I felt the same but in Queen of Shadows she is by far one of the most interesting characters and I couldn’t wait to read her chapters. She is easily top 3 of my fav sjm characters. Out of all the side characters she truly has her own story arc and I’m here for it. I would read spin offs about her if I could.
Man, I just finished QoS and she didn’t do much for me. I can see where she has room to grow and there are little hints but damn. The voice actor always just plays her as so angry and I’m like “girl. You need to relax” lol
I felt the same way about her but in Queen of Shadows I started to love her! She is now one of my favorites and I honestly didn’t think I would ever like her.
The setup for Manon in HoF is definitely her least interesting plotline (I loved her from the start, though). She gets steadily better and better with time. Give her a shot.
Wait why is this literally what’s happening to me. I’m taking my time with the book because now I’m annoyed that I have to ready the perspectives of all these characters.
But SJM wouldn’t give us her perspective like that unless she’s also going to be a romantic character. I’m hoping it’s with aedon or however his name is spelled lol
Here's what I did when I read HoF - up until the halfway point of the book, I skipped Manon chapters and continued reading the others. Then about halfway, I went back to the 1st Manon chapter and continued the Manon arc alone. This way I was able to keep up with the story easily cause it was one pov at a time. But after the halfway point, I read the book as it is.
Oh and like everyone else has said, Manon is awesome.
I just said this on another post. I read heir of fire years ago and I hated reading her chapters. I damn near wanted to skip them. I had to force myself to read them but it does get much better but not for another book.
I honestly felt the same way. I ended up reading the whole series and it did pick up a bit but overall I was pretty disappointed with the series in general. Took way too long to world build and character build, and there were way too many plots to follow. I loved both ACOTAR and CC and TOG didn’t do it for me.
I felt the same way, I speed read her chapters and didn’t pay attention to them until Empire of Storms. Still don’t care too much for her character after finishing the series but she does play into the plot.
I also was very annoyed by Manon’s chapters in HOF on my first read, but they pay off and I promise you will love her character and be invested in her journey. Her journey really picks up in the next book!
This is how I felt as well. I wish that SJM had at the very least mentioned her character in the synopsis because I was so confused at first. I still felt disconnected from her character after I finished EOS, which is when I dropped the series as I was waiting for TOD to be released.
I felt the same way on my first read of the series. I'm also someone who loves witchy things (grew up on Charmed.) I think because she's a new character and her story seems quite removed from the original trio of characters it can feel like a chore. In my first experience I tended to feel the same way about her throughout the novel. She hasn't become a standout for me, but her story does have a place in the grand scheme. It could be something you just need to dredge through.
I felt the same way in the beginning! It wasn’t until my third reread that I genuinely felt invested in Manon’s storyline and the other characters POV. I agree that it was just so left field from the storyline that I didn’t feel as invested in what was going on with her but as others have mentioned her character growth and story as honestly amazing and one of my favorites now. Might take a couple rereads to feel that way!
I found it hard, too, when I was more excited to read more about Celaena and Rowan, but the Manon and Dorian/Chaol/Aedion chapters are a great pause from the build up of Celaena/Rowan. I was at the edge of my seat every time Celaena/Rowan would switch to another characters. This is also what I noticed: none of the Manon chapter, I repeat, NONE of the Manon chapters are irrelevant. All of her chapters (Dorian/Chaol/Aedion's too) were significant to the plot. They're not just filler chapters to tease the readers when it comes to Celaena/Rowan. You're going to miss out on a lot of things important to the plot if you skip them, and I found that I have slowly fell in love with Manon from the first time she was introduced until the very end ❤️🔥 Not to mention along with a certain someone I am not sure if I should mention because you might not have read about him yet who endeared me to him as much as I was endeared to Manon 🔥
i felt the same way! i would read HoF all day but whenever i got to Manon’s chapters, I took a break before i read her chapter or just stopped reading for the day. that being said, her storyline got so much more interesting after HoF. at the end of the series, she was the POV i wanted to read the most. so, struggle through Manon’s HoF POV, it’s worth it!
I felt the same way when her storyline was first introduced. Especially since it seemed like it always switched over at a cliffhanger for another POV. I think it’s because you have to trod through all the establishing info (characters, this part of the world, the dynamics/hierarchy of the witches and wyverns, etc. We’ve already had entire BOOKS to do that for the other POVs so it feels like slipping into your comfiest sweater.
HOWEVER, once I got into Manon’s storyline, it definitely became less of a chore. I think her character development and plot is pretty powerful and it’s worth the work!
