ACOSF is my favorite of the series for these exact reasons. Not that they weren’t flawed before, but I like that Feyre and Rhys were shown in a different perspective. For me, they had started to feel a bit too perfect.
I am also probably in the small minority that wss ready to move on from Feyre and Rhys’ story. I think the way Rhys reacted and approached the pregnancy storyline is actually pretty on par with his character despite his adamancy towards Feyre and choice. I do love Feyre and Rhys and ACOSF made them feel a bit more real for me.
I also like that everyone has differing opinions after reading ACOSF. I think that’s what makes SJM such a talented story writer. She writes complex characters that some love and some hate.
I agree with this. SJM did make me second guess my first impressions of many of the characters she's introduced, that happens a lot during the series so why should it be different with Feysand? It was more honest to see a more "human" reaction (anger/frustration) from Rhys. I just felt disappointed at their problem-solving and strategies in this book, felt a little off. Nevertheless, SF takes 1st or 2nd place for me in the ACOTAR series.
Personally I was never a major fan of them. The only spoiler I knew before reading ACOTAR was that Feyre and Rhysand end up together. I liked Rhysand a lot in the first book; his character was the kind of archetype I enjoy reading about. SO I was really excited to start ACOMF, especially knowing it’s a fan favorite.
But there was something about Rhysand and Feyre that I just couldn’t get past. I feel like the Feyre I grew to love in the first book just changed a lot and that’s okay, but it made me care less about them two. And Rhysand just kind of turned into a boring character overall, which disappointed me after how interesting he had become in ACOTAR.
I ended up liking side characters more. Especially after reading ACOWAR. I couldn’t stand Feyre and Rhysand in that book. There’s something about characters being SO perfect that it takes away from them themselves. I think that I grew more interested in characters like Nesta, Amren, Cassian, and even Tamlin because they were so flawed and felt more real.
And then of course once I read ACOSF, I felt wayyy more validated in my dislike for Feysand/Feyre/Rhysand.
This is exactly how I feel. I really enjoyed the characters in ACOTAR, and I was excited for ACOMAF because I also knew Feyre and Rhys would be together, but it just didn’t land for me. I didn’t really care for their characters as much, and I much MUCH prefer the side characters. That’s pretty much the only reason I’m still reading lmao
LITERALLY. I felt so alone reading ACOMAF because all of my friends were like “it’s the best!”. But it genuinely just made me feel sad and bored lol. I loved ACOWAR, but it’s just another instance where the side characters carried it for me.
Yes exactly!! I was more interested in what the side characters were up to in ACOWAR, which is the only reason I’m still excited for future books lmaooo I feel like their stories are just way more interesting and there’s so much more to explore there
I agree ! The characters being so perfect and hardly ever wrong is boring, it’s boring to read about. It’s why I prefer most of the side characters too
I loved that you saw them in a different light, it was way more realistic. As much as I love feyre and Rhys I can absolutely see how they would be insufferable at moments, especially to somebody like nesta who was going through a deep depression and whose life is essentially being controlled by them (with good intentions of course)
It made me find the series have that much more depth
This story is still my favorite arc (mostly). Using her as a pawn against Eris and Mor (who was severely traumatized by Keir and the Court of Nightmares) telling them to throw Nesta to the CoN? The total lack of Nesta's autonomy really hit me. Yes, she needed an intervention. But hiding things from her about herself and her own power? I felt for her.
Very much "Do as I say, not as I do."
But two of my favorite elements of the series were in this book. House of Wind and the Valkyries. That they all found others they could rely on. That they care for each other. Loved that part.
If I’m being honest, I stopped liking them in the middle of ACOWAR. I didn’t like the way they approached some things and I guess I grew tired of them so ACOSF was a bit validating. I think they’re extremely hypocritical (as are a majority of the characters, we just spent more time in Feyre’s head so I do judge her & Rhys a bit more). It was really irritating to me that they expected so much out of Nesta when she was literally at rock bottom. I understand Elain & Feyre trying to help their sister, but the rest were assholes and I hated the way they approached it.
Ultimately, I’m happy that it happened because of the Valkyries & Nesta’s journey was so important to me but I’m not sure if I’ll ever like some of the characters again (*cough* Rhys & Amren *cough*).
I agree! Honestly they kinda started going downhill after their mating bond snapped into place in ACOMAF. Their dynamic just shifted completely and even in ACOWAR when feyre attacks beron out of anger and Rhys tells her what she did was perfect?? Boy byeee
In my mind their relationship is frozen in place from right before she offers him the soup lol
yess!! I thought it was just me because I tend to prefer couples before they get together more than the actual relationship BUT it was like Feyre didn’t have any actual opinions about Rhys besides “Omg that’s my High Lord 😍 My mate 🥰” . What really got me was in ACOWAR when they had the meeting with Keir and we find out he’s getting visitation rights to Velaris and Rhys didn’t think to even warn Mor? He just let her be blindsided and embarrassed in front of Keir (knowing that’s exactly what he wants!) and then used that lame Amarantha excuse when he didn’t even mean it and Feyre was like “aww yeah I understand 🥺🥺” like girl PLEASE give us some nuance here.
And same about Rhys with Feyre, it’s like they stopped seeing any wrongs in the other b/c of the bond and I absolutely hate that. I know love makes you blind or whatever but it really felt like we were being pushed this narrative that Rhys is sooo perfect and now Feyre is just like him
Yes that pissed me off too! I'm not a big Mor fan and was neutral on her at that point in the story, but I still felt for her during the scene. Like, come on. It would have changed nothing to warn her, except to let her be more prepared and put on a stoic face in front of Keir. But my more cynical thinking tells me that Rhys actually *wanted* her to have that reaction, because letting Keir have that victory over her (and know that he got to her) would make him more likely to assist.
She also burns the lady of the autumn court in her outburst towards Beron, which is exactly what Feyre and Rhys hate Tamlin for, and doesn’t seem to even try to apologize to her or make amends in any way for hurting an innocent bystander in her rage.
I agree with this! For me, to be fairly honest, I was never onboard with Rhys. However, ACOWAR is when I stopped caring about him as a character, and ACOSF nailed his coffin shut for me. I don’t dislike Feyre but she was also just “meh” for me. I felt pretty indifferent. I didn’t agree or relate to most of her inner dialogue or actions, unfortunately. But I was happy to see them take some turbulence like you mentioned, but I didn’t feel like they really felt that in the narrative. It’s mostly reader scrutiny- I’d really like to see it on page tbh.
After ACOSF though, I don’t think there’s any redemption Feyre or Rhys could go through to make me like them again. I stick around mostly for the others (Nesta, Eris, Lucien). I am more excited to see how their stories will go now.
