here's the entire plot of ACOTAR so you don't have to read 500 pages (a court of thorns and roses)

Hello and Welcome Back to Another Plot Summary Video

Hi everyone, welcome back to another plot summary video. My name is Cari, and thank you for being here today. Before we dive into the world of A Court of Thorns and Roses, I want to mention that if you've come from watching my previous plot summary video for Crescent City, this series is absolutely nuts. Many of you in the comments have compared it to Riverdale, and I must say that it's very much inspired by reality TV and other shows like that. The story is bonkers in a fun way, and making this video was so much fun - even though I genuinely had a great time reading it, despite it being a bit of a mess.

A Court of Thorns and Roses: A Little Different Approach

ACOTAR is a little different from Crescent City because it starts off quite sincere. The author, Sarah J. Maas, wasn't trying to write like the show that Crescent City is inspired by. This story is still going to be fun, but I think it's going to be just a little bit different. It's also very inspired by fairy tales, especially Beauty and the Beast. And I'm going to be real honest with you guys - I liked ACOTAR both the first time and maybe even the second time that I read it. I was kind of new getting back into fantasy, and I know that like it's fun to make fun of it, but I'm not going to do that today. I'm just going to tell you the plot, and you can decide how you feel about it.

A Message from Our Sponsor

Before we start, I want to let my neighbors finish drilling whatever they're drilling into my wall in the meantime, I'd like to give you guys a message from our sponsor. This video is brought to you by Squarespace. If you would like to start an online presence, whether that's through a website, a shop, a blog - Squarespace is there to help you with wonderful templates, analytics, features like comment sections, or adding membership-only zones to your website. They have great tools for monetization if you're opening a shop. So, if you want to try it out and just see what you can make with their features, you can go right now to squarespace.com for a free trial, and then when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com/CaricanRead for 10% off of your first website or domain.

The Story Begins: A Labyrinth of Snow and Ice

Our story begins in the forest. Described as a labyrinth of snow and ice. And our girl Feyre is hunting. Feyre's family is starving, and she's the only one in the family who can provide for them. She knows that if she doesn't bring back some food, they'll go hungry. So, she sets out on her journey, armed with ash wood arrows, which are one of the things that can hurt fairies.

A Glimpse into the Forest: The Wolf and Deer Encounter

As Feyre makes her way through the forest, she comes across a deer, which is scary enough on its own. But then, in the bushes, she sees these glowing golden eyes. She's like no I don't like that. What comes out of the bush is a wolf, which is even scarier than the deer. The wolf is ten times the size of what a normal wolf should be. Feyre is in a position where it's like the only thing she can do is try to kill it or die. Luckily for her, she has some ash wood arrows and knows that ash is one of the things that can hurt fairies.

The Wolf Dies, But Is It a Fairy?

Feyre doesn't hesitate; she just gets ready, shoots the wolf twice, once in the eyeball I think. And to her surprise, it dies and doesn't transform into its original form. She's like okay that was just a weird ass wolf gotcha. So, with no other options, Feyre kills the deer because she can't bring two giant animals all the way through the woods back to her home. She skins the wolf and figures that maybe she can sell its fur at the market or something like that, and try to make some money for her family.

Feyre's Remorse: Killing the Wolf

As Feyre takes a closer look at the wolf, she feels remorse for killing it especially because it was such a beautiful creature. She knows that she has to take responsibility for her actions and face the consequences of what she did. The story is just beginning, and we'll see how Feyre navigates this world of magic and danger.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHello, hi everyone. Welcome back to another plot summary video. My name is Cari. Thank you for  being here. Today we are going to be focusing on A Court of Thorns and Roses. Full disclaimer here:  Crescent City, if you have come here from watching my plot summary for Crescent City, that series is  absolutely nuts. A lot of people in the comments compared it to Riverdale. It is very much  inspired by like reality tv and stuff like that. The story is bonkers in such a fun way and so  making that video, it was very easy to like laugh and make fun of it all - even though I  genuinely had a fun time reading it, even though it was like a mess. ACOTAR is a little bit different  because it starts off quite sincere I think, in that she was writing a fantasy. She wasn't trying  to write kind of like the show that Crescent City is. This is still gonna be fun  but I think it's gonna be just a little bit different. This is also very inspired by fairy  tales, especially Beauty and the Beast. And I'm gonna be real honest with you guys - I liked ACOTAR  the first time, maybe even the second time, that I read it. I was kind of new getting back into  fantasy. I know that like it's fun to make fun of it and I know that it does sincerely have  problems but I'm not gonna - this isn't gonna be a roast. I'm just gonna tell you the plot  and you can decide how you feel about it. Thank you again to the artists that lent me their work,  they will be linked down below. But before Istart, I am going to let my neighbors finish  drilling whatever they're drilling into my wall and in the meantime I'm going to give  you guys a message from our sponsor. This video is brought to you by Squarespace. If you would like to  start an online presence, whether that is through a website, a shop, a blog - Squarespace is there to help  you with wonderful templates to even create your website, following it up with wonderful analytics,  different features like comment sections, or adding membership only zones to your website. It has great  tools for monetization if you're opening a shop. So if you want to try it out and just see what  you can make with their features, you can go right now to squarespace.com for a free trial and then  when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com/ caricanread for 10% off of your first  website or domain. All of that information will be down below and let's get back to the plot. Our story begins  in the forest. Described as a labyrinth of snow and ice. And our girl Feyre  is hunting. Feyre's family is starving. We'll learn more about it in a little bit. And she is the only  one in the family who is able to provide for them. But because it's winter, there aren't any  animals so she has to keep going deeper and deeper into the forest which is obviously a pain because  it's winter, but also it's dangerous because she's getting closer and closer to the border between  the mortal and the fairy realms. And we know from the get-go that fairies are not good. Feyre luckily  has never witnessed it, but there have definitely been stories in their town of people being  kidnapped, people being killed. She is like I don't want to go anywhere near that border if I can  help it, but she's also like we finished our last piece of bread yesterday we're all gonna starve  so let's get to it. She finds a stream and she decides I'm gonna just sit here because chances  are, an animal is gonna come and want to drink. And pretty immediately, luckily for her, she sees a deer.But that's not all she sees. In the bushes there are these glowing golden eyes and she's like  no I don't like that. What comes out of the bush is a wolf, which is scary, but scarier  that the wolf is like ten times the size of what a wolf should be. And immediately Feyre is like  fairy fairy fairy! She's in a position where it's like the only thing I can do is try to kill it or  it kills me. Luckily for her she has some ash wood arrows and ash is one of the things that can hurt  fairies. She doesn't even hesitate, she just like gets ready, shoots the wolf - twice just to make sure.  Once in the eyeball I think. And the wolf dies and it doesn't transform. She kind of was like, if it's  a fairy it would go back to its original form right? So when it doesn't transform, she's like  okay that was just a weird ass wolf gotcha. And she also kills the deer. Because she's by herself,  she can't bring two giant animals all the way through the woods back to her home, so she ends up  taking the full deer and then just skinning the wolf because she figures I can sell its  fur at the market or something like that and try and make some money for my family. And she does  feel remorse for killing especially the wolf because it was like such a beautiful creature  but as she said \"it is the forest and it is winter.\" Feyre gets home and this is where we get some  insight into her family. And on the one hand, the fan art for her sisters contains spoilers - like every single one that I could find - but also I feel like these are very accurate representations  of them. So we meet her sisters Nesta and Elain.And then she has her father, her father used to be  a merchant. They used to be like very well off. He got kind of wrapped up in bad luck, scam, etc.and he lost everything. So now they're living in poverty because he also can't get any work because  there were debt collectors that came and brutally assaulted him and now his leg  is like permanently damaged and so he can barely walk. He's just talked about with a lot of pity but  also just a lot of hate because his daughters are like, you were supposed to take care of us  right? He's a complicated figure, the dad. And Nesta and Elain, I wouldn't call them like evil  stepsister-esque but they're definitely like the older sisters and they're very used to  living kind of the yuppie life so they don't know how to do anything and they don't want to learn  and they just figure that Feyre's good at it so like she can do it. Why should we go hunting when  Feyre's better? kind of thing. It wasn't that Elainwas cruel, she wasn't like Nesta who had been born  with a sneer on her face. Elain just sometimes didn't grasp things. It wasn't meanness that kept  her from offering to help, it simply never occurred to her that she might be capable of getting her  hands dirty. Elain is kind of like aloof but Nesta is like straight up just a pill - she's just  mean. When Feyre comes home, she just had been hunting all day and Nesta's first reaction -  first of all they like didn't even notice she was really gone, they don't seem worried - but Nesta's  first reaction is like \"ew you stink.\" And of course for Feyre to take a bath, she needs hot water but  there's no firewood to warm the water because Nesta didn't want to go chop firewood because  it makes her hands hard. We also learn that their mother wasn't the greatest either. She seemed to  really love their father but she just really loved partying and her friends. She wasn't really  a loving present mother. When she passed away - she died of some illness when Feyre was eight years  old - she calls Feyre, the youngest daughter, to her deathbed and is like Feyre, I need you to make me  a promise. I need you - the sisters - to stay together. That's your job is to stay with the sisters  and protect them. And in this world, promises are like laws so Feyre, even though she very well could  just like leave the cottage because she actually has like skills she could use in the world to  support herself, she is stuck there caring for the family. The next day, the sisters head to town to  sell the wolf fur and to his credit the dad, when he saw the wolf fur, he was kind of like \"that was  too much of a risk\" like he clearly does care about Feyre but like according to Feyre, it's not enough  you know? They're heading into town and they run into these people called Children of the Blessed  who aren't very important in this book but maybe you should pay attention to them, I honestly forget.They're humans but they're like fae obsessed. They're kind of these cult members and they want  to return to the time when fae ruled humans and I'll give you another little quote here for some  history. \"Once, long ago and for millennia before that, we had been slaves to the high fae overlords.  