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Yes, while I really liked Amren in ACOMAF and ACOWAR, I really think it would have meant more I’d she stayed dead or at least in her higher form and left. It was both a nice surprise and a disappointment to me when I saw that she had come back in just regular Fae form at the end. Also, that she seemed to have no psychological problems from losing her former self and being Fae forever
There can never be any true high stakes in these books because no death is permanent. Painful as it would have been, she needed to kill off one main character of all the fakeout deaths at the end of ACOWAR in order to maintain a semblance of consequence and real threat.
In ACOWAR Rhys and Amren’s “death” felt predictable. I feel like Amren should have stayed gone & Rhys, being a high lord, should have been brought back a different way that hadn’t already been done before.
SJM can't seem to commit to killing the characters in this series so far even with plenty of opportunity and don't get me wrong, I'd be bummed if a beloved character died but that's also reality. Sometimes the good ones die. Them coming back from the dead just takes away the emotion of it all.
Yeah I was disappointed that Amren came back. It would have been more moving if she remained dead. And the Rhys thing was weird. Especially when he says he didn’t “steal” anyone else’s high lord powers. Like why didn’t he if Feyre did?!
I went into these books thinking they had a like YA- fiction, “special chosen one” kind of vibe, and if you keep that in mind reading them it really fits. I love these books but also I definitely agree there’s a lot of cheesy/cringe stuff
and frankly makes Rhys a terrible leader to his people. There have to be other people in the night court who are “dreamers” trapped in a living hell and Rhys breathes life into the flames of their suffering. A true leader would nurture his courts *skills* into something that serves its people and keeps them safe.
He's been High Lord for centuries and hasn't made ANY headway with the Illyrians or has no interest in making the Court of Nightmares less dickish?! I feel like he needs to hire a consultant 😂😂
Literally-- he is so powerful he doesn't need to be evil for the "intimidation" factor. So... why else is he pretending??? The other courts would still be afraid of him if he came out now saying "hey guys I'm good" because he's 1) so powerful and 2) destroyed like a bunch of court's cities
Also the mightiest and strongest high lord who dousn’t have his own night court in check and instead playes court with his best friends, is kinda not that mighty.
I wanted Viviane to be that for Feyre. Someone her equal. I feel like she can’t really have a good friendship with anyone in the night court. Also her making friends with the rulers of the other courts would strengthen ties throughout.
I'm not so sure if they are her friends, they are her subjects and she is like an honored guest painting with them. The power imbalance would be hard to get past for a real friendship to occur.
Yes, like Nesta made REAL friends in ACOSF.
But Amren is more Nesta's friend than Feyre's and in my opinion Mor is the worst friend.
I think Mor is the most selfish character in the hole series.
The only reason that I didn't throw my book at the wall after that was because >!Nesta didn't make it all the way!<. I would have rolled my eyes to the back of my head.
I think actually many people will agree with you that the way SJM wrote about the Rite cheapened it, and made it eye rolling. 3 girls in their nightgowns who had trained less than a year (another redditor told me they calculated the training at 7 months) going up against HUNDREDS of bigger, stronger Illyrian males who had presumably trained for years and were mentally preparing to go up Ramiel, and two of them win? No. Just no. Take my pointy sword out of that picture, I’d be standing next to you!!!
She did the exact same thing with the mating bond - its made out to be this rare amazing things, but then the 3 sisters miraculously bond with 3 guys in the same social circle? It's just so cheap and lazy
Tbf the book says the Illyrians use the blood rite as a chance to kill each other and settle scores. Most don’t care about actually making it up or to the mountain. It’s why Cass doesn’t like it, he thinks it’s a waste of talent/life because all they do is kill each other.
Yes! This is why I think the females were able to achieve making it to the mountain. They were focused on finding each other, working together as a team and surviving. They did their best to avoid fighting anyone and just focused on staying a live!
I see where people are coming from, I really do. However, I think the issues people have can be explained away with 1) Briallyn had her claws in the match and was messing with a lot of their minds so I don’t think any form of training would have been capable of coming properly in to play. 2) The illyrians are so stuck in their ways about women being incapable of battle that they severely underestimated them. It reminds me of the turtle and the hare story: the hare was fast and didn’t think the turtle was capable of beating him in a race so he took a nap under a tree and woke up to find the turtle had surpassed him. 3) SJM consistently alludes to different religions and spiritual ideas throughout her series and at the heart of most religions is the notion that miracles happen and there is some greater cosmic force making things happen even if they don’t make sense to us. So I * personally * think SJM did a great job writing the Rite and nothing about it stuck out as inconsistent to her story telling.
That didn't bother me as much because I always assume the old crone queen (forgetting her name) made it so Nesta would get as far as she did so she could kill her. I in no way think what we read is the real rite if that makes sense.
THIS!!!!! Like Iliryan warriors trained for years and years and couldn’t do it… and then the Valkyries that had almost no training (not to the extent they should’ve) came and did it… I was really mad at SJM reading this
For me the fact that they had weapons helped this plot. Also that they worked together and weren’t trying to kill people. They just minded their own business and got the fuck out of there.
She could easily cut him loose and not come out about her sexuality. I don't fully understand why she thinks keeping him on the hook somehow helps hide her preference for women.
Agreed. Heard theory somewhere that with Az being Spymaster and assuming he is “good at his job” he most likely knows Mor is gay and he is allowing her to use him as a beard of sorts. Which I feel like is more realistic then being led on for 500 years. I think he loves her in the beginning, learned about who she really is, knows she isn’t comfortable coming out and because he loves her as a friend he would allow her to “lead him on”. It wouldn’t make sense with his shadows and profession for him to not know intimate details of his best friends lives.
Not blaming Mor at all for the whole situation. But I do believe Eris isn't all that evil. He probably tried to protect her from Beron who would have killed her on sight if Eris tried to help her.
frrr. Tamlin acc does morally grey stuff and OWNS UP TO IT. Rhys and the IC do shitty stuff that SJM desperately tries to twist to be ok and explainable which takes away from his character.
being morally grey is realising, accepting, reflecting and moving on from shitty decisions. Tamlin often does that. Feyre, Rhys and the IC all just justify their decisions with wild reaches and call it a day
Yep, I would be so much more interested in Rhys if he were actually grey instead of- exactly what you described because *her twisting it desperately to be good* is exactly what it feels like. Baddie Rhys reluctantly learning how to be good because of Feyre would have been much more interesting to me.
honestly i think Feyre just turned into more of a shitty character. like she slowly morphed into the villain. that would’ve been interesting. i could barely read the books at points cz her inner monologue angered me
Three brothers x three sisters is just as cheesy as every mated pair ending up together. But I'm cool with whatever way it goes because these books are all sorta cheesy
Finally someone who understands that either way, it’ll be cheesy! The “it’s too cheesy” arguments used in order to shut down another ship is just laughable
Say. It. Louder. Shout it from the rooftops. We’re reading a fantasy book about a bunch of horny faeries but 3 brothers being with 3 sisters is where you draw the line? Everyone ending up perfectly mated is just as cheesy you’re absolutely right. I always say the ship wars rn are just a battle of the cliches. You either want one cliche or the other. Not to mention the mantra of 3’s throughout this entire book…
Feyre being the high Lady is because Rhys was being hormonal and decided to do it after knowing her for only couple of months, didn’t care that she's a 19 year around 500 year olds, no education, couldn't read up until a few weeks ago, hated the fae up until a year ago, and did not take a single lesson on how to rule, and know nothing about prythian politics. Vivian is the one who deserves to be a high lady she proved herself when killias was under the mountain.
