friendship rather than the girl-on-girl hate mess it’s been for the past few books. I liked that Nesta was as powerful as Feyre, and had a more integral role in the final battle than she did.

I liked that in Feysand we see a stable ‘after they get together’ relationship. I still think ACOMAF is ‘stronger’ as a book, as SJM is better at writing romance than plot, but at least there was no needless YA angst, beyond Rhys’ martyrdom complex.

And this sounds awful, but I’m glad that Feyre had a PTSD relapse. I felt that in ACOMAF, her recovery from mental illness was equated a little too strongly with her growing romance with Rhys. Love doesn’t cure mental illness, and I’m glad the SJM showed that.

But overall, this book (much like this commentary) was a bit of a rambling mess of little consequence.

My ACOTAR review aka I can't believe I ever liked Tamlin.

I want to start this off by saying that I’ve read A Court of Thorns and Roses before. I read it close to the beginning of my journey in healing. Seeing a therapist and coming to learn that I have PTSD (in addition to depression and anxiety). I’m a survivor of abuse. I’ve been abused as a child, and as well as a teen and an adult. The very first time I read ACOTAR, I was completely crazy about Tamlin. I looked at him, how he behaved. At how Feyre responded to him and I saw LOVE. I laughed at his forced attempts to compliment her. I swooned and fell as Feyre did. I was Feyre. A Court of Wings and Ruin is coming to us soon, and the light of my life, Caitlin, asked if I would join her in rereading ACOTAR and ACOMAF (which I will begin tonight and also write a review for) with her. I was over the moon! Of course, I would. Caitlin brought me to this world of Fae, of love and passion, of feeling. Of PTSD (ACOMAF I cannot wait for you). Of learning to catch the warning signs, of learning what true love was. Caitlin, I would totally go Under the Mountain for you. The very first time I read ACOTAR and ACOMAF, I didn’t review them. I merely went on an emotional rant and left it at that. But this series is so important to me, especially as an abuse survivor, that I felt that when I read it again, I wanted to take notes. I wanted to write about what it made me feel. I wanted to have something real to show myself that I’ve learned. That I have come so far. And also, I wanted to give this series a review/better written rant that it deserved. I don’t do this usually, so I’m going in order from page one until the very last. Going by my notes. I won’t be jumbling things together. So, you’re getting my thoughts as I read the book, not the after thoughts. * The first thing I noticed while jumping back into the world of Prythian was that it was as if I had never read ACOMAF. The emotions were raw. And I spent a lot of it frustrated and angry. I looked at Feyre and saw the girl I used to be, and still sometimes feel that I am. I wanted to defend Feyre, protect her. Because no one else did. And that was something I related to and it broke my heart. I hated Papa Archeron from the get. I could not, as a parent, as a girl who grew up without a father, I could not fathom how selfish this man was. IS (but let that be discussed elsewhere). I noted how in the beginning, Feyre capitalized the F in father, how important this man was/is to her. How he played a role in her dream of marrying off her sisters and living alone with him, taking care of him, and being able to afford some paints. Feyre at the beginning of this book, and to the very end, was me. The girl I had been before I had Dany (my daughter). I continued to internally scream LET FEYRE PAINT. Let the girl live. And I noticed how quickly Feyre let go of the capitalized F once she came home and had to do everything for her father, for her sisters. I have multiple notes that are ONLY “I HATE PAPA ARCHERON”, “I CANNOT STAND HIM”, “WTF SIR”. Cutting wood, cooking, skinning the animals, buying households needs all fell to Feyre and it made me so angry. My heart did make leaps when I read her describe the dresser she shared with Nesta and Elain. Fire for Nesta, flowers for Elain and a night sky for Feyre. I do honestly believe this is foreshadowing to their futures, and I think it’s been discussed in depth what those theories are. For me, Nesta’s fire is not only to whom she’ll love (I cannot wait for ACOMAF to meet you again, you cocky bastard), but to who she is. What she is capable of. I hated Nesta the first time around. I resented her, I projected my resentment of people I know who made me feel the way Nesta made Feyre feel towards her. I mean, Nesta’s voice was Feyre’s inner voice of negativity!! Elain, sweet, sweet Elain. She’s not ignorant. She’s not quiet and docile. She