Once we had rebelled. The war had been so bloody, so destructive, that it took six mortal queens  crafting the treaty for the slaughter to cease on both sides and for the wall to be constructed.\" So  yeah, if you look at a map of the world, it is very clearly the United Kingdom and Ireland and like  maybe a bit of France. Think of it as Ireland - fae. Scotland and most of England and Wales -  fae. And then like the bottom bits of England would be mortal and then France is mortal. Does  that make sense? So they are living kind of at the southern tip of England right? But they live right  at the border. But they're still really scared of the fae so everybody wears a little bit of  iron on them. The mortals are still living in fear. Nothing really happens when they go to the village.  She does manage to sell the wolf hide to this nice lady. We also get semi introduced to Isaac  which is basically Feyre's booty call. There is like no love between them, but, you know, they arelate teens - gotta do what you gotta do. I think he has just been arranged in a marriage and so this  is kind of them saying goodbye. They kind of see each other in the market and they're just like...Isaac isn't here often but seems like an okay dude. Now we're back at the house and because  Feyre made like a little bit of extra money from the wolf stuff, she gave her sisters money and they  got to like shop or whatever so they're kind of in a good mood so Nesta even goes and chops wood!  It's like domestic bliss for a second in the cottage. That is, until their door is broken  down and a giant growling shape is standing there. So this thing is described as having - and I forget  this every time I read it, I forget it until I read this singular sentence, but this is how  the beast looks all right: the size of a horse, the body of a cat, the head of a wolf, but with antlers.  How did it get through the door? And this beast is pissed. Feyre, without even  thinking, has like a little knife and like jumps in front of her family and is like...  And this thing is screaming like \"you murderers!\" like he's really upset. And Feyre is like \"okay  this thing can talk, it is fae! we are in deep .\" Like, obviously, but like - But he just  keeps screaming like \"you murderers, you evil people, whatever\" And Feyre is like \"we didn't kill anyone!but let me try and kill you!\" and she like lunges with her little knife and tries to kill the beast.  Obviously, the beast stops her but key point, he doesn't kill her. He very easily could have  just been like *kill* but he didn't so it means he wants to talk. So Feyre finally is like, okay, knife  didn't work, let's have a chat. Who did I kill? And the beast is like the wolf! And she's like oh...  okay I did do that. To her credit, Feyre owns up to it pretty much immediately and she's like why  was that a big deal? And the beast is like that wasn't a wolf, that was my friend. It was a fae.And she's like well I obviously didn't know that or else I wouldn't have killed it duh.  But like oops I sold his skin today at the market so like what are, what are we gonna do here,  like what what's the next step? And the beast is like didn't y'all read the treaty?! Apparently in  that peace treaty that we talked about that like separated the mortals and the fae realms  right? - In that treaty, there is a clause in which if a human attacks a fae unprovoked  (because remember the wolf didn't, the wolf was just there he didn't like lunge at her or anything,  she killed him even before he really saw her) if a human kills a fae unprovoked it's like an eye  for an eye kind of thing so the fae gets to take the human's life. And Feyre is just kind of like  all right, just kill me outside would you? Like let's not get the cottage dirty. And the beast kind  of laughs at her and is like \"for having the nerve to request where I slaughter you, I'll let you in  on a secret human. Prythian (which is the fae) realm Prythian must claim your life in some way for the  life you took from it, so as representative of the immortal realm I can either gut you like swine or  you can cross the wall and live out the remainder of your days in Prythian. And Feyre is like  let me think about that for a second. \"Let me make this clear for you girl. You can either come live  at my house in Prythian, offer your life for the wolf's in that way, or you can walk outside right  now and be shredded to ribbons, your choice.\" Feyre chooses the not being shredded to ribbons option.  And the beast is like okay cool let's go. Feyre's like oh oh okay. And she basically gives them a  quick rundown of how to survive - she's like this is how you divvy up the deer meat, and this is how  you do one of these things, and like also Nesta the guy that you're dating is like totally abusive so  don't marry him because just don't. And then she's just gone. The beast just puts her on a horse  and he walks alongside and here, here our story begins. So obviously Feyre is  planning on making a run for it. She does not plan on living in Prythian and she knows that  if she does live there, the fae will kill her. Like maybe not this beast one right away, but like fae  are really tricky, they're always really playful with their words so the beast said that she had  to \"live in Prythian\" but he didn't say how. So she's like I'm gonna become like some slave or  I'm gonna like live for eternity in a dungeon. So she's like I'm gonna run for it but if she ran  immediately she knew that the beast would just turn around and kill her family so she's like  all right, let's get away from the cottage and then I'll make my big break. In the meantime, she is on  the horse and she decides maybe she can get some information out of him so she just starts asking  the beast all these questions like So what's your power? What's your name? where are we going?And he just like does some weird magic and knocks her out and makes her unconscious for like  a while. She wakes up and all of a sudden it's spring - and remember it was winter when she went to  sleep. So she's like he kept me asleep for months?! No it's not that bad. Because they crossed into the  fairy realm, they entered one of the courts and we'll get it will be described later but  all of the courts have like a different season or you know something like that. So they must have  crossed into the spring court because all of a sudden it's like lovely flowers and grassy fields.  She like comes to terms with the fact that she wasn't asleep for months and so she's feeling  okay but then she checks that while she was asleep he stole the knife that she had hidden away and  she's kind of like yuck he touched me in my sleep and I now don't have a weapon so like  this. They go to a really beautiful manor house that has buttery daffodils and roses  everywhere this is where we learn Feyre's thing. Feyre likes to paint. Feyre is obsessed  with colors, she is like itching to get her hands on some paint so that she can paint this house.  Anyway, they go into the house and there is like a table filled with food and Feyre is like oh  yeah. But before she can like dig in and forget herself,  the beast sits down at the table with a groan and in a snap, in a flash of white light,he becomes a golden haired man. The beast was not a man, not a lesser fairy, he was one of the high  fae, their ruling nobility. Beautiful, lethal and merciless. Okay weird. Weirder still, he  has a mask on. I did not do this - this is a major spoiler but I didn't put his mask on because it's  just disrespectful to the beautiful fan art but just picture this man with a giant gold  mask with like emerald leaves and stuff so pretty much obscuring almost all of his face right? She is  just staring at him in silence. Meanwhile he pops open a bottle of wine and takes a big old gulp  \"as if he needed it.\" And so even though just a second ago Feyre was like freaking out over  how much food there was and she was really excited, again, she's like Feyre, you're in the  fairy realms. She refuses to eat because you're not supposed to take food from fairies right?  Our beastie boy says that it's okay but she's kind of like no, you know, I'd really rather starve  it's okay. And he's like the gates are open to you by the way. Like you aren't our prisoner, you  can leave and live anywhere in Prythian that you want to. And that sounds nice like, oh yay I'm free  to roam but Feyre's like no matter where I go, fairies are going to want to like eat me  so why - no. So then another fairy enters and he doesn't notice Feyre and he just walks straight  over to beastie boy and he's like \"what happened to Andras?\" And Andras was the name of their friend  who was the wolf who was killed. So he is this cute little redheaded fairy and he's basically like  a human girl killed Andras?! Are you serious? And he has one eye that's like golden and magical and it  like swivels around kind of like mad-eye moody, it kind of has a mind of its own, so it must have  detected Feyre and so all of a sudden he whips around and he's like THIS girl killed Andras? Like  of all human girls, like this girl? Come on. And the beastie boy calls a servant over and is like  can you just take her and bathe her please, like get her out of here. As she's leaving, she hears the  fairy - whose name is Lucien - she overhears Lucien say \"dump the girl somewhere, kill her I don't care,  she's nothing but a burden here, she'd sooner put a knife in your back than talk to you or any of us\"  and then beastie boy says \"no not until we know for certain that there's no other way will we make a  move, and as for the girl, she stays, unharmed. her life in that hovel was hell enough.\" And Feyre's  kind of like yay I'm gonna be unharmed but also like ouch, overhearing someone like talk  your shitty house doesn't feel good. After Feyre doesn't stink anymore, she goes back down to the  dining room where we learn two things. Beastie boy's name is Tamlin and also he is probably  hundreds of years old. Anyway, Lucien is also there because Lucien is always there. King of the third  wheel. If I say Tamlin is around, assume Lucien is somewhere nearby. And this is where we get  big big beauty and the beast vibes. Feyre sits down, they give her some food and  \"They watched me, too closely to be casual. Tamlin straightened a bit and said 'you look...  better than before.' Was that a compliment? I could have sworn Lucien gave Tamlin an encouraging nod.  'And your hair is...clean?'\" That sweet talk gets him nowhere because Tamlin ends up explaining to  her like listen, you're free to go wherever you want to, you don't need to earn your keep like  I'm not going to make you work in the kitchens or something, like just live in my house I don't give  a what you do. And Feyre is like if you don't care, then can I just go home? Like doesn't  that make sense? And she's like my family is going to die without me. And tamlin is like do you  think I'm that horrible that I would leave your family, who so clearly depend on you, without any  resources? He's like they're taken care of and Feyre is like well fairies can't  lie... But she's also pissed, she's like why didn't you tell me earlier? Like I've spent the entire day  scared that my family is dying currently and he's like would you have believed me? Like do you even  believe me now? And Feyre is just kind of like.... Like I said, Feyre is just kind of losing her mind. She  assumes she's gonna die any second so she just decides to like get up from the table and run  as if that would work? Tamlin immediately uses his magic or something to like sit her back  in the chair basically and he's like listen girly, I told you your family's taken care of.  