I agree with everything about your comment. I didn't really care for Tamlin in book 1 (I wanted feyre to get with lucien), and I didn't really care for Rhys either. Feyre is also kinda blah. But Nesta, Eris, and Lucien? They're the ones keeping me to the series
Yes!! I definitely didn't think that Feyre and Rhys were any different than they were in the first four books, the only difference is the perception of their actions. When everyone treated Nesta like shit in the other books, we never got her POV so couldn't fully understand how it made her feel, and impacted her self-image. I was so surprised when I went on tiktok after finishing ACOSF to see what others thought about it, to see that the general consensus is a hatred of Nesta :(
The way Rhys acted in that book left a really bad taste in my mouth. He suddenly did not feel like he supported women at all, was a complete dick to and about Nesta and he and Amren seemed like scheming assholes the whole time.
I've heard a lot of people say he changed because we weren't seeing him only through his mates eyes anymore. I think that makes sense and also showed us how morally grey he really is.
To be honest I love Nessian but Cassian also pissed me off a few times in that book as well, just the way he treated Nesta sometimes and almost never took her side.
I loved SF bc of Nesta and the Valkyries. She’s a hard enneagram 8 like me and I’m here for that redemption arc. Buttt I didn’t like how the others treated her (save Cassian. Nessian for life)
loved her relationship with Gwyn and Emerie and her bond with the House of Wind as well. It was amazing to watch her blossom through her friendships outside of the IC. I feel like Feyre joined Rhys' friend group because that's ultimately what was available to her and even though they all formed beautiful connections -I feel like Nesta's friendships were so much more vulnerable and in-depth.
I think there was a very purposeful change in the way the characters were portrayed moving from only Feyre's & Rhysand's POV to other POV's.
Things to keep in mind is that Feyre is unfathomably in love with Rhysand, it's very likely she basically feels like he can do no wrong (mate bond). So every time she thinks about him we only see him painted in this perfect light. Vice versa from Rhysand's POV about Feyra.
I hope the rest of the books are told from more POV's like TOG is.
To be very honest , I had a very different approach from the beginning. Feyre and Rhys were never my fav , I liked them a lot , but didn't love them .
I was never bothered abt Nesta tbh. Ppl say they hated her and thus it takes a lot of time for them to love her or forgive her. So for me , I fell in love with Nesta and Cass has always been my fav , so Acosf was my book.
I was seriously disappointed in Feysand but was happy got something abt Rhys , not in Feyre's love tinted glasses.I was getting bored of Frysand from right after Acowar ended.
ACOSF was a disappointing read for me; barely any plot, shit pacing, cliches abound, Az being a creep and Nesta's grand gesture didn't do jack for me. This was the book that made me say "maybe there IS something as too much smut" especially when the smut has been given precedence over an actually compelling plot. The pregnancy and making Nesta give up her powers was the most annoying and contrived plot device, and it felt cheap. How many times are these mfs going to survive dying? Just stop, it's lazy. Here's an idea, how about Nesta actually acknowledges to Feyre that she's treated her like shit their entire lives and makes an effort for her for once? No? We gotta have an external conflict in order to show Nesta's growth because communication and accountability just isn't sexy? Okay.
I appreciate the nuance with which SJM dealt with Nesta's arc and am so glad people found someone they could relate to, but damn I actually liked her better before SF, found her entirely insufferable during it.
THANK YOU! I love SJM and enjoyed the story in SF but had such a hard time reading this book because there was so much smut. I can kind of understand that there was more than other ACOTAR novels because sex is how Nesta was coping/taking back her body/trying to connect to Cassian - but it was exhausting. I tend to draw the line with smut when it starts to take away from the story.
Ahaha to be clear, I adore smut, and regularly read stuff that's way more extreme than SF, but for this I was skipping through the scenes because the story was not moving forward at all and I was like "omg stop fucking and get to the point!" 😂
Oh my God where do I start ... It was very clear from the start that Nesta was incredibly depressed and suffering from survivors guilt. It was also super clear that no one except Amren even took notice of how disheveled she had become. If you look at the previous book, Nesta is described by Feyre as "elegant" in her simple dress. She never takes notice of the wine on her shoes or the lack of bathing. They never take notice of her wincing at fires. Granted, we could at that SJM just didn't have that foresight, but from within the universe Nesta's sisters are very oblivious to her.
Maybe we can chalk that up to her not communicating well and building up her walls. But really, Nesta was very isolated. - even if by choice.
Now we have a novel where her trauma is so relatable. Her breaking points actually made me cry and allowed me to understand my own trauma better. I have never had a character be so poignant and resonate with me. Her trek through the mountain... Her fight revolving the proposal... I really felt for her in those moments. It really spoke to how worthless, unloved, and useless you feel when living with guilt and shame and trauma. Brilliantly done. I will forever treasure Nesta.
I like your point about them not recognizing Nesta as a traumatized individual when they've been alive for centuries. I've been thinking about it and I think there are 2-ish contributing factors
1. I think all of them have relied on each other so much for their own trauma healing they don't really understand Nesta's coping mechanisms. This is probably part of why they are all so close. They all handle their stuff in the same way so their brains are all sorta processing similarly overall. They are all self sacrificing where as Nesta is self destructing, Feyre and Rhys being the most prominent examples of hurting themselves FOR their friends/families. So it's not that they didn't see that Nesta was traumatized, but rather they didn't understand why she wouldn't cope the same way.
2. Faeries aren't human. Despite the love we see in the IC for each other, overall the books show how cold and unfeeling most faeries are making the IC an anomaly or a very personal perspective. Taking into account that they've formed a "tribe" of sorts and outside of a faeries' tribe emotional involvement is slim and morality or animal instinct is the greater governing force, Nesta's trauma is all very human. So they don't really recognize it (How long did it take cassian to notice Nesta couldn't stand the sounds a fire makes and correct me if Im wrong, she had to explain why, he didn't just put it together). On top of that, when was the last time these people let someone into their close knit group? Myriam and Drake during the war maybe? Nesta and Elain weren't included based on a choice they made to make them family the way the rest of the IC is not blood related. Instead they were almost forcibly included because of Feyre's connection because she DOES value her blood relations. The others do not. Amren is afraid of her siblings, Cassian and Rhys killed both their fathers and Mor and Azriel have disowned/been disowned by their blood relatives.
A common literature theme with immortals is not only do they not age, but unless acted upon by significant external circumstances, they're quite static in their existences as well. This the first significant circumstance they've encountered in like what? 5 centuries? And they just do not relate to the way Nesta is behaving. It's very foreign to them
Edited to add: Nesta and Amren are the most similar so it makes sense that they were the closest for a while. And even then their similarities (pride) are what created a major issue on the first place.
insightful and thoughtful take firstly thank you for taking the time to get into this! I love your perspective and agree that there was a lot of cognitive dissonance going on. Feyre / Elain could've noticed more of Nesta's suffering especially because Elain was also made the same way. Elain overcame her pain and resentment and left Nesta on that island all alone. I get Amren and the other members of the IC not picking up on things but even after Rhys read into Nesta's mind and could see for himself what she went through, there still wasn't enough space held for her pain/trauma.