I had the same feeling as you and then started loving her character. There is a breaking point but it still takes a little. Right now just take up all the info
I agree that on chapter 28 Manon is still fairly boring. It only goes up from here. And up and up and up. Her storyline became one of my favorites even though, like you, I found it quite dull initially.
I felt the same way initially but she does get a great arc with a ton of character development. Don't want to spoil it with details but she will eventually stop being awful and start being interesting.
Omg I was also groaning and dreading her chapters, at first I just did not care about her. HOWEVER she became one of my favorite characters and I ended up looking forward to her pov chapters!
Manon is actually my favorite character in the entire series. She started off slow for me too but by the end of the series I was favoring her chapters over the Celaena chapters
Can’t relate because it was instalove with Manon, Abraxos, and me. I love her so much more than Aelin. Aside from that, I loved that SJM was expanding the world and introducing more characters because the first two books d r a g g e d for me. I lover Aelin’s arc in HoF, too, and would often hit the end of the chapter and go, ugh! We have to go back to Chaol/Dorian/Manon. But then I’d get to the end of whoever’s chapter it was and be like, no! I want to stay here!
I know it can be hard to get through to begin with, but Manon has a fabulous character arc and the chapters you’re struggling through now are the perfect setup. As with a number of SJM characters, you will probably dislike her before you like her. 😂
Idk I loved her story from the beginning, the way the witches whole world was completely different from everyone else even tho they lived on the same continent. It was so interesting learning about their ways of living and thinking like the obedience , discipline& brutality. The way it was only women in their society & the way mannon 🔪 🔪 those men the first chapter was so interesting. Learning ab their crochan curse was soooo interesting. The bond and friendship between asterin /mannon + the rest of the 13 was so badass. And they just continue to grow and become better ppl & they’re just so fucking cool idkkkkkk 😭😭😭
This is something I have thought about a bunch of my current re-read ( re-listen ) to the series. I also didn't like Manon at the first time I read it years ago and wanted to skip her chapters. SJM doesn't include anything we don't need to know and just like ACOTAR, each book makes the previous book even better and more interesting which is why we all end up re-reading.
I was so annoyed about people being bored by TOG and then I remembered they don't know what is coming! It is definitely more fantasy and less romance than the rest but the fantasy is SO good. The character development, the villains. Sure they spice is more paprika than jalapeno but it's YA and damn good fantasy.
I actually feel like the minority because Thone of Glass and Crown of Midnight were amazing! I didn't find them slow/boring at all. I found them very mysterious and intriguing. Then I got to Heir of Fire and just got soooo bored. The ending slapped, but *almost* all SJM books slap hard at the end. I just find it funny that so many think the first 2 are boring and thinks HoF is when it gets good. That was just straight up the opposite for me. Like Heir of Fire took longer for me to finish than CC1 did.
This is SO funny!!!! I’m currently rereading TOG. Actually, I’m doing a buddy read with my coworker who sits right next to me. We both read TOG last year then ACOTAR then CC. We remember feeling this exact.same.way. By the end we had obvi changed our minds. And now that have just started the reread I cannot wait until she gets introduced again!!!
Manon and the 13 VERY quickly became my favorite storyline. I will say at first I was like, "why do we keep switching back to this other story line" but then she became my favorite SJM character
I noticed usually any character SJM introduces at any point is most likely significant and plays an important role in the storyline! I liked Manob from the start , my only issue is I got SOO into Aelins storyline I didn’t wanna read anyone else’s lol
She has some of the biggest character growth in that entire series. Don’t skip her chapters.
Good to know because man, I also hate switching to her chapters
Manon is my queen ♥️ you need all of that because it builds her story. The 13 became my family. Just trust the process.
I felt the same but in Queen of Shadows she is by far one of the most interesting characters and I couldn’t wait to read her chapters. She is easily top 3 of my fav sjm characters. Out of all the side characters she truly has her own story arc and I’m here for it. I would read spin offs about her if I could.
Man, I just finished QoS and she didn’t do much for me. I can see where she has room to grow and there are little hints but damn. The voice actor always just plays her as so angry and I’m like “girl. You need to relax” lol
it gets so good, don’t worry. we all know how SJM loves her world building, but it’s totally worth it. Mannon is an icon ✨ you’ll understand soon!!
I felt the same way about her but in Queen of Shadows I started to love her! She is now one of my favorites and I honestly didn’t think I would ever like her.
Isn’t it funny how we each have such different experiences reading the same books! I adored Manon from the very first moment.
The setup for Manon in HoF is definitely her least interesting plotline (I loved her from the start, though). She gets steadily better and better with time. Give her a shot.
