Guys, I found a way to solve the ship wars between Elain, Lucien, Azriel, and Gwyn - let the next books be a choose your own adventure type of story!
Will this happen? Absolutely not. I am delusional.
Is SJM capable of writing a choose your own adventure style story? Probably not, though considering how long these books tend to be, there's plenty of space to make it work.
But will it make the ships that people want canon? Yes. Let all ships be canon!
Also, as I was putting in these tags, I realize 3/4 of the mentioned characters have last names. So... as a request for the next books, can Azriel get a last name, too? Not his father's last name, or even Rhysand's family name, but something he chose himself?
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Aside from SJM writing the Illyrians as misogynistic barbarians, there are somehow even more ways that the lack of thought and world building shows.
Cassian states that Illyrian males have killing power, which I guess just means they can throw out an eldritch blast or something.
Okay, what about the females? They don't have any powers - at all? This is like the whole high lord situation again, where there's no high ladies. Why does one half of a subset of a group of people have magic, and the other half doesn't?
Also, the only places we see in Illyria with people are the war camps. But what about the other parts? Like farms, or weavers, or tanners, or something? Emerie runs a shop that sells goods. Where are the goods coming from? Who are her suppliers? Where do they work?
Especially the farms, because I don't get the sense that these people are hunter gatherers. They're not nomadic; the camps are fixed in one place. Heck, if they had been nomadic, that probably would have solved the issue of them living in tents to some degree.
Where are they getting the material for their weapons? Are there mines someplace or are they just reusing old swords and weapons? They live near the mountains, there has to be a mine in the vicinity. What about a quarry for more elite Illyrians, like Azriel's father, who live in a home made of stone? Same logic goes for their siphons that direct their magic.
Who makes their special Illyrian armor? What's that made out of? Regular leather or something else? If it's just regular leather, there have got to be cowherds somewhere. If it's something else, do the creatures just live in the mountains or something?
For 1 of 3 places we see in the Night Court, there's so little about it. Granted, there's little about Hewn City and Velaris when you think about it, too, but the point still stands.
I've been thinking about ACOTAR 6 and 7, and I think I can pinpoint some of the frustration (besides the obvious of having a preorder without knowing the title, cover, or general blurb, etc.).
Presumably, this book will at least include Elain and Lucien, and maybe Azriel and Gwyn (please don't @ me, I'm just going off canon vibes for now, I don't care about shipping, guys).
For the sake of argument, let's say the big bad is Koschei, because he's still out there, unless SJM decides to add another bad guy.
It's one thing to shift the story onto different characters. But the biggest uncertainty is how much the other protagonists of the story will play. Story-wise, Feyre and Rhysand should have only made sporadic appearances in ACOSF. There should have been no pregnancy plot that just barged in to Nesta's story.
SJM favors Feyre and Rhysand, with an emphasis on Rhysand. Most of the time, that should be fine. You can have a favorite character appear in your other works and not have them steal the story.
In the Game Changers novels, Ilya makes an appearance in other characters' stories, but it's never to take over the narrative. It's to help the protagonists with their internal conflict or emotional journey. He gives them a push or after they've resolved their conflict, he appears as a bonus.
I'm concerned that SJM will pull another ACOSF and Rhysand will overshadow (no pun intended) other characters' stories.
Because of this possibility, it messes with the marketing. SJM already has her ToG and CC series, which at least had the decency to be separate series, even if they share the same universe. ACOTAR 6 is coming out with us knowing that the worlds have crossed over in a big way regarding the world building. Everything is slowly merging.
But I think the next 4 books should have been its own series within the ACOTAR world. They should only focus on their protagonists (whoever they will be, ugh, why don't we know this?!), with the other characters making minor appearances. This way, the series could have a name, and the marketing can be less confusing. Again, other authors have done this.
Cassandra Clare has her Shadowhunters universe. She has the 6 Mortal Instruments, the Infernal Devices prequels and their sequels the Last Hours, the Dark Artifice series, and the upcoming Wicked Powers. Each series is sectioned off from the others, and while older characters make cameos, they never steal the spotlight.
Rick Riordan did this, too. Last Olympian series, Heroes of Olympus, and then Trials of Apollo. I especially like what he did in Trials of Apollo where he lets one or two old characters appear in a book and just interact with the protagonists for that entire book. It lets readers get to know the characters and see their development, but the focus is always on the protagonists.
Come to think of it, I think the structure of the ACOTAR series should have been this:
Feyre - books 1-3
Nesta - books 4-6
Elain - books 7-9
Why not make a trilogy structure about 3 sisters in the fae world? Nesta is far from healed, and ACOSF was just a lot and somehow too little at the same time. It makes so much more sense (too much sense, at this point).
SJM has other authors to take inspiration from in terms of structure for her story, but the way it is now, it's just a really long run-on sentence in the form of several books with constant additions and no end in sight.
Conclusion: This entire post summarizes a lot of problems with ACOTAR. Readers and fans are working off of nothing, and while we have successfully done this before with ships, we actually need more to have expectations for the next book. As of now, we have no main characters (and only ones we suspect because of process of elimination), no plot, and no set up. We are riding on the unfinished threads of the previous books, and there are too many to get through, leaving us in this tangle.