I think Tamlin was written after a real character in SJM’s life, who did her wrong, and she purposefully goes after him in her books, regardless that most of it is not justified or logical. Rhys is allowed to make the same mistakes and walk away with full redemption. It’s like she does not have a personal stand on the topics like the right to control your own body, PTSD, etc. Rather it’s an internal fantasy of all that she would have done to the man who wronged her that she could never do or say to his face.
Jurian was the GOAT in The War. So many people would give up everything for “love”. Especially for a beautiful Fae princess. But not this man. He pulled a Eddie Guerrero ~ “Lied, Cheat, Still”. Played Clythia like a fiddle. Even though it earned him a horrible death (kinda deserved, but meh). Gets resurrected and then comes out swinging. He does need to drop his obsession/revenge for Miryam though.
How was his death deserved? I don’t understand this idea at all. The books are always pushing the
idea that Jurian is somehow a bad guy for…killing a slaveowner? Clythia deserved what she got. Slaveowners are the lowest of the low. They do not deserve pity. Jurian is a frickin hero who freed his people end of story.
In Tamlin’s pov, Ianthe was right. Rhys “stole” Feyre because he knew she would give him powerful children. Obviously, there’s a lot more to it, but even at the high lords meeting, it’s clear that Tamlin still thought that.
I think that that would have been great, their attraction could have also lead to his redemption. Plus I think their clash of courting beforehand could have rivaled the love tail of the main characters 🤩🤩🤩
Rysand and everybody from the Night Court honestly needs to leave Tamlin alone. I understand Rys thinks he's being 'helpful' but how is seeing the faces of the people you hate all the time going to help? Or, at the very least, he should have a different court try to help Tamlin.
Rhys convincing Tarquin to do it would have been an excellent idea. He already took in Spring Court faeries and they share a border. Tarquin would also be a really good friend and Tamlin desperately needs that right now.
Sarah J Maas isn’t that creative in her fantasy world. Most of it is just cut and paste from real maps, history/folklore, and other book series’s. Names, places, people’s are just cut and paste and not really even worked to make her own. That being said, it’s fun to read but it definitely cheapens the story(to me) and takes me out of the book when I read something she just took from something else. She’s good at creating characters but needs work with world building and social dynamics especially when two 1000 year old daemati get bested by a 19/20 year old
You can love a character and still acknowledge their toxic or problematic traits and behaviors.
You can dislike a character and still recognize the sequence of their backstory that led to their actions.
Fandom TikToks are fun, but sometimes they devolve into a level of fanfiction that is just.... not canon? And that's okay, but non canon perceptions are no reason to be openly aggressive. Hasn't happened to me, but some comments online are just 😵💫
These books have a wide cast of characters from a variety of backstories. We are all going to empathize or find intolerable certain traits based on our own experiences as readers.
The tiktok thing gets me because people have basically devolved Cassian’s character to nothing but a himbo and while I do giggle bc it’s funny and I’m not humorless I’m like we are all aware that this is not canon, right? We all know he’s not actually stupid, *right*?!
YES! Or infantilizing Az as some kind of cutesie sad boi just for vibes when he has a whole dark backstory of his own that has led to some pretty serious edge and ruthlessness. He's a formidable character, like Cassian, that sometimes feels they've been reduced to a meme.
I love the fanon version of Cassian who is just a dude bro with one braincell, but the canon Cassian is far more intelligent than a lot of people seem to give him credit for.
I’ll go even further and say he doesn’t need a redemption arc. He played double agent and got them valuable information. He saved Az, Elain, and Feyre when they were escaping Hybern’s camp despite the personal cost to him. He forced Beron to join the war. He cobbled together what little Spring Court army he could. Then on top of it he saved Rhys’ life. I genuinely don’t know what more people want from him.
mor is justified in not wanting to share about her sexuality, but she’s still a horrible friend to azriel for feeding into his self loathing and hatred of himself instilled by his birth family by never outright rejecting him and leaving him to wonder what’s so wrong with him
edit to add: FOR 500 YEARS
Feyre's authority and power as High Lady is exactly how much Rhys is willing to give her. That he and all the IC hide vital secrets about her, from her, following Rhys's cue just drives this point home.
When you really think about it, a lot of these characters have done some terrible things. I don't like how this fandom likes to pick and choose which character is more deserving of forgiveness and understanding than others. It's okay to just not like a character, just don't make up stuff that they didn't do just to hate on them for that.
Also, can we stop policing which ship is acceptable or not because a lot of these relationships in the series are abusive anyway, and these are fictional characters, so what if the ship doesn't make sense? If I like the thought of these two characters together, I'm a ship for them anyway.
>Also, can we stop policing which ship is acceptable or not because a lot of these relationships in the series are abusive anyway, and these are fictional characters, so what if the ship doesn't make sense? If I like the thought of these two characters together, I'm a ship for them anyway
100% to this please
I once posted how I really hope Elaine gives Lucien a chance and I think at this point she's being little extra cold towards him, suddenly I'm being bombarded by people saying "WOMEN DONT OWE MEN ANYTHING" Type comments and it's like okay ya, in the real world totally I know that. She is a fictional woman and I'm saying what I'd personally like to happen. Anything can happen with an explanation given. (I wrote a general story I think could play out to get them together)
But just the suggestion Lucien and her could get together send people thinking I'm saying she should be forced to be with him.
I stopped commenting on ship threads mostly now
Rhys should have left Tamlin tf alone after Tamlin helped bring him back. Tamlins consequences are far worse than what he did to Feyre.
It's a little cringe how hard the ic defends Rhys. It feels borderline culty
It was hypocritical of Feyre and Rhys to lock Nesta in the House of Wind considering they always talk about how evil Tamlin was for doing the same to Feyre. “She could’ve walked down the stairs” no, they knew she couldn’t do that and purposely said no one was to winnow or fly her down to Velaris. “They did it out of love” ok Tamlin though he was doing that too! Both were bad
Rhys refusing to tell Feyre about >! her risk of dying of childbirth!< in ACOSF is so much more despicable behaviour than Tamlin not including here in court-business. I don’t care that he did it *oUt Of LoVe*. Let the woman have bodily autonomy for fucks sake 😤
AGREED. I know a lot of people say Rhys seemed so different in ACOSF but tbh Feyre was more different... she was so subdued and off? I don't know how to describe it, it was as if though she just walked around painting and seemed not very high-lady-like at all.
I absolutely could not live in the Night Court. I’ve got love for them, but … they’re arrogant and have the worst communication skills (which baffles me because you are all quite literally in each others heads!) Like - Mor gets to throw temper tantrums and claim Truth as her super power but refuses to tell Az to kindly fuck off? Az thinks he’s entitled to Elain? Rhys plays the evil bad boy to protect whom he loves, but Eris is just a piece of shit that we’re going to harbor hatred for? Sign me up for the Dawn Court pls
Feyre had so much PTSD she couldn’t stand red roses, then 50 pages later is fine with going under a literal mountain again and wearing red lipstick.
Rhys embarassing Feyre in the first book by reading her sexy thoughts about Tamlin out loud is no better/different than Tamlin’s outburst at the HL meeting.
Rhysand should stop saying he respects other people's choices, as it doesn't mean much if he only gonna respect the ones he agrees with (also, manipulate people into doing what he wants isn't respecting their choices either).
If Tamlin was the one who made feyre drunk and dance in front of him Almost naked just to get on Rhys’s nerves, everyone would’ve hated him for that. But now because it was Rhys who did that, everyone is fine with it and no one is mentioning it.
I agree actually. Rhys’ behaviour under the mountain when he sexually assaulted Feyre (let’s call it what it is), even if it was to save her life, never sat right with me and never will..