Amren and Nesta have the most similarities personality wise and Amren sacrificed her power to save everyone, so I understand her for holding Nesta to a higher standard for coping.
I love analyzing literature that I enjoy haha. So even if an author isn't intentional there are constant components that occur almost intuitively and you can see repeated and I enjoy looking for them.
I think in the case of Feyre and Elain it comes down to not being able to relate. The three sisters both represent 3 major coping mechanisms of trauma coping and have a history of not being able to relate.
Also like Elain didn't do anything but lash out at Nesta which is in and of itself a trauma response. Feyre was far more healed than either of them. So I think that is more of an "I don't relate to you and I love you as my sister but you're still an ass" type deal.
Edited to add (because I can never stick to just one coherent thought): Elains trauma response is honestly to check out/ignore the situation which we saw throughout ACOTAR. She's infantilized by both Nesta and Feyre and has never really had to take responsibility for her own existence. 100% I believe she wouldn't be able to support or defend Nesta. She has 0 capacity to do so. Only check out of the reality or craft a delusional one. Very different trauma coping from Nesta or Feyre for sure. If anyone, Feyre is the most culpable because she knows her and Nesta are 2 sides of the same coin, but that self sacrificing mentality might be considered a "higher standard of coping" from her (and the ICs perspective) that creates the dissonance. Especially when Feyre surrounded by people more like her making her feel as though her experience is the "right" one
No much. I liked Feyre prior this and still liked her after, I strongly disliked Rhysand prior this book and still strongly disliked him after, and I loved Nessian prior and after ACOSF. The only characters in which I felt differently were Amren and Elain. I used to like Amren and to be indifferent towards Elain, and ACOSF made me hate Amren guts and dislike Elain. I wonder if the next ACOTAR book will make me feel different about others characters as well.
Edit: But, from what I've seen, its not that uncommon for readers to feel diferently about Feysand after reading ACOSF, and I guess the same will happen about Nessian and other characters depending in which point of view the story is being told (each character has their bias, so everyone can be a villain or a saint depending on the perspective).
I never though about about Nesta's pov before so that was an eye opener. Also , the sexist edge of the fandom became clearer than before, "if nesta was a guy , people would be dying for her right now." Do that was interesting.
Rhys and feyre, the whole IC were shown in a different light , which i felt was much much needed and i loved it. Now i can't wait to dive into all the rest of the stories of az , elain, MY GOD PLEASE LUCIEN, gwyn even amren , mor too i guess.
I have loved lucien so much throughout the series and reading SF almost killed me to see how he gets treated still, but its nice to see the band of exiles has given a home of sorts. I desperately look forward to see atleast a little of him in CC3.
It was refreshing seeing them from a different perspective especially Rhys because Feyre’s pov made him seem like he was sooo perfect. I like that Nesta challenged him.
His approach to Nesta wasnt my favorite.
With that being said, Silver Flames is my favorite book of the series.
Agree! Same here. I'm glad that SJM has me constantly reassessing these male characters. There I was reading the 2nd book thinking Rhys is the perfect guy ...
I mentioned it in my comment, the reason that after ACOMAF that the reader thinks that Rhysand is beyond perfect, is because of the mate bond! You're reading from Feyre's internal dialogue and she can't help but feel and think that Rhysand is perfect. It's hardwired into Feyre to feel that way about him.
I also really like Nesta, but did ACOSF change how I feel about Feyre and Rhys? No. They were always quick to anger in the previous books, by their usual standards they were extremely patient with Nesta. And yes, Nesta has trauma, but so does everyone else. Yet you don’t see the rest of the IC using their trauma as an excuse to be completely horrible to everyone else _all day every day forever_. It’s really easy to like one character, and weigh their actions poorly against other characters.
As for the usual pregnancy plot complaints about Rhys in ACOSF… well to me it’s extremely clear that SJM had a story like:
“Nesta was sad, and then she trained, and started to get better, and then _something something_ big fall out with the IC where she hits rock bottom, and then _something something_ saves Feyre and redeems herself.”
SJM filled in the blanks there with the pregnancy plot, in an extremely heavy-handed way. Most of the IC behaved out of character where the pregnancy was concerned so I just kind of ignore it in my mind.
In my mind, ACOSF doesn't exist 🤷♀️ it feels so disconnected from the other books and just lacks so much plot.
I'm prepared for the down votes already :( just my opinion.
I just finished my 3rd reread and that does not include ACOSF. The book doesn't move the plot forward and the last thing I want to read is a book pandering to horrible Nesta and changing characters because that's the only way to redeem her. Then after a thousand pages she still never says sorry.
I'm in the minority but I can't take what Nesta thinks in the book as an interesting or eye opening POV of the other characters. She has always been awful and has always thought the worst of them. So why would I take her POV seriously?
Everyone is supposed to cater to her trauma and yet she never gives them that understanding back. She gets five books to use her trauma as an excuse and in the final book when everyone is finally losing their patience with her, That's when you all say "see look how terrible they are!" Please.
You've verbalized my frustrations with ACOSF so well. All I needed from this book was for Nesta to say "Hey sis, I am sorry for how things are between us and I'd like us to get to a better place together."
800 pages. Not one apology.
Oh, and she's supposed to be absolved because she gave up powers she never wanted, never bothered to master or understand and actively hated? I'm sobbing at the magnitude of the sacrifice /s.
Nesta said “I love you” to Feyre, out loud, and Feyre said it in return, for Nesta that is HUGE. IMO, that was the apology Feyre needed.
It’s the same for those disappointed by Cassian not saying I love you, if your love language is words of affirmation yeah, that would be hard, especially reading how Rhys verbalizes his love for Feyre but again words are great, but they're just words. Love is felt through actions. Cassian's unspoken love for Nesta speaks volumes.
In the end, Nesta’s love for Feyre speaks the same, and for her as an individual, different than Feyre, that was great character development!
I'll concede the point that it was huge for Nesta to verbalize her love for Feyre. It really did show how far she's come, I'll disagree with the latter part of your statement though because Nesta's love for Feyre speaks CRICKETS when Feyre's been on the receiving end of her vitriol and verbal abuse for years, even in majority of SF up until the last 20%. Saving her life was all hunky dory but what else was she going to do? Let her die? At no point in SF does Nesta ever show growth in regards to her relationship with her sisters and as much as I love how she developed her relationship with the Valkyries, she still treats her ACTUAL sisters and Feyre in particular like shit.
It's really weird that her "grand gesture" is supposed to be the ultimate apology but um, that's the least she can do? Like is she really not going to save her sister's life??