has a green thumb and I do think it foreshadowed what we came to learn in ACOMAF. But I also felt in rereading the story, in regards to the dresser, that Elain would play a role in Feyre’s growth (which she did). And I also think, in the future, Elain is going to play a role in the rebirth of their world post-Hybern. The night sky for Feyre- COME ON. It was there from the start and this time around, I was giddy. Like how did we all miss this! And naturally, my ACOMAF knowing heart recoiled when Feyre is forced to go off into Prythian for killing a Fae male in wolf form (Andras, as we come to learn). “You go somewhere new- and you make a name for yourself.” -Papa Archeron, page 41 When I read this, I immediately thought of ACOMAF. Somewhere new, and the new names Feyre comes to obtain. So naturally, I was happy. Whether or not this is foreshadowing, it is to me. Literally, my notes on this were: VELARIS?????? CURSE-BREAKER???????? Lol honestly, just lol On page 45, Feyre is struggling with feeling smug at the thought of her family struggling without her (a thought I have felt more than I want to admit) and the agony of imagining her father suffering to beg for them. But worse than those things, was imagining what Nesta would do for Elain. This stood out to me because one, as someone who was responsible for others at the expense of myself, I completely understood Feyre. I smiled when she thought about them suffering without her, because I was there before and sometimes, still feel that way. I also knew the guilt she felt, something I still fight with. Her conflicting emotions mirrored mine at various points in my life. And it connected me further to her. And Nesta, well, I’ve come to understand her, too. And I love her. I’m not going to bother mentioning every detail of Tamlin and his poor attempts at making Feyre feel at home. However, I will mention how quickly Feyre went from calling him her captor to her savior (page 51). It made me remember how the person who had abused me had me confused as to what they were to me. And in that moment, I felt that this was what Feyre was dealing with. Tamlin manipulated her from the start. Yes, this is a take on Beauty and the Beast. Yes, the bargain between Tamlin and Feyre is a play on Belle’s bargain and the Beast to save her dad. But Tamlin didn’t become her abuser. From reading this again, he always was. From the moment Tamlin broke into her cottage and brought her to the Spring Court, he was manipulating her. On page 54, Tamlin mentions to Lucien that Feyre lived in a hovel- Yes, he is right. Yes, Feyre thinks he’s being an ass and making her feel bad for where she came from in comparison to his grand estate. But Tamlin knew she could hear him. This, to me, was one of his first attempts to show that he understood her. A way in. Tamlin, when telling Feyre about how he was taking care of her family, used that knowledge to threaten her to keep her from running. He also kept her bound to the chair with magic 😊 Feyre felt trapped. But also wondered if she could finally think for herself. Between the bargain with Tam and the thought of being freed of her family, Feyre is finally able to think about herself. This kind of freedom is scary to someone who has been so selfless and has had to ignore their own happiness and needs for the sakes of others. Feyre is too damn good for all of them, and that is probably the only thing I will ever agree on with her father. “Honestly, I’m impressed- and flattered you think I have that kind of sway with Tamlin.” -Lucien, page 85 I thought this was important because prior to rereading this, I still considered Tamlin and Lucien to be best buds. In this particular scene, Feyre wants to try to get Lucien to plead her case to Tam. So yeah, they’re friends… But Tam is a bad friend. The toxic friend we’ve all had at one point in life who scares us into staying. I’ve had my fair share of Tamlins- both platonic and romantic- and it is very hard to cut them loose. Lucien breaks my heart, and I was shocked reading this line because I thought he did have Tamlin’s ear like that. When Lucien tells her how he ‘got that scar’ (page 88), Feyre asks him if Tamlin was the one to do it. Feyre has seen enough of Tamlin’s “moods” to already imagine he would hurt his friend that way. The guy might not be human, he growls and bares his claws and talons when he’s mad- but human abusers do the same thing in their own way. And I couldn’t stop thinking about that… Not to mention how many years Lucien’s been living with Tam. My poor fox. On page 90, when the Bogge comes to Feyre and Lucien, Feyre tries to think of pleasant things. Hot bread and full bellies (my baby, I know that feel all too well), but the