#antiromanticization

I know some of my posts might come off like I hate Feyre. But the truth is: I don’t hate her. Well I don’t particularly love or like her either.

What I do hate are her actionsn and what was done to her.

When people say ACOMAF is their favorite book, I just can’t relate. For me, it’s the least favorite in the series. I went in expecting an epic love story. What I got instead was manipulation dressed as romance.

I’m a feminist. A loud one.

An aggressive one, even. And as a feminist, I can’t turn a blind eye to what happened to Feyre.

This is a teenage girl being mentally and emotionally manipulated by a centuries-old man known for his mind control. That’s not empowerment. That’s grooming.

You want me to believe that a woman who was sexually assaulted—a woman who was forced to wear body-revealing clothes for months, traumatized by it, is now suddenly fine doing the exact same thing willingly... for the same man?

I'm sorry, but that doesn’t track. She went from being his puppet to playing his perfect whore without any believable emotional recovery in between.

And in ACOWAR? That was the breaking point for me. She dragged an entire court, an entire people down!! out of nothing but stupid revenge!! The same citizens she claimed she wanted to help. To protect. To die for.

Then ACOSF sealed it. Rhysand hides a life-threatening pregnancy from her, controls everything, and she… forgives him? Just like that?

How can I convince myself this isn’t long-term mind manipulation? How can I watch this unfold and still call it love?

So no I don’t hate Feyre. I pity her.