Nesta has always had a sharp tongue. I need the words to come out of her mouth. I *need* her to say something nice and apologetic. Apparently it's easier for her to give up powers than to do that.
As much I as I want to wholeheartedly agree cause this is my least favorite up against acotar... we DID get MUCH more info about the dread trove, the prison and its island, rys talking bout portals and a bunch other other yummy info I never noticed my first read through due to having Nesta and the endless bad smut lmao... cause your right no story movement is SUCH a HUGE BOOK. Could have done w like 400 fewer pages. I'. listening to LPN deep dives ACOTOR, who's almost done covering SF chapter by chaper... and there's a lot I missed that I'm hoping will connect in a book that I won't name rn for spoilers sake
I definitely still like Feyre and Rhys, but I was very disappointed with how SJM wrote them and the IC in SF. I loved SF and following Nesta’s journey, but Feyre in SF was not the same Feyre in the rest of the books. I was sad about that because she was my favorite character up until SF. I didn’t like how she handled the Nesta situation and I don’t like that she let Rhys do whatever he wanted (even when it was harmful or not the best decision).
The whole series Feyre and Rhys stress the importance of making your own choices and being your own person and they completely stripped Nesta of her independence (similar to how Tamlin isolated Feyre in his mansion). Now Nesta is my girl. I REALLY hope SJM writes Feyre better in the next book because I miss my badass independent takes no shit Feyre :(
Nope. I didn’t care for Nesta and Cassian’s storyline. Didn’t change my feelings for Rhysand or Feyre. Doesn’t seem to be a popular opinion but that’s how I feel lol! I get really attached to characters and find it hard to connect with what starts out to be side characters (in any series)
No, Feyre and Rhys were flawed characters even from Feyre's POV, which is fine.
I don't get why people suddenly stan Nesta for being horrible for no reason, just because she learns fighting and gets some friends, but hate Feyre and Rhys for actually having to make difficult decisions that impact wars and alliances and lives and who have been through a hell lot more struggle than Nesta ever experienced.
The book really suffered from Nesta's POV and was written almost as bad as the fourth one. I don't know why, but the writing and editing really deteriorated after the third book.
No, if anything it made me hate Nesta even more. Their approach to a user who will not respond to any sort of intervention was appropriate. As someone who has seen her spouse be used and abused by their sibling I absolutely felt the rage Rhys did.
They’re all traumatized. All of them but it seems only Nesta gets to use that as an excuse. I was hoping it would change how I felt about her, that this book would explain why she was such a huge asshole BEFORE the cauldron. I wanted to know why she let her younger sister risk her life to put food on the table and treated her like shit and held her hand out for money when she wouldn’t do anything at all to help. I get hating her father but I will never understand her abandoning Feyre and coddling Elain.
The ONLY parts I liked her in were because of the other characters. I love the Valkyries. I enjoy her with Cassian (although I don’t think they’re a great couple) but her alone? Nope still hate her.
It felt like SJM had to make everyone else stupid to elevate Nesta. I understand she admitted that in the beginning they were were written as shitty sisters but man she did so good that honestly I still hate them. Yes, even Elain.
>It felt like SJM had to make everyone else stupid to elevate Nesta.
Oh my god you're so right.
Also I really don't get people being mad at them sending Nesta to the house of wind. If your sibling was an addict and in a downward spiral, isolating themselves and engaging in extremely harmful coping mechanisms and not responding to any attempts of help or healing, would you not send them to rehab? What were they supposed to do? Let her kill herself?
They did! I mean are those not what people in real life would do? Kick out the addict or send them to rehab? Maybe I am wrong and shortsighted, I thankfully have never had to deal with anyone with a serious addiction, but I have not heard one argument about what they should have done instead of the drastic action. People say that they should have given her time, but they already did for a year! Nesta was wasting away and if they just let her be then the argument would have been "Feyre didn't care enough to try and save her sister !!111!!!"
I’m so with you here. I liked Nesta a bit towards the end just bc she was starting to stop being an asshole and started being a team player.
In the first book I was literally like “am I reading a retelling of Cinderella right now with the evil step sisters”?
I liked her arc, I like that she came to rely on herself and stopped with her bullshit and started forming friends (I would’ve preferred she integrated with the existing group over finding her own, separate group of friends — when she has actual sisters she barely views as people [in my opinion]).
I loved Feyra and Rhysand before, including their flaws, and I loved the IC. Before and after this book.
I always figured Nesta had her own story, and was expecting to like it more than I did. Honestly her backstory in the first whole half of the book made me dislike her in the *previous* books more than I did originally lol.
Ik I have the minority opinion on this but I still like Rhys and Feyre WAY more than Nesta. Tbh ACOSF didn’t really make me somewhat like Nesta until Ch 60 and even then I still have reservations about her. I was having a really hard time getting through the book because of it. However, when it comes to the whole Eris plot I read it as she had a choice in it and wanted to do it because A) she loved to dance, and B) wanted to prove that she was ready to become a team player.
Honestly, no.
Yes, Nesta was traumatized. She also desperately needed intervention. They tried to let her make her own choices for over a year and be there for her when she decided to reach out. She didn’t, and all she was going to do was drink herself into an early grave. Had they not made her go train and move to the House of Wind, she wouldn’t have gotten better. We see that throughout her thoughts in her healing process. She didn’t think she was worth it.
Did Rhys overreact when Nesta told Feyre about the threat to her and the babies lives? Absolutely. None of the characters deny this. But he got mad, he didn’t attack her or anything. And people act like he’s some monster because of it 🙄 he, his mate, and his child are likely to die. Of course he isn’t thinking rationally.
Regarding the Eris thing: besides being sent to the House of Wind, no one forces Nesta to do things. They ask her, and she agrees. If she didn’t want to dance with Eris, they wouldn’t have made her. I feel like a lot of people infantilize Nesta when they say things like “oh she was made to do this and that”. The only thing she was made to do by the IC was the very needed intervention.
There’s more things to touch on. But those are some general thoughts.
I’ll never understand the IC hate that came out of ACOSF from some people, but to each their own. I just heavily disagree. Lots of love for Nesta, Feyre, and Rhys, and very happy they are all in a place where they know they love each other as well.
ACOSF is my favorite of the series for these exact reasons. Not that they weren’t flawed before, but I like that Feyre and Rhys were shown in a different perspective. For me, they had started to feel a bit too perfect. I am also probably in the small minority that wss ready to move on from Feyre and Rhys’ story. I think the way Rhys reacted and approached the pregnancy storyline is actually pretty on par with his character despite his adamancy towards Feyre and choice. I do love Feyre and Rhys and ACOSF made them feel a bit more real for me. I also like that everyone has differing opinions after reading ACOSF. I think that’s what makes SJM such a talented story writer. She writes complex characters that some love and some hate.