one that got me was “A starry, unclouded night sky, peaceful and glittering and endless”. THAT’S VELARIS. I mean, Come on. I got so excited- my notebook is actually an embarrassment. Now, at this point, I was reading in the car. I lost my pen. I was cramped in the back seat. So I don’t have notes from page 90 to 118. But here, I decided to open my phone and take notes that way. Why? Because Feyre tells Tam that she doesn’t trust him. He quickly gets all jealous and tries to bring up her time spent with Lucien and my baby says LUCIEN DOESN’T PRETEND TO BE ANYTHING BUT WHAT HE IS. Which is the truth. Even fearing Amarantha, Lucien is as open as he can be with Feyre. Yes, he wants her gone in the beginning, but he’s honest. Lucien is an asshole, and I love him. But to the point, Tamlin once again brings out the worst in Feyre’s already poor self-esteem, the way she thinks about herself. And it’s Nesta’s voice she hears in her head. I’m so glad she walked away from him. Lucien gives Feyre the instructions to go after the Suriel. Maybe he wanted her dead, maybe he really overestimated her. Or maybe, I think Lucien saw that Feyre could in fact succeed. I think he came to believe Feyre would break the curse, whereas Tamlin never did. Honestly. But to the point. We finally meet Suri and we get that line “…stay with the High Lord, and live to see everything righted.” Nothing in this line or in the ones prior, indicate the Suriel is speaking of Tamlin. None of it is romantic. So I do think the Suriel meant for her to stay with Tamlin to live long enough to get to where she really needed to be. AT RHYS’ SIDE. IN VELARIS. SAVING THE GODDAMN WORLD. After the business with the Suriel and the naga, Tamlin and Feyre talk it over at dinner. He gets so mad about what she’s done, he ends up cutting his own face. Dude’s reactions are just… I sat there already tired of him. “I’d start shouting, but I think today was punishment enough.” TAMLIN. I swear to God. (Pg. 142, btw) When they discuss her family, and he tells her that her family is foolish for not realizing how amazing she is (my words, not his but that’s the gist of what he’s saying)- he is not lying. But this is also part of his manipulation of her. And maybe, the worst part is, he meant it. The rest of my notes is me basically saying things in bold, most of which is I CANNOT BELIEVE I SHIPPED THIS TRASH. It kills me because they start to joke around with each other. Open up. You start to feel for him as Feyre does. When she laughs, you’re so happy. It’s such a conflicting situation. Feyre mentions her dreams on page 148. A pale, faceless woman with blood red nails splitting her open. I am going to say that this is her dreaming with Amarantha, because of her bond. I didn’t notice it the first time around. Any time a tiny clue about Rhys and the Night Court comes up, I am ecstatic. Even one so morbid as this. Between pages 148 and 183, I didn’t really care about Feyre and Tam getting close. I mean, yes, I love the world she finally can see once he takes the glamour off. And yes, I still was happy to see them all laughing together. Being this very unlikely trio. But what mattered the most to me was her relationship with Lucien. I never shipped them as a romance. But they are my first favorite BROTP of this series. I enjoy their banter. Their sarcasm. I suppose I’ll leave my BROTP goals for them for my ACOMAF review. Is there at Lucien and Feyre tag? On page 183, we have our first example of the actual bond. Feyre feels a string pulling her away from the manor. WE FINALLY MEET OUR FUCKING NIGHT TRIUMPHANT. MY HEART DID LEAPS IN MY CHEST. I WANTED TO SCREAM. “THERE YOU ARE. I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU.” YES BABY SO HAVE I. I was looking forward to falling in love with Rhys all over again and this was just the start. Insert fifty heart eyes emojis here. Let me preface this next random bit to say that Calanmai and its celebratory orgy would be cool had it not in essence been Tam’s night to assault some “willing” Fae female because “the magic takes over” and he has “no control”. No honey, that is not hot. It’s not sexy. The fact that Feyre felt like a disobedient child for “going against him” just tossed me back to when I was in an abusive relationship and that was how I felt. It’s not romantic. It’s not cute. Lucien and Tamlin both explain the Rite as assault. Tamlin says he does not need to be held accountable if Feyre won’t follow orders. This is such rapist mentality I seriously wanted to hit myself for ever finding the Fire Night scene between them sexy. And the insane part it, your abuser can still get you hot and heavy. They can play with your senses and it confuses you. This is why