Hey, remember when Rhysand says that Nesta is like an Illyrian and Elain is Elain?
Aside from the fact that he already doesn't think of the Illyrians as more than his pawns that he can use during war, it occurred to me.... it reminds me of rhetoric by scumbags who justify abuse of women by insisting women want to be treated equally, so they think equally means they can "take a hit." Which explains all of ACOSF.
I didn't like that this thought crossed my mind. But there it is.
The more you ponder on that quote, the more it sucks.
Gwynriel this, Elriel that, Elucien over there, but have we considered:
Azriel + Lucien
The fandom has the Azris ship, but now that I think of it, why not these two? Azriel could use some more whimsy and wit in his life. He does have a soft side, and Lucien is good at keeping an optimistic spirit.
Some fanfics give Azriel a network of spies across Prythian, and Lucien seems to have good relationships with other courts, so these two would make a politically formidable foe.
If Azris was the broody pair with political shenanigans afoot, Azriel and Lucien is the broody and mysterious one who's reminded about the joys life can offer from the snarky and friendly one.
Azriel is also described as having an icy rage, and I think Lucien deserves to be angry at constantly being kicked out of courts by his family (Beron, Tamlin). Azriel could help direct his anger into something productive. With a little elbow grease, they could probably take out Beron and whip Tamlin into shape to properly run the Spring Court.
Gwyn + Elain
But seriously, I see it. Both have undergone trauma, but I think Gwyn has managed cope with hers better (probably because she got actual help and didn't just exist in a catatonic state and then immediately have to try to figure out how to fit into a new world).
My headcanon is that Gwyn has enough optimism and confidence that would help Elain figure out what she wants out of life. If we ignore ACOSF Elain (for the sake of my sanity), then they could help each other rediscover the world outside the Night Court, or at least go to other places in Velaris.
They're also closer in actual age, so they're generally more compatible in life experience. Gwn can help Elain research past Seers and how to control her powers, and once they do that, Elain can use her powers to direct the Valkyries to where they're needed the most.
Gwyn + Lucien
(For now, I'm ignoring Gwyn's Autumn Court roots for the sake of potentially less incest).
They'd probably make better BFF's, but they have good foundations for being compatible. They're optimistic and witty. They'd have amazing banter and would probably bicker with each other over trivial things for fun.
Lucien could help Gwyn explore the rest of Prythian, and Gwyn could find the secret to taking down Beron in the library or something.
This is me just throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks, but man, does that pasta fly.
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What is the Tone of ACOTAR? Oh, and a side of genre discussion
My last (re)post got me thinking... what really is the tone of ACOTAR? Because each book is something different.
ACOTAR - An extended fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast, Cupid and Psyche, and Tamlin. A high fantasy with a lot of stakes, violence, and mature themes. A major seller is that it has references to sex, though there's not actually a lot of sex in it.
ACOMAF - A sequel to ACOTAR that's character-driven, loosely based on Hades and Persephone, with an emphasis on a healing journey. Oh, and there's some war stuff going on in the back that's sort of driving the plot.
ACOWAR - Plot driven story about stopping/winning the war.
ACOFAS - A novella reminiscent of a Hallmark movie - despite nothing in this story being Hallmark adjacent except for the fact that's based around a holiday.
ACOSF - A spinoff that's a healing journey with some plot thrown in there because something needs to happen, I guess.
I want to say that this structure could have worked if it was written differently, or you know, better, but on the surface, it's all over the place. From a decently self-contained story, to character-driven narratives, to one that's focusing on war.
There's certainly violence, with all the characters implementing it for different reasons. There's war and bloodshed, but I don't really think it's saying much other than that war is bad. If anything, it's mostly a backdrop for the characters and to give them an obstacle to overcome. Or to make them look tough and cool.
Compare this to the way Tolkein or Suzanne Collins write about war. They address the grief, the loss, the trials that characters have to face. How people are changed from it and traumatized from it. Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes series does this well, too.
In comparison, ACOTAR's characters don't seem particularly changed by all the war and violence. They have trauma, yeah, but it's not really delved into. Rhysand's whole SA by Amarantha is barely discussed, only mentioning that he has nightmares and uses it as an excuse to not delve deeper into Jurian's story because the plot demanded he had to be on Hybern's side for a hot minute.
It throws in real-world issues to make itself appear serious, but never tackles these problems beyond surface level. And yet, it takes itself way too seriously.
The ACOTAR series also sells on sex appeal and the characters having explicit sex. Which is mostly gratuitous, and if this was any other series, would probably be fine. But if you took it out of the story, would the plot change? (You know, aside from the whole Feyre pregnancy plot in ACOSF).
I even hesitate to say that this is mainly focused on romance. There are romantic relationships in the books, but they don't drive the plot alone (maybe in ACOTAR, sort of, but it also feels like it gets dropped pretty quickly).
I know the ACOTAR series is classified as a romantasy, but just based on the Wiki article, I'd argue that it's not. I think the entire ACOTAR series could continue without the main romantic leads being in a relationship. Doesn't mean that they wouldn't interact or be friends, they just wouldn't have a romantic relationship. Because there's a ton of other things going on outside the romance that move the plot forward, whether Feyre or Rhysand, or Nesta or Cassian, decide to be together. You know, like the war.
