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Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
I have encountered SJM before by reading her Throne of Glass series which i have… opinions of thats for sure. Ive put way to much thought into this book so this will be quite a critical review
The positives first. It wasn’t the worst book ive ever read. The writing was sarah J mass but i don’t mind her style. The stakes were there and Feyre is a female main character i do like. in the first book.
Now the fun
I cant tell exactly what folk/myth sjm was basing this one off. Its marketed as vague beauty and the beast which yes! theres b&tb references and such but i also picked up on Eros and Psyche (the three trials under the mountain) Hades and Persephone (stealing the ‘naive’ or ‘innocent’ maiden. but acomf is also supposed to be H and P so??) The ballad of Tam Lin (this one is obvious) and Cinderella (picking the lentils out of the fireplace) so my brain was kinda going all over the place. I read acotar knowing what happens in the rest of the series so i was keeping eyes on Tamlin this read really solidified that idk WHY tamlin became the villain in the later books. Ive written many a essay about this on tumblr so i wont go too in detail but i feel his vilification very personally as sjm used anger issues to make him an antag (again. i have opinions on this) Also what was the point of Rhysand in this book??? By itself him in acotar makes sense but in acomf and on i just don’t get it. As a reader i can understand his motives and why he did some of the stuff he did but some i again don’t understand at all. We are supposed to forgive rhysand in the 2nd book for the downright gross stuff he did to feyre. The SA (yes thats SA. It wasn’t consensual end of it) was unnecessary as well as the sympathy i know sjm was trying to make me feel. I acknowledge the sexual abuse rhysand went through because of amarantha and its horrific and i feel for him but that does not excuse his gross actions to feyre and the random stuff he tells her. It didnt feel a natural way to gain support from readers.
Acotar could have been a standalone if you take out the hints of the mating bond between rhysand and feyre (again. why?) and i would have given it at least a 3.5 but no sjm does god knows what and why in acomf and beyond. I am not a poor reader who doesn’t understand nuance, i’ve been reading for years the last like 30% of this book just doesn’t make sense. I wont actually be reading acomf just making highlights for the Tamlin fix it fic i plan to make because the character dissolving just doesn’t make sense.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation
Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment, Classism
Moderate: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, Classism
This had been on my TBR for 4 years and idk what took me so long. People either love or hate this book and this series in general and I liked it a lot! I will say the beginning 20% is pretty slow, it took me a couple weeks to get through that and then I read the last 80% in less than 24hrs. I read along with the graphic audiobook and that version shuffles some inner monologue and dialogue around to make conversations flow, so I’d suggest the regular audiobook first and the graphic audio for a reread. I really didn’t find the book spicy at all, I think this could be appropriate for YA readers, but I’ve heard the rest of the series is spicier. Another thing: why does everyone hate tamlin?? He’s a pretty decent guy and takes care of FMC and her family when he doesn’t need to. I can see the rhys hype, he’s the misunderstood villain bad boy who I predict will be an enemies to lovers in the future and his fan art is🥵. Some of the book is gory and graphic, I would classify this as a dark romantasy with plenty of fluff. I would definitely reread in the future and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series!
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Classism
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Stalking, Death of parent
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Genocide, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, War