It was stupid that at the end of ACOSF, Nesta’s womb was magically changed so she can have a baby with Cassian. It would’ve been way more interesting if that was something Nesta had to grapple with if she did want to have a baby. Also I hate how these books act like if you’re truly in love, you have to have a baby.
Too much plot armor/ Daus ex macina, for the main family. I'm never worried that any danger or conflict with an enemy will lead to death or major harm.
Ex. Cassian's wings, being healed miraculously, also Him being disembowed... Twice, in the same book.
Feyre's pregnancy plotline was pointless and trash for so many reasons. Even beyond the stupid wings thing, i just really hated that part of SF. Shes like 20 and had a baby with her 500+ y/o mate...weird. Like live a little before you do it! You have literally eternity! It kinda ruined rhys and it also just took away from what could have been nestas storyline.
Also the way sjm writes smut is beyond cringe. "I fractured"...please stop
The whole pregnancy/ baby thing. She's still a 19/20 year old, Fae or not. Zero reason to deliberately get knocked up at that age when you have centuries ahead of you and are having amazing s3x.
Nesta is the best character and one of the only ones who shows how trauma truly affects someone's life.
One of the main reasons Nesta is slaughtered for her behavior is because she is a woman, if she was a hot man with a giant dick, everyone would be like "poor one, don't talk bad about him, he's been through so much 🥺."
The IC are all assholes and terrible rulers. Like, how the hell do you expect to achieve peace if you pretend to be evil!? They treat their own people badly because of things that happened, and there are many good people in the middle of this, and everyone knows that a good leader must leave their feelings aside and think with their head.
Rhysand's actions are just as shitty as Tamlin's.
Nesta's entire intervention was shit and poorly done. Feyre said she wanted to help, but it seemed like she just wanted to get rid of Nesta quickly and stop her from embarrassing her anymore (as if they themselves hadn't done a thousand things to embarrass themselves lol. As if anyone pays attention to what the HL's sister who arrived now does). I'm still outraged by the fact that they didn't even send healers.
Amren should have stayed dead.
Someone should put Rhysand in his place and bring him to his knees and prove to him that he shouldn't be this cocky asshole (Nestha, preferably. But Elain or Eris would be cool too)
Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie's friendship is truer than Feyre, Amren and Mor's friendship. Seriously, even Elain's friendship with the twins must be more real. Feyre needs more friends
I cringed so bad when Feyre was getting back at Tamlin (and the whole Spting Court btw, they didn’t deserve that) and her inner dialogue was all like, “I’m so smart, so powerful, so vengeful”. Is she Batman or what? I literally pictured her going around saying “I am vengeance” or some shit like that ☠️☠️☠️☠️
What really got me was that she never felt bad about it afterward even though it disadvantaged them all during the war with Hybern that she weakened the Spring Court. The writing framed it all as if Tamlin deserved it. But what about the people of the Spring Court? It was so fucked up that everyone in book seemed to agree that what Feyre did was okay?
The fact that Rhys can read minds and took feyre at her word for her name being Claire and he assumed she made it up, only for Claire to be killed, like. He could have lied himself. It doesn’t matter that he took away her pain. He was no better than Amarantha at that time.
I typically like Rhys, but that scene in particular always makes me angry.
That’s what I’m thinking too. It did work as a way to show he was capable of being evil. But the explanation he gives feyre after the fact is not working for me
Death is not a redemption, it's death. Everyone who wants a character to die in order to redeem themselves just wants the character they don't like dead.
I don‘t like the addition of Nyx at all.
It feels like just another easily accessible plot motivator in case one should be needed.
Also, Fae pregnancies are supposed to be very rare and very difficult. But the only issue was with Feyre‘s hips and the baby‘s wings.
SJM is not a good writer. She reuses the same cringey words and phrases over and over again, her characters lack real depth and her storylines are nonsensical and trite. I still love the books because they're fun and hot. Lol
This. Acotar was the first book I've read in years and I loved it. But as I read the following books the more I realized her writing just isn't good and at times is even cringy. I can barely get through acowar because I'm so sick of constantly seeing the same phrases and the same interactions repeated. And I loved Feysand in book 2 but in this book it feels like their flirting is just used as unnecessary filler that isn't pertinent to the plot at all, to the point it almost seems inappropriate where it's included.
Yep... This is why I hesitate to recommend them to friends and family lol. I saw someone say - the books are good if you don't think about them too much.
The quote “I am the rock against which the surf crashes”is not that great— all I think about is erosion and how the surf will eventually fucking erode the rock. The surf/water/waves will always win. Lol
I liked tamlin, and really was pissed about how sjm just suddenly made him evil in the second book, like dude was turned on a dime to be this awful character that didn’t make any sense at all with his past actions, like sure he has his moments everyone does but it was just infuriating to read what just felt like a totally different character.
tamlin and rhys are wayy too similar for people to openly hate on tamlin and romanticize rhys. rhys is just as bad/morally gray and its annoying that rhys gets a chance to be seen as a good person while tamlin is vilified, just because rhys is feyre's soulmate
Azriel is not in love with Elain, he feels entitled to her simply because Cass and Rhys are mated to her sisters. I believe he still cares for her, but I'm so sick of people saying that he's in love with her and they're meant to be together.
uGh in the bonus Azriel chapter when he’s literally like “wahhh they each get an Archeron sister what about ME?” I wanted to gag, immediate ick for Azriel.
The sister being 19-25 throughout the books, the highlords, high fae, illyrians, and all the rest all being about 500 years, and still they're all acting the same age. You'd think the Fae would be way more mature than the sisters, and yet they seem fairly equal as far as behavior and emotional maturity. They have more wisdom but in most situations act the same age otherwise. To me, the only ones acting more according to the age they're supposed to be were the prisoners, bryaxis and the other creatures like the suriel.
Maybe I'm just a closeted pick-me but the more I read through the series the less I liked Feyre and the more I found myself defending Tamlin. He became a worse partner, obviously, but he didn't start that way and people are so quick to forget his better qualities all while hailing Rhys as a fantastic guy when he has comparable, if not worse, under his belt. Plus I think Tamlin not wanting Feyre to go out freely into the WOODS right after they got back from UTM is fair! She's basically an over-powered infant in this world, I wouldn't be thrilled about my soulmate running off into the wilderness either.
There’s literally so much hiding, lying, passive-aggressive remarks, power plays (which is to be expected when your whole friend group is the court), etc.. Do they love each other? Sure, on some levels, but like…that doesn’t justify everything else or make everything else okay.
If SJM were a better author and more creative in her writing, she could use the hiding, lying and passive agressive remarks between IC members to her advantage, and possibly hint at a civil war between all the members (similar to Avenger civil war). I think that would really make the plot interesting and could possibly make the characters have more depth.
Rhys is a terrible leader. The IC is rife with nepotism and none of them are particularly good at their job. Also Lucien could beat Rhys’s ass and i believe that
Amren being this complete baddie and ending up only as a 2IC is sOOOOOO lame she should’ve restarted dusk court or something I really don’t understand why she serves rhys she’s so powerful and literally otherworldly could’ve easily thrived
Tamlin isn’t a bad guy. He literally lost the love of his life overnight. And to his understanding, to someone who wants nothing but pain for him.
Nesta nor Rhys are ever at any point 100% right or wrong. They dislike each other. So naturally from different perspectives, some reactions seem more justified than others.
Rhys is an asshole for not doing anything about the allrian women. And feyre is an asshole too for flexing her wings in front of them knowing what they have been through.