Twilight wouldn't exist without Bella and Edward trying to be together. The Shape of Water wouldn't have the plot it does if not for the romance between Elisa and the Amphibian Man. The romance in both of these cases bridges two worlds and makes them clash, which causes problems, makes obstacles, and drives the plot forward.
It's the same way I don't see Outlander (books or TV series) a romantasy because while the main characters are in a relationship, there's a million other things happening without them - you know, like history. It's more a historical fantasy (time travel, and all that).
Conclusion: I don't know what the tone of the ACOTAR series is. It has a lot of elements from different genres but no real commitment to those elements, whether to flesh them out, make commentary, or put a new spin on them. It's serious, but not serious enough. It's dark and gritty but only for the sake of sensationalism.
At best, it's a fantasy adventure story with, as some call it, a monster of the week, and some romance.
It lives only for the moment, on vibes, and nothing else, which is not what I want in a series that keeps on going and has yet to be finished.
I think we can all agree that there's a bit too much telling in SJM's works. We'll be assured that a character is the strongest, or the kindest, or the most badass, or whatever, but rarely see any actual evidence of it on-page. But I just happened across this (in the grand scheme of things, fairly innocuous) line in ACOWAR that made me think a bit more about why the problem is so bad in her work. Here is the line, for reference (from after Feyre's initial fight with Mor, though that doesn't really matter for my point):
A caress of claws down my innermost barrier—a comforting touch.
Obviously describing Rhys's mental touch on her mind. And it made me think. It's not just that we're told one thing while seeing little to no evidence of it. It's that there's sentences just like this all through SJM's work (usually either descriptions or when Feyre is making up motivations for other people), where we'll be shown something, and then immediately be told - often with the use of an em-dash - something that completely contradicts the imagery used in the first part of the sentence.
And I say the imagery because it isn't necessarily (though often does as well) contradicting the intent of the first part. Caress + comfort work together in this example, for instance. But claws does not. When claws are scraping against something, or indeed, even if they're caressing, it often implies an unwelcome and unwanted attempt to gain access. Claws are sharp and pointy, not comforting - if the monster is caressing your last barrier (be it a physical door or a mental shield) with its claws, it's because it's playing with you before it kills you, not because it cares.
But then, we're told that actually, this otherwise intrusive-sounding description is meant to be comforting - even though claws typically are not. This specific sentence probably isn't the strongest example of it (just the one that happened to set me thinking of it), but you see this kind of thing again and again and again with her descriptions. And the thing is, she has to tell us, because otherwise, we would all get the complete wrong idea about what she's trying to convey, because she's showing us things that actively work against what she wants us to think of it. She describes something that is intrusive, or aggressive, or [insert other negative adjective here], and then assures us that actually, it's none of those things, it's a good thing. Somehow. For some reason. Straight-up gaslighting us with even the basic fucking description. Like, there's no reason the line above couldn't be something like:
A gentle caress against my innermost barrier. I almost sighed as I leaned into it, as if his hand were actually on my cheek.
Where we're just shown Feyre being comforted by Rhys's touch on her mind (already a very intimate action that implies a deep level of trust, if we go by the book's assertion that it is desired and consensual contact), without any contradictory imagery invoked by the word "claws."
Like I said, this sentence probably isn't the best or most egregious example of it, it's just the one that happened to spark this thought. But it's little wonder that the fandom is in the state it's in, with all the toxicity and arguing and whatnot. We can't even trust basic descriptions to not gaslight us - we're consistently shown one (usually questionable) thing, and then immediately told it's actually something completely different, even in little throwaway, filler lines like this. It's that deeply embedded in the books.
This explains so much about the vastly different interpretations of ACOTAR. In my mind, the intent behind writing these contradicting descriptions is for SJM to have her cake and eat it, too. The brooding, bad boy who would destroy the world but who also has a golden heart and would do anything to protect the love interest. It leans heavily into tropes in the romance genre.
The problem with this is that the tone differs wildly from book to book - even chapter to chapter - scene to scene. This series is more than just a basic romance - there's other world building and plot. Not great world building or plot, but they exist.
Maybe if the writing was more corny or melodramatic, I think we could have fun with it. We could laugh at the hyperbolic nature of it but we could still enjoy it.
But my experience with reading (at least the first book) for the first time was that it was a high fantasy with high stakes with a thread of romance. It was an extended retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Cupid and Psyche, and Tamlin, more associated with the other novelizations of fairy tale retellings that came out around the 2010's, with more mature themes. I got the impression I was supposed to take the story seriously.
With contradictions (because they're not even good oxymorons - those would actually make sense) like these in a single sentence, it's easy for readers to interpret the story one way or another, because the words combined together do not make sense.
I read the books with various tropes that were popular at the time in mind, so I didn't find the writing odd. Then the years went by and these characters never change, or develop, or evolve.
Plenty of authors have looked back on their works and saw that they followed the same tropes, whether because it was just the time they lived in or because it was more acceptable to the publishing industry - but they challenged themselves to write different kinds of stories or challenged the way they wrote with later books.