reading this again or even just reading ACOMAF after this is scary to see how blind we all were to this. I spent a lot of time in disbelief that I had ever found Tamlin’s treatment of her normal or attractive. It’s disgusting. Another thing about Tamlin that bothered me is that out of all her paintings, he wanted the one of her forest. “This was your life,” is what he says to her. The first time around, I thought this was such a sweet gesture, to want that of all the paintings. But it reminded me a lot of my exes. Wanting the most personal of my belongings for themselves. It just… bothered me. A lot. Lucien and Tam’s explanation of the Night Court just made me laugh. My ACOMAF loving heart just made this so funny because we all know what the Night Court really is about. Feyre is sent to her room after Rhys makes his appearance in the Spring Court. She makes many mentions of Tamlin’s rage. The roaring, the breaking of things. The fact that she didn’t think there would be a dining room left. This is such abusive bullshit. And once upon a time, I thought this behavior was normal. I hate that at this phase, Feyre still thinks herself a coward. Feyre is such a resilient, brave woman. But we’ll get to that. Tamlin fucking didn’t give Feyre a chance to tell him she loved him. Let’s get that out of the way. He was days away from breaking the curse, and he sends her away. And yes, I know this is going off how the Beast let Belle go home even though the curse was close to coming to an end, leaving him like a beast forever. But it still caused me frustration that this High Lord is a coward. And selfish. But then I suppose if not for that, Feyre would never have learned how truly goddamn strong she is. And how absolutely useless he is. She wouldn’t have seen the changes in herself and her sisters, or seen that Alis and Lucien- AND RHYS- had her back. I am so glad in a way that Feyre went back. She got to open up to her sisters. Nesta and Elain did not apologize, but we got to see how they felt. We finally got to see a glimpse of their side of things, which let me tell you, was sorely needed. Nesta stopped being the voice in Feyre’s head that spat nasty things at her. I love that Nesta was immune to Tamlin’s shit. It makes me wonder what kind of future she will have and what role she will play in ACOWAR. I love that her sisters helped her return to Tamlin, even if I can’t stand Tamlin, to save him. To save the world. It showed such a big change in them. The first time around, I thought it was so out of character, so fast. But reading it again, it was perfect. I still hate their dad. This is a lot of my notes during the chapters with Feyre back in the human realm. And now, the most frustrating of all. Under the Mountain. Feyre was willing to die for Tam. She makes note of this before Alis escorts her to the cave. She thinks it often. She ACTS on that thought. And he did nothing. First, let me get Alis and her rules out of the way. 1.Don’t drink the wine: Feyre drinks the wine Rhys gives her. 2.Don’t make deals with anyone unless your life depends on it: her life depended on it and she made a deal with Rhys. 3.Don’t trust a soul: She trusted Lucien and Rhys. Feyre says many times UtM that she stopped hoping for Tam. She trusted herself and her love for him. Not actually him. That really got me good this time around. Feyre got jumped before Tamlin and Amarantha. He didn’t even flinch. Lucien was deathly afraid of Amarantha. This is noted throughout ACOTAR. And yet, he defied her to help Feyre. He fixed her nose. He cried out to her during her trial with the Middengard Worm. He refused to say her name when Amarantha demanded it of him. Foxy boy would have died for her, okay? No one can tell me otherwise. And what did Tamlin do? NADA. Sure, he pleaded on Lucien’s behalf, and whipped him. But what did he really do? NOTHING. Rhys’ way of helping Feyre sucked. But UtM, what else could he have done without killing his people in the process? Without endangering Feyre further? He played his role and played it well. He saved her. Kept her sane. He was an ass, there is no denying it. But he helped her. He fought for her. And I know I’m getting ahead of myself. But we all know who apologized for their behavior. We all know who also LIVED UP TO THEIR APOLOGY. Anyway, it broke my heart that Feyre was afraid of Tamlin’s reaction to her tattoo, the symbol of her bargain with Rhys. She loved him and still was afraid of him. And I felt her pain, because I knew that fear all too well. She was dying and Rhys healed her. He made sure she ate well. He made sure no one touched her. No more insufferable chores. I don’t even want to imagine what Amarantha did to him for helping Feyre. I know