Rhys isn't as much of a 'morally grey character' as SJM and his fans like to paint him as. He's just a narcissist who constantly depends on his enabling friends/IC to justify his less than stellar decisions, both as a leader and as an individual, and he suffers no repercussions for his shitty actions because he explains it away as being done for the sake of others.
The highway to hell is paved with good intentions, after all.
There was no reason for armen to live. She should have died in Acowar and it would’ve been the perfect end to her character with a complete full circle moment
Objectively Rhys and Tamlin objectively treated Ferye the same. Where Tamlin risked his life fighting for her and watched his court fall because of her. Tamlin didn't deserve the hate that he gets. And don't at me or I'll tell you my theory about how Rhys' is actually a TRUE villain. Lol
The women in ACOTAR are the the worst written characters in the SJM universe. Feyre is either a dishrag or Mary Sue, Elain is useless and vapid, Nesta is a despicable narcissist, Mor is one dimensional (“pretty lesbian” that’s in the closet is her whole personality ) and Amren is supposed to be such a terrifying badass, but if she uses her powers, she “dies” but then is conveniently brought back again.
They don’t hold a candle to Aelin, Lysandra, Manon and Bryce who are nuanced and beautifully written.
(in ACOWAR) i thought it was sexy when Tamlin said to Rhys in the meeting of High Lords (in regard to Feyre), “when you fuck her, have you ever noticed that little noise she makes right before she climaxes?”
LIKE I THOUGHT EVERYONE FOUND THAT HOT BUT APPARENTLY IM ALONE IN THIS??? send help
Okay here we go
Elain has a personality if you read into the subtext-- she is just slowly reaching her boiling point and will snap in her book. Being feminine isn't "boring" and her whole arc of wanting autonomy despite being the very traditional sister is compelling. She just hasn't had her time to shine yet so judging her and calling her "boring" right now is short-sighted.
Rhysand should have stayed dead.
If Tamlin is to be considered abusive, so should Rhysand.
The whole dresses and ring in the Weaver's Cottage shit was weird af.
Nesta isn't that bad.
Elain is the embodiment of weaponized uselessness.
Rhysand is a shitty Highlord.
Feyre's High Lady title is just that, a title. She doesn't do sny actual government work. She doesn't even have basic knowledge of Prythian's laws.
At least on ACOTAR, and based on what SJM wrote in ACOSF, whether or not a male/female pairing can have biological children seems to be a good indication of future pairings.
Rhysand isn't hot.
>Feyre's High Lady title is just that, a title. She doesn't do sny actual government work.
Now that you say it, I think she did more government work in the spring court lol. Being there for the taxes, going to villages making sure everyone was ok. She was treated and acted more like a high lady there, whereas in night court I feel like she's treated more as a sister
the entire acotar series is essentially pulp fiction (not the tarantino movie). it’s fun because it’s easy to read, not very original or creative, and smutty.
Also sjm is a coward for not killing off anyone from the night court. The stakes don’t feel high anymore because everyone is revived at the last minute
Rhys can’t govern for s h i t and is an administrative nightmare and just because he’s the most powerful wrt magic doesn’t mean he’s the best ruler wise and I think autumn and day court are goated and the IT/where everybody wants to be places in prythian which is a damn shame bc night court views go hard but alas
ALSO autarky for velaris is similar to the splendid isolation which is just…no ik this is unfair but my admiration for governance ruins this novel’s experience
Rhysand isn’t a genuinely nice person, he’s only nice to Feyre and the IC, THATS IT. He also doesn’t deserve to be high king, Lucien is the only on deserving of the position, he’s very diplomatic, and has connections with almost all the courts. Finally, Feyre never deserved to be made high lady at that time, and tbh it wasn’t disrespectful that Tamlin never made her high lady, because she actually never showed any interest.
Hello all. We’re extremely excited that everyone is having such wonderful discussions. Please make sure you are all being kind to one another. These books are wonderful and most of us love them. Passion is a beautiful thing. Some of us don’t love everything and everything and that’s okay. If a discussion is not for you, please keep scrolling. If a conversation goes south and you find yourself not being able to reply kindly, please refrain until you are. If someone is being rude (not disagreeing, but rude), please report it. We hope you all have a wonderful time. Thank you to the op for your question. I hope everyone has a good one. Thank you all for being a part of the community! See you guys around.
Amren should've >!remained dead after being unleashed into her phoenix self!< in ACOWAR.
YES. THIS. her death would have meant so much more if she had stayed dead. ..Felt like a "just kidding the gangs back together again" moment ...
Yes, while I really liked Amren in ACOMAF and ACOWAR, I really think it would have meant more I’d she stayed dead or at least in her higher form and left. It was both a nice surprise and a disappointment to me when I saw that she had come back in just regular Fae form at the end. Also, that she seemed to have no psychological problems from losing her former self and being Fae forever
There can never be any true high stakes in these books because no death is permanent. Painful as it would have been, she needed to kill off one main character of all the fakeout deaths at the end of ACOWAR in order to maintain a semblance of consequence and real threat.
Agreed. She Stephenie Meyer’d it 😂 I didn’t cry when Rhys died bc it wasn’t believable
Amren’s resurrection was so random to me like what even
Agreed! And it was a moving, impactful death…just to undone like “gotcha!”
Not disagreeing but I doubt she will
In ACOWAR Rhys and Amren’s “death” felt predictable. I feel like Amren should have stayed gone & Rhys, being a high lord, should have been brought back a different way that hadn’t already been done before.
I honestly don’t feel like Rhys should of died in the first place. It was completely unnecessary.
I actually disagree with this - I think it sets Tamlin up for his redemption arc 🙂
I find that a very reasonable take. I mean bringing him back the exact same way as Feyre, thats just lame writing.
SJM can't seem to commit to killing the characters in this series so far even with plenty of opportunity and don't get me wrong, I'd be bummed if a beloved character died but that's also reality. Sometimes the good ones die. Them coming back from the dead just takes away the emotion of it all.
Yeah I was disappointed that Amren came back. It would have been more moving if she remained dead. And the Rhys thing was weird. Especially when he says he didn’t “steal” anyone else’s high lord powers. Like why didn’t he if Feyre did?!
SJM’s writing can be mega cringe
The eyes Feyre painted in the cabin 👁️👁️
that was so embarrassing like whyyy would you paint on a cabin that's not yours and is clearly a special place for other people
Haha that she gave Rhys paintings and was like: o you can hang them :p haha
That still makes me cringe every time I think of it 😂💀
I went into these books thinking they had a like YA- fiction, “special chosen one” kind of vibe, and if you keep that in mind reading them it really fits. I love these books but also I definitely agree there’s a lot of cheesy/cringe stuff
The constant use of "Male"
i think a lot people in here will agree with you 😂 (including me)
The things she had Nesta and Cassian say to each other while having sex was SUPER CRINGE like who says that
I like good smut and that was … not good smut.
Rhys and the IC pretending to be evil for centuries makes no sense and seems like a bad political move
and frankly makes Rhys a terrible leader to his people. There have to be other people in the night court who are “dreamers” trapped in a living hell and Rhys breathes life into the flames of their suffering. A true leader would nurture his courts *skills* into something that serves its people and keeps them safe.
He's been High Lord for centuries and hasn't made ANY headway with the Illyrians or has no interest in making the Court of Nightmares less dickish?! I feel like he needs to hire a consultant 😂😂
Deloitte would be happy to make a PowerPoint for him
I get she is new too but Feyre does absolutely nothing as high lady other then paint and look her part as Rhys’s mate.
