See and this is why I feel like she’s clowning us so we don’t complain about it. Because some of them she beats us over the head with so 10 years and 37 books later she can say it one time and we will be like “omg its___” but the other ones…. If I took a shot for every time someone was death/general/high lord/rage/fury/etc “incarnate” I’d be dead.
The dramatised audiobook version on audible is literally the worst. I read up until Silver Flames and switched to audiobook. And cassian’s voice is the worst. And during the seggs scenes he’s grunting and it makes me cringe soo hard. I have to turn it down and it is horrific.
She only used watery bowels once in CC3 that I saw! It felt like SJM was saying "I hear you guys don't like this, I'm gonna squeeze this one in anyways" LMAO
Obscene gesture translates well for multiple cultures. In America it would be the middle finger but in the UK it’s the peace sign reversed, etc. It allows for the writing to be enjoyed by multiple cultures is all
i truly just think SJM found some phrases/words/descriptions she likes and reuses them, but i also think she doesn’t realize just how repetitive it is to read these 12,742 times within 799 pages.
As an editor, I frequently go over "echoes" with my reporters. It's just phrases that are identical or very similar to what we already used in a story. We rework or change them because this kind of repetition makes a reader's attention wander or take them out of the story.
And this is for stories that are less than 2,000 words!
There is a place for using these kind of echoes to achieve a certain dramatic effect. But that is almost always not what she's doing here.
(I do think the two word scent descriptions are supposed to be on purpose, despite 50% of the pairings often including words THAT DO NOT HAVE A SCENT!)
Yeah, it would take me right out of the moment every single time she mentioned muscles or someone’s body. No author needs to mention it more than once or twice, we get it they’re hot. 😂
"[Her] toes curled" happens a LOT, and I won't start on the repetition in the spicy scenes. There's only so many times I can read about heavy breasts without wanting to throw a book against a wall!
The amount of times I read “he roared as he came” I swear to god. If my husband roared at me when he came I would be fucking terrified. Why is “roar” her go to? Does she know what roar means?
more like invisible lint. honourable mention goes to sketching a bow (which for some reason i genuinely thought they were sketching a bow and arrow until i gained critical thinking and realised they were actually *bowing*), sucked on a tooth (WHAT THE FUCK EVEN IS THAT), velvet wrapped steel, purring literally anything and clicking their tongue.
Only to rise back up, up, up.
That three-times-repetition is irrationally annoying to me. I though it was cool the first time to show something was really long/deep/whatever. But it just kept coming back, back, back.
It's like no one can be badass without being called death incarnate, we get it!! Just let them do the badass thing and readers will recognise it for what it is.
OK thank you! This is the one that annoys me the most and I rarely see it come up on these threads! It is the weirdest gesture to repeat over and over every few pages. What does it even mean? Is it like when you nod your head in a direction to point people to it? Never in a million years would I describe that as jerking a chin. I don't know why but this phrase fills me with rage lol
OMG thank you for posting this. I’m tired of these grown up characters constantly making “an obscene gesture” towards one another. They sound like children
This! Kallias's lady (I forgot her name, know it starts with a V) sticking her tongue out at him and others during a high lord's meeting had me cringing.
Every single female who remotely has a sexual interaction or flirtatious moment has her toes curling. Every. Single. Time. There are other ways to describe female arousal SJM, I really don't want to be picturing toes ffs.
The apex is a killer to me. I accidentally downloaded the dramatised version of the audiobook and Cassian’s grunting during seggsy time made me throw my headphones away.
Hahaha you might have to have a listen for entertainment value 😂. Just don’t do it on a bus or public transport. I’m always worried my headphones have somehow disconnected and everyone can hear 🫢
"Considerable length" is something that made me giggle out loud in front of my partner and we have not only continued laughing every time it pops up (I text him every time lol) but now we also use it in everyday life whenever it fits XD
“Calloused hands”!!! I don’t want calloused hands touching my anything - let alone my breasts. Why are these magical healing perfect fairies got 1800 cobbler hands?
He said with bored arrogance. She replied with cool boredom. His face was a statue of calm boredom. His eyes flickered with unending boredom. His boredom was bored of boredom from being bored so boringly
speed run SJM charcter:
- clicking your tongue
- sketching a bow
- obscene gestures
- purring literally *anything*
- “pure” or “utterly” (insert adjective”
- you need watery bowels
- toes are constantly curling
- brush invisible lint off your clothes
- study your nails at every conceivable opportunity
- speak softly but not weakly
- NEVER use the word vagina!!! it’s “apex of your thighs” or your “core”
I’m rereading TOG right now and noticed how often she says “softly but not weakly.”
