Gilded Age Garbage Fire

Yeah, but I don't think the author's aware that those are real people

you know how Shakespeare used the term "Illyria" for a random quasi-Italian country in twelfth night?

it's like that. I think she just thinks it's a cool old word for a place- or did and has now written herself into using it. because this Illyria is in the far north of Fantasy Scotland and is inhabited by a dark-skinned Barbaric But Rich-and-Fascinating-Cultured But Did We Mention Barbaric But Also Ancient and Noble But Uhhhh Barbaric warrior race. of faeries. with bat wings (except the women, whose wings they mutilate so they can't fly. because they are barbaric. but the women love their culture because it is so deep and rich and noble! but they hate being mutilated because it's barbaric!) (honestly feels like the author watched videos with people of color who had ambivalent feelings about their various cultures because of mixed negative and positive experiences, and thought "ah yes- I, a white woman, am just the person to address this in my dark fantasy romance book!") (but some fans of color disagree)

and the kingdom to the south is Fantasy ScotlandWales but with aesthetics ranging from Classic Ren Faire to Quasi-Victorian to Is that Seriously An Infinity Pool?

and the kingdom to the west is Evil Ireland (Now With 200% More Evil), but I haven't gotten to that yet

and England doesn't exist based on the personal names used, but France might

thoughts I found from others online:

"I'm a reader of color and this is offensive."

"I'm a reader of color and I see the Illyrians as white, so it's not offensive but it is a very non-diverse main cast"

"I'm a reader of color and I see the Illyrians as PoC and I love that because holy shit, Sexy Fae Book Boyfriends of color for once"

"I'm a cosplayer and reader of color, and not only do I cosplay ALL of the Bat Boys, but I talk about experiencing racism Cosplaying A Romance Novel Love Interest While Brown [antiquatedomens on IG]"

"I'm a reader of color, I see the Illyrians as PoC, and it's exhausting that all PoC in books have to be perfect representation"

"I'm a reader of color and I see the Illyrians as PoC, which I don't mind, but why are all of Bat Boys paired off with white women?"

"I'm a white reader and this is racist"

"I'm a white reader and I see the Illyrians as white, so it's not offensive but it is a very non-diverse main cast"

"I'm a white reader, I see the Illyrians as PoC, and why are all of the Bat Boys paired off with white women?"

"I'm a white reader and and they're totally Definitely 100% White because Illyria is an old name for somewhere in the Balkans and Balkan people can tan too okay?!?!?!?! [weirdly insistent]"

so like

make of that whole thing what you will

me, immediately:

I knew that Feyre and Rhys were going to end up together because of the way I first was turned onto the series, and I was wondering (since it's not exactly a series known for being high literature) if whatever shift was necessary to make her relationship with Tamlin not work anymore would be handled well

And honestly, so far… I'm pretty impressed

What I'm getting from it is a man who has spent his whole life with one set of expectations and understandings about how the world works, and after going through massive trauma and still being in a place of instability, he's trying to hold everything together by clinging to that. Even if it's not working, and he can see that it's not working – hell, the fact that he can see that feels like it's making him stick to tradition even more tightly. He's also not dealing with any of his mental/emotional shit, let alone helping his fiancée deal with hers

I really do get the sense that he's not being so smotheringly protective of Feyre just to throw his weight around, but he's genuinely terrified of anything happening to her (that's why I'm not sure I can call what happens after the explosion with the paint box "lovebombing," since lovebombing requires intentionality and I feel like he really is just scrambling to make up for an outburst about which he feels real)

I can also see the cracks carried over from the previous book, as well as the seeds of her relationship with Rhys, and that makes it less jarring. It also makes it easier to not hate him, even as I see that this relationship is increasingly smothering to her. He doesn't feel like an abusive partner conniving to maintain power over her; he feels like a man with deep mental breaks that, while understandable, are making him incredibly difficult if not impossible to be in a relationship with