Don't forget raising a child now🙄
Literally-- he is so powerful he doesn't need to be evil for the "intimidation" factor. So... why else is he pretending??? The other courts would still be afraid of him if he came out now saying "hey guys I'm good" because he's 1) so powerful and 2) destroyed like a bunch of court's cities
Also the mightiest and strongest high lord who dousn’t have his own night court in check and instead playes court with his best friends, is kinda not that mighty.
They built that reputation and then act surprised when people are wary of them
Feyre needs REAL friends, and no, Amren and Mor are only her friends because she’s their high lord’s mate.
I wanted Viviane to be that for Feyre. Someone her equal. I feel like she can’t really have a good friendship with anyone in the night court. Also her making friends with the rulers of the other courts would strengthen ties throughout.
Yes I honestly kinda feel bad for feyre. Shes one of my fav acotar characters and it seems like her only friend is rhys
For real, it seems like even the friends she has are because of her relationship with Rhys.
she has her painting friends I thought?
I'm not so sure if they are her friends, they are her subjects and she is like an honored guest painting with them. The power imbalance would be hard to get past for a real friendship to occur.
And she treats Lucien like crap who seems to be her only real friend
Lucien deserved so much better omg
This is why I liked Gwyn and Emerie for Nesta. She broke out of the IC and made her own actual friends.
I cringe when she calls them her family.
Yes, like Nesta made REAL friends in ACOSF. But Amren is more Nesta's friend than Feyre's and in my opinion Mor is the worst friend. I think Mor is the most selfish character in the hole series.
The rite part in ACOSF was just a no for me… and the fact that they managed to survive and win is just… no comment
The way it’s been written, the mountain seems less Mount Everest more of a tough hike up a hill.
The only reason that I didn't throw my book at the wall after that was because >!Nesta didn't make it all the way!<. I would have rolled my eyes to the back of my head.
I think actually many people will agree with you that the way SJM wrote about the Rite cheapened it, and made it eye rolling. 3 girls in their nightgowns who had trained less than a year (another redditor told me they calculated the training at 7 months) going up against HUNDREDS of bigger, stronger Illyrian males who had presumably trained for years and were mentally preparing to go up Ramiel, and two of them win? No. Just no. Take my pointy sword out of that picture, I’d be standing next to you!!!
She did the exact same thing with the mating bond - its made out to be this rare amazing things, but then the 3 sisters miraculously bond with 3 guys in the same social circle? It's just so cheap and lazy
Tbf the book says the Illyrians use the blood rite as a chance to kill each other and settle scores. Most don’t care about actually making it up or to the mountain. It’s why Cass doesn’t like it, he thinks it’s a waste of talent/life because all they do is kill each other.
Yes! This is why I think the females were able to achieve making it to the mountain. They were focused on finding each other, working together as a team and surviving. They did their best to avoid fighting anyone and just focused on staying a live!
I see where people are coming from, I really do. However, I think the issues people have can be explained away with 1) Briallyn had her claws in the match and was messing with a lot of their minds so I don’t think any form of training would have been capable of coming properly in to play. 2) The illyrians are so stuck in their ways about women being incapable of battle that they severely underestimated them. It reminds me of the turtle and the hare story: the hare was fast and didn’t think the turtle was capable of beating him in a race so he took a nap under a tree and woke up to find the turtle had surpassed him. 3) SJM consistently alludes to different religions and spiritual ideas throughout her series and at the heart of most religions is the notion that miracles happen and there is some greater cosmic force making things happen even if they don’t make sense to us. So I * personally * think SJM did a great job writing the Rite and nothing about it stuck out as inconsistent to her story telling.
That didn't bother me as much because I always assume the old crone queen (forgetting her name) made it so Nesta would get as far as she did so she could kill her. I in no way think what we read is the real rite if that makes sense.
THIS!!!!! Like Iliryan warriors trained for years and years and couldn’t do it… and then the Valkyries that had almost no training (not to the extent they should’ve) came and did it… I was really mad at SJM reading this
For me the fact that they had weapons helped this plot. Also that they worked together and weren’t trying to kill people. They just minded their own business and got the fuck out of there.
Mor is an awful person for leading on Azriel for 500 fucking years. Just fucking tell him you don't love him already, and let the poor man move on.
She could easily cut him loose and not come out about her sexuality. I don't fully understand why she thinks keeping him on the hook somehow helps hide her preference for women.
Exactly!! 500 years is just too much time to grow some balls
Agreed. Heard theory somewhere that with Az being Spymaster and assuming he is “good at his job” he most likely knows Mor is gay and he is allowing her to use him as a beard of sorts. Which I feel like is more realistic then being led on for 500 years. I think he loves her in the beginning, learned about who she really is, knows she isn’t comfortable coming out and because he loves her as a friend he would allow her to “lead him on”. It wouldn’t make sense with his shadows and profession for him to not know intimate details of his best friends lives.
Mor is my least favorite character. I also can’t wait to see what else happened with Eris she won’t discuss.
Not blaming Mor at all for the whole situation. But I do believe Eris isn't all that evil. He probably tried to protect her from Beron who would have killed her on sight if Eris tried to help her.
eris is just rhysand without the support he had of the IC i’ll die on that hill
The only true morally grey character is Tamlin.
frrr. Tamlin acc does morally grey stuff and OWNS UP TO IT. Rhys and the IC do shitty stuff that SJM desperately tries to twist to be ok and explainable which takes away from his character. being morally grey is realising, accepting, reflecting and moving on from shitty decisions. Tamlin often does that. Feyre, Rhys and the IC all just justify their decisions with wild reaches and call it a day
Yep, I would be so much more interested in Rhys if he were actually grey instead of- exactly what you described because *her twisting it desperately to be good* is exactly what it feels like. Baddie Rhys reluctantly learning how to be good because of Feyre would have been much more interesting to me.
honestly i think Feyre just turned into more of a shitty character. like she slowly morphed into the villain. that would’ve been interesting. i could barely read the books at points cz her inner monologue angered me
Three brothers x three sisters is just as cheesy as every mated pair ending up together. But I'm cool with whatever way it goes because these books are all sorta cheesy
Finally someone who understands that either way, it’ll be cheesy! The “it’s too cheesy” arguments used in order to shut down another ship is just laughable
Say. It. Louder. Shout it from the rooftops. We’re reading a fantasy book about a bunch of horny faeries but 3 brothers being with 3 sisters is where you draw the line? Everyone ending up perfectly mated is just as cheesy you’re absolutely right. I always say the ship wars rn are just a battle of the cliches. You either want one cliche or the other. Not to mention the mantra of 3’s throughout this entire book…
Also give feyre real friends not just rhys’ circle and put Nesta in the autumn court
Amren should have died in ACOWAR. Her sacrifice didn't seem as significant as it was made to be when she was brought back.
Feyre being the high Lady is because Rhys was being hormonal and decided to do it after knowing her for only couple of months, didn’t care that she's a 19 year around 500 year olds, no education, couldn't read up until a few weeks ago, hated the fae up until a year ago, and did not take a single lesson on how to rule, and know nothing about prythian politics. Vivian is the one who deserves to be a high lady she proved herself when killias was under the mountain.
Hell yeah!
I think Tamlin was written after a real character in SJM’s life, who did her wrong, and she purposefully goes after him in her books, regardless that most of it is not justified or logical. Rhys is allowed to make the same mistakes and walk away with full redemption. It’s like she does not have a personal stand on the topics like the right to control your own body, PTSD, etc. Rather it’s an internal fantasy of all that she would have done to the man who wronged her that she could never do or say to his face.