Ursula K LeGuin confronted the misogyny of the magic system in her Tales of Earthsea books with Tehanu. Leigh Bardugo wrote the Grisha trilogy, which is very of its 2010's fantasy era, and then she wrote the Six of Crows duology, which is phenomenal (no, I will not get into the reprint with the changes to the ages. I can only take so much).
The point is, it seems that SJM never looks at what she wrote and realizes the subconscious toxicity and every other -ism that exists in her works and challenges it. It just exists. And we have to deal with it.
I think if the series was marketed differently, or maybe if it wasn't so popular, or maybe if it wouldn't take itself so seriously, it wouldn't hurt as much, the writing wouldn't feel so confusing, and readers would have relatively consistent interpretations.
I have no idea what the SJM's intentions are for Eris, but if for some reason he goes a route where he's utterly villainized by the story (a la Tamlin, more or less), it was a dire mistake to give him smokehounds.
Think about it. Usually in books, a character with a pet is a good indicator of them being not completely evil. Because if the pets are taken care of and not being outright abused, they're generally loved by their owner, which shows compassion on the character's part.
Just knowing how people in the real world feel about their fur babies, I can't imagine readers would take it well if Eris turns out to be a total douchebag. Oh, sure, he's conniving and manipulative, but that's more out of survival than anything. He's been shown to care about his mother's wellbeing, too. While he doesn't do outright good, it's his lack of doing bad that also speaks to what an interesting character is.
All to say that it if Eris turns out to be a total villain (though, at this moment, I don't really see it), then it was a foolish decision to make him a pet parent, which automatically assigns him some compassionate traits.
ACOTAR Would Be Better Without Villains/Antagonists
Let's be honest, aside from Amarantha, who had an actual personality, there's really no point to have villains in the ACOTAR series.
All the villains/antagonists after are just there for the protagonists to fight against and be the heroes. We don't know really anything about the king of Hybern, Briallyn, or Koschei. Why do they want what they want? What are their motivations? At most, it's for the sake of the most vague revenge I've ever heard of.
There's nothing personal about it. Sure, Briallyn wants revenge on Nesta for not getting eternal youth when she went into the Cauldron because Nesta took power from it, but that still feels pretty flimsy. Maybe take out your anger on the actual fae who were there and not the human who got turned against her will.
Even Ianthe, who stuck around for two books, is just there. She's like Amarantha lite. I assume she just wants power, but that's all I got.
Even the smaller antagonists are just there to up the ante. Feyre kills the Attor and traps Ianthe in the Cottage. The twin ravens attack the Library and then are defeated by Rhysand. Branaugh and Dagdan are defeated pretty quickly. Lanythys is a mere footnote.
I pose that the books after ACOTAR should have just been about the consequences of the last 50 years Under the Mountain.
Let everyone have a healing journey. Make Rhysand account for the things he did UtM, including the SA against Feyre. Make him have a huge fallout with the IC for trapping them in Velaris. Have everyone try to figure out how to rebuild their courts.
There was a pretty big vacuum in power in the Night Court. What kind of shenanigans did the Hewn City and Illyria get up to? There's the reference to Cassian putting down a rebellion/rebellious Illyrian in ACOFAS/ACOSF. What if Illyria managed a rebellion of their own during those 50 years?
Give Rhysand an actual healing arc instead of glossing over it. Let Tamlin and Feyre organically drift apart. Let Feyre travel to another court of her own free will because she wants to help others rebuild, and that's how she sees Rhysand again. She makes her own connections with the IC and not just because they're Rhysand's friends.
Explore the world and other courts. Vivienne was in charge of Winter when Kallias was away. What about everyone else? Who were in charge of the courts then? Was there anyone who didn't want to give up their temporary ruler status?
There were other paths this series could have taken other than big war and big bad evil guy. These characters have enough internal problems that an external villain feels unnecessary. Rebuilding comes with its own challenges and is never an easy road.
Think about it. They don't grow as characters in the series. They just sort of... exist. They're really not much more than Barbie dolls, which I know is an insult to Barbie. Barbie at least has had several careers.
We only know the bare bones of their past and most reveals are just there to show how tragic and terrible they were. Okay, they had a bad childhood, etc. But even tragic backstories have moments of levity and lightness. What about mentioning some of those? (Granted, the entire past timeline has so many gaps it's like looking into a blackhole, but that's another discussion).
What about the present? These people are 500 years old and all that seems to be going on in their lives is their jobs (that we never see on page) and wandering around Velaris.
Okay, work with that. What do they do in Velaris besides go to restaurants and bars? Does Azriel have a favorite bookshop? Does Mor have a favorite tailor or jeweler? Does Cassian have a favorite blacksmith or outdoor park? Does Rhysand have a favorite tea shop or symphony hall? Feyre already has a favorite art studio, why don't the others have a favorite place in the city they've lived in for hundreds of years?
We see some places in Velaris, but it's never to really expand on the world or talk about the fae that live there. It's to make it look pretty and modern in a fantasy world.
