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ACOTAR - possible spoilers!

21 replies

ladydimitrescu · 05/06/2023 23:20

First time reading the A court of thorns and roses books, I'm half way through ACOWAF. I'm absolutely hooked, and already sad they will end.
Apparently Sarah j Maas is continuing the series with 3 more books, but no word on any releases.
Anyone else a fan? Please no spoilers beyond the halfway point of book 3!
Also has anyone read her other series, TOG and CC? Heard mixed opinions but will need to fill the Rhys shaped hole in my heart somehow when I've finished.

OP posts:
KatherineSwynford1403 · 31/07/2023 11:09

Absolutely not! I am reading a student dissertation on this right this moment and came on here to see if anyone had discussed it. I've not read any of the books but I have seen the excerpts the student has discussed. Everyone is stunningly gorgeous, like a parallel universe Love Island, and the segments I have read (I appreciate I've only read segments, but I don't want to read any more based on this) are about male domination and female subjugation. No thank you!

ladydimitrescu · 31/07/2023 19:04

KatherineSwynford1403 · 31/07/2023 11:09

Absolutely not! I am reading a student dissertation on this right this moment and came on here to see if anyone had discussed it. I've not read any of the books but I have seen the excerpts the student has discussed. Everyone is stunningly gorgeous, like a parallel universe Love Island, and the segments I have read (I appreciate I've only read segments, but I don't want to read any more based on this) are about male domination and female subjugation. No thank you!

Every book she's written is about empowering female main characters, and you've not even read it 😂 but you sound super fun 🙄

OP posts:
LuciferRising · 31/07/2023 21:27

If you like Rhys you may like Hawk Flynn from From Blood and Ash.

Fitz, although a different character type is wonderful from Robin Hobb series. Less smut in these.

Tatzelwyrm · 31/07/2023 21:31

Actually they descend in to just lots of sex. And get very boring, I dnf the last one

Throne of Glass , however I thought was way better. Good stronger female character. God supporting characters as well.

@KatherineSwynford1403 would love to read your students dissertation

KatherineSwynford1403 · 31/07/2023 21:33

ladydimitrescu · 31/07/2023 19:04

Every book she's written is about empowering female main characters, and you've not even read it 😂 but you sound super fun 🙄

Oh don't be so silly. I read the excerpts that were presented for the purposes of the dissertation as I have clearly stated. I wasn't required to read the whole of the books and based my judgement on that. We all have our own tastes, and because I don't like this you are sarcastically suggesting I am no fun? You don't even know me. How totally ridiculous.

Passerillage · 31/07/2023 21:37

My daughter is on ACOTAR now but definitely preferred the Throne of Glass series. She is mid teens so a bit young for it, but it seems a bit joyless and heavy maybe? Compared to the ToG, anyway. I’ve read bits and it seems a bit silly but no more silly than the fantasy I read at that age and definitely better female role models!

LuciferRising · 31/07/2023 21:41

Passerillage · 31/07/2023 21:37

My daughter is on ACOTAR now but definitely preferred the Throne of Glass series. She is mid teens so a bit young for it, but it seems a bit joyless and heavy maybe? Compared to the ToG, anyway. I’ve read bits and it seems a bit silly but no more silly than the fantasy I read at that age and definitely better female role models!

I don't remember the explicit sex in the books I read mid teens!

LBOCS2 · 31/07/2023 21:49

I definitely do - Pillars of the Earth, the whole Earth's Children series and Forever by Judy Blume were passed around from the age of about 13; they were all full of sex! And probably in a less female centric way as well.

I think the ACOTAR books are quite a good example of the genre they're published in - likewise the TOG series. If you don't like fantasy then they 100% will not be for you. I've read a LOT of similar books and they are better than most, but if your usual reading is more on the modern literary classic side (or indeed Richard and Judy's book club) then it might not be for you. Doesn't mean it doesn't have its place.

Passerillage · 31/07/2023 22:11

Oh gosh I do! But it was either quite rapey or just dripping with patriarchy, at least in my preferred fantasy genre. I haven’t quite brought myself to read the worst scenes in ACOTAR yet but in the bits of ToG I read, it seemed pretty good on the “enthusiastic consent” front, at least!

And frankly, if my teen is feeling curious about explicit sex, I’d rather she read this than went looking online.

LuciferRising · 31/07/2023 22:15

I remember Judy Blume being farily tame! Maybe it went over my head! Feel a reread coming on.

Stropalotopus83 · 31/07/2023 22:22

I read ACOTAR first and really enjoyed the series. Then I read the Throne of Glass series and absolutely loved it. So much grittier, huge cast of characters and just a better fantasy series in my opinion. I'm sure people will disagree with my but I think of TOG as a female led alternative to Lord of the Rings - that kind of epic journey feel.

ACOTAR is just a bit too romance focused fantasy for me but I did enjoy the new book - Silver Flames.

I haven't read crescent city yet as I'm waiting for the third book to be out in January so I can read them all together as I believe it is a trilogy.

I did read somewhere that SJM is contracted for three further books - including the third crescent city one out in Jan which means that ACOTAR might be getting two new books at some point. God only knows when though. I don't think TOG will get anymore as I think think that series was finished off nicely but who knows!

ladydimitrescu · 01/08/2023 12:33

Stropalotopus83 · 31/07/2023 22:22

I read ACOTAR first and really enjoyed the series. Then I read the Throne of Glass series and absolutely loved it. So much grittier, huge cast of characters and just a better fantasy series in my opinion. I'm sure people will disagree with my but I think of TOG as a female led alternative to Lord of the Rings - that kind of epic journey feel.