If you cross the wall, that ends. You will die and your family won't get all of the stuff that I have  given them so that they can live comfortably. So now she's stuck because her whole life purpose  is to take care of her family but her family is taken care of only as long as she stays away from  them? And she's just like this logic, it's not, it's not clicking, it's not clicking for her. So  the only thing she can do is like sit there and eat. So she does that. As if the meal isn't already  awkward enough, Lucien chimes in - I actually really love Lucien as a character. Just his actions are  described like he's always sitting there leaning in just being like, watching everything go down, so  Lucien's a fun character I think. But anyway Lucien pipes in and he's like \"aren't you happy to be  sitting with two hot fairies?\" Like obviously fae are super attractive so he's like isn't this like  a human dream, you know, like two nice guys like us? He's like do you have some human boy back home?  And that is such a leading question, oh my god. So she's like well I was close with this one guy  and Tamlin and Lucien kind of look at each other and Tamlin's like \"did you love him?\" Feyre  says no. The boys share another weird ass look. And through clenched teeth Tamlin says \"and do you  love anyone else?\" And Feyre just starts laughing at them because this is so weird and she's like is  that what you guys want to know about me? Like you kidnap me and you just want to know about  my love life? Like are you guys cool? And so she just gets up and leaves but as she's leaving she  can hear Lucien say something and then she just hears Tamlin be like \"shut up\" and he cackles so  that went well for all parties involved. The next morning we meet Alis who is Feyre's  lady in waiting. Alis seems to be relatively chill because Feyre set up a big old booby trap  so that if someone were to open her door while she was asleep, it would like make a big noise and she  would wake up. So she was hoping to wake up before anybody else so that she could disarm the trap  but Alis is an early bird and Alis walks in and is like attacked by this thing and she is  just like girl, did you think that was gonna stop a fairy? Like, what are you - calm down! But she's  also like at least you've got some fight in you, like I appreciate that you're a firecracker.  Because Feyre has like nothing to do, she just wanders around the house. She ends up seeing  art on the walls which she likes because she's a painter and so she kind of stops and looks  and all of a sudden she just hears someone go YOU! And it's Tamlin. The boy with zero person skills.Tamlin kind of recovers and he's like would you like a tour of the house? And Feyre's just like  no. And then they get into one of their little fighting matches. They just start vaguely yelling  at each other about like human versus fae stuff when it is revealed that something is wrong with  the magic in Prythian right now. That is why they - as well as Alis, by the way - everybody at the spring  court is wearing masks 24/7. It's not just like a bad fashion choice, there was like some weird surge  of magic. They were having a party, the magic messed up, and now they're like cursed to wear the masks  all the time? Lucien's, by the way, is in the shape of a fox, I would just like you to know, whenever  he's speaking, he is speaking through a fox mask which I love. But yeah Tamlin's basically like  there is some kind of sickness, some kind of blight that is spreading throughout Prythian and so like  I've got to deal with can you like not be an annoying human. I know that I brought you  here against your will, but can you like try to be nice? And that is why his buddy Andras was shaped  like a wolf and was in the mortal realm - is because they were hoping that maybe there might be a cure  or something in the mortal realm. And this sickness has been going on for 50 years. And then Tamlin  very abruptly is just like \"see you at dinner\" and leaves. Okay like again, no people skills but  at least we got some information from him. Dinner is very boring, Feyre steals a knife very slickly  slides it up her sleeve. And then she just like starts asking weird questions about  the fae and Tamlin is like didn't your mom tell you about us? Like apparently moms are supposed to  tell their children about what to look out for for the fae, I don't know. He brings up  her mom basically. And she's like I don't know, my mom died when I was eight. And he actually  seems like not, he's not awkward in this, he is like just very sincerely like oh I'm actually  really sorry to hear that, like, my bad. But Feyre is just like I don't give a and leaves.  So they have had like not a one conversation that has ended well in any way shape or form so far.  Feyre is still really set on escaping now that she has stolen her knife, and she figures her best bet  is to buddy up with Lucien. Because he's like a dick, but he makes jokes, like he's very much still  like \"it'll just be easier if we just kill her Tamlin, like can we please just kill Feyre?\" But at  least he like giggles and stuff so he seems like he could be swayed right? She hears that Lucien is  going to be at the stables and so she decides that she's going to be at the stables too but  she is intercepted by Tamlin who is like \"hey how about that tour?\" Do you want to see the gardens? And  Feyre is like honestly like I would really like to be alone today. Tamlin and he's like okay and  leaves. Feyre heads to the stables to find Lucien and yep, he is there getting ready to go out into  the forest to do his like guard duty whatever. For some reason, Lucien just straight up invites her  to go on patrol with him and she is like what a great idea sure yes! But then as they are  riding their horses, Lucien is like \"so you're here to persuade me to go behind Tamlin's back and help  you get free?\" And Feyre's like you piece of  read my mind. So Lucian is like I admire your balls  Feyre, I really d,o or maybe it's stupidity but since Tam won't gut you, which was my first choice,  you're stuck here. Unless you want to rough it on your own in Prythian which (he looked me  up and down) I'd advise against. But Lucien isn't all that smooth, let me tell you! As they are  chatting, he lets it slip that there is a someone behind the blight, the sickness that Tamlin talked  about with the magic being all funky. He mentions a mysterious \"her.\" Lucien quickly changes the subject  but Feyre is like - oh this boy's got loose lips! So she just keeps peppering him with questions. She's  like I'm gonna get something out of him, he's gonna slip again. How old are you? Where are you from? Is  there by any chance a fae that I can capture and it has to tell me the truth no matter what I ask?  (because she heard about that in like a fairy tale) And Lucien is like oh you mean the Suriel. The  Suriel. And he's like yeah I wouldn't recommend trying to catch one of those because it would  kill you but all Feyre hears is like there must be one nearby if he's concerned so thank you for that  juicy bit of information Lucien. And she's about to like start peppering him again when Lucien is just  like \"don't move.\" The hair on the back of her neck stands u,p like something is very wrong. Don't react  Lucien said forcing his gaze ahead too. No matter what you feel or see, don't react, don't look, just  stare ahead. I might have wondered if this was some kind of horrible joke but Lucien's face had gone  so very very pale. So it turns out they encounter something called the Bogge. I'm gonna call it the  Bogge, I apologize, it's probably the Bog. And it is some kind of creature that can only hurt you  if you acknowledge its existence. It like creeps up to her and it's like Feyre, look at me! And this  thing is nearly impossible to kill but it can kill you, oh baby. Somehow they end up getting away from  it, it kind of gives up on them and they end their little patrol on, dare I say, friendly terms. And  also just to be clear, the reason she asked about the Suriel is because she is certain that there  is some kind of loophole in this treaty where she can find her way back home. She's, you know, always  looking for a loophole smart cookie Feyre. But the good vibes, by the way, are kind of shattered when  they walk into the dining room together and Tamlin is like oh you wanted to be alone today.... And Lucien  looks hella guilty, Feyre's like oh rats. But then Lucien is like \"we saw a bogge\" and Tamlin replies  \"with lethal calm\" where is it? And he just like immediately goes out and hunts it. And Feyre's like  didn't you say that that thing is like impossible to kill and it will absolutely kill you? And Lucien  is like, you are talking about Tamlin. Tammy can kill anything. Like don't worry about him. So  he goes out like the warrior beasty man that he is, to go kill that nasty bogge, so, go tammy. Later  that night, Tamlin still isn't back home and Feyre finds herself, of all things, worrying about Tamlin!She's sitting in her bedroom looking out her window looking at the forest and she's like  What? Get yourself together girl! Like why do you care about this guy who kidnapped you?  And as she's looking at the trees, she sees someone come out of it. But it's not Tamlin. Who is it?Danika. No, I'm kidding it's her dad. Yeah it's her dad. Feyre doesn't even think, she runs out of  the house and she just sprints to the forest line towards her father and all of a sudden something  grabs her from behind and it's Tammy! And he's like where are you going? Normally Feyre is pretty smart  but she basically saw her dad and just like forgot the fact that there are many things  in the forest that probably want to kill her. That thing that looked like her father, it was another  fairy just trying to like lure her into the forest right? Tamlin is basically just like girl, you are  dumb - at least run away in the daytime! And why do you want to go back to that life anyway?  Like what is so great about where you were? And Feyre tells him about the promise that she made to  her mother and Tamlin is like did you not hear me when I said that I took care of them?  They're good. The fact that you are here means that you are taking care of them. They're fine,  trust me. And that's when it kind of hits her that she's like, I'm released from my vow. Like I don't,  I'm finally free. And she like doesn't know how to handle that because for the past 11 years  her entire life has revolved around that promise and so she's kind of like, let me process that...  Returning to the hole there are deadly things in the forest trying to kill her thing - she's like  where are the other guards by the way? And Tamlin is like we don't need other guards while I'm here,  but he also says something kind of cryptic about how he's not supposed to be  in charge. He trained to be a warrior so we kind of, he shows a little bit of vulnerability,  tells us a little bit about himself. He doesn't really want this gig that he has basically.  But Feyre is kind of like but is the forest always deadly, like this seems like kind of a shitty job,  like you have to just keep killing things like what's up? And he basically explains that because  of the blight, the magic is weakening and so all of the wards that would keep the court safe are weak  too and so things keep slipping in and out. And he says things are different now, it's not safe  to travel alone at night. And Feyre asks what else is different now? She asked, trailing him up the  marble front steps. He didn't stop this time. Didn't even look over his shoulder to see me when he said  \"everything.\" And then we get a little montage of Tamlin being moody and distant and going off to  fight the bogge and Feyre is starting to pity him because he seems very lonely and sad and he's in a  position he didn't want and she quote \"wasn't sure why it bothered her so much.