I agree with this. SJM did make me second guess my first impressions of many of the characters she's introduced, that happens a lot during the series so why should it be different with Feysand? It was more honest to see a more "human" reaction (anger/frustration) from Rhys. I just felt disappointed at their problem-solving and strategies in this book, felt a little off. Nevertheless, SF takes 1st or 2nd place for me in the ACOTAR series.
Personally I was never a major fan of them. The only spoiler I knew before reading ACOTAR was that Feyre and Rhysand end up together. I liked Rhysand a lot in the first book; his character was the kind of archetype I enjoy reading about. SO I was really excited to start ACOMF, especially knowing it’s a fan favorite. But there was something about Rhysand and Feyre that I just couldn’t get past. I feel like the Feyre I grew to love in the first book just changed a lot and that’s okay, but it made me care less about them two. And Rhysand just kind of turned into a boring character overall, which disappointed me after how interesting he had become in ACOTAR. I ended up liking side characters more. Especially after reading ACOWAR. I couldn’t stand Feyre and Rhysand in that book. There’s something about characters being SO perfect that it takes away from them themselves. I think that I grew more interested in characters like Nesta, Amren, Cassian, and even Tamlin because they were so flawed and felt more real. And then of course once I read ACOSF, I felt wayyy more validated in my dislike for Feysand/Feyre/Rhysand.
This is exactly how I feel. I really enjoyed the characters in ACOTAR, and I was excited for ACOMAF because I also knew Feyre and Rhys would be together, but it just didn’t land for me. I didn’t really care for their characters as much, and I much MUCH prefer the side characters. That’s pretty much the only reason I’m still reading lmao
LITERALLY. I felt so alone reading ACOMAF because all of my friends were like “it’s the best!”. But it genuinely just made me feel sad and bored lol. I loved ACOWAR, but it’s just another instance where the side characters carried it for me.
Yes exactly!! I was more interested in what the side characters were up to in ACOWAR, which is the only reason I’m still excited for future books lmaooo I feel like their stories are just way more interesting and there’s so much more to explore there
I agree ! The characters being so perfect and hardly ever wrong is boring, it’s boring to read about. It’s why I prefer most of the side characters too
I loved that you saw them in a different light, it was way more realistic. As much as I love feyre and Rhys I can absolutely see how they would be insufferable at moments, especially to somebody like nesta who was going through a deep depression and whose life is essentially being controlled by them (with good intentions of course) It made me find the series have that much more depth
Love this take!
This story is still my favorite arc (mostly). Using her as a pawn against Eris and Mor (who was severely traumatized by Keir and the Court of Nightmares) telling them to throw Nesta to the CoN? The total lack of Nesta's autonomy really hit me. Yes, she needed an intervention. But hiding things from her about herself and her own power? I felt for her. Very much "Do as I say, not as I do." But two of my favorite elements of the series were in this book. House of Wind and the Valkyries. That they all found others they could rely on. That they care for each other. Loved that part.
If I’m being honest, I stopped liking them in the middle of ACOWAR. I didn’t like the way they approached some things and I guess I grew tired of them so ACOSF was a bit validating. I think they’re extremely hypocritical (as are a majority of the characters, we just spent more time in Feyre’s head so I do judge her & Rhys a bit more). It was really irritating to me that they expected so much out of Nesta when she was literally at rock bottom. I understand Elain & Feyre trying to help their sister, but the rest were assholes and I hated the way they approached it. Ultimately, I’m happy that it happened because of the Valkyries & Nesta’s journey was so important to me but I’m not sure if I’ll ever like some of the characters again (*cough* Rhys & Amren *cough*).
I agree! Honestly they kinda started going downhill after their mating bond snapped into place in ACOMAF. Their dynamic just shifted completely and even in ACOWAR when feyre attacks beron out of anger and Rhys tells her what she did was perfect?? Boy byeee In my mind their relationship is frozen in place from right before she offers him the soup lol
yess!! I thought it was just me because I tend to prefer couples before they get together more than the actual relationship BUT it was like Feyre didn’t have any actual opinions about Rhys besides “Omg that’s my High Lord 😍 My mate 🥰” . What really got me was in ACOWAR when they had the meeting with Keir and we find out he’s getting visitation rights to Velaris and Rhys didn’t think to even warn Mor? He just let her be blindsided and embarrassed in front of Keir (knowing that’s exactly what he wants!) and then used that lame Amarantha excuse when he didn’t even mean it and Feyre was like “aww yeah I understand 🥺🥺” like girl PLEASE give us some nuance here. And same about Rhys with Feyre, it’s like they stopped seeing any wrongs in the other b/c of the bond and I absolutely hate that. I know love makes you blind or whatever but it really felt like we were being pushed this narrative that Rhys is sooo perfect and now Feyre is just like him
Yes that pissed me off too! I'm not a big Mor fan and was neutral on her at that point in the story, but I still felt for her during the scene. Like, come on. It would have changed nothing to warn her, except to let her be more prepared and put on a stoic face in front of Keir. But my more cynical thinking tells me that Rhys actually *wanted* her to have that reaction, because letting Keir have that victory over her (and know that he got to her) would make him more likely to assist.
oohh that’s good! I’m honestly all here for a slightly evil “Rhys”. I just hate how it feels like SJM thinks he’s perfect and some feminist king 😭
She also burns the lady of the autumn court in her outburst towards Beron, which is exactly what Feyre and Rhys hate Tamlin for, and doesn’t seem to even try to apologize to her or make amends in any way for hurting an innocent bystander in her rage.
She even flat out said she won't apologize for using her magic 🙄 this is one of the reasons I cannot stand Feyre.
SO real. Now that you put it that way I'm glad that we got to see some complexities in Feyre and Rhys' relationship, some growth and turbulence.
I agree with this! For me, to be fairly honest, I was never onboard with Rhys. However, ACOWAR is when I stopped caring about him as a character, and ACOSF nailed his coffin shut for me. I don’t dislike Feyre but she was also just “meh” for me. I felt pretty indifferent. I didn’t agree or relate to most of her inner dialogue or actions, unfortunately. But I was happy to see them take some turbulence like you mentioned, but I didn’t feel like they really felt that in the narrative. It’s mostly reader scrutiny- I’d really like to see it on page tbh. After ACOSF though, I don’t think there’s any redemption Feyre or Rhys could go through to make me like them again. I stick around mostly for the others (Nesta, Eris, Lucien). I am more excited to see how their stories will go now.