Do they have any friends at all outside of the IC? The only excuse that we know for this not to be a thing is that the courts are generally isolated. But do you think that would stop Cassian or Mor? Heck, it should be part of Azriel's job to have friends and contacts in each court. Lucien has contacts in other courts. Why not them?
As far as I know, Cassian and Azriel don't have a home of their own. I don't think Mor does, either. If we do, we don't see it. I know Amren has an apartment because we actually go to it. What, you're all a bunch of bachelors/bachelorettes living under the same roof? You never once tried to move out and have a space of your own?
It's just odd that for as much as the IC are in these books, there's not much about them. Favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite book or play? Hobbies? Worst breakup? Can these people even answer a BFF quiz from a teen magazine?
You know what else I want to know? What exactly do Cassian and Azriel wear when they're not in Illyrian armor? I think there's a few times when they're in casual clothes, but what does this look like? Fan artists, give me casual clothes! And I mean more than just a white shirt and black pants. I need them in a vest, multiple belts, coats with collars. Someone should have a pierced ear and at least one gold chain around their neck.
The IC are just there to give Feyre her found family and nothing more. But the fun part about found family is that you get to know the found family. Instead, they're... props. For a plot that has no idea where it wants to go.
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I need a break from analyzing, so here are my for funsies thoughts on non-canon ships (because I don't like the canon ones - and based on how things are going, I probably won't like future ones, either).
This is by no means a comprehensive list, but more just pairings I saw I fanfic, so they've been written about in some capacity to give me an idea of what they'd be like.
Neris (Nesta and Eris) - Yes. I like the idea of them taking out Beron and ruling Autumn with peace and cunning. They're both courtiers, so they know the game, but they also know what it's like to wear masks and be despised by everyone around them. Behind the masks are people with a lot of heart and a desire for peace.
Nezriel (Nesta and Azriel) - Yes. I like the idea that of these two introverts just sitting together in the quiet, reading a book or sharing a pot of tea. I love the fanfics where Azriel takes Nesta to meet his mother and they all just hang out.
Azris (Azriel and Eris) - Absolutely. They would make amazing enemies to lovers. The only reason I haven’t read much these fanfic is because they tend to be pretty plot heavy, which makes sense, but right now I’m just here for low stakes kind of stories.
Neszris (Nesta, Eris, and Azriel) - Let's go, polyamory! I admittedly don't read many of these fanfics given the sheer amount of plot (as in war strategy, politics, and diplomacy) that go into them, but the dynamics are great.
Nescien (Nesta and Lucien) - I can see it. I read one where they write limericks for each other, and was so sweet, if painful in a cathartic kind of way. There's something about them being outcasts (neither have a home of their own, no I don't count the HoW) finding each other. Plus, Lucien is familiar with all the courts, so he could show Nesta around.
Neslin (Nesta and Tamlin) - I can see it. I love the idea that the two people that Feyre sees as enemies (whether she realizes it or not) get together and heal together. You know Nesta would bring Spring back to life, too. She has the ability and skills to administer and run a court. Let her do it!
Nesrien (Nesta and Jurian) - Yes. There's only a few fanfics about them, but Jurian is a well of untapped potential, and I think there's an appeal to him being human for Nesta but also knowing about the fae world. Both of them have experience in the fae and human worlds, so there's some sense of common ground.
Tamsand (Tamin and Rhysand) - Heck, yeah! Give me that chaos in the form of two traumatized high lords. Give me the pain and anguish, the confusion, the guilt, the heartache! They have so much soap opera-worthy drama, it would be a shame to waste it.
Casscien (Cassian and Lucien) - It could work. I think there's a couple fanfics about them but probably not much. I think it would be a great opposites attract kind of deal, where Cassian is all bluster and is the first to go for a punch, where Lucien knows tact and how to be diplomatic. But deep down, there's a certain joy they have for the world and life, a desire for connection to others, to help them, and to love wholly.
Cassris (Cassian and Eris) - Hard to say. They're both generals who care about their soldiers. Cassian could learn about diplomacy (probably the same goes for Cassian and Lucien), and they could trade military tactics and battle strategies. But I'm not sure if they're personalities would work together. They're opposites, but don't share a core trait like Cassian and Lucien.
Similar to Rhysand's father, I think not knowing more about Rhysand's mother is a disservice to the character and story.
Like his father, his mother is mentioned a few times but little is given - though she is given more than him. She's the one who dumped him in an Illyrian camp. She seems to have primarily raised Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel. She's described as fiery and warm. She put the ring in the Weaver's cottage so Rhysand's future wife/mate could retrieve it (and boy do I have a lot to say about that). She sewed Rhysand's wife's/mate's future gowns. She would berate her daughter for dropping out the window and flying and then join her. She died waiting for Rhysand at the Illyrian camps.
Rhysand always mourns his sister and mother more than his father, so it's implied she played a larger part in his life. That being said, it would have been nice to get a better picture of her because what we got is hardly enough.
The other trait that I think readers overlook is that Rhysand's mother is also cunning, or at least thinks more strategically about Rhysand's life. Or what I think is supposed to be strategic.