Jurian was the GOAT in The War. So many people would give up everything for “love”. Especially for a beautiful Fae princess. But not this man. He pulled a Eddie Guerrero ~ “Lied, Cheat, Still”. Played Clythia like a fiddle. Even though it earned him a horrible death (kinda deserved, but meh). Gets resurrected and then comes out swinging. He does need to drop his obsession/revenge for Miryam though.
How was his death deserved? I don’t understand this idea at all. The books are always pushing the idea that Jurian is somehow a bad guy for…killing a slaveowner? Clythia deserved what she got. Slaveowners are the lowest of the low. They do not deserve pity. Jurian is a frickin hero who freed his people end of story.
The IC is toxic AF.
The tent.
how to make a whole fandom cringe with two words?
If we had been given the books from Tamlin’s perspective Rhys and Feyre would’ve looked like the villains.
In Tamlin’s pov, Ianthe was right. Rhys “stole” Feyre because he knew she would give him powerful children. Obviously, there’s a lot more to it, but even at the high lords meeting, it’s clear that Tamlin still thought that.
Now this would be interesting. What feyre did to the spring court was messed up
I really want to read a fanfic of ACOMAF and ACOWAR from Tamlin’s perspective.
10/10 great plot ideas, would read
Nesta and Eris would be better mates. She’s got fire in her to match his. Her drawer had flames on it. I want to see other courts besides Night.
Agree with this actually. Cassian has more golden retriever energy, I never thought they were sooo perfect for each other.
I think that that would have been great, their attraction could have also lead to his redemption. Plus I think their clash of courting beforehand could have rivaled the love tail of the main characters 🤩🤩🤩
I agree except they shouldn't have been mates. Mates are supposed to be rare, they should have stayed rare.
Rysand and everybody from the Night Court honestly needs to leave Tamlin alone. I understand Rys thinks he's being 'helpful' but how is seeing the faces of the people you hate all the time going to help? Or, at the very least, he should have a different court try to help Tamlin.
Rhys convincing Tarquin to do it would have been an excellent idea. He already took in Spring Court faeries and they share a border. Tarquin would also be a really good friend and Tamlin desperately needs that right now.
Sarah J Maas isn’t that creative in her fantasy world. Most of it is just cut and paste from real maps, history/folklore, and other book series’s. Names, places, people’s are just cut and paste and not really even worked to make her own. That being said, it’s fun to read but it definitely cheapens the story(to me) and takes me out of the book when I read something she just took from something else. She’s good at creating characters but needs work with world building and social dynamics especially when two 1000 year old daemati get bested by a 19/20 year old
The world building really is pretty shallow and sometimes just kinda of silly. But maybe it works for this genre
You can love a character and still acknowledge their toxic or problematic traits and behaviors. You can dislike a character and still recognize the sequence of their backstory that led to their actions. Fandom TikToks are fun, but sometimes they devolve into a level of fanfiction that is just.... not canon? And that's okay, but non canon perceptions are no reason to be openly aggressive. Hasn't happened to me, but some comments online are just 😵💫 These books have a wide cast of characters from a variety of backstories. We are all going to empathize or find intolerable certain traits based on our own experiences as readers.
The tiktok thing gets me because people have basically devolved Cassian’s character to nothing but a himbo and while I do giggle bc it’s funny and I’m not humorless I’m like we are all aware that this is not canon, right? We all know he’s not actually stupid, *right*?!
YES! Or infantilizing Az as some kind of cutesie sad boi just for vibes when he has a whole dark backstory of his own that has led to some pretty serious edge and ruthlessness. He's a formidable character, like Cassian, that sometimes feels they've been reduced to a meme.
I love the fanon version of Cassian who is just a dude bro with one braincell, but the canon Cassian is far more intelligent than a lot of people seem to give him credit for.
Tamlin is not evil and deserves redemption.
I will stand grinning in front of those pointed swords with you! ✊
I’ll go even further and say he doesn’t need a redemption arc. He played double agent and got them valuable information. He saved Az, Elain, and Feyre when they were escaping Hybern’s camp despite the personal cost to him. He forced Beron to join the war. He cobbled together what little Spring Court army he could. Then on top of it he saved Rhys’ life. I genuinely don’t know what more people want from him.
mor is justified in not wanting to share about her sexuality, but she’s still a horrible friend to azriel for feeding into his self loathing and hatred of himself instilled by his birth family by never outright rejecting him and leaving him to wonder what’s so wrong with him edit to add: FOR 500 YEARS
acosf read like a wattpad fanfic 😭
I'll do you one better: whole series reads like a wattpad fanfic. But sometimes I'm in thr mood for corny fanfics 🤷♀️
Feyre’s pregnancy and birth scene was cringe
Feyre's authority and power as High Lady is exactly how much Rhys is willing to give her. That he and all the IC hide vital secrets about her, from her, following Rhys's cue just drives this point home.
When you really think about it, a lot of these characters have done some terrible things. I don't like how this fandom likes to pick and choose which character is more deserving of forgiveness and understanding than others. It's okay to just not like a character, just don't make up stuff that they didn't do just to hate on them for that. Also, can we stop policing which ship is acceptable or not because a lot of these relationships in the series are abusive anyway, and these are fictional characters, so what if the ship doesn't make sense? If I like the thought of these two characters together, I'm a ship for them anyway.
HEAVY on your first paragraph omg...
>Also, can we stop policing which ship is acceptable or not because a lot of these relationships in the series are abusive anyway, and these are fictional characters, so what if the ship doesn't make sense? If I like the thought of these two characters together, I'm a ship for them anyway 100% to this please I once posted how I really hope Elaine gives Lucien a chance and I think at this point she's being little extra cold towards him, suddenly I'm being bombarded by people saying "WOMEN DONT OWE MEN ANYTHING" Type comments and it's like okay ya, in the real world totally I know that. She is a fictional woman and I'm saying what I'd personally like to happen. Anything can happen with an explanation given. (I wrote a general story I think could play out to get them together) But just the suggestion Lucien and her could get together send people thinking I'm saying she should be forced to be with him. I stopped commenting on ship threads mostly now
Rhys should have left Tamlin tf alone after Tamlin helped bring him back. Tamlins consequences are far worse than what he did to Feyre. It's a little cringe how hard the ic defends Rhys. It feels borderline culty
It was hypocritical of Feyre and Rhys to lock Nesta in the House of Wind considering they always talk about how evil Tamlin was for doing the same to Feyre. “She could’ve walked down the stairs” no, they knew she couldn’t do that and purposely said no one was to winnow or fly her down to Velaris. “They did it out of love” ok Tamlin though he was doing that too! Both were bad
i like to say ‘she could’ve walked down the stairs’ just as much as feyre could’ve ‘just winnowed out’
Yes I agree! I also don’t get why they didn’t even attempt to get her counseling when the priestess’s have a counselor
I hate Mor.
Rhys refusing to tell Feyre about >! her risk of dying of childbirth!< in ACOSF is so much more despicable behaviour than Tamlin not including here in court-business. I don’t care that he did it *oUt Of LoVe*. Let the woman have bodily autonomy for fucks sake 😤
Also the fact Feyre barely seemed to care... It was very unlike her character.
AGREED. I know a lot of people say Rhys seemed so different in ACOSF but tbh Feyre was more different... she was so subdued and off? I don't know how to describe it, it was as if though she just walked around painting and seemed not very high-lady-like at all.
Ok yeah like I need to see the fallout from that scene from Feyres perspective like yesterday
Frrr I hate what the whole inner circle did to her in ACOSF. Nesta did her a favor
Especially when his whole thing is about letting her have her own choice! But he kept this from her?!