\" And so like I said  this is really where we just get probably like hundreds of pages I'm gonna say, of Tamlin being  sad and like begrudgingly doing his job. He just doesn't really want to be there he's very lonely.  It's just him because he's the most powerful so he does everything, poor Tammy right? So that night  Feyre has a pretty bad nightmare and she wakes up and she's shaking and she's just like screw this  I can't fall back asleep, why don't I just wander around the house? As she's wandering around the  house, she is making kind of like a map of all the exits and like all the windows and stuff because  she's still like pretty set on escaping. And this is where we learn something important about  Feyre. Because of everything that happened with her family when she was so young, she actually  never had proper schooling and so she can't read or write. And so as she's making this map, it's like  in a very particular way that like she understands but is clearly not written by someone who knows  how to properly read and write. And as she is walking around making this map she stumbles upon  Tamlin who has just come in and he seems very like disoriented and upon further inspection he's  injured and bleeding. And it turns out that he was out again still trying to kill this bogge thing.So she walks up to him and is like \"hey did you manage to kill that thing?\" and he's like  yeah? But he's still not really like all there. And he kind of looks at what's in her hand and he just  suddenly is like you can't write can you? And Feyre immediately is like ready for some kind of nasty  comment, you know how he called her house a hovel and all this stuff. But it turns out he's like \"that  must be why you're so good at other things.\" And Feyre is kind of like,was that a compliment? LikeI think that was his first nice ish compliment. Damn okay Tamlin keep it going. Because he scored  a bonus point with her, she's like let me take you to the infirmary, get you cleaned up.  And of course they do have like a nice moment for once. This is like the one time they haven't yelled  at each other. The next morning, Feyre is heading down to breakfast when she hears the boys arguing.  Lucien is like what are you doing? And Tamlin is like what are YOU doing? And Lucien says  'there isn't much time and you're just sulking and glowing, you're not even trying to fake it anymore.'  Tamlin suddenly like whirls around he's like 'it was a mistake from the start, I won't follow his  footsteps, I won't be that sort of person so like back off.\" So Lucien storms out and kind  of brushes past Feyre and is like \"you hang out with Tamlin today, I don't want to play with you.\"  They're such babies. Like these people are supposed to be hundreds of years old, they're children.\" Feyre  and Tamlin hang out today. Tamlin complements her wound binding skills. He just keeps going with  the compliments now he's got it down. And then he also kind of has this realization that he's like  no one's ever taken care of you before have they? You've, since you were eight years old, like you've  had to take care of your family. Nobody really cared for you right? And Tamlin gets very saddened  by that, it's quite sweet. And that is when Tamlin leads her to the manor's study. He knows that like  she wants to learn to read and write but he just kind of like leaves her to it? I don't know if  like he doesn't want to embarrass her or what but anyway she just sits in the room trying to read  which is really difficult. She just kind of opens a book and tries to make sounds. And eventually like  the main goal, Feyre wants to be able to write a letter to her family. But as she's in the study,  she finds a mural and this mural is actually depicting kind of the entire history of Prythian  and the mortal realms. There's this cauldron that is pouring gold over the world and it's beautiful,then there's a war with the humans, and then we get kind of a better idea of how the fairy world  is split up. So she is in the spring court but there is also the summer, autumn and winter court.  There's also the dawn, the day, and the night court, right? She goes back to her study desk and all of a  sudden Tamlin just kind of pops out of nowhere and is like oh I would like to help you learn how to  write! And for some reason she doesn't take kindly to this and she's kind of like I don't need your  help blah blah blah. And Tamlin is like whoa buddy I wasn't trying to make fun of your shortcomings!  And the fact that he called the fact that she can't read and write a shortcoming, she gets  so pissed and she storms off and so all the good stuff that Tamlin did for the past couple days,screwed it up with this one word. And now if you are like damn, is there never going  to be any action in this book? Don't you worry it starts to heat up right now. So  Feyre's fuming, upset - she decides I am getting out of here. She hasn't given up right?  And so remember her whole thing talking to Lucien about the Suriel and how she was going to find  a loophole to this treaty and get home? So she decides to go back to Lucien because she's like  he's gonna slip up again right? And she just straight up asks him how would one catch one?  You know that thing we were talking about that you said would kill me? How would one go about  getting one? And Lucien tells her. Very specific details like go get a chicken, go do this and that  is how you will set a trap for the Suriel. I'm not gonna stretch this out because this happens  in literally like one page, Feyre catches it. Hoo-ha. She's a really good hunter. This is a theme  throughout the book, she's actually really good at hunting. And so she managed to catch a Suriel. She  asked the most important question which is like how do I go home? The Suriel is like you can't  go home. Quote - not unless you seek to be killed and your family with you. You must remain here.  And then the Suriel drops a knowledge bomb. Tamlin isn't just high fae, who like lives in a manor house  so like he has servants and whatever and he's kind of like in charge of protecting the land.  He is a high lord of which there are only seven. So the spring court, summer, winter, autumn - he  is the guy. One of the top seven most powerful beings on earth. And so Feyre's kind of like  oh he didn't mention that one. So she's kind of like oh damn. And then Feyre is nice enough to ask  about what they can do about the blight because this isn't a problem that's going to stay in  Prythian, and she's pretty sure that whatever this magic sickness is it's going to spread  to the human realm and the Suriel says \"stay with the high lord, human, that's all you can do.\"  You will be safe, do not interfere, do not go looking for answers after today  or you will be devoured by the shadow of Prythian. He will shield you from it so stay close to him  and all will be right. So that's like bad news for Feyre who is trying everything in her power  to get away from Tamlin the high lord. But the Suriel can't lie so she's kind of like well  okay I guess I'm stuck with you. Then the surreal tells her a little bit more about the blight and  he mentions that the neighboring kingdom of Hybern, which is like on the map it looks  like Ireland right? That is also fae lands. And that king is pretty sick of the treaty and he wants to  overthrow the humans and like wants the fae to be in charge again and he sent spies over to  Prythian or something like that - 50 years ago one of his spies disobeyed - and this sounds like it's  going to be a really important story but then the Suriel, it just starts freaking out. He's like we're  not alone, you have to untie me, I'm going to die, you have to run! Turns out something called the  naga come out and these are just like evil evil beings right? And there are four of them. And they  don't discriminate, they aren't just going to attack Feyre, they're definitely going to attack  the Suriel who is tied up in Feyre's trap still. Feyre does a pretty selfless thing and she wastes  valuable time in which she could be running away and she actually uses her arrow to like cut the  Suriel free of its trap. The Suriel bounces - it's gone, zoomies. So now Feyre has to fight off four  naga all by herself. She fights a really good fight but she's just overpowered and she is pretty much  seconds from death when beastie boy comes in in full beast mode. And he needless to say  rips them to shreds. Saved Feyre's life, that's pretty nice. And as they walk home we get a  sense again of like not only is Tamlin like a really sad person but he's like really  seems like he's carrying a lot of shame. Feyre notices that he looks guilty and shameful and  it seems like he's really embarrassed that his magic is weakening so that he can't protect  people like he should. Like he's a warrior so he always wants to be defending and his magic can't  do that anymore and so Feyre notices that like man, this guy carries like the weight of the world  on his shoulders. He feels really bad and so they don't really talk, but they part on peaceful  terms I would say because he did just save her life, right? After a bubble bath and hot chocolate,  Feyre goes down and joins the boys for dinner. She very subtly lets Lucien know that  she didn't tell Tamlin that Lucien is the one who taught her how to catch the Suriel because  she realizes like he set her up, like again, Lucien is a dick and he still thinks life would be easier  if Feyre was dead and so he told her all of that knowing that she would go try and get it right? But  she's not gonna snitch and so as a subtle thank you, he says \"well you still look lovely regardless  of your hell sent afternoon\" and Feyre laughs and is like I thought fairies couldn't lie - because she  doesn't think that she looks lovely. And Lucien is like we can lie. And Feyre's like what about  iron, can you touch iron? And Lucien is like yeah it doesn't do to us, what are you talking  about? And Tamlin cuts in and he's like even though Lucien revealed some of our closely guarded  secrets - we never willingly lied to you. So Lucien once again has said too much so he excuses himself  from the table before he continues. And Tamlin starts off strong. He's asking Feyre how she's  feeling, she just nearly died. Then he brings up the fact again that he could help Feyre write  to her family and once again she gets really angry. She's just like really, she's got a lot of  pride maybe I don't know - this part's a little you know Sarah J Maas, she's got ...motivations...  She basically is like I don't want your pity and Tamlin says well do you want my friendship?  Feyre is like yeah fae and mortals can't be friends like what are you talking about my dude?  Tamlin is like but what about all the fae that fought on the human side of the war? In the war  humans versus fae, do you think the humans stood a single chance all by themselves? They had fae  on their side fighting for them. And Feyre's like oh I didn't know that. And to really run that  point home, that not all fae are bad, right? - Tamlin elaborates on what he did for Feyre's family. For  what it's worth, Tamlin said, your family knows you're safe. They have no memory of the beast  bursting into their cottage and think a long lost very wealthy aunt called you away to aid her on  her deathbed. They know you're alive and fed and cared for but they also know that there have been  rumors of a threat in Prythian. They're prepared to run should any warning signs of the wall faltering  occur. Which is exactly what Feyre wanted to write them about - she wanted to warn them to be  ready to run and Tamlin already did that and like gave her a cover story. The friendship is bubbling  away. Feyre is suddenly warming up to Tamtam. And she decides all right, let's test this friendship.  