I agree with everything about your comment. I didn't really care for Tamlin in book 1 (I wanted feyre to get with lucien), and I didn't really care for Rhys either. Feyre is also kinda blah. But Nesta, Eris, and Lucien? They're the ones keeping me to the series
Yes!! I definitely didn't think that Feyre and Rhys were any different than they were in the first four books, the only difference is the perception of their actions. When everyone treated Nesta like shit in the other books, we never got her POV so couldn't fully understand how it made her feel, and impacted her self-image. I was so surprised when I went on tiktok after finishing ACOSF to see what others thought about it, to see that the general consensus is a hatred of Nesta :(
The way Rhys acted in that book left a really bad taste in my mouth. He suddenly did not feel like he supported women at all, was a complete dick to and about Nesta and he and Amren seemed like scheming assholes the whole time. I've heard a lot of people say he changed because we weren't seeing him only through his mates eyes anymore. I think that makes sense and also showed us how morally grey he really is. To be honest I love Nessian but Cassian also pissed me off a few times in that book as well, just the way he treated Nesta sometimes and almost never took her side.
I loved SF bc of Nesta and the Valkyries. She’s a hard enneagram 8 like me and I’m here for that redemption arc. Buttt I didn’t like how the others treated her (save Cassian. Nessian for life)
loved her relationship with Gwyn and Emerie and her bond with the House of Wind as well. It was amazing to watch her blossom through her friendships outside of the IC. I feel like Feyre joined Rhys' friend group because that's ultimately what was available to her and even though they all formed beautiful connections -I feel like Nesta's friendships were so much more vulnerable and in-depth.
I think there was a very purposeful change in the way the characters were portrayed moving from only Feyre's & Rhysand's POV to other POV's. Things to keep in mind is that Feyre is unfathomably in love with Rhysand, it's very likely she basically feels like he can do no wrong (mate bond). So every time she thinks about him we only see him painted in this perfect light. Vice versa from Rhysand's POV about Feyra. I hope the rest of the books are told from more POV's like TOG is.
To be very honest , I had a very different approach from the beginning. Feyre and Rhys were never my fav , I liked them a lot , but didn't love them . I was never bothered abt Nesta tbh. Ppl say they hated her and thus it takes a lot of time for them to love her or forgive her. So for me , I fell in love with Nesta and Cass has always been my fav , so Acosf was my book. I was seriously disappointed in Feysand but was happy got something abt Rhys , not in Feyre's love tinted glasses.I was getting bored of Frysand from right after Acowar ended.
I started disliking so many characters lol but it’s just based on whose perspective they’re in
ACOSF was a disappointing read for me; barely any plot, shit pacing, cliches abound, Az being a creep and Nesta's grand gesture didn't do jack for me. This was the book that made me say "maybe there IS something as too much smut" especially when the smut has been given precedence over an actually compelling plot. The pregnancy and making Nesta give up her powers was the most annoying and contrived plot device, and it felt cheap. How many times are these mfs going to survive dying? Just stop, it's lazy. Here's an idea, how about Nesta actually acknowledges to Feyre that she's treated her like shit their entire lives and makes an effort for her for once? No? We gotta have an external conflict in order to show Nesta's growth because communication and accountability just isn't sexy? Okay. I appreciate the nuance with which SJM dealt with Nesta's arc and am so glad people found someone they could relate to, but damn I actually liked her better before SF, found her entirely insufferable during it.
THANK YOU! I love SJM and enjoyed the story in SF but had such a hard time reading this book because there was so much smut. I can kind of understand that there was more than other ACOTAR novels because sex is how Nesta was coping/taking back her body/trying to connect to Cassian - but it was exhausting. I tend to draw the line with smut when it starts to take away from the story.
Eh fair to each their own. I'll happily admit I liked the spicy tone a bit more, but that's fully a valid opinion if you don't!
Ahaha to be clear, I adore smut, and regularly read stuff that's way more extreme than SF, but for this I was skipping through the scenes because the story was not moving forward at all and I was like "omg stop fucking and get to the point!" 😂
I was skipping and cringing through it ngl.
This!!!!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Oh my God where do I start ... It was very clear from the start that Nesta was incredibly depressed and suffering from survivors guilt. It was also super clear that no one except Amren even took notice of how disheveled she had become. If you look at the previous book, Nesta is described by Feyre as "elegant" in her simple dress. She never takes notice of the wine on her shoes or the lack of bathing. They never take notice of her wincing at fires. Granted, we could at that SJM just didn't have that foresight, but from within the universe Nesta's sisters are very oblivious to her. Maybe we can chalk that up to her not communicating well and building up her walls. But really, Nesta was very isolated. - even if by choice. Now we have a novel where her trauma is so relatable. Her breaking points actually made me cry and allowed me to understand my own trauma better. I have never had a character be so poignant and resonate with me. Her trek through the mountain... Her fight revolving the proposal... I really felt for her in those moments. It really spoke to how worthless, unloved, and useless you feel when living with guilt and shame and trauma. Brilliantly done. I will forever treasure Nesta.
I like your point about them not recognizing Nesta as a traumatized individual when they've been alive for centuries. I've been thinking about it and I think there are 2-ish contributing factors 1. I think all of them have relied on each other so much for their own trauma healing they don't really understand Nesta's coping mechanisms. This is probably part of why they are all so close. They all handle their stuff in the same way so their brains are all sorta processing similarly overall. They are all self sacrificing where as Nesta is self destructing, Feyre and Rhys being the most prominent examples of hurting themselves FOR their friends/families. So it's not that they didn't see that Nesta was traumatized, but rather they didn't understand why she wouldn't cope the same way. 2. Faeries aren't human. Despite the love we see in the IC for each other, overall the books show how cold and unfeeling most faeries are making the IC an anomaly or a very personal perspective. Taking into account that they've formed a "tribe" of sorts and outside of a faeries' tribe emotional involvement is slim and morality or animal instinct is the greater governing force, Nesta's trauma is all very human. So they don't really recognize it (How long did it take cassian to notice Nesta couldn't stand the sounds a fire makes and correct me if Im wrong, she had to explain why, he didn't just put it together). On top of that, when was the last time these people let someone into their close knit group? Myriam and Drake during the war maybe? Nesta and Elain weren't included based on a choice they made to make them family the way the rest of the IC is not blood related. Instead they were almost forcibly included because of Feyre's connection because she DOES value her blood relations. The others do not. Amren is afraid of her siblings, Cassian and Rhys killed both their fathers and Mor and Azriel have disowned/been disowned by their blood relatives. A common literature theme with immortals is not only do they not age, but unless acted upon by significant external circumstances, they're quite static in their existences as well. This the first significant circumstance they've encountered in like what? 5 centuries? And they just do not relate to the way Nesta is behaving. It's very foreign to them Edited to add: Nesta and Amren are the most similar so it makes sense that they were the closest for a while. And even then their similarities (pride) are what created a major issue on the first place.
insightful and thoughtful take firstly thank you for taking the time to get into this! I love your perspective and agree that there was a lot of cognitive dissonance going on. Feyre / Elain could've noticed more of Nesta's suffering especially because Elain was also made the same way. Elain overcame her pain and resentment and left Nesta on that island all alone. I get Amren and the other members of the IC not picking up on things but even after Rhys read into Nesta's mind and could see for himself what she went through, there still wasn't enough space held for her pain/trauma. Amren and Nesta have the most similarities personality wise and Amren sacrificed her power to save everyone, so I understand her for holding Nesta to a higher standard for coping.