this has been touched upon before, but do you know how much I love that Feyre stood practically naked before Amarantha but wore a crown on her head. She wore Rhys’ diadem, not even knowing what it meant. But Amarantha did. I love that Rhys bet on her. I love that he believed she would survive, just like Lucien did. He was bold in his help for her, in the best way he could, without revealing the true Rhysand to the world. Without endangering the City of Starlight and his loved ones. Lucien tells Feyre that Rhys having her dressed that way is to get a rise out of Tam. And Feyre asks if it worked. And it doesn’t work. Tamlin doesn’t act. Doesn’t react. And when he says that Tamlin is hiding his emotions from Amarantha, honestly, I don’t even think he believes that. Here is Lucien, sneaking in to bring her a cloak to stay warm. Such a small gesture, but still more than Tamlin does for her. Rhys comes to pay her a visit and starts to open up to her. Feyre feels his sadness. Another clue to their bond. I DIED. I had not noticed that the first time around! He also used their bond to help her survive the second trial, saving her and Lucien in the process. He guided her out of the room, helping her to stay strong until she got to her room. Rhys kept her together. Tam did nothing. I could say that thousands of times and I don’t think I could get tired of saying it. On page 370, she says the third trial will kill her. I laughed. Bitch, it did. On 373, she hears music. Even the first time I read this, I knew this music was not from anywhere we had been yet in the story. I didn’t understand, but it was so special. So important in bringing her back. It brought her to “...a palace in the sky, a hall of alabaster and moonstone, where all that was lovely and kind and fantastic dwelled in peace.” Then she says “Everything I wanted was there- the one I loved was there-“ Yes, the one I love is there too, babe. This was not the Spring Court. This is not Tamlin. This is the Night Court, the Inner Circle. This is Rhys and Feyre. And she didn’t know it. Then of course, we come to the night before her final trial. Tamlin finally gets some courage to approach her. To fuck. If I sighed any longer, my lungs will collapse. My eyes will roll out of my head. I can’t. I just can’t with this guy. From 381-385, Rhys and Feyre talk. She finds herself opening up to him, unable to stay quiet. She comes alive around him. And I think he came alive around her, too. So at last, the final trial. This was so emotionally taxing. So heart breaking. This task was abhorrent, and Amarantha is a fucking devil. And Feyre did it. She did it for Tamlin and his world. For Lucien. Alis and her boys. For her own world. As much as I can’t stand Tamlin, it still shocked me when he was revealed as the last Fae for Feyre to kill. Realizing the truth of the curse was so mind boggling. He had a heart of stone. This curse was so well done, it surprised me so much. I remembered laughing at the masks and then realizing why they were necessary. Feyre fulfilled every need to end that curse and Tamlin fucking let her go before she could say she loved him. And when she realized what the riddle meant, repeating it backwards to herself. Oh my god. I was left speechless. Just like the first time. And naturally, Amarantha was never going to let Feyre live. Tamlin watched while Rhys still kept fighting no matter what Amarantha did to him. Yes, Tam was hurt. But so was Rhys. When Feyre dies, and we see her through Rhys’ eyes, it was just… I couldn’t deal. I remember the first time around how wild this was, and I had to read it twice to understand that Rhys was part of her. She says that Tamlin looked at her, “at us”, meaning there was a piece of her in Rhys, too. It was just… too much. Feyre came back because Rhys moved the High Lords to save her. And she still felt undeserving. She is so amazing. So brave. So loyal. She deserves every good thing in the world. And on page 412, Rhys realizes that she’s his mate. INTERNAL SCREAMING. You know, after she follows the string that tethers them together. And then she goes home with Tamlin, still shoving all her pain down. And it’s like WHY BABE WHY. I didn’t second guess it the first time. But this time, I couldn’t ignore every time she mentioned dealing with it another time. My heart broke for her. * Reading this again was hard. And I honestly can’t wait to jump into ACOMAF. Feyre’s journey isn’t over, just like mine isn’t over either. I know this wasn’t the best review, but I’m glad I wrote this out. This series means the world to me. I know this wasn't the greatest and it looks nothing like how I wrote from my laptop to mobile Tumblr but. Whatever. It's out there. I feel better.