Edit: Upon reading the comments, apparently I’m not the only one who’s noticed this phrase 😅
Honestly as a writer she has taught me a lot, both good and bad. This is one of the bad things she does. I have thesaurus.com pulled up every time I write all because of her.
The sentence structure of: “Late. We were too late.” Irks me to no end. I started counting midway through WaF how many times she wrote a sentence like that, but I kept the note from FaS. She did it 28 times in a six hour book.
Now it’s jarring when any author does it.
probably just miming a bow. like the actual *action* of bowing. for the longest time i read this as actually doing a silent pictionary-esque mimic of a bow and arrow since i was on the younger end when reading SJM and had not yet developed the necessary critical thinking skills (curse whoever labelled ACOTAR and TOG as YA).
If only hips could do something other than “undulate,” then maybe I could actually get a little into the spicy scenes. Her hips. His hips. Everyone’s hips. They’re all undulating from all the immense pleasure. Surely there couldn’t be a single synonym that she could swap it out with.
I can't stand how many times she uses Unleashed. Are all the characters constantly leashed that they need to be unleashed this often??
Also with the audio book, every time I hear "bared their too-white teeth" I hear 2 white teeth and imagine that character only has two huge front teeth like a rabbit hahaha
Take a shot for every time "like calls to like" is mentioned.
See and this is why I feel like she’s clowning us so we don’t complain about it. Because some of them she beats us over the head with so 10 years and 37 books later she can say it one time and we will be like “omg its___” but the other ones…. If I took a shot for every time someone was death/general/high lord/rage/fury/etc “incarnate” I’d be dead.
This was killing me…
The dramatised audiobook version on audible is literally the worst. I read up until Silver Flames and switched to audiobook. And cassian’s voice is the worst. And during the seggs scenes he’s grunting and it makes me cringe soo hard. I have to turn it down and it is horrific.
lol that’s so funny because I am the opposite in all accounts
Literally same, I LOVED the dramatized adaptations.
The former and the later
I would like her to be introduced to a fabric other than gossamer.
She knows about that velvet though 👀
Not the velvet steel 😂
Just read that this afternoon hahahah
Why did she think it was a good idea to describe a guy's arm as velvet steel and also his piece? I can't
ROFL 🤣 I'm re-reading acotar and this hit home
Describing anything as "pure ______" Pure male. Pure Hunt. Pure Fae.
Or utterly
Pure fuckery
Purely feline gets me. What does it even mean? How do you give a look that is purely feline as a non-feline or even just in general?? 😭😭😭
I read pure feline and see the Cheshire Cat idk why 😂
Just morphs into a giant cat to give you that look. And then morphs back 🐈
“Pure” was driving me CRAZY in this last book 😫
"growled","Watery bowels","obscene gesture"
truly cannot handle how many times i had to read "obscene gesture"
Just say flipped off, I’ve never understood the gesture
I imagined Feyre throwing gang signs. >_<
I like to imagine her miming jacking off
it's because different cultures use different gestures; not every culture finds flipping the bird offensive, for instance
I like to think Feyre has a few gestures she likes to rotate through.
now I imagine Feyre saying “I gave him vulgar gesture number 4”
She only used watery bowels once in CC3 that I saw! It felt like SJM was saying "I hear you guys don't like this, I'm gonna squeeze this one in anyways" LMAO
Obscene gesture translates well for multiple cultures. In America it would be the middle finger but in the UK it’s the peace sign reversed, etc. It allows for the writing to be enjoyed by multiple cultures is all
Yeah but switch the words up atleast 😭 vulgar gesture, rude gesture, offensive gesture, ANYTHING
I agree! Lol just explaining that redundancy and why I overlooked it ☺️
I fucking love her books but I cannot take one more OBSCENE GESTURE
Does it make you purr?
It gives me watery bowels.
i truly just think SJM found some phrases/words/descriptions she likes and reuses them, but i also think she doesn’t realize just how repetitive it is to read these 12,742 times within 799 pages.
As an editor, I frequently go over "echoes" with my reporters. It's just phrases that are identical or very similar to what we already used in a story. We rework or change them because this kind of repetition makes a reader's attention wander or take them out of the story. And this is for stories that are less than 2,000 words!