I would like something. Because Tamlin is always like just let me know you know. And Feyre is like  can I have paint? She's like I like, I like to paint. And Tamlin is like oh my moment! Yes, I  will get you paint, I will get you canvas, I will get you paper, will get you everything that you  want - what do you want do you want - a room to paint in? We can open the gallery, I can have  it cleaned! And he's like super excited to like be able to provide for her basically. He smiled at me  broadly and without restraint or hesitation. Isaac never smiled at me like that. Isaac had never made  my breath catch just a little bit. Damn sorry Isaac. Isaac is only in this book to be like lightly  roasted by Tamlin. But the cute moment is over. Feyre goes to bed and wakes up from a nightmare  and that is when she realizes she hears a bunch of stuff happening in the house so she runs down and  she sees Tamlin, Lucien and a bunch of other people running into kind of the main part of the house  and Tamlin is carrying this like broken lump of a fairy like this poor blue-skinned fairy  and he's screaming. Everybody is clearly like something is very very wrong. Basically what she  gathers is that this fairy that Tamlin is holding was dumped on the border of their lands and the  fairy just keeps screaming like \"she took my wings she took my wings\" and when you look at his back  where his wings should be it's like ripped and nasty and like bones and guts and stuff are like  coming out of his back. And he's just not healing like fae are supposed to heal quite fast but  he's losing so much blood that they're like, we don't know what to do. Lucien is no help. He takes  one look at the fairy and is like throwing up. Basically it's Feyre and Tamlin that are  trying to help this fairy kind of in his last moments. Feyre actually like grabs the fae's hand  and tries to calm him down and she's like don't worry, you know, you're gonna get your wings back,  I promise, it's all gonna be okay. And eventually she does get the fae to kind of be like \"okay  I'm gonna get my wings back? okay okay\" and he kind of takes his last breath. So of course  after that, Tamlin asks her why, you know, if she hates the fae so much, why did you help  this absolute stranger fae? And she says because \"I wouldn't want to die alone, because I'd want  someone to hold my hand until the end and a while after that. That's something everyone  deserves - human or fairy. I regret what I did to Andras.\" I said the words so strangled they were  no more than a whisper. \"I regret that there was such hate in my heart. I wish I could undo it  and I'm sorry.\" Tamlin just kind of nods, picks up the dead fairy, and walks out to bury him - and it's  very clear that like he wants to do this alone because, again, he's just so ashamed. He takes every  death as a, you know, mark of his incompetence. The next day, to get us out of the doom and  gloom, Tamlin decides that they are going to go for a little picnic. Tamlin, Lucien and Feyre - once again  Lucien is like the definition of third wheel, okay? They head out to this lake and apparently it's  like a lake of starlight - it's some kind of magical lake, it looks beautiful, it's great, it's amazing,  whatever. And uh oh everybody - the grass in the meadow is the same green as Tamlin's eyes and - oh! -  she never noticed there are flecks of amber in it! You know shit's going down when you start  noticing the color of somebody's eyes, so buckle up everybody! But she lets it slip in conversation  that she knows that Tamlin is the high lord. Tamlin is like 'oh so the Suriel didn't tell you anything  important right?' Because when he killed the naga he was asking like hey you know, did you get any  info from the suriel? And she's like nothing. So he's kind of like teasing her like 'oh I thought  he didn't tell you anything' and Feyre says \"he also said that you liked being brushed and if  I'm a clever girl I might train you with treats\" and Tamlin tipped his head to the sky and roared  with laughter and Lucien calls from his blanket way over there, he's like - I might die of surprise!  You made a joke Feyre! Then all of a sudden Tamlin is like come on! And they run to the  lake and he's like we're gonna go swimming! Lucien hangs back and so far is like, he  okay - he's kind of, you know, teasing along with them but he seems kind of distant and that's  when we learn Lucien's story. Lucien is actually the son of the high lord of the autumn court  and apparently the people of the autumn court are really vicious. Lucien fell in love with a  girl who was not in the correct social rank and he wouldn't give her up basically and his father  and brothers executed her in front of him - like I think they beheaded her. Kind of seeing that  fairy last night like being so ripped up and tortured really kind of put him in a dark place so  that's why he came along. So after being like yeah my friend's true love got beheaded in front of him  he's like - now let's go swimming! They basically like strip down and jump in the lake  and it's magical. Basically they just spend the whole time swimming in their undies and  Feyre tells Tamlin the entire story of her childhood. Also speaking of Lucien, as they are  walking home she also kind of apologizes to Lucien about his friend Andras. So she's like  hey by the way like I get why you wanted to kill me, why you sent me to the Suriel. I get it.  No hard feelings, right? And Lucien is like okay well you apologized so I have an apology too.  I heard you scream - like when the naga came out - he's like I heard you scream and I hesitated  for a second. I could have run to you but I hesitated and technically that was breaking  his promise right? Because he promised Tamlin that she would remain unharmed and so he's like since  I broke my promise, I'm gonna give you a gift. He hands her her own weapon. She now has a sword! This  is when we are thrown back into the beauty and the beast thing where Tamlin has finally gotten the  gallery cleaned up. So remember when Feyre asked him for paint and he was like yes I'm giving  you all the paint in the world and we have like a personal gallery in this house and I'm gonna clean  it up for you. He finally cleaned it up and it's ready and so he brings Feyre to the gallery...  You like it? It's wonderful! Thank you so much!Days melt into weeks. There's not much to do and then justone day, as it does, she has a bad day. She just kind of thinks about her family and how they're  probably forgetting her. She just is really down and it's very visible so she kind of walks out to  the rose garden to kind of just have a moment and Tamlin follows her out. Feyre basically explains to  Tamlin that she feels guilty for living the life that she's living right now. Like the fact that she  is living comfortably in this beautiful manor but then she also feels bad for feeling bad  you know because Tamlin and his whole court are suffering from this like horrible magic weakening  thing so like who is she to complain? Basically like I feel shitty for feeling shitty, and like  I know it's not a big deal. And Tamlin is like no if you care, it is a big deal! As she's telling this  story, she's been like picking at the roses because she's nervous so her hands are all nice and bloody  so he takes her hand and kisses them and he says that she shouldn't feel guilty for feeling joy  and he says that he is drawn to her joy even when he shouldn't be and then he takes his lips  which are now all bloody from kissing her bloody hands and kisses her on her cheek. \"Heartbreakingly  gentle was his kiss\" And then he leaves and you know what she did? She took a gasping breath,  not realizing she was holding it.In order to avoid any awkwardness the next day because of that weirdbloody kiss thing, Feyre decides to run off into the woods by herself? Somehow in that time she  managed to set a booby trap and also managed to trap the high lord. Like I feel like he would have  seen it? I don't think she's that good of a hunter but anyway she like snares him and he's  like dangling from a tree and they're like \"ha ha this is cute\" and then he's like I stalked you into  the woods for a reason Feyre, and he hands her some paper. And she looks at it and it's poetry.  A long time ago, go way back into the study when she was first trying to teach herself to read -  she kept a little word list and Tamlin found it and that's when he was kind of like  I could help you and she blew up. So he kept that list of words and he wrote a poem using each of  those words and each poem is dirtier and dirtier and dirtier. So yeah he gave her dirty poems, so  again, cute. He is no longer so socially inept. She's reading the poems, they're getting worse and worse  and when she finally reaches the last one. \"Feyre laughed like sunshine shattering aged hardened ice.\"  So that is the end of part one. I'm gonna go and see you in part two. Welcome to part two - I would  say, I'm creating these parts so...this is the middle bit of the book and this is where I have to  talk about the mate thing. This is a huge Sarah J Maas thing. I believe it's also just a pretty  big fae thing - is that fairies have mates. Soul mates, whatever. And so if you go back to when  Feyre and Tamlin were having their little chat in the rose garden and he gave her like that  whole bloody kiss thing - he mentioned that that rose garden was actually a gift from his father  to his mother to celebrate their like mating bond, right? Feyre is kind of like can you explain that  - like how is that different from just like a marriage? Your mate is your equal and match in  every way and when this quote-unquote bond snaps into place marriage is insignificant in comparison.  She keeps kind of pressing him about his father because he has never spoken about  his life like we learned about Lucien's family but  we don't - does he have siblings? We don't  know! Tamlin says that his father is actually worse than Lucien's and remember Lucien's dad beheaded  his girlfriend in front of him - worse than that? And his mother really loved his father - obviously  they were mates - and so even though he was really abusive and kind of just this horrible guy  she never said anything about it. He loved his mom but you know, he felt kind of betrayed by her. Then  when his whole family gets killed (doesn't tell us why) his father, brothers, and mother all get killed -  that is why he was thrust into becoming high lord. He didn't want it, and he very specifically went  away to train to be a warrior so that he wouldn't be near his brothers and like any possibility of  being high lord but the world had other plans for him. And Tamlin kind of gets this like moody  look in his eye so Feyre to change the subject is just like what's that?!Look over there!Where?Oh.And it looks like they're building bonfires like out in the fields around the manor. Heexplains that it is something called Calanmai, which is like a fire festival whatever. It's a  big deal in the spring court. It's happening in two days. He's literally like \"it's very fairy\" There's  like a ritual they have to create magic that will like help feed the fields and the nature for the  rest of the year? He's very vague about it. Don't worry we'll get info. Feyre is like cool, a party!  Can I come? And Tamlin is straight up just like no you are not invited. Then they walk back towards  the house. And they're in the garden and all of a sudden Tamlin gets like really freaked out and  he's just like \"hide, stay hidden, don't come out no matter what you see, don't let anybody  see you!\" And so Feyre's like okay and duck's behind a bush. Then she sees Lucien and Tamlin  start talking to an invisible person. Whoever it is is clearly like bringing bad news, threatening them.  