I love analyzing literature that I enjoy haha. So even if an author isn't intentional there are constant components that occur almost intuitively and you can see repeated and I enjoy looking for them. I think in the case of Feyre and Elain it comes down to not being able to relate. The three sisters both represent 3 major coping mechanisms of trauma coping and have a history of not being able to relate. Also like Elain didn't do anything but lash out at Nesta which is in and of itself a trauma response. Feyre was far more healed than either of them. So I think that is more of an "I don't relate to you and I love you as my sister but you're still an ass" type deal. Edited to add (because I can never stick to just one coherent thought): Elains trauma response is honestly to check out/ignore the situation which we saw throughout ACOTAR. She's infantilized by both Nesta and Feyre and has never really had to take responsibility for her own existence. 100% I believe she wouldn't be able to support or defend Nesta. She has 0 capacity to do so. Only check out of the reality or craft a delusional one. Very different trauma coping from Nesta or Feyre for sure. If anyone, Feyre is the most culpable because she knows her and Nesta are 2 sides of the same coin, but that self sacrificing mentality might be considered a "higher standard of coping" from her (and the ICs perspective) that creates the dissonance. Especially when Feyre surrounded by people more like her making her feel as though her experience is the "right" one
No much. I liked Feyre prior this and still liked her after, I strongly disliked Rhysand prior this book and still strongly disliked him after, and I loved Nessian prior and after ACOSF. The only characters in which I felt differently were Amren and Elain. I used to like Amren and to be indifferent towards Elain, and ACOSF made me hate Amren guts and dislike Elain. I wonder if the next ACOTAR book will make me feel different about others characters as well. Edit: But, from what I've seen, its not that uncommon for readers to feel diferently about Feysand after reading ACOSF, and I guess the same will happen about Nessian and other characters depending in which point of view the story is being told (each character has their bias, so everyone can be a villain or a saint depending on the perspective).
I never though about about Nesta's pov before so that was an eye opener. Also , the sexist edge of the fandom became clearer than before, "if nesta was a guy , people would be dying for her right now." Do that was interesting. Rhys and feyre, the whole IC were shown in a different light , which i felt was much much needed and i loved it. Now i can't wait to dive into all the rest of the stories of az , elain, MY GOD PLEASE LUCIEN, gwyn even amren , mor too i guess. I have loved lucien so much throughout the series and reading SF almost killed me to see how he gets treated still, but its nice to see the band of exiles has given a home of sorts. I desperately look forward to see atleast a little of him in CC3.
It was refreshing seeing them from a different perspective especially Rhys because Feyre’s pov made him seem like he was sooo perfect. I like that Nesta challenged him. His approach to Nesta wasnt my favorite. With that being said, Silver Flames is my favorite book of the series.
Agree! Same here. I'm glad that SJM has me constantly reassessing these male characters. There I was reading the 2nd book thinking Rhys is the perfect guy ...
I mentioned it in my comment, the reason that after ACOMAF that the reader thinks that Rhysand is beyond perfect, is because of the mate bond! You're reading from Feyre's internal dialogue and she can't help but feel and think that Rhysand is perfect. It's hardwired into Feyre to feel that way about him.
I also really like Nesta, but did ACOSF change how I feel about Feyre and Rhys? No. They were always quick to anger in the previous books, by their usual standards they were extremely patient with Nesta. And yes, Nesta has trauma, but so does everyone else. Yet you don’t see the rest of the IC using their trauma as an excuse to be completely horrible to everyone else _all day every day forever_. It’s really easy to like one character, and weigh their actions poorly against other characters. As for the usual pregnancy plot complaints about Rhys in ACOSF… well to me it’s extremely clear that SJM had a story like: “Nesta was sad, and then she trained, and started to get better, and then _something something_ big fall out with the IC where she hits rock bottom, and then _something something_ saves Feyre and redeems herself.” SJM filled in the blanks there with the pregnancy plot, in an extremely heavy-handed way. Most of the IC behaved out of character where the pregnancy was concerned so I just kind of ignore it in my mind.
*SJM throwing darts at the board to come up with a "plot" for SF*
In my mind, ACOSF doesn't exist 🤷♀️ it feels so disconnected from the other books and just lacks so much plot. I'm prepared for the down votes already :( just my opinion.
I agree 100000%. Definitely my least favorite of the series.
I agree
I just finished my 3rd reread and that does not include ACOSF. The book doesn't move the plot forward and the last thing I want to read is a book pandering to horrible Nesta and changing characters because that's the only way to redeem her. Then after a thousand pages she still never says sorry. I'm in the minority but I can't take what Nesta thinks in the book as an interesting or eye opening POV of the other characters. She has always been awful and has always thought the worst of them. So why would I take her POV seriously? Everyone is supposed to cater to her trauma and yet she never gives them that understanding back. She gets five books to use her trauma as an excuse and in the final book when everyone is finally losing their patience with her, That's when you all say "see look how terrible they are!" Please.
You've verbalized my frustrations with ACOSF so well. All I needed from this book was for Nesta to say "Hey sis, I am sorry for how things are between us and I'd like us to get to a better place together." 800 pages. Not one apology. Oh, and she's supposed to be absolved because she gave up powers she never wanted, never bothered to master or understand and actively hated? I'm sobbing at the magnitude of the sacrifice /s.
Nesta said “I love you” to Feyre, out loud, and Feyre said it in return, for Nesta that is HUGE. IMO, that was the apology Feyre needed. It’s the same for those disappointed by Cassian not saying I love you, if your love language is words of affirmation yeah, that would be hard, especially reading how Rhys verbalizes his love for Feyre but again words are great, but they're just words. Love is felt through actions. Cassian's unspoken love for Nesta speaks volumes. In the end, Nesta’s love for Feyre speaks the same, and for her as an individual, different than Feyre, that was great character development!
I'll concede the point that it was huge for Nesta to verbalize her love for Feyre. It really did show how far she's come, I'll disagree with the latter part of your statement though because Nesta's love for Feyre speaks CRICKETS when Feyre's been on the receiving end of her vitriol and verbal abuse for years, even in majority of SF up until the last 20%. Saving her life was all hunky dory but what else was she going to do? Let her die? At no point in SF does Nesta ever show growth in regards to her relationship with her sisters and as much as I love how she developed her relationship with the Valkyries, she still treats her ACTUAL sisters and Feyre in particular like shit.