I thought Lucien was a little passive in life too.

He couldn't do much for Feyre and he couldn't.

But he canceled himself a lot, he had a passivity of standing still..

But I don't know if passive is the right word.

In a way, leaving Primaveral was good and it may have been a trauma Yes.

But he went outside of what he considered safe and had internal conflicts that perhaps helped resolve old issues.

See I think with Lucien, he isn't passive, he is strategic. He tried to help Feyre a few times, he was a smartass to her and made his initial dislike clear, but he's always been power-adjacent. He might have power, but there has always been someone there with a bit more who can fuck him over, so he has had to be very, very careful with how he proceeds. First it was Beron, then it was Tamlin, both of whom were abusive. Now he's in a hard spot with Rhys, though Rhys doesn't abuse him. What a step up for firedick 😅

So yeah, maybe strategic would be a better word? He observes a situation and bides his time and waits to make a move, because in the past he has suffered. He seems to have always been good at diplomacy, but right now that skill is more about survival.

Can't wait til he's a High Lord and can tell everyone to jump off a log.

okay, be honest with me

you think there is a real (like r.e.a.l.) chance of el/riel being endgame? I didn’t have anything agains the couple, you know, I didn’t like it but if it was sjm wanted I would read it but after the nasty stans I totally loathe the couple now

No. I honestly don't think there is. I've made a similar post before but it was kinda jokey. Here are my actual reasons why:

A majority of the "evidence" I have seen of them being a potential couple is just them existing in a room at the same time. They are not currently canon. They are not in a relationship.

Azriel's POV took place after chapter 58 in the book. It began with him being jealous, angry, lonely and Elain showing sexual attraction to one another. It ended with him smiling about Gwyn.

Rhys told Azriel no. He then backed off. I'm not sure where the narrative is coming from that he is willing to fight for Elain. He gave up. We know this because:

After his POV, about 3-4 months of time passed in the book during which they had zero interactions, even when they were in the same room (which was only once). There are no more exchanged glances, he doesn't mention her, nothing.

Outside of his chapter, Az and Elain don't exchange a single bit of dialogue in the entire book.

After his chapter, Gwyn flirts with Az and Nesta tells him he is the new ribbon. We know what she is telling him. People who don't are playing dumb.

After his chapter, Azriel helps Gwyn to pass the Blood Rite Qualifier. Compare that with him not wanting Elain to even try helping with the Dread Trove, though she volunteered. There is a very clear contrast between Azriel aiding and empowering Gwyn to achieve her goals, and Azriel preventing Elain from being autonomous. SJM loves couples who empower each other (feysand, nessian, rowaelin, elorcan), and never ones who tear each other down or prevent each other from taking action (chaolaena, feylin).

Azriel did not - I repeat, he did not - identify what was wrong with Elain in acowar. I know a lot of theories hinge on this. However, they are misreading the scene. Azriel doesn't identify Elain's problem. He identifies her power. And immediately thinks about how and why that power will be useful to the IC. If he had identified her "problem", the next discussion should have been how to make her better. Not how they could use that to their advantage.

On a related note, I still firmly believe that Elain and Azriel have the potential to be toxic. I've avoided using that word in the past because I think it's overused and people use it without understanding what it means, but it's true. No one is saying they currently are because they aren't in a relationship. Relationships don't start off abusive or toxic. Feylin didn't start off that way. I think Tamlin still loves Feyre. That doesn't mean that he didn't hurt her by trying to take away her agency, much in the same way that Azriel tries to take away Elain's. I still have a crapton of thoughts about this because I saw a shitty take today that acted like abuse is an all-or-nothing deal and because Az has been nice to Elain so far, that means he would never step out of line. That's blatantly untrue and not how abusive or even toxic relationships work.