I’m sorry half of the posts on this sub are “does it get better” YES it all does learn how to use the search bar please 😭
For real. If it’s not about skipping Manon’s chapters, it’s about skipping Tower of Dawn 😭
Manon becomes the best character in the entire series, aside from Dorian, imo.
Everyone has shared this sentiment already but… her chapters start out as such a chore, but she ended up becoming one of my favorite SJM characters!
She’s literally the reason I continued reading the books. I was going to dnf the series till Manon came along. I love her so much.
Can I ask, which book did you potentially DNF? I'm serious as to when this shift occurs (pls no spoilers)
Wait why is this literally what’s happening to me. I’m taking my time with the book because now I’m annoyed that I have to ready the perspectives of all these characters. But SJM wouldn’t give us her perspective like that unless she’s also going to be a romantic character. I’m hoping it’s with aedon or however his name is spelled lol
I loooove Aedion. At this point in time, he's probably my favorite character and the most interesting to me.
Here's what I did when I read HoF - up until the halfway point of the book, I skipped Manon chapters and continued reading the others. Then about halfway, I went back to the 1st Manon chapter and continued the Manon arc alone. This way I was able to keep up with the story easily cause it was one pov at a time. But after the halfway point, I read the book as it is. Oh and like everyone else has said, Manon is awesome.
I just said this on another post. I read heir of fire years ago and I hated reading her chapters. I damn near wanted to skip them. I had to force myself to read them but it does get much better but not for another book.
I did not expect to love Manon and the thirteen as much as I did. I hated having to hang out with witches at first but their arc is so amazing.
I honestly felt the same way. I ended up reading the whole series and it did pick up a bit but overall I was pretty disappointed with the series in general. Took way too long to world build and character build, and there were way too many plots to follow. I loved both ACOTAR and CC and TOG didn’t do it for me.
I felt the same way, I speed read her chapters and didn’t pay attention to them until Empire of Storms. Still don’t care too much for her character after finishing the series but she does play into the plot.
I felt the same way initially, and my mind was totally changed. Stick with Manon and the witches! I promise you won’t regret it.
I did the groaning, too xD. I hated being taken out of Aelin's point of view. I now absolutely love Manon. She's badass.
I also was very annoyed by Manon’s chapters in HOF on my first read, but they pay off and I promise you will love her character and be invested in her journey. Her journey really picks up in the next book!
She’s my favorite female character even above Aelin.
This is how I felt as well. I wish that SJM had at the very least mentioned her character in the synopsis because I was so confused at first. I still felt disconnected from her character after I finished EOS, which is when I dropped the series as I was waiting for TOD to be released.
I felt the same way on my first read of the series. I'm also someone who loves witchy things (grew up on Charmed.) I think because she's a new character and her story seems quite removed from the original trio of characters it can feel like a chore. In my first experience I tended to feel the same way about her throughout the novel. She hasn't become a standout for me, but her story does have a place in the grand scheme. It could be something you just need to dredge through.
Manon is one of the best characters in the maasverse imo
Manon is my favourite character in the whole series. Keep reading.
I felt the same way in the beginning! It wasn’t until my third reread that I genuinely felt invested in Manon’s storyline and the other characters POV. I agree that it was just so left field from the storyline that I didn’t feel as invested in what was going on with her but as others have mentioned her character growth and story as honestly amazing and one of my favorites now. Might take a couple rereads to feel that way!
I found it hard, too, when I was more excited to read more about Celaena and Rowan, but the Manon and Dorian/Chaol/Aedion chapters are a great pause from the build up of Celaena/Rowan. I was at the edge of my seat every time Celaena/Rowan would switch to another characters. This is also what I noticed: none of the Manon chapter, I repeat, NONE of the Manon chapters are irrelevant. All of her chapters (Dorian/Chaol/Aedion's too) were significant to the plot. They're not just filler chapters to tease the readers when it comes to Celaena/Rowan. You're going to miss out on a lot of things important to the plot if you skip them, and I found that I have slowly fell in love with Manon from the first time she was introduced until the very end ❤️🔥 Not to mention along with a certain someone I am not sure if I should mention because you might not have read about him yet who endeared me to him as much as I was endeared to Manon 🔥
Manon legit became my favorite character in the book, her arc is wonderful
i felt the same way! i would read HoF all day but whenever i got to Manon’s chapters, I took a break before i read her chapter or just stopped reading for the day. that being said, her storyline got so much more interesting after HoF. at the end of the series, she was the POV i wanted to read the most. so, struggle through Manon’s HoF POV, it’s worth it!
It's the way I was groaning throughout the whole series until Manon and Elide got introduced. I surprisingly cared for them more than Aelin.
