Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I loved the first two books of this series. I liked that they were fresh takes on classic stories and myths, such as beauty and the beast and Hades and Persephone. I loved the characters, got a great sense of their extraordinary strengths alone and as a group, their crushing fears and vulnerabilities, their secret longings, their faults as people and as leaders, and their deep commitment to each other and their courts. The romance between Rhys and Feyre in ACOMAF was stunning. I think about it often and re-read it constantly. Things took a dive in ACOWAR. I hated the ending and have reimagined it many times as anything other than a recycled plot device from ACOTAR. It was totally unbelievable based on the tensions between the High Lords at that time and the outright hostility and decay we have witnessed since the end of the war. I felt that Feyre never really grew into her character. I expected extraordinary magic from her, being Made of the seven High Lords, and she just never lived up to that promise. She repeatedly takes stupid risks, sits out the battles, literally drains Rhys dry, and then expects others save her when he dies (notwithstanding the fact that such a gesture is absolutely against their personal and political interests). Nothing in this book convinced me (or the other characters for that matter—see below) that she was powerful, experienced, or mature enough to be a High Lady in her own right. And then Rhys and Feyre made the stupidest bargain that any rulers could ever make, without any appreciation for how their pact to die together makes them vulnerable to enemies and would leave their friends, their children, and their court in ruin should it come to pass. Which brings us to this book. Spoilers ahead. I really liked Nesta’s journey of self discovery and healing. I loved the friendships she formed with the House of Wind and her fellow Valkyries. I never minded her prickliness, bluntness, or aggressiveness. I loved the dancing/seduction of Eris side plot. I loved how she built herself into a total badass warrior with an awesome magic sword who wins the gauntlet, holds the line, and saves her family at the end. I hated that she had to sacrifice her vast power to do so. It felt totally unfair and even misogynistic (see below). But Nesta started this story as a traumatized drunk and ended it as a hero of legend. That’s something to celebrate, even if the rest of this book is not. It is unforgivable that Rhysand concealed and lied to Feyre about her absolutely non-viable pregnancy. Her soulmate lied to her. Her friends/subordinates lied to her. Her own healer lied to her. In this story preaching “female empowerment,” the highest ranking female in the land is infantilized, her power and control over her body are taken away by persons claiming to love and respect her. That is not love—it is abuse. This is some BS that Tamlin would have done because he cannot stand the fact that HIS female should be informed or make choices about her body or her pregnancy. Or perhaps have the option of terminating it upon discovery that it is non-viable and likely fatal for both mother and child. Women die in the real world (and apparently in fantasy ones too) because of forced ignorance and this toxic male arrogance and entitlement. And rather than taking Rhys or any of the IC to task for their utter betrayal of Feyre’s trust, Nesta gets death marched through the mountains by her mate until she collapses from exhaustion as punishment for telling her sister the truth after Rhysand threatened to murder her and ran her out of town. Which happened after months of humiliation and hostility directed at Nesta despite her obvious deterioration, trauma, and despair. Sadly, this story had too many elements of The Taming of the Shrew. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, extortion, and threats all employed to break an abrasive woman and make her more palatable to the people around her, even to the point where she bargains away her vast power to save her controlling brother in law and frivolous sister from themselves and their cascade of terrible choices. Rhysand never apologized to Nesta for his murderous “overreaction” to Feyre learning the truth. Cassian never apologized to Nesta for his brutish punishment on Rhys’s behalf. He never even tells Nesta that he loves her. Not once in this book. Instead, Nesta convinces herself that she deserves this abuse and all is well. At the end, I found myself frustrated, sad, and somewhat disgusted. Nesta deserves better. And frankly, so does Feyre.