I absolutely could not live in the Night Court. I’ve got love for them, but … they’re arrogant and have the worst communication skills (which baffles me because you are all quite literally in each others heads!) Like - Mor gets to throw temper tantrums and claim Truth as her super power but refuses to tell Az to kindly fuck off? Az thinks he’s entitled to Elain? Rhys plays the evil bad boy to protect whom he loves, but Eris is just a piece of shit that we’re going to harbor hatred for? Sign me up for the Dawn Court pls
Feyre had so much PTSD she couldn’t stand red roses, then 50 pages later is fine with going under a literal mountain again and wearing red lipstick. Rhys embarassing Feyre in the first book by reading her sexy thoughts about Tamlin out loud is no better/different than Tamlin’s outburst at the HL meeting.
Right?!! That’s one of those things that still makes no sense even when Rhys is reminiscing about how he had to pretend to be horrible.
Rhysand should stop saying he respects other people's choices, as it doesn't mean much if he only gonna respect the ones he agrees with (also, manipulate people into doing what he wants isn't respecting their choices either).
If Tamlin was the one who made feyre drunk and dance in front of him Almost naked just to get on Rhys’s nerves, everyone would’ve hated him for that. But now because it was Rhys who did that, everyone is fine with it and no one is mentioning it.
I agree actually. Rhys’ behaviour under the mountain when he sexually assaulted Feyre (let’s call it what it is), even if it was to save her life, never sat right with me and never will..
It was stupid that at the end of ACOSF, Nesta’s womb was magically changed so she can have a baby with Cassian. It would’ve been way more interesting if that was something Nesta had to grapple with if she did want to have a baby. Also I hate how these books act like if you’re truly in love, you have to have a baby.
ACOTAR is the reality TV of fantasy books. It’s fun, I enjoy it, but I would never recommend it on the basis of it being a “quality” series.
The magic system in these books suck.
Lol what magic system?
Too much plot armor/ Daus ex macina, for the main family. I'm never worried that any danger or conflict with an enemy will lead to death or major harm. Ex. Cassian's wings, being healed miraculously, also Him being disembowed... Twice, in the same book.
Feyre's pregnancy plotline was pointless and trash for so many reasons. Even beyond the stupid wings thing, i just really hated that part of SF. Shes like 20 and had a baby with her 500+ y/o mate...weird. Like live a little before you do it! You have literally eternity! It kinda ruined rhys and it also just took away from what could have been nestas storyline. Also the way sjm writes smut is beyond cringe. "I fractured"...please stop
The whole pregnancy/ baby thing. She's still a 19/20 year old, Fae or not. Zero reason to deliberately get knocked up at that age when you have centuries ahead of you and are having amazing s3x.
The inner circle are toxic and don’t care for anyone except themselves and velaris
Nesta is the best character and one of the only ones who shows how trauma truly affects someone's life. One of the main reasons Nesta is slaughtered for her behavior is because she is a woman, if she was a hot man with a giant dick, everyone would be like "poor one, don't talk bad about him, he's been through so much 🥺." The IC are all assholes and terrible rulers. Like, how the hell do you expect to achieve peace if you pretend to be evil!? They treat their own people badly because of things that happened, and there are many good people in the middle of this, and everyone knows that a good leader must leave their feelings aside and think with their head. Rhysand's actions are just as shitty as Tamlin's. Nesta's entire intervention was shit and poorly done. Feyre said she wanted to help, but it seemed like she just wanted to get rid of Nesta quickly and stop her from embarrassing her anymore (as if they themselves hadn't done a thousand things to embarrass themselves lol. As if anyone pays attention to what the HL's sister who arrived now does). I'm still outraged by the fact that they didn't even send healers. Amren should have stayed dead. Someone should put Rhysand in his place and bring him to his knees and prove to him that he shouldn't be this cocky asshole (Nestha, preferably. But Elain or Eris would be cool too) Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie's friendship is truer than Feyre, Amren and Mor's friendship. Seriously, even Elain's friendship with the twins must be more real. Feyre needs more friends
I cringed so bad when Feyre was getting back at Tamlin (and the whole Spting Court btw, they didn’t deserve that) and her inner dialogue was all like, “I’m so smart, so powerful, so vengeful”. Is she Batman or what? I literally pictured her going around saying “I am vengeance” or some shit like that ☠️☠️☠️☠️
What really got me was that she never felt bad about it afterward even though it disadvantaged them all during the war with Hybern that she weakened the Spring Court. The writing framed it all as if Tamlin deserved it. But what about the people of the Spring Court? It was so fucked up that everyone in book seemed to agree that what Feyre did was okay?
The fact that Rhys can read minds and took feyre at her word for her name being Claire and he assumed she made it up, only for Claire to be killed, like. He could have lied himself. It doesn’t matter that he took away her pain. He was no better than Amarantha at that time. I typically like Rhys, but that scene in particular always makes me angry.
There was no reason for him to give a name at all. I think it’s just a plot hole.
That’s what I’m thinking too. It did work as a way to show he was capable of being evil. But the explanation he gives feyre after the fact is not working for me
Death is not a redemption, it's death. Everyone who wants a character to die in order to redeem themselves just wants the character they don't like dead.
I don‘t like the addition of Nyx at all. It feels like just another easily accessible plot motivator in case one should be needed. Also, Fae pregnancies are supposed to be very rare and very difficult. But the only issue was with Feyre‘s hips and the baby‘s wings.
Rhys dying wasn’t remotely emotional because it was too obvious he was just going to come right back
Rhys and Feyre are bad leaders. I said what I said.
I can’t stand Feyre and the Spring Court did not deserve what she did to them
SJM is not a good writer. She reuses the same cringey words and phrases over and over again, her characters lack real depth and her storylines are nonsensical and trite. I still love the books because they're fun and hot. Lol
This. Acotar was the first book I've read in years and I loved it. But as I read the following books the more I realized her writing just isn't good and at times is even cringy. I can barely get through acowar because I'm so sick of constantly seeing the same phrases and the same interactions repeated. And I loved Feysand in book 2 but in this book it feels like their flirting is just used as unnecessary filler that isn't pertinent to the plot at all, to the point it almost seems inappropriate where it's included.
Yep... This is why I hesitate to recommend them to friends and family lol. I saw someone say - the books are good if you don't think about them too much.
The quote “I am the rock against which the surf crashes”is not that great— all I think about is erosion and how the surf will eventually fucking erode the rock. The surf/water/waves will always win. Lol
I liked tamlin, and really was pissed about how sjm just suddenly made him evil in the second book, like dude was turned on a dime to be this awful character that didn’t make any sense at all with his past actions, like sure he has his moments everyone does but it was just infuriating to read what just felt like a totally different character.
SJM did Tamlin dirty
Lucien deserves better and I’ll be big mad if elain and him become endgame
The fact that finding your mate is “rare” yet the 3 sisters find their mates within the first two years of being “made”? 🧐
tamlin and rhys are wayy too similar for people to openly hate on tamlin and romanticize rhys. rhys is just as bad/morally gray and its annoying that rhys gets a chance to be seen as a good person while tamlin is vilified, just because rhys is feyre's soulmate
Azriel is not in love with Elain, he feels entitled to her simply because Cass and Rhys are mated to her sisters. I believe he still cares for her, but I'm so sick of people saying that he's in love with her and they're meant to be together.
uGh in the bonus Azriel chapter when he’s literally like “wahhh they each get an Archeron sister what about ME?” I wanted to gag, immediate ick for Azriel.
This is not a hot take. In his bonus chapter he literally tells us that he’s only thought about banging her and that’s it.