ACOTAR is just a bit too romance focused fantasy for me but I did enjoy the new book - Silver Flames.

I haven't read crescent city yet as I'm waiting for the third book to be out in January so I can read them all together as I believe it is a trilogy.

I did read somewhere that SJM is contracted for three further books - including the third crescent city one out in Jan which means that ACOTAR might be getting two new books at some point. God only knows when though. I don't think TOG will get anymore as I think think that series was finished off nicely but who knows!

I loved ACOTAR, but I have now read crescent city and throne of glass and I agree throne of glass is my favourite, although I absolutely love all three!

OP posts:
ladydimitrescu · 01/08/2023 12:34

@KatherineSwynford1403 it was a thread for anyone who's read and enjoyed it, and you've done neither. All you have done is shit on something someone else is enjoying, and rattled off a load of pretentious crap. Have a day off.

OP posts:
GCSister · 01/08/2023 12:42

It was a thread for anyone who's read and enjoyed it, and you've done neither. All you have done is shit on something someone else is enjoying, and rattled off a load of pretentious crap. Have a day off.

Well you sound pleasant!! Goodness.......

Actually it isn't clear from the thread title that you must only comment if you enjoyed the book. I clicked on to comment that tried to like it as it's genre I like but couldn't finish it. I guess my comments aren't welcome either.

@KatherineSwynford1403 that dissertation sounds really interesting. Certainly more interesting than those I've had to read recently. Sometimes I think I chose the wrong discipline 😂

ladydimitrescu · 01/08/2023 12:46

Seriously, found something I really enjoyed after an extremely rough patch health wise, and thought it would be nice to speak with anyone who also enjoyed them. What was the point in coming on to berate it?
Don't worry, my pleasant self shan't be returning to the thread 😂

OP posts:
Tatzelwyrm · 01/08/2023 12:48

ladydimitrescu · 01/08/2023 12:34

@KatherineSwynford1403 it was a thread for anyone who's read and enjoyed it, and you've done neither. All you have done is shit on something someone else is enjoying, and rattled off a load of pretentious crap. Have a day off.

Where is it stated this is for people who enjoyed it?

Its a discussion thread, and there will be people who have read parts of it, and their view is as valid. Its not great literature, and will most likely be fogotten soon, and will not stand the test of time like the Iliad

@KatherineSwynford1403 is not shitting on it, it is pretty terrible - formulaic and clearly based around existing tales

Tam Lin
Most variants begin with the warning that Tam Lin collects either a possession or the virginity of any maiden who passes through the forest of Carterhaugh. When a young woman, usually called Janet or Margaret, goes to Carterhaugh and plucks a double rose, Tam appears and asks her why she has come without his leave and taken what is his. She states that she owns Carterhaugh because her father has given it to her.

In most variants, Janet then goes home and discovers that she is pregnant; some variants pick up the story at this point. When asked about her condition, she declares that her baby's father is an elf whom she will not forsake. In some versions, she is informed of a herb that will induce abortion; in all the variants, when she returns to Carterhaugh and picks a plant, either the same roses as on her earlier visit or the herb, Tam reappears and challenges her action.

She asks him whether he was ever human, either after that reappearance or, in some versions, immediately after their first meeting resulted in her pregnancy. He reveals that he was a mortal man, who, falling from his horse, was caught and captured by the Queen of Fairies. Every seven years, the fairies give one of their people as a teind (tithe) to Hell and Tam fears he will become the tithe that night, which is Hallowe'en. He is to ride as part of a company of elven knights. Janet will recognise him by the white horse upon which he rides and by other signs. He instructs her to rescue him by pulling him down from the white horse, so Janet "catches" him this time, and holds him tightly. He warns her that the fairies will attempt to make her drop him by turning him into all manner of beasts (see Proteus), but that he will do her no harm. When he is finally turned into a burning coal, she is to throw him into a well, whereupon he will reappear as a naked man, and she must hide him. Janet does as she is asked and wins her knight. The Queen of Fairies is angry but acknowledges defeat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tam_Lin

Tam Lin - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tam_Lin

GCSister · 01/08/2023 12:49

ladydimitrescu · 01/08/2023 12:46

Seriously, found something I really enjoyed after an extremely rough patch health wise, and thought it would be nice to speak with anyone who also enjoyed them. What was the point in coming on to berate it?
Don't worry, my pleasant self shan't be returning to the thread 😂

And that's great!! Reading can be a real tonic.

That doesn't mean you should be rude to those who don't enjoy the same books as you! It would be a boring place if we all liked the same thing.

LBOCS2 · 01/08/2023 13:35

@Tatzelwyrm, what exactly are you referencing with that quoted information from Wikipedia?

LBOCS2 · 01/08/2023 13:37

Sorry, I've just realised. Apart from the name there's not much crossover? I think it's generally accepted that the first book is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, up to a point.

Yusay · 01/08/2023 13:47

KatherineSwynford1403 · 31/07/2023 11:09

Absolutely not! I am reading a student dissertation on this right this moment and came on here to see if anyone had discussed it. I've not read any of the books but I have seen the excerpts the student has discussed. Everyone is stunningly gorgeous, like a parallel universe Love Island, and the segments I have read (I appreciate I've only read segments, but I don't want to read any more based on this) are about male domination and female subjugation. No thank you!

The theme of the first two books is recognising that a fairytale romance can be an abusive relationship. It sounds like the excerpts you have seen are from before the twist where the heroine leaves her abusive controlling boyfriend.

LuciferRising · 01/08/2023 14:33

@ladydimitrescu have you read From Blood and Ash series? Feels slightly similar with similar MMC.

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