I'm thinking of her putting the ring in the Weaver's cottage. This action works under multiple assumptions. First, that Rhysand's future wife would at least match him somewhat in power or survivability. But if that's the case, that's also assuming Rhysand wouldn't marry anyone who couldn't protect themselves. But did she ever factor in love or was she nothing but pragmatic about this?
Because what if Rhysand did fall in love or marry someone who couldn't get the ring from the Weaver? What if he was arranged to be married? What, you gonna tell the new bride she has to die trying to get her ring? What if she's the daughter of another high lord or another important person? That sounds like it would cause a war if the bride got killed. (Wait, actually, now I want this story. Someone start writing!)
And even if it was for love, Rhysand's mother is making a lot of assumptions about her son's love life, mainly that he would fall in love with someone powerful. But that's not how love works. Heck, that's not even how mating works (or what evidence there is of it - hello, inconsistency). Did she raise him not to consider love when he marries or mates? Or was this just a general expectation that she expected he would follow?
Then there's the fact that she that dumped him into a war camp. Sure, she stayed around, but she still expected him to learn to fight by essentially having kids beat each other up. Granted, she didn't want him relying on his power, but it feels like this could have backfired on her. Rhysand could have resented her for it, or thought she was no better than his father.
I think I read a few fanfics where Rhysand's mother intended for Rhysand to be closer to the Illyrians, so he could fight for them. In that case, that was an epic fail. Aside from Cassian and Azriel, who rejects the Illyrians, he doesn't treat any other Illyrian equally, nor bother to try to help them in a way that matters.
He mentions that she loved her people, despite their cruelty. Which did not seem to pass on to him, given everything.
ACOMAF also mentions that she was livid when Rhysand brought Cassian home. Why? Does she not want Rhysand to make friends? Did she think him befriending a bastard orphan would damage his reputation? Because takes Cassian in anyway, and then Azriel.
So, despite her fiery and warm nature, she comes across as someone who made big miscalculations when it came to Rhysand. And the fact that these aspects go unexplored feel like such a missed opportunity.
You know what's weird? In a book series that draws on a lot of YA and NA tropes, where's the daddy issues for the main romantic lead (at least for books 1-3)?
Rhysand's parents and sister are mentioned, but we only get the bare bones of their history. Otherwise, the fandom has made their own interpretations and assumptions, but there's not much that's there in the text.
We know that the previous high lord abolished human slavery, but probably only out of practicality than any altruism. We know he separated Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel because he was afraid of their power. We know he saved his mate from getting her wings clipped. And... that's all I can remember.
We can only guess or imagine what he was actually like. It's kind of hard to pin down Rhysand's relationship with him. It's obvious he cared for his mother and sister, but while he probably loved his father, he also might've disliked him.
It's just odd that in a genre so rife with abusive and cruel fathers, Rhysand's relationship with his is almost nonexistent. And I think that's a detriment to the story and Rhysand's character not to give us more.
Explain to us why he is the way he is. What was his upbringing like? He wasn't in the Illyrians camps the entire time, so what else was he doing? Did Rhysand try to not be like his father? Did he ever want to spite him? Did he ever think about overthrowing him? What traits of his father's did he inadvertently follow without realizing it?
As cliched as the deadbeat father trope is, it would give Rhysand's character more to work with. It would give him a little more depth and interest instead of just the "brooding, misunderstood bad boy love interest" that the story wants us to follow and the "actually a terrible, paranoid ruler" that he actually is. It would do the same for the world and lore of ACOTAR. But alas.
I think a few people discussed SJM's poor (no pun intended) depiction of poverty in ACOTAR, so I'll add my two cents and compare apples to dragon fruits (or your preferred S-tier fruit).
Hunting.
It is the most basic plot point and set up for Feyre that immediately disappears once Feyre is in Prythian. I don't think it ever comes up again in the series.
Compare this to the role of hunting in The Hunger Games. Am I about to make an unfair comparison of ACOTAR to THG? Yes, but I think it's worth mentioning.
Hunting is an integral part to Katniss's identity. It keeps her and her family fed, yes, but it's also a connection to her father, a way of keeping his memory alive. She wears his hunting jacket. She uses his bow. Her father taught her everything she knew about it, and it was their way of bonding.
In the games themselves, Katniss uses a bow and arrow to survive. Even though she used it to kill someone, she still uses it to hunt occasionally in Catching Fire. Despite hunting being associated with something traumatic, it's also the thing that brings her back to herself, as by the end of Mockingjay, she shoots an animal for food, because that's what she's always done to survive. Hunting with a bow and arrow is not simply a physical means of living, or a gimmick, it's mental and emotional.
Katniss's bow and arrow provides for her and protects her.
Feyre's hunting skills have no impact on the plot. They're not part of her identity. She doesn't pick up a bow and arrow once she's at Tamlin's in ACOTAR (unless I'm misremembering). It's there because it sounds cool, and because The Hunger Games movie came out 3 years earlier.
Additionally, Katniss doesn't rely on hunting alone to provide food. She scavenges for food, too. She has a network. Gale is her hunting partner. They trade their kills at the Hob for things they can't hunt for, like paraffin and thread. Prim has Lady the goat for milk and cheese.