They both seem like really really not pleased - and it's saying things like you're running out of time,  she's going to destroy you blah blah blah. Remember when we learned Lucien kind of let it slip that  there was a someone behind this whole blight thing? He was like ~her~ deal. ~She~ did this, kind of thing.The invisible person is also talking about this mysterious 'she' right? And when this person finally  leaves, Tamlin comes back to Feyre and we learned that the thing that they were talking to is  the Attor. It's just like this evil thing. We don't get a whole lot of information  but like don't go near this person, right? Very very very bad. To the point where Tamlin's  face was pale with fury, right? So bad news. The next day we wake up and it's time for the party.  Feyre is looking out longingly at the bonfires and she's just like you know what, screw it - they  can't keep me in and she tries to go outside when Tamlin, of cours,e intercepts her. And he is looking  nice right? But he is not here to flirt - he is here to intimidate. He basically has to partake in this  thing called the Great Rite and Feyre's like \"what's the Great -\" and then Tamlin's like \"just  go to your chambers and don't come out.\" Feyre is obviously like why? And he says just do it.  His canines began to lengthen, my heart leapt into a gallop. \"Don't come out until morning...  please.\" So yeah he's like on the verge of turning into a beast at all times like something weird is  happening tonight. She obeys him for a grand total of one paragraph. sShe's sitting in her room and  she just hears this voice constantly calling her, there's like these beating of the drums and stuff,  like the party has started she just feels really called it's almost like she's in a trance. So  out she goes. Of course she immediately gets picked up by some fairy dudes and they are like harassing  her definitely bad news. She starts to fight them off and she falls but sturdy hands  grasp me under my shoulders before I could hit the grass. They were strong hands - warm and broad. Not at  all like the prodding bony fingers of the three fairies who went utterly still as whoever caught  me gently set me upright. There you are I've been looking for you. Said a deep sensual male voice I'd  never heard. The three lesser fairies had paled, their dark eyes wide. Thank you for finding her  for me, my savior said to them, smooth and polished. She steps out of the shelter of her savior's arms  turns to thank him and standing before me was the most beautiful man I've ever seen. End chapter.  I love it. So we have now met the mysterious hottie - oh you can't really see him. Mysterious hottie from  the party. Maybe an important character, I just wanted to put him on my wall. We do get a little  flirty moment between Feyre and the mysterious hottie and he is so curious as to why a human  would be here and she makes up some story of like oh I'm here with my friends and they're like  uh-huh right, like a fairy would really leave their human alone on this night. And she's kind  of like, you don't seem like you're from the spring court, why are you here? And he says because tonight  all of the monsters are let out of their cages...oh. So then he, you know, disappears into the shadows.  She is too stunned to speak and that's when Lucien runs up and is just like what the . He slings  her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and doesn't let her down until he throws her onto the  floor of the manor and he's like girl what the ? Didn't Tamlin tell you to stay inside  right? And then he's like it hasn't started yet but he's performing the Great Rite. If you were there...  and Lucien looks at her like she should know what he's trying to say and Feyre's looking at him like  I don't know what you're saying. He explains that the right is basically...a fairy sex ritual, yep.Tamlin is the high lord and somehow he like fills himself with this weird-ass magic  and it puts him in a trance and it makes him into a hunter. As the hunter his main focus in life  is to find the maiden. And they are going to couple and their coupling will release magic  throughout the realm and like enrich the soil or something - but basically he loses his mind and  like all he can think about is sexy time, right? And Lucien is basically like please stay inside,  I have to go back to the cave (which is where this is all going down) and I need to go try and control  Tamlin because when he comes out of the cave and he smells that you had been there, he's gonna go  crazy looking for you. And Feyre's kind of like why would he care so much about me? But also she's  like ew that's horrible, why can't men control themselves? \"Stay in your room tonight Feyre\" Lucien  said walking to the garden doors, \"no matter who comes knocking, keep the door locked, don't come out  till morning.\" But does Feyre listen? It is now about 2 am and Feyre is in her room still not sleeping.  And she hears the drums stop so she assumes that the Rite has ended and she's just sitting in her  room thinking about the girl that Tamlin chose and how god she's probably like so pretty and  so fae and I hate this. And she just sits up in bed and she's like f this and goes down to the  kitchen to get cookies. I'm not kidding. As she is coming back from the kitchen, who does she run into ? Tamlin. You guys know that I don't like to read dirty scenes - especially Sarah J Maas because she  has a certain vocabulary that just makes me ill, so we're not going to go into too many details but  we get our first little steamy moment. Tamlin shows up and he's like \"going somewhere?\" and Feyre just  holds up her cookie and she's like \"midnight snack?\" He is pissed, he like slams her into the wall and  he's like I was looking for you! I'm really angry! And clearly is still kind of under the influence  of magic. Also meanwhile he is covered in paint and so Feyre can get like a very visual idea of  like what went down in the Rite if you know what I mean, like we're talking fingerprints and stuff.  And he's like I had to pick some other girl and then he goes into details about like what he would  have done if Feyre had been there. And she tries to shove him off but obviously like that doesn't work  and he gets angry and so he like takes a bite out of her? Like gives her a little chomp on the neck.  And Feyre is like ow but also she kind of likes it so, go girl. He says 'never disobey me again'  and Feyre's like 'don't tell me what to do' and they kind of have this moment - it's heated,  it's a standoff and then he stalks off. This is where I need to point out something that Sarah J  Maas loves, which is sense of smell. She talks about the sense of smell a lot.  Fae have a heightened sense of smell and so if you remember way back to when Feyre first  kind of found that knife and hid it up her sleeve? Tamlin knew about it because he could  quote unquote smell her fear. So like when you have certain strong emotions they like release a  like a pheromone or smells, you know. You know what else they're really good at smelling?  If you are turned on. And this is something that is like prevalent in all of her books.  And so basically when they had that like heated moment, Tamlin was like sniff sniff -  oh she's into me (because that little bite kind of like made her a little excited) He's like okay  noted and then he walks off. The next morning Feyre's getting ready for lunch. Everybody is  incredibly hungover - she's not but everybody else is. She is about to start covering her bruise  but then she's like you know what, no, he should see it, like he should feel bad so she doesn't.  She actually like wears a shirt that accentuates the giant bite mark on her neck. She hopes that  like he'll feel ashamed, right, for what he did so she waltzes into the dining room where Lucien and  Tamlin look like they're about to die - they are so hungover - and Feyre doesn't get the satisfaction  of seeing Tamlin be ashamed because Tamlin's like it's not my fault I gave you very specific  instructions and you disobeyed me like a hundred times. Lucien is super amused by this and is just  watching their back and forth like a tennis match and it's really great. Feyre eventually storms out  because Tamlin is clearly like having fun with this right? Even though she's acting angry, she  also seems to be happy with this teasing as well so I guess if everybody's happy it's okay? Don't  worry though, he does apologize. He gives her lots of roses at dinner and for the first time in a  long time, Feyre sleeps peacefully. We love that. So recap - she has noticed the amber flecks in Tamlin's  eyes, right? She caught herself worrying about him while he was out and about. And now three strikes  you're out - tomboy Feyre, who has been wearing pants this entire time, has decided to wear a dress.  Oh my god. She walks in to the dining room for dinner the next day wearing her dress. Alis by the  way is very pleased by this. Whatever discussion Tamlin and Lucien had been having stopped  and I tried not to look at their wide eyes as I strode to my usual place at the end of the table.  \"Well I'm late for something incredibly important!\" Lucien said and before I could call him on his  outright lie or beg him to stay, the fox masked fairy vanished. They're sitting at like this  long table right and Tamlin's on one end and Feyre's on the other and she's kind of like  ~you're so far away~ and in an instant he uses his magic to like cut the table and they are  like face to face right? And Feyre is like oh okay. I thought that your magic was weakening. And he's  like yeah that was a little harder than usual but he's like I'm not gonna miss a chance to  show off for a beautiful lady, right? After they eat, Feyre brings Tamlin to her painting room. So ever since she got those paints, she has been given a private studio and she has not allowed  anybody in. She's just been kind of painting frantically but nobody has been allowed to see  and she decides it is time for Tamlin to see her work. Temember when they went to the lake and they  went swimming and Feyre kind of told Tamlin her whole life story? She is able to show him all of  her work and he is immediately like oh yeah that is, you know, the forest where you hunted and that  is that and that is that - like he, he really connected with her art which was really nice.  And he actually asks if he can take one and she says yes and he gives her a smile more beautiful  than any enchanted meadow or pool of stars. And he chooses the one of the forest, like kind of the  least pretty one and she's really touched by that. And then of course she asks like okay listen  I think we're friends now. Can I help with the curse? Like I'm kind of invested now  so is there anything that I can do? And like honestly I think she just really wants to see  his face without the mask on right? But he's like no no no no, this is my burden. I have to do  everything by myself and Feyre's like listen, if you don't, if you aren't going to tell me anything  do you want me to just leave? Like she kind of gets heated again and he's like no no  and then he switches the subject and he's talking about how many lovers he's had - cue 'sFeyre sudden  burning rage right? But they never understood what it was like for him. He thinks that Feyre  caring for her family is so much like his own burden and so he feels less alone and that's why  he chose her painting of the woods and you know what she did? She didn't lock her bedroom door that  night. The next day we are with Tammy and Feyre. They're sitting in a little glen enjoying the  beauty of nature right and Tamlin's laying there and he's like man that thing that the  weeping willow is singing - oh it's a bop! and Feyre is like are you okay? Turns out  the fae, like I said have really heightened senses, and it's not just their sense of smell  - it's everything. Feyre is basically like missing out, like there are colors that she hasn't seen,  sounds that she can't hear, etc. Tamlin's like hey I could actually give you like a little  boost of magic - would you like that? And Feyre is like absolutely and so he suddenly gets this  like little mischievous look in his eye and he's like well I'll do it if I can get a kiss...  