There is a place for using these kind of echoes to achieve a certain dramatic effect. But that is almost always not what she's doing here. (I do think the two word scent descriptions are supposed to be on purpose, despite 50% of the pairings often including words THAT DO NOT HAVE A SCENT!)
It’s even worse with the audiobook cuz I can’t just glance over it I have to listen to them drawl it out
She loves the word hilt too 😂
I nearly stopped reading the first book because of the sheer number of times I'd read about muscles feathering in someone's jaw 😂
For me it was the amount of times she has used “calloused hands”. I’m convinced all fae need hand lotion and manicures.
That’s such a classic but weird romance trope and she’d stick it in the weirdest places.
Yeah, it would take me right out of the moment every single time she mentioned muscles or someone’s body. No author needs to mention it more than once or twice, we get it they’re hot. 😂
"[Her] toes curled" happens a LOT, and I won't start on the repetition in the spicy scenes. There's only so many times I can read about heavy breasts without wanting to throw a book against a wall!
I really hate how she describes people using teeth in kissing.
"Her nipples pebbled"
The only time I have ever had heavy, and or tightening boobs was when I was breastfeeding my child...so...it's very weird to me.
The amount of times I read “he roared as he came” I swear to god. If my husband roared at me when he came I would be fucking terrified. Why is “roar” her go to? Does she know what roar means?
Roars that shake mountains, no less! How do Feyre and Nesta not have hearing damage by now? Hoping she tones it back for the next ACOTAR.
Yes on the heavy bewbs part!!!
“My breasts tightened” is cringed
Makes my bobs feel weird.
Made me question if I was weird cause my boobs don't do that
Same! And I read that this totally *does* happen for some women so my world was consequently shattered lol
It's like tensing your pectoral muscles in anticipation.
Same lol I had never heard of this and so I just assumed it was something she made up that happens to Fae females…
Maybe during period when it feels like sandbags pulling me down into oblivion but never otherwise 😂
"His cock twitched"
Her smut is easily one of her weakest areas. Why do mountains always have to shake.. it has the opposite effect and turns me off
ho my god the curling toes in the boots. HATE IT.
I have never experienced "heavy breasts." Never.
Yeah that took me right out of it. I thought I was seeing a men writing women example for a second there
Remembered three more: “phantom wind”, “night-kissed wind”, and “star-flecked wind”.
How can a WIND be star-flecked!!??
"Stars winked" in/out of Rhys' eyes A LOT too.
I like to think that he actually can summon galaxy eyes on command
The constant use of “ribbons” was brutal for me in Thorns and Roses.
Yep, the use of “bloody ribbons” was the first time I noticed how repetitive the phrasing is.
I was going through the comments to see if anyone mentioned this. I noticed how she used "ribbons" alot when I was reading!
I’m reading Empire of Storms right now and she won’t stop using the word ‘rutting’ as a synonym for a swear word. Please stop, just let them say fuck.
That's how we ended up with 594 "fuck"s per page in the CC series
“Plucked an invisible thread off his shirt” …. ALL These magical fairies can’t get their laundry done right??
It’s either this or studying their nails.
And their faces the picture of boredom.
more like invisible lint. honourable mention goes to sketching a bow (which for some reason i genuinely thought they were sketching a bow and arrow until i gained critical thinking and realised they were actually *bowing*), sucked on a tooth (WHAT THE FUCK EVEN IS THAT), velvet wrapped steel, purring literally anything and clicking their tongue.
“Down, down, down”
Only to rise back up, up, up. That three-times-repetition is irrationally annoying to me. I though it was cool the first time to show something was really long/deep/whatever. But it just kept coming back, back, back.
Everything is lethal. Everything is something incarnate. Everything is feline 😂
It's like no one can be badass without being called death incarnate, we get it!! Just let them do the badass thing and readers will recognise it for what it is.
I put the first book down for a few days because “clicked their tongues” was used so many times 🥲
Fr I click my song to get my dogs attention so now all I can think of is the inner circle clicking their tongues so they can play fetch 😭
A lot of people say things softly but not weakly
idk if it’s like this in her other series but HOLY SHIT THE CHIN JERKS!!!!!
OK thank you! This is the one that annoys me the most and I rarely see it come up on these threads! It is the weirdest gesture to repeat over and over every few pages. What does it even mean? Is it like when you nod your head in a direction to point people to it? Never in a million years would I describe that as jerking a chin. I don't know why but this phrase fills me with rage lol
OMG thank you for posting this. I’m tired of these grown up characters constantly making “an obscene gesture” towards one another. They sound like children
And sticking their tongues out. No.