According to the ACOTAR Wiki page (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Feyre learned how to hunt and set snares by watching other hunters. So, I assume these people who are trained to wait patiently and notice a target didn't notice a pre-teen girl following them. Okay... And if they did, they were just, chill with it? Who knows. We'll never meet them because the story does not care about them.
Even if she's not hunting alongside others, do they just avoid taking kills out of her traps or is this some hunter's code? What happens if they run into each other? Do they have some unspoken agreement that they'll each hunt a section of the woods?
Where did Feyre get her bow? It's not a fast thing to make, so it probably cost a lot of money. Plus the arrows.
It doesn't matter, because ultimately, Feyre's hunting doesn't matter.
There is no network of trade, of take and give. At least, not on a personal level. The sisters go into the market for things they need, but they - or at least Feyre - doesn't care about anyone there despite them living in the same place for 5 years.
Katniss has respect in the Hob. People know her name and her family, because they also play an important role in the Seam. Feyre is just someone who gets what she needs and leaves.
Because that's the thing about poverty that Suzanne Collins writes so well - it creates community. People need each other to survive. When there are few resources, people create a network to live.
Feyre doesn't have a network. She exists isolated, living with a family she doesn't get along with, so she can more easily fall in love with a fae because the plot demands it. She has no attachment to the human world, so she can become enamored to the fae one.
Hunting is just a way to give Feyre a sob story to the Inner Court. If anything, it's a tool. To make her look like a martyr compared to her sisters and father. To make her look more virtuous and moral.
Rhysand Has Too Much Power, and It Hurts the Story
Do you know what the worst part of having a character with too much power is? Making them do dumb things when the plot demands it.
It's like having a highly intelligent character be stupid because the plot demands they come across an obstacle they are not allowed to overcome or for drama.
Every now and again, I come across a post that asks, "If Rhysand is so powerful and has the ability to do X, Y, Z, why didn't he do ___?" And you know what, those people have a good point.
A lot of it tends to be about Rhysand's time UtM. Why didn't try to ally with Feyre? Why did he constantly torture and inflict pain on Feyre? He has the ability to take away pain (see Clare's death) and mess with people's minds, so... what's happening?
One explanation is that his power is limited due to Amarantha's curse, but Rhysand can still do a lot of stuff even with his powers restrained. He's a daemati, so he can see memories, take away pain, influence actions and thoughts, use telepathy, and see through another's perspective in the present. That's already an insane amount of power, and people are rightfully suspicious and fearful of it.
On top of that, he can winnow or teleport pretty much anywhere. It's unclear if there's a distance limit, because when they go to the human lands, the Wall prevents them from just crossing it with teleportation. And he can mist objects and people with a Thanos snap. And he can fight in combat.
So, he has both mental and physical powers and strength that make him stronger than most fae.
The thing about characters who are ultra powerful is that there comes a point where you have to ask, if this character is so powerful, why don't they just take out the bad guy? Why don't they just solve the problem?
I ask why did Rhysand choose to hide Velaris, which was already a secret, instead of trying to eliminate the main threat when Amarantha cursed all the high lords? He's capable of misting (multiple) people and pulling a Thanos, like he did at the beginning of the battle in ACOWAR. Was it because Amarantha had some magical back up? We can only assume, but it's never clear.
In these cases, authors give these characters a weakness or a flaw or some extenuating circumstances as to why they can't fix everything.
Take Kaz Brekker, for instance. Inej is kidnapped because he glanced at her during a face off with Van Eck. His feelings for her and concern for her safety are his weakness in that moment, and it comes with a consequence. Despite being a veritable mastermind, Kaz is still a traumatized teen who is fallible and flawed. While friendship and love are often a strength in most stories, in Ketterdam it can be a weakness, but Kaz's feelings for Inej and his friends slowly grow stronger without his permission.
Rhysand is definitely a flawed character, but the narrative doesn't treat him like one. There are no lasting consequences for the things he does. Rhysand locked his friends away in Velaris for 49 years? Cassian and he had words but we have no idea what those words were, and if I were anyone in the IC, war might postpone a confrontation, but that's coming back around later.
Rhysand went over Mor's head about bringing Kier to Velaris? Mor's mad at him for a while and then they're back to their normal relationship. Rhysand and Feyre stole half of the Book of Breathings from Tarquin? The Blood Oath is rescinded because they need to work together to defeat Hybern, but who says Tarquin can't just reinstate it? Feyre threw it into the Cauldron's void, so it's never coming back. Heck, Tarquin is one of the 6 reasons Rhysand is still alive, so technically, Rhysand still owes him. Rhysand doesn't work to repair relationships - they just return to the way things were because that's what they've always done for hundreds of years, and they're immortal.
Instead it excuses his actions and explains them away. I'm not sure if we ever see him using his powers to get out of situation only to then be left with consequences. Most of the time he's using good old fashioned deceit and manipulation that have nothing to do with his magic.
The only external threat to his powers is faebane and ashwood, which is just every fae's weakness. And they only come up for plot purposes. No one has their own illegal stash of faebane and ash trees to nullify another high lord, which begs the question how anyone in Hybern got their hands on it since they're also fae.