And Feyre is like yeah down. I think he was expecting a little fight because he's sort  of like oh okay okay. And he ends up giving her a kiss on each eyelid when she opens her eyes  the world is nuts. And it's not just the world, she takes a look at our buddy here Tamlin  and he has been wearing a glamour so as to not overwhelm her with his beauty. And so he is like  glowing, pretty sure there's glitter coming off of him, like he is nice right? He's still got his mask  on but he's nice. She kind of like lives in that for a little bit, gives Tamlin his kiss on the  cheek as payment, they just take a little nap in the sunshine and isn't that great. The next morning  however is chaos because Tamlin wasn't the only one wearing a glamour. He basically glamoured most  of his court to not freak Feyre out - like this human that he just brought into his realm, he was  like this girl is not ready for what lives in my house. So all of a sudden Alis comes in to like  wake her up in the morning and Alis is one of the fey that are like made of wood? Like her skin is  bark? And she's like where's Alis? And Alis is like girl. For people like Alis, he kind  of just changed how they looked so that Feyre wouldn't be scared but for all the other people  because he has like tons of people running this manor and the manor has been empty right? Turns  out he just made them invisible to not overwhelm Feyre and so every time that Feyre has been like  sneaking around the halls - like she went to go get her midnight cookie or when she like frantically  ran out to go see her dad or whatever - there have been witnesses. There are so many people around so  she comes out of her room to go get breakfast and she's like oh damn. That's a funny update but then  the next day is even more chaotic, not for a funny reason like oh there were invisible people this  whole time but because Tamlin found a severed head. The head is branded with the mark of the  night court. Lucien and Tamlin basically explained that this is a warning - just a reminder that  everybody knows that the spring court's magic is weakening and the night court is ready whenever  to strike. Now it's time for another party, it's the summer solstice. Feyre is invited. Feyre shows up.  Tamlin has disappeared, Lucien has low-key disappeared. And she meanders, like anyone would,  towards the snack table. She reaches for a glass of fairy wine and then Lucien just pops up and  he's like uhuh - I wouldn't do it girl. I'm serious Lucien said as I lifted the glass to my lips, my  brows raised. Remember the last time you ignored my warning? He poked me in the neck and I batted  his hand away. I also remember you telling me how witchberries were harmless and the next thing I  knew I was half delirious and falling over myself I said, recalling the afternoon from a few weeks  ago. I'd had hallucinations for hours afterwards and Lucien had laughed himself sick enough so that  Tamlin had chucked him into the reflection pool. She metaphorically raises the finger at Lucien and  just chugs. She lets loose. She's having a great time, she heads over to the dance floor where there are  all these musicians - and this was mentioned like in passing but Tamlin is a great fiddle player.  Who knew? So he's actually over there with the musicians and Feyre's doing her dancing thing -  it's a cute moment. Eventually Tamlin puts down his fiddle and joins in the dancing. Once Feyre is a  little sobered up, they like head out to a quiet place to talk they have their first proper kiss  that does not involve blood so it's cute, it's sweet, but it's the summer solstice  so like how the party ends is everybody has to go watch the sunrise so they like go off  watch the sunrise. Feyre is super duper happy and she reflects on this thing that her dad always  used to tell her which was there's a better world outside of their current living  situation - that's what I want for you girls like I hope that you find it, I hope that you find this  better world this better life. Feyre was always the person who was like no, the world sucks like  I don't believe that there's anything better out there. And for the first time in her life watching  that sunrise with her like hot fairy guy next to her - she felt there could be a better world.  The next day the gang is having lunch together and Lucien is like I am trying to eat! Because Feyre  and Tamlin are just like undressing each other with their eyes basically. Then he's like okay not  to be the bearer of bad news and like ruin your moment but the winter court just sent me a letter  that a blight killed a dozen kids. Sarah J Maas - you'll see this and we've already seen it before  but she really loves to contrast either like a really steamy moment or like a really cute  romantic moment with something horrific happening so basically Feyre is thinking like she wants to  get it on on this table right now and then it's like all these kids were slaughtered.They're sitting there reflecting on this and being sad obviously. It's very quiet and then they  realize it's really quiet in this house. And all of a sudden Tamlin is just like hide Feyre! Lucien  shoves her into the curtains, glamors her invisible. Tamlin tries to look casual in his chair but  he's not, he's not a good actor. But Feyre freaking out because remember the last time she had to hide  and it was the attor that came and Tamlin was like the attor will kill you gruesomely, like  horrifically? So Feyre is like what else could be coming, like the only time I have to hide  is when something is definitely going to kill me so like oh no. Footsteps sounded from the hall.Even, strolling, casual. Who walks in?The hottie from fire night! Mysterious hottieis in the dining room what the hell? Tamlin is like what do you want Rhysand?The stranger is like damn Tam only my prisoners and enemies call me that! And then he's like sup  Lucien, like the fox mask is appropriate, I really like it. And Lucien is like go to hell Rhys> Tamlin  is like what are you doing here Rhysand? Who - spoiler alert - here he is, mysterious hottie is Rhysand. Yeah  oh man. Rhysand is like oh you know I just wanted to check if you got my present? And he's talking about  the severed head. He starts to say things that we the reader and Feyre don't understand about  the blight and the magic weakening and Lucien is like what do you know, you're Amarantha's  .We have a name. A new name but we don't know who, who is this? Rhysand  laughed - a lovers laugh. Low, soft, intimate. Is that any way to speak to a high lord of Prythian?  So two things we get from this: Number one, Sarah J Maas is obsessed with Rhysand's voice. Obsessed.  Second of all, Rhysand is the high lord of the night court - the baddest baddie!  Oh no! Rhysand is about to leave and he cryptically is like ~she's waiting for you, you know, she's ready~  and he starts to walk out and then he looks at the table and he's like hmm it's set for three people.  Where's your guest guys? He's looking at Tamlin, Lucien, he's like two, three and that's when he  realizes Lucien was using a glamour to make somebody invisible and he is pissed. He like  just goes like woof and Feyre is exposed. When he sees Feyre he's like oh hey girl I remember you  how you doing? Seems like you haven't stayed out of trouble like I asked you to. And Lucien  claims that Feyre is his fiancee and Rhysand is like no you don't dabble with like mortal  stuff I know you buddy. She still has that little knife sword thing that Lucien gave her remember?  And so she like holds it up and Rhysand just like picks it out of her fingers and he's like that  really won't do you any good. He's basically like I'm really amazed that you're still here  like you should be running from this place! When he sees that Feyre looks confused he's like she  doesn't know?! And tamlin growls he's like \"you have seconds to leave Rhysand - seconds\" Then she starts  to feel a little funny in her head, like she feels like there's almost a claw or like a hand  going into her head. It turns out it's Rhysand and he's like oh I forgot that human minds are as easy  to shatter as eggshells. And Tamlin is losing his like he is feral. Rhysand starts reading out  Feyre's dirty dirty thoughts for fun because he is like a mind reader or something and he's like  oh she would like to feel that bite not just on her neck - Tamlin is like essentially foaming at  the mouth at this. Feyre is frozen in fear. Tamlin all of a sudden is just like please don't tell  Amarantha about her, like he seems so sad and so kind of pathetic and he starts to grovel and he  like bows down to Rhysand and basically like kisses his boots and is just like please don't  do it, you know? Feyre is still too scared to move but deep down she is pissed. But Rhysand seems like  he's having a grand old time. In the end Rhysand is like I will consider not telling her but by  the way girl, what's your name? And Feyre just gives out like a random name - the first  person she thinks of is like her neighbor back home and she's like my name is Clare! What's her  name? Clare Beddor. And Rhysand is like well that was fun, I'm looking forward to seeing you guys  under the mountain! And he leaves them alone in a horrible trembling silence. After Rhysand leaves,  Feyre like jettisons off to her room. She's shaking, she's scared, and she's just sitting in her bed  when she hears the door kind of creak open and it's Tamlin and he just kind of like collapses  onto her bed and he's like head in his hands like I'm so so sorry. His voice was hoarse and empty.  Feyre is just like it's okay, you know, like you didn't invite this guy into your house.  And Tammy's like no babe, I'm sending you home. He basically created his own loophole in the treaty  and he's like you've got to leave and Feyre's like did I do something wrong? Like I really  thought like before Lucien told us about the dead kids and Rhysand came and threatened my life like  I thought we were, you know there was something there, right? And he's like no no no you're perfect  but there are people who will hurt you because of what you are to me and he thought he was strong  enough to shield Feyre but obviously not if Rhysand could just like walk in. This of course  turns into our first steamy scene. I'm not gonna go into details but Tamlin uses a claw to take off  her intimates. They fall asleep in each other's arms, you know, wake up in the middle of the night -  Tamlin's like you should go back to sleep you're leaving tomorrow and Feyre is like  tomorrow?! He whispers I love you and they fall asleep. Feyre wakes up again and she is alone. For  what it's worth Lucien actually seems upset that she's leaving - like remember he was on team let's  kill Feyre this whole time he's actually quite sad that she's going. Tamlin just like puts  her in the carriage - this is all happening in like a page - Tamlin just goes and plops her in the  carriage and he says I love you again and Feyre just kind of chokes up like she can't say anything  and rides away. Allegedly the reason why she doesn't say anything is because she doesn't want  him to have another burden on his shoulders. She hopes that he can just forget her right? If she had  said oh i love you too, he might have like I don't know, remembered her more? But anyway she gets back  home, she's back in the mortal realm and Tamlin wasn't lying about taking care of the family. They  are pretty much wealthy again and everybody is like oh you're back from your aunt's house like  blah blah everything's fine. Like they're keeping up with the whole ruse. Days pass and Feyre is  just constantly thinking about the Suriel and remember how he said stay with the high lord?  She just like - that is just running in the back of her mind over and over and over again. Weeks  pass and Nesta all of a sudden is just like by the way, I know you're lying. And Feyre's like what?  