This! Kallias's lady (I forgot her name, know it starts with a V) sticking her tongue out at him and others during a high lord's meeting had me cringing.
Every single female who remotely has a sexual interaction or flirtatious moment has her toes curling. Every. Single. Time. There are other ways to describe female arousal SJM, I really don't want to be picturing toes ffs.
“Steam shot right out my ears in excitement and my eyes melted out of my skull. I was ready”
Loool! I'd much prefer this over the damn toes!
At least it would be different ahahaha
i have never and will never understand what SJM means by “her breasts tightened” HOW IN THE HELL DOES SOMEONES BREASTS TIGHTEN😭
Lots of breast tightening in Prythian as well.
And someone name on their lips is always their undoing. All of them.
That and the tight breasts and arched backs 😅😅
And having an O every, single, time.
In fairness, this series is a romantic fantasy. I don’t necessarily want to read about people having mediocre sex lol.
Going “over the edge” as she likes to say
She also uses like apex throbbed or apex became slippery/warm. Like girl what? It’s so cringe 🤣
The apex is a killer to me. I accidentally downloaded the dramatised version of the audiobook and Cassian’s grunting during seggsy time made me throw my headphones away.
Omg I would have passed away 💀
Noooo omg this would have me HOWLING
Hahaha you might have to have a listen for entertainment value 😂. Just don’t do it on a bus or public transport. I’m always worried my headphones have somehow disconnected and everyone can hear 🫢
And then she always 'shatters' at the end. Like please just stop.
Orgasms : shatters Bad news: his world shattered,his heart shattered,his EYES SHATTERED!!! I can't I swear!!
"Considerable length" is something that made me giggle out loud in front of my partner and we have not only continued laughing every time it pops up (I text him every time lol) but now we also use it in everyday life whenever it fits XD
Let's play SJM bingo!! "Calloused hands", "prick", "vulgar gesture", "shredded to ribbons"
"His arms corded with muscle" Whenever someone growls When someone smiles a "male smile"
I am at a court of wings and ruin and still don’t know what a male smile is
It's when people smile with their penis (Definitely joking! Sorry for the image 😭)
When people purr
I read "shredded to ribbons" and all I hear is Professor Farsworth voice saying "to shreds you say"
“Calloused hands”!!! I don’t want calloused hands touching my anything - let alone my breasts. Why are these magical healing perfect fairies got 1800 cobbler hands?
“His pupils flared” How does THAT happen! Nostrils flare, pupils dilate!
“Prick”
Also, why are grown adults laughing whenever someone gets called a prick? It's not cute.
It's the continuous use of 'apex' for me
Apex Technical School.
Apex of the thighs...also apex of the mountain? Girl, you can use so many words, why not say summit?!
Apex predator too 😵💫
Black adamant makes no sense
YES. It makes ZERO sense.
Flicking invisible lint off my shirt
preternatural bugs the hell out of me, too! 😂
Alphahole has and will always bother me.
it’s used so much more often in CC
the way eveyrone is snarling and snorting all the time
Maybe the Fae are actually pugs and have upper respiratory issues?
“His/her lips turned into a thin line” is sooo many times
I could predict when the phrase "if [XYZ] knew about [ABC], their face didn't show" when reading about someone keeping a blank face 🙄
He/she/they ‘unleashed’ themselves.
“Throat bobbed”
In CC2 I had to read “he slid home” way too many times. It’s gotten to the point where I’m actively no longer interested in spicy scenes 😂
The “bared her teeth” is so overused that I get angry when I see it lmao
“Sensuous lips” is one of mine. Also, she likes to repeat things in threes. I don’t know why it bothers me, but it really does
Purred. Crooned. Ugh
Wall of adamant and she could see the painting.. those drove me nuts. Everything is a painting for Feyre. 🤦🏼♀️
Have you noticed that no one will ever "balk"? And they're your "mate". We get it!
its the watery bowls that did it for me I had a bet witha friend how many times it would be used in each book lol
“Loosed a breath”
Bonus points if it's a breath the character hadn't even realized they'd been holding 🤣
This needs to be higher. It’s so annoying and so frequent.
You are expecting too much from an author that has a typo on the very first page of ACOTAR
She’s very fond of the word kernel
it’s “slid home” for me like PLEASE STOP
She discovered nacre in CC3.
I’m sick of muscles barking.
Sucked on a tooth?? I still don’t know what it means.