As a couple, Elain and Az would enable the worst parts of each other.

As a couple, Gwyn and Az would challenge each other to be better.

SJM has never, at any point, talked about Elain and Azriel as a couple. She has talked about elucien as a couple.

If Gwyn weren't a threat, people wouldn't be bent out of shape trying to invalidate her in every single way possible - she's too young and immature, she's secretly evil, she can't have sex because she's an SA survivor, she's just a side character, etc. etc.

Gwynriel + elucien + emorie + jurassa = a HEA for everyone.

Lucien is Elain's mate. Azriel is not.

We don't know what Elain wants, but not a single sjm ship has started with the pair even liking each other. Maybe lysaedion? Every other ship has been combative and distrustful at first. Elain and Azriel don't even have that tension.

The tension in other sjm ships has been internal - reasons why the two characters mistrust one another, or have conflict, or don't like each other, or misunderstand each other. She doesn't tend to write ships where the conflict keeping them apart is external. This is partly why people love her characters so much - we get to know a lot about their feelings and motivations etc. and so the world stuff just... suffers, sometimes.

I'm sure I could think of other reasons, but these are the main ones. There isn't a way to say with 100% certainty that yes or no, this or that thing will or won't happen in the future. Technically, anything could happen. They could time travel in the next books and meet JD Salinger and then learn French and bring electricity back to Prythian. I doubt it, though. So is e*riel possible? Eh. I'd say like 0.0001%, based on how she has written them so far, how she has written other characters, and the way she has written other ships. And since it's becoming more evident that she has a limited range of character and ship types that she likes to write, I don't know if she'd deviate from that.

Good 🦊

I was thinking, Rhys and his problem with Lucien.

I think it's because he didn't put Feyre first and put his problems aside.

Cass and Az, Mor had the thought of Lucien having to leave everything to his Great Mistress and to hell with Lucien's inner conflict.

Lucien failed Feyre, but I don't like to say he was wrong and all.

Lucien didn't want to choose, he lived an abusive friendship with Tamlin and felt indebted to this Great Lord.

Lucien to save Feyre would probably have to leave the Spring Court and everyone would easily accept Feyre into his Court, but could he protect him from the Night Court?

Should someone who also needed to be saved stand aside and give up in favor of someone else?

I consider more that Lucien failed Feyre because he had internal conflicts to demand that he drop everything for someone else.

Comparing Az, Cass and Mor who live at Court with a Great Lord who doesn't go after them with guns and fists is easy.

More and the reality of others like spring and autumn, would it be the same as theirs?

Good morning! (This was yesterday morning for me, that little fox has helped me keep track of my inbox hehe)

If we look up the phrase "stuck between a rock and a hard place", you know what we will find?

Lucien Van-fucking-serra.

Everything you listed is all the different reasons and ways that Lucien just cannot freaking win with these people. The only thing that would make Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, and Mor give Lucien any respect is if he kisses Feyre's ass the same way that they do. The fact that Feyre has "forgiven" him doesn't matter.

Lucien failed Feyre because he had internal conflicts to demand that he drop everything for someone else.

EXACTLY. Lucien had way more to consider than just "what is right and what is wrong in this immediate situation in front of me?" He also had to think about what he knew of Rhys's reputation, what he knew Tamlin was going through, whom he owed loyalty to, the consequences if he didn't bring her back, the way that he watched her sink into depression after acotar, not to mention the way that she was acting in that scene - and we know from being in her head that she was putting on an act! It was in no way a black and white, good vs bad situation.

Lucien was around when Feyre was a trembling human, he was her friend when that's what she still was human learning her strength, and now she's a High Fae and a High Lady, who intentionally manipulated a situation in which he would be victimized? He should be telling them to fuck off.

I really freaking wish that the elucien mating bond hadn't been discovered at the end of acomaf. It made everyone look at Lucien differently and immediately start thinking about how they could use that to their advantage, or whether they could trust him or not.

They're like the fandom! Only thinking about characters in terms of who they might bang. 😭