All to say, when there's a problem that could have been resolved by Rhysand's powers... it isn't. And it makes Rhysand look either really dumb or needlessly cruel when he doesn't have to be. Or leaves more plot holes.
Anyway, yeah. Characters with too much power and no consistent weaknesses make for an inconsistent and frustrating story.
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In the Call Her Daddy podcast, SJM said that "Taking away their magic doesn’t take away their strength."
I kind of get where she's going with this, but narratively, it feels like a punishment for the characters. It’s a sacrifice but also “a you can’t have everything.”
To me, it's not a matter of losing their strength, but of losing their power.
I never questioned any characters' strength in the series. ACOTAR Feyre was very determined during Amarantha's trials, you know, when she was human. Nesta showed a lot of strength as a human (she went to the wall, spoke at the fae meeting, confronted the human queens, etc.).
I kind of get Amren losing her magic (granted, I think she should have died in ACOWAR, because the only purpose she serves is to connect the worlds together), but Nesta not so much.
Narratively, Nesta should have kept her magic. She went on a (albeit poorly written) journey of healing and survived the Blood Rite. Why shouldn't she keep her magic? Feyre went through a similar arc in ACOMAF and she kept her magic.
Let's look at Aelin real quick - from an orphan and princess without a kingdom to a queen and potential empress. She gave up a majority of her magic to make the thing to lock away the demons of the week. Cool.
The thing is, by the end, Aelin has a lot of power. She gets her kingdom, her royal status, a veritable army of allies, and many of them magical. She has filled coffers and influence. She has authority and power over her people as queen.
Nesta does not have this. She has a home she cannot leave without help or require hours to get in and out of. She does not have the respect of anyone in the IC, which she is still in the vicinity of and is still connected to (see Ember's pov for reference). If Nesta wanted to start a new life for herself, could she? Does she have her own funds to exercise willingly? Does she have any real connections or influence outside of the Night Court (again, the Valkyries live in the Library in the Night Court)? Could she leave without being bothered by anyone in the IC?
I'd argue that Feyre also doesn't have power, despite having magic. Her mate hid vital information about her health from her, and everyone in the IC agreed to keep it a secret. We never see anyone with authority in Velaris listen to an order (written around as she's still trying to learn the ropes). She has screwed over a lot of people who could be allies in other courts (Tarquin, Lucien, Tamlin despite all his flaws or at the very least the entirety of the Spring Court).
All of this to say, no taking away their magic doesn't mean they lose their strength. But it can take away their power, especially in the narrative sense.
Something that occurred to me was that a lot of the ACOTAR characters don't have a lot of internal motivation other than "survive" and get through the next plot point.
Like, honestly, I can maybe guess at what they want - wanting to be mated, a family, a settled life, etc. - but I don't think we really know.
Take Feyre, for instance. She lives in poverty at the start of ACOTAR, and all she wants is to be fed and paint to her heart's content. The only thing she really wants that has nothing to do with her external circumstances is painting.
And... then that's kind of it. Throughout the rest of the series, she's mostly reacting to a lot of stuff, and the things she does take initiative for are to win the war. By the end of ACOFAS, she has a painting studio, and much to the plot's detriment, she decides she wants a kid.
But, then what? What are these people's hopes and dreams? Do fae have hopes and dreams? Internal desires that have nothing to do with their current circumstances? They live forever, so what do they want that they can't get immediately? No one has ambitions or aspirations for themselves and themselves alone.
I rewatched Lindsay Ellis's video on Hercules, and was reminded of the wants/needs motivations for characters. As far as I'm concerned, not one of these characters has a desire that is resolved by recognizing what they need.
Based on my understanding of ACOTAR, here's what the characters need:
Feyre needs (honestly, a lot of things, but I'll try to keep it brief) to stop relying on the IC for all of her knowledge and seek out information on her own, stop forcing everyone to be a happy family, gain maturity, listen to others' perspectives (funny, she can read people's minds and thoughts but is not very compassionate to these people, or at least acting on it)
Nesta needs to forgive herself and stop blaming herself for things she can't control, gain self-acceptance, put herself first, gain self-worth
Rhysand needs (also a lot of things, but for brevity's sake) to think about the Illyrians and residents of Hewn City as people and help them rather than ignoring them until he needs them for something, stop controlling everyone and everything around him, address his paranoia, seeing anything that goes against his plans as a threat (see paranoia), hoarding power
Cassian needs to go on a journey of self-discovery, set boundaries between himself and the IC, a life of his own, his own residence, question his loyalties
Azriel needs stop falling for people whose rescue he is involved with (Mor, Elain, Gwyn), probably learn self-worth. I know there's more, but he's portrayed as so mysterious and private, it's hard to tell what his desires are.
Mor needs to learn compassion to people that she doesn't see as non-threats to her, learn that there are more people like her in Hewn City who want freedom, stop the nonsense between her, Cassian, and Azriel
Lucien needs to find a place where he belongs, or a home, sense of stability (yeah, I know more books are coming out, but I'm not holding my breath)
There's probably more I forgot, but these are some of the big ones that I think would make the series a little more interesting. ACOTAR always felt like it was driven more by its characters than the plot, and yet its characters are strangely flat and lack any change or growth.