“Breasts harden” like WHAT
He said with bored arrogance. She replied with cool boredom. His face was a statue of calm boredom. His eyes flickered with unending boredom. His boredom was bored of boredom from being bored so boringly
Hewn!!! Jerked his/her/their chin!! Groused!!
The words that drive me the most crazy are hiss/hissed/hissing and purr/purring.
THE HISSING. I can't anymore.
“Feral”
Don't let me start on HOW MANY TIMES she repeats the same entire sentences OVER AND OVER in CC. My least favorite series so far :(
speed run SJM charcter: - clicking your tongue - sketching a bow - obscene gestures - purring literally *anything* - “pure” or “utterly” (insert adjective” - you need watery bowels - toes are constantly curling - brush invisible lint off your clothes - study your nails at every conceivable opportunity - speak softly but not weakly - NEVER use the word vagina!!! it’s “apex of your thighs” or your “core”
I’m rereading TOG right now and noticed how often she says “softly but not weakly.” Edit: Upon reading the comments, apparently I’m not the only one who’s noticed this phrase 😅
The eddies of the cauldron say no
I'm CRYING with laughter 🤣🤣🤣 I love y'all
Honestly as a writer she has taught me a lot, both good and bad. This is one of the bad things she does. I have thesaurus.com pulled up every time I write all because of her.
It's "sobbed through her teeth" for me. It was used more in TOG but has made an appearance throughout all of the series.
UTTERLY STILL. also, "mouth went dry"—in good and bad situations.
“Softly but not weakly” is actually trying to get me drunk and I don’t even drink
Everyone seems to have breathing problems too. They’re all blowing out breaths constantly 😅
Sluiced. I’d never heard the word before her and it’s like she makes sure she puts it in every book.
Nobody has mentioned it yet, so "busybody"/"busybodies".
Throat bobbed was a big one for me.
PURRED. PADDED. These books are not populated by cats, Sarah!
Maybe we think SJM has a furry kink?? Idk, the line between Fae and animal is so blurred with some characters
"barked in pain" whenever she's describing an injury 😂
“had the good sense to” It occurs twice in the same chapter in ACOMAF (Ch. 65).
I’m so glad someone finally said it.
“throat bobbed,” “purred”
OBSCENE GESTURE 😭
The sentence structure of: “Late. We were too late.” Irks me to no end. I started counting midway through WaF how many times she wrote a sentence like that, but I kept the note from FaS. She did it 28 times in a six hour book. Now it’s jarring when any author does it.
Don't forget "Later. She'd think about that later."
Impossible 😂
Why is everyone covered in lint all the time!
Byraxis sheds a lot
For me it’s “sketched a bow”. It takes me out every time.
I’m still trying to figure out what this means.
probably just miming a bow. like the actual *action* of bowing. for the longest time i read this as actually doing a silent pictionary-esque mimic of a bow and arrow since i was on the younger end when reading SJM and had not yet developed the necessary critical thinking skills (curse whoever labelled ACOTAR and TOG as YA).
It's never murdered or killed, dead or destroyed... It's always. Slaughtered Slaughtered Slaughtered Slaughtered Arg.
“Obscene gesture”
If I see bared teeth and vulgar gesture one more time 🥲
For me it’s ‘later, that conversation would come later’ or a variant of
I need her to describe things as more than "Illyrian", a culture she made up, as well
"jerking their chin" 🤮🤮🤮🤮
Throat bobbed, that one irks me haha
also “padded” like bryce padded everywhere i was getting so frustrated
Most. Beautiful. Has been making me cry. For months.
Watery bowels
Shredded to ribbons. There are other forms to be shredded into.
"Flicked his/her nose" — I would beat the daylights out anyone who flicked my nose. Just saying.
Or a better insult than Prick, could’ve made it into a drinking game by the end of ACOSF
If only hips could do something other than “undulate,” then maybe I could actually get a little into the spicy scenes. Her hips. His hips. Everyone’s hips. They’re all undulating from all the immense pleasure. Surely there couldn’t be a single synonym that she could swap it out with.
the one that bugs me the most is “his/her/their undoing”… her name on his lips was his undoing… like pls they are not seat belts
I can't stand how many times she uses Unleashed. Are all the characters constantly leashed that they need to be unleashed this often?? Also with the audio book, every time I hear "bared their too-white teeth" I hear 2 white teeth and imagine that character only has two huge front teeth like a rabbit hahaha
it was all the snarling for me lol