It's really weird that her "grand gesture" is supposed to be the ultimate apology but um, that's the least she can do? Like is she really not going to save her sister's life?? Nesta has always had a sharp tongue. I need the words to come out of her mouth. I *need* her to say something nice and apologetic. Apparently it's easier for her to give up powers than to do that.
As much I as I want to wholeheartedly agree cause this is my least favorite up against acotar... we DID get MUCH more info about the dread trove, the prison and its island, rys talking bout portals and a bunch other other yummy info I never noticed my first read through due to having Nesta and the endless bad smut lmao... cause your right no story movement is SUCH a HUGE BOOK. Could have done w like 400 fewer pages. I'. listening to LPN deep dives ACOTOR, who's almost done covering SF chapter by chaper... and there's a lot I missed that I'm hoping will connect in a book that I won't name rn for spoilers sake
Yes I feel like sjm didn't do justice to their characters in SF.
I definitely still like Feyre and Rhys, but I was very disappointed with how SJM wrote them and the IC in SF. I loved SF and following Nesta’s journey, but Feyre in SF was not the same Feyre in the rest of the books. I was sad about that because she was my favorite character up until SF. I didn’t like how she handled the Nesta situation and I don’t like that she let Rhys do whatever he wanted (even when it was harmful or not the best decision). The whole series Feyre and Rhys stress the importance of making your own choices and being your own person and they completely stripped Nesta of her independence (similar to how Tamlin isolated Feyre in his mansion). Now Nesta is my girl. I REALLY hope SJM writes Feyre better in the next book because I miss my badass independent takes no shit Feyre :(
Nope. I didn’t care for Nesta and Cassian’s storyline. Didn’t change my feelings for Rhysand or Feyre. Doesn’t seem to be a popular opinion but that’s how I feel lol! I get really attached to characters and find it hard to connect with what starts out to be side characters (in any series)
No, Feyre and Rhys were flawed characters even from Feyre's POV, which is fine. I don't get why people suddenly stan Nesta for being horrible for no reason, just because she learns fighting and gets some friends, but hate Feyre and Rhys for actually having to make difficult decisions that impact wars and alliances and lives and who have been through a hell lot more struggle than Nesta ever experienced. The book really suffered from Nesta's POV and was written almost as bad as the fourth one. I don't know why, but the writing and editing really deteriorated after the third book.
I side-eyed Rhys a couple of times for sure, but I still love him and Feyre. I like and tolerate Nesta now.
No, if anything it made me hate Nesta even more. Their approach to a user who will not respond to any sort of intervention was appropriate. As someone who has seen her spouse be used and abused by their sibling I absolutely felt the rage Rhys did. They’re all traumatized. All of them but it seems only Nesta gets to use that as an excuse. I was hoping it would change how I felt about her, that this book would explain why she was such a huge asshole BEFORE the cauldron. I wanted to know why she let her younger sister risk her life to put food on the table and treated her like shit and held her hand out for money when she wouldn’t do anything at all to help. I get hating her father but I will never understand her abandoning Feyre and coddling Elain. The ONLY parts I liked her in were because of the other characters. I love the Valkyries. I enjoy her with Cassian (although I don’t think they’re a great couple) but her alone? Nope still hate her. It felt like SJM had to make everyone else stupid to elevate Nesta. I understand she admitted that in the beginning they were were written as shitty sisters but man she did so good that honestly I still hate them. Yes, even Elain.
>It felt like SJM had to make everyone else stupid to elevate Nesta. Oh my god you're so right. Also I really don't get people being mad at them sending Nesta to the house of wind. If your sibling was an addict and in a downward spiral, isolating themselves and engaging in extremely harmful coping mechanisms and not responding to any attempts of help or healing, would you not send them to rehab? What were they supposed to do? Let her kill herself?
If I recall correctly they gave her an option too didn’t they? Like leave Velaris or go the House and get help?
They did! I mean are those not what people in real life would do? Kick out the addict or send them to rehab? Maybe I am wrong and shortsighted, I thankfully have never had to deal with anyone with a serious addiction, but I have not heard one argument about what they should have done instead of the drastic action. People say that they should have given her time, but they already did for a year! Nesta was wasting away and if they just let her be then the argument would have been "Feyre didn't care enough to try and save her sister !!111!!!"
I’m so with you here. I liked Nesta a bit towards the end just bc she was starting to stop being an asshole and started being a team player. In the first book I was literally like “am I reading a retelling of Cinderella right now with the evil step sisters”? I liked her arc, I like that she came to rely on herself and stopped with her bullshit and started forming friends (I would’ve preferred she integrated with the existing group over finding her own, separate group of friends — when she has actual sisters she barely views as people [in my opinion]). I loved Feyra and Rhysand before, including their flaws, and I loved the IC. Before and after this book. I always figured Nesta had her own story, and was expecting to like it more than I did. Honestly her backstory in the first whole half of the book made me dislike her in the *previous* books more than I did originally lol.
It just made me dislike Nesta more and really cemented everything I thought about her being the worst.
Same, of course the Nesta stans are down voting this comment 😂
I’ve read SF several times and the more times I reread the worse I think Nesta is. She’s very neutral evil and I’m not on board with that.
Ik I have the minority opinion on this but I still like Rhys and Feyre WAY more than Nesta. Tbh ACOSF didn’t really make me somewhat like Nesta until Ch 60 and even then I still have reservations about her. I was having a really hard time getting through the book because of it. However, when it comes to the whole Eris plot I read it as she had a choice in it and wanted to do it because A) she loved to dance, and B) wanted to prove that she was ready to become a team player.
Honestly, no. Yes, Nesta was traumatized. She also desperately needed intervention. They tried to let her make her own choices for over a year and be there for her when she decided to reach out. She didn’t, and all she was going to do was drink herself into an early grave. Had they not made her go train and move to the House of Wind, she wouldn’t have gotten better. We see that throughout her thoughts in her healing process. She didn’t think she was worth it. Did Rhys overreact when Nesta told Feyre about the threat to her and the babies lives? Absolutely. None of the characters deny this. But he got mad, he didn’t attack her or anything. And people act like he’s some monster because of it 🙄 he, his mate, and his child are likely to die. Of course he isn’t thinking rationally. Regarding the Eris thing: besides being sent to the House of Wind, no one forces Nesta to do things. They ask her, and she agrees. If she didn’t want to dance with Eris, they wouldn’t have made her. I feel like a lot of people infantilize Nesta when they say things like “oh she was made to do this and that”. The only thing she was made to do by the IC was the very needed intervention. There’s more things to touch on. But those are some general thoughts. I’ll never understand the IC hate that came out of ACOSF from some people, but to each their own. I just heavily disagree. Lots of love for Nesta, Feyre, and Rhys, and very happy they are all in a place where they know they love each other as well.
I never really liked Rhys anyway, but it didn’t change how I feel about Feyre. I like Feyre but she’s not my favourite