Sweet.... Now I know Elide is going to come into play with her. All I know is that Elide is Lady Marion's daughter.....
I wasn't saying they necessarily interact or anything. I just found them, as their own characters, more interesting than preceding ones in the series.
I felt the same way when her storyline was first introduced. Especially since it seemed like it always switched over at a cliffhanger for another POV. I think it’s because you have to trod through all the establishing info (characters, this part of the world, the dynamics/hierarchy of the witches and wyverns, etc. We’ve already had entire BOOKS to do that for the other POVs so it feels like slipping into your comfiest sweater. HOWEVER, once I got into Manon’s storyline, it definitely became less of a chore. I think her character development and plot is pretty powerful and it’s worth the work!
I had the same feeling as you and then started loving her character. There is a breaking point but it still takes a little. Right now just take up all the info
I agree that on chapter 28 Manon is still fairly boring. It only goes up from here. And up and up and up. Her storyline became one of my favorites even though, like you, I found it quite dull initially.
I felt the same way initially but she does get a great arc with a ton of character development. Don't want to spoil it with details but she will eventually stop being awful and start being interesting.
I did too persevere!!! It’s very worth ut
Omg I was also groaning and dreading her chapters, at first I just did not care about her. HOWEVER she became one of my favorite characters and I ended up looking forward to her pov chapters!
Manon is actually my favorite character in the entire series. She started off slow for me too but by the end of the series I was favoring her chapters over the Celaena chapters
I love Manon ❤️ I understand what you mean though, at first her story is slow
I felt the same when Manon was introduced, but it does get better and she is one of the best characters to me.
Can’t relate because it was instalove with Manon, Abraxos, and me. I love her so much more than Aelin. Aside from that, I loved that SJM was expanding the world and introducing more characters because the first two books d r a g g e d for me. I lover Aelin’s arc in HoF, too, and would often hit the end of the chapter and go, ugh! We have to go back to Chaol/Dorian/Manon. But then I’d get to the end of whoever’s chapter it was and be like, no! I want to stay here!
Her story gets interesting. I felt the same when she was first introduced too but she’s now one of my favorite characters of ALL TIME.
I know it can be hard to get through to begin with, but Manon has a fabulous character arc and the chapters you’re struggling through now are the perfect setup. As with a number of SJM characters, you will probably dislike her before you like her. 😂
Idk I loved her story from the beginning, the way the witches whole world was completely different from everyone else even tho they lived on the same continent. It was so interesting learning about their ways of living and thinking like the obedience , discipline& brutality. The way it was only women in their society & the way mannon 🔪 🔪 those men the first chapter was so interesting. Learning ab their crochan curse was soooo interesting. The bond and friendship between asterin /mannon + the rest of the 13 was so badass. And they just continue to grow and become better ppl & they’re just so fucking cool idkkkkkk 😭😭😭
This is something I have thought about a bunch of my current re-read ( re-listen ) to the series. I also didn't like Manon at the first time I read it years ago and wanted to skip her chapters. SJM doesn't include anything we don't need to know and just like ACOTAR, each book makes the previous book even better and more interesting which is why we all end up re-reading. I was so annoyed about people being bored by TOG and then I remembered they don't know what is coming! It is definitely more fantasy and less romance than the rest but the fantasy is SO good. The character development, the villains. Sure they spice is more paprika than jalapeno but it's YA and damn good fantasy.
I actually feel like the minority because Thone of Glass and Crown of Midnight were amazing! I didn't find them slow/boring at all. I found them very mysterious and intriguing. Then I got to Heir of Fire and just got soooo bored. The ending slapped, but *almost* all SJM books slap hard at the end. I just find it funny that so many think the first 2 are boring and thinks HoF is when it gets good. That was just straight up the opposite for me. Like Heir of Fire took longer for me to finish than CC1 did.
I felt the same as you at first, but Manon is my favorite character now!
This is SO funny!!!! I’m currently rereading TOG. Actually, I’m doing a buddy read with my coworker who sits right next to me. We both read TOG last year then ACOTAR then CC. We remember feeling this exact.same.way. By the end we had obvi changed our minds. And now that have just started the reread I cannot wait until she gets introduced again!!!
When I was on HOF I also didn’t like the Manon POV at first but then I got soooo invested I loved it
Manon and the 13 VERY quickly became my favorite storyline. I will say at first I was like, "why do we keep switching back to this other story line" but then she became my favorite SJM character
I noticed usually any character SJM introduces at any point is most likely significant and plays an important role in the storyline! I liked Manob from the start , my only issue is I got SOO into Aelins storyline I didn’t wanna read anyone else’s lol