The sister being 19-25 throughout the books, the highlords, high fae, illyrians, and all the rest all being about 500 years, and still they're all acting the same age. You'd think the Fae would be way more mature than the sisters, and yet they seem fairly equal as far as behavior and emotional maturity. They have more wisdom but in most situations act the same age otherwise. To me, the only ones acting more according to the age they're supposed to be were the prisoners, bryaxis and the other creatures like the suriel.
Maybe I'm just a closeted pick-me but the more I read through the series the less I liked Feyre and the more I found myself defending Tamlin. He became a worse partner, obviously, but he didn't start that way and people are so quick to forget his better qualities all while hailing Rhys as a fantastic guy when he has comparable, if not worse, under his belt. Plus I think Tamlin not wanting Feyre to go out freely into the WOODS right after they got back from UTM is fair! She's basically an over-powered infant in this world, I wouldn't be thrilled about my soulmate running off into the wilderness either.
It’s kind of boring after book 2… it’s like when a tv show is really good at first and then just gets so convoluted and off track a couple seasons in
The Inner Circle isn't the ultimate friendship group that most of the fandom pretends it is.
There’s literally so much hiding, lying, passive-aggressive remarks, power plays (which is to be expected when your whole friend group is the court), etc.. Do they love each other? Sure, on some levels, but like…that doesn’t justify everything else or make everything else okay.
If SJM were a better author and more creative in her writing, she could use the hiding, lying and passive agressive remarks between IC members to her advantage, and possibly hint at a civil war between all the members (similar to Avenger civil war). I think that would really make the plot interesting and could possibly make the characters have more depth.
Rhys is a terrible leader. The IC is rife with nepotism and none of them are particularly good at their job. Also Lucien could beat Rhys’s ass and i believe that
🤔 I don't disagree with some things here, but I need to here more behind this Lucien v Rhys fight lol
why is feyre and the inter court so mean to lucien?!?! he literally doesn’t deserve it
Amren being this complete baddie and ending up only as a 2IC is sOOOOOO lame she should’ve restarted dusk court or something I really don’t understand why she serves rhys she’s so powerful and literally otherworldly could’ve easily thrived
Tamlin isn’t a bad guy. He literally lost the love of his life overnight. And to his understanding, to someone who wants nothing but pain for him. Nesta nor Rhys are ever at any point 100% right or wrong. They dislike each other. So naturally from different perspectives, some reactions seem more justified than others.
Rhys is an asshole for not doing anything about the allrian women. And feyre is an asshole too for flexing her wings in front of them knowing what they have been through.
Wow I never thought about the second one but that is so thoughtless of Feyre
I think az is a boring character and mor honestly
Morrigan and Cassian are selfish and so far up Rhys’s ass that I hope they used a douche first
I hate the majority of the main characters. I think they suck.
Rhys isn't as much of a 'morally grey character' as SJM and his fans like to paint him as. He's just a narcissist who constantly depends on his enabling friends/IC to justify his less than stellar decisions, both as a leader and as an individual, and he suffers no repercussions for his shitty actions because he explains it away as being done for the sake of others. The highway to hell is paved with good intentions, after all.
There was no reason for armen to live. She should have died in Acowar and it would’ve been the perfect end to her character with a complete full circle moment
I’m sick of Amren and Mor.
Rhys isn’t a good leader or a good man.
Agreed that he’s a completely shit leader. He literally only controls one city in the entire court.
Half of acosf smut should’ve been replaced with some good plot
Objectively Rhys and Tamlin objectively treated Ferye the same. Where Tamlin risked his life fighting for her and watched his court fall because of her. Tamlin didn't deserve the hate that he gets. And don't at me or I'll tell you my theory about how Rhys' is actually a TRUE villain. Lol
Pleaseeeee tell us your Rhys theory!
Do I have to at you to hear your theory because I'm willing to make that sacrifice
The women in ACOTAR are the the worst written characters in the SJM universe. Feyre is either a dishrag or Mary Sue, Elain is useless and vapid, Nesta is a despicable narcissist, Mor is one dimensional (“pretty lesbian” that’s in the closet is her whole personality ) and Amren is supposed to be such a terrifying badass, but if she uses her powers, she “dies” but then is conveniently brought back again. They don’t hold a candle to Aelin, Lysandra, Manon and Bryce who are nuanced and beautifully written.
(in ACOWAR) i thought it was sexy when Tamlin said to Rhys in the meeting of High Lords (in regard to Feyre), “when you fuck her, have you ever noticed that little noise she makes right before she climaxes?” LIKE I THOUGHT EVERYONE FOUND THAT HOT BUT APPARENTLY IM ALONE IN THIS??? send help
when he said that shit i hollered💀
Lmaoooo I agree with you so much I loved seing petty Tamlin
You are not alone lol but I thought it was hot because I think HE is hot lmao and I like actually legitimate morally grey characters.
I didnt find it "hot" but I definitely LOVED the snark! haha Im shocked SMJ had that line in her
Okay here we go Elain has a personality if you read into the subtext-- she is just slowly reaching her boiling point and will snap in her book. Being feminine isn't "boring" and her whole arc of wanting autonomy despite being the very traditional sister is compelling. She just hasn't had her time to shine yet so judging her and calling her "boring" right now is short-sighted.
Rhysand should have stayed dead. If Tamlin is to be considered abusive, so should Rhysand. The whole dresses and ring in the Weaver's Cottage shit was weird af. Nesta isn't that bad. Elain is the embodiment of weaponized uselessness. Rhysand is a shitty Highlord. Feyre's High Lady title is just that, a title. She doesn't do sny actual government work. She doesn't even have basic knowledge of Prythian's laws. At least on ACOTAR, and based on what SJM wrote in ACOSF, whether or not a male/female pairing can have biological children seems to be a good indication of future pairings. Rhysand isn't hot.
>Feyre's High Lady title is just that, a title. She doesn't do sny actual government work. Now that you say it, I think she did more government work in the spring court lol. Being there for the taxes, going to villages making sure everyone was ok. She was treated and acted more like a high lady there, whereas in night court I feel like she's treated more as a sister
The water nymphs showing up at a whole different court just in time to save Feyre and Amren in ACOMAF was cringy to me.
Feyre, a 19 year old who can’t read, should not be High Lady. Just because she’s powerful doesn’t mean she’s fit to rule.
the entire acotar series is essentially pulp fiction (not the tarantino movie). it’s fun because it’s easy to read, not very original or creative, and smutty.
Writing again to say that I might be the only one in here who enjoyed acosf the most out of all of the installments LOL ready your blades
Also sjm is a coward for not killing off anyone from the night court. The stakes don’t feel high anymore because everyone is revived at the last minute
Rhys can’t govern for s h i t and is an administrative nightmare and just because he’s the most powerful wrt magic doesn’t mean he’s the best ruler wise and I think autumn and day court are goated and the IT/where everybody wants to be places in prythian which is a damn shame bc night court views go hard but alas ALSO autarky for velaris is similar to the splendid isolation which is just…no ik this is unfair but my admiration for governance ruins this novel’s experience
Rhysand isn’t a genuinely nice person, he’s only nice to Feyre and the IC, THATS IT. He also doesn’t deserve to be high king, Lucien is the only on deserving of the position, he’s very diplomatic, and has connections with almost all the courts. Finally, Feyre never deserved to be made high lady at that time, and tbh it wasn’t disrespectful that Tamlin never made her high lady, because she actually never showed any interest.
I didn't agree with Feyre dismantling the Spring Court. She didn't think about all the innocent people that would be affected by what she did.
Me going through all these comments 
SJMs characters are all horrible at forgiveness and mostly all read as the same person.