And Nesta said that whatever Tamlin did like his glamour and stuff - that  just didn't work on her so like one second a beast has come and taken Feyre away and her  dad and everybody like they're all screaming and crying and like snap of the fingers and all of  a sudden dad and Elain are like \"wow that's so nice that Feyre gets to go stay with our aunt\"  and Nesta is still standing there like horrified like what? And it actually turns out that Nesta  went after Feyre. Nesta actually like went to the border and tried to find a way in and she couldn't  but like Nesta cared enough to try and go get her sister back like damn! Maybe I was wrong about you.  And then Nesta is basically like tell me everything. And Feyre does and at the end  of it the only thing that Nesta says is...can you teach me to paint? So anyway they're painting and  Nesta opens up about why she hates their dad like - she's the one who's the hardest  and like openly just like hates their dad and it's because he just like didn't put his pride  away, like he could have gotten a job but he would have had to have like I don't know begged or like  done something that his pride just wouldn't let him do and she also is like he let their mom die?  By not fighting hard enough to find a cure? And then she says you would have gone to the ends of  the earth to save your high lord right? And Feyreis like yeah... and it clicks! So she's going to find her  way back right? To her high lord, to her Tamlin. But then one day the family is sitting down for lunch.  Daddy sits down and he says I'm thinking of buying the Beddor land. I heard a rumor that  it'll go up for sale soon since none of the family survived, and it would be a good investment  property. And Feyre's like what happened to the Beddors? And Elain was like oh man it was bad, the  house burnt down, everybody died, they couldn't even find Clare's body! And Feyre is like Clare Beddor?  And Elain's like yeah don't you remember her? And Feyre was like...  yeah. And that was the name that she gave Rhysand remember? She just kind of like picked a name out  of the hat just to throw him off. Dead, whole family. And this is when Feyre just breaks. Remember that  she promised Tamlin that she wouldn't tell her family anything, like she's just supposed to let  the glamour continue? And she's just like oh no this changes everything. And so she tells  her family hire guards, to get out when anything seems strange, iron doesn't do , fairies can  lie. And she's basically like prepare for war or something really bad. I'm leaving  by the way, like I'm going back. Nesta has just like a way with words and she's basically like  we don't need you here, Feyre. Don't come back. Basically she's like stop coming back here  like live your life, you're free from us, go to your high lord and like don't worry about coming back.  Feyre hops on a horse, crosses the border, gets to Tamlin's house somehow with no problems and  it is empty. She's going through the rubble, like it seems like the manor has also been  like low key destroyed. And she's running through and she's like Tamlin! Tamlin! And she hears something.  What is it? Alis. And she's like girl you are not supposed to be here. And she does confirm  that Tamlin and Lucy are alive but they are in under the mountain, whatever the hell that is, right?  There was this curse that lasted seven times seven years (which is 49) and now that time is up and she,  this mysterious she, is bringing Tamlin to wherever they are to break him and, you know,  make an example out of him kind of thing. So who is the mysterious she? Amarantha. The person that  Rhysand was talking about. Amarantha was sent by the king of Hybern about a hundred years ago  to come to Prythian and sort of like do some spy stuff - remember the Suriel had mentioned that? But  the Suriel also said that 50 years ago, one of the spies defected and that was Amarantha. And we get  this whole long story about her sister that isn't - it, it will be important later so I'm just going  to give you like a reader's digest version which is basically - Amarantha had a younger sister named  Clythia, who fell in love with this mortal named Jurian. Turns out Jurian was just using Clythia  to get information about Amarantha's troops. Even when we found out that Jurian was lying, Clythia  still loved him and then Jurian killed Clythia. Now Amarantha hates humans with a rage that you can't  even imagine. So when the mortals and the fairies signed that peace treaty, she was pissed and like  made it her duty to like rip apart the mortal world right? And she thought the way to do that  is she had to get Prythian on her side - and why get them on her side when she could just rule them all?  She basically like weaseled her way in, she buddied up with the high lords talking about like being  a trade ambassador between them and Hybern, whatever. And then she threw a party and at the  party she poisoned the wine in such a way that she stole the high lords's powers. So amarantha is the  blight. Like literally she is the blight - stealing all the power, making it act really funny, that's  all her doing. That's when Alis turns around and is like and you could have broken the curse you  dumbass human! Tamlin couldn't tell you because of his curse but Feyre could have freed him  you little dum-dum. What is Tamlin's curse? So apparently Tamlin knew Amarantha before all of  this was happening like because he's a royal, he had connections with Hybern, and like somehow  apparently they had met many times and Amarantha was into Tamlin and she kept making these advances  and he was like not interested. She was actually so persistent that Tamlin sent Lucien to go talk  to her and be like can you back off, like Tamlin is never going to be interested in you. And she's the  one who ripped out his eyeball! That's why she he has a metal eye and a huge scar on his face  because of her. Damn. But in order to apologize for hurting Tamlin's best friend, she throws a party  and Tamlin is like you know what? Like let's just go to this party even though like the last party  was obviously didn't go well. Let's just go to this party and hopefully like we can resolve everything  without bloodshed right? And that was the party where their masks got frozen on their faces. This  was Amarantha's last time to like shoot her shot and Tamlin was still not into it. And he said he'd  rather bed and marry a human before ever touching her and so the curse was born! He had to find a  human willing to marry him but not just any human, a human that hated fairies. Hated fairies so much  that she'd kill one. So he had to send his own men over the border for bait. So remember how he said  that Andras was looking for a cure in the mortal realm? Technically he was but he was basically  being a sacrifice hoping that a human would kill him so that they could like get the curse broken  right? Here's the real kicker - there is no part of the treaty that says a life for a life. The whole  thing that Tamlin said about like you killed Andras so I get to take you back to my land -   didn't exist. Tamlin took her because of the curse not because of the treaty. Basically they  don't need to get married, Feyre just needs to say that she loves him which she didn't do but  she was about to do and now it's too late. The curse, the timeline, it's done so...And yeah the  spring court is the only court that hasn't fully fallen yet so they're still allowed to like live  in the spring court but everybody else, all the high lords and everything, are all stuck under the  mountain which is Amarantha's creepy ass court. It's like a giant cave thing and so now because  the time is up, Tamlin and Lucien and everybody have been taken there. \"And you could have broken it\"  Alis snarled, those sharp teeth mere inches from my face. \"All you had to do was say that you loved  him, say that you loved him and mean it with your whole useless human heart and his power would have  been freed you stupid stupid girl\" And Feyre's like I'm sorry and Alis just snorts. And she's like  tell that to Tamlin. He only had three days left to break the curse and he let you go. So basically he  put Feyre before the entire court, you know, like if he had kept Feyre there and she had hopefully  said I love you within those three days, the curse would have been broken but he was so obsessed with  keeping her safe and sending her home, he just gave up on the curse and screwed his whole court in the  process. And if she had broken it that means he would have gotten his full powers back and there  was a chance that he could beat Amarantha and so Feyre takes this all in and she's like okay cool, so  which way is under the mountain?End of part two. Part three - ready to go underthe mountain? Feyre's leading the way. Alis takes her as close as possible to under the mountain. The  whole way she's like you are a dumb girl, like you are dumb. But she takes her to kind of this  cave and she's like just keep walking straight, you'll be fine. But she mentioned something very  important. She says that there is still part of the curse that Alis can't talk about, Feyre has to  figure it out on her own, but Alis says keep your ears open girl, and listen to what you hear. Feyre  manages to get under the mountain quite easily but she very quickly is picked up by somebody - the attor.  She is dragged over to the throne room where we finally get to meet Amarantha in the flesh and  she is sitting on like this scary looking throne in the middle of the room and someone is sitting  next to her. Who? Tammy. Yep. Oh oh. But what's weird about Tamlin is that when Feyre walks in  he shows no reaction, his eyes don't widen, he just looks at her kind of unimpressed, uninterested.  Amarantha is like why are you here? Feyre says that she is here to claim the one that she loves,  Tamlin, high lord of the spring court. And as Alis said, it's already too late so even her claiming  her love of him right now doesn't do any good and Amarantha says one of my favorite lines. She turns  to Tamlin and she's like \"you lovely thing! you actually made a human worm fall in love with you!\"  I don't know why she says a \"human worm\" but it makes me really happy. Anyway we have to also  note that she is wearing a ring on her finger and it's got an eyeball - a human eyeball. It is a piece  of Jurian, the guy who killed her sister and she dismembered him and now wears him as jewelry so  that's the kind of lady we're dealing with here. But then Amarantha is like  I'm confused, who was that girl that we killed then? This girl Clare that we brought in claimed that  she never knew Tamlin so I guess it's true but man it was fun hearing her scream!  She turns to Tamlin and is like so who is this? Like if Clare isn't your true love, who's this  girl? Of course Tamlin is like I've never seen her before in my life, like Rhysand must have glamoured  her - making up some weird ass excuse right? Amarantha gets bored really quickly with this like  he said she said kind of thing so she's like okay, if you want your Tammy back, how about we play a  little game? And she proposes that if Feyre can complete three tasks given to her by Amarantha,  she can have Tamlin back. Great. And Feyre's ready to bargain, right, so she's like I'll take Tamlin  back and his curse will be broken and all of his court can leave here and remain free forever.  And Amarantha is like oh I'm gonna spice it up even more, girl. You can either do the three  tasks or you can just answer a riddle - curse broken instantaneously! But get the riddle wrong  or fail the tasks, well... Let's do one task per full moon. What do you say? She looks at Tamlin  and for the briefest second he widens his eyes in a clear \"no\" but she had no other choice, she  loved him with a fierceness that swept up her whole heart. And she agrees and then the entire  hall beats her up. Breaks her bones. All the people in the throne room just descend on her  and beat her to a pulp. So, good start. She wakes up broken and bloody in a prison cell  and Lucien is there - he snuck in there and uses his healing power to heal her just enough so that  she'll be okay but like not enough so that the guards notice. He's basically like \"just don't die  okay!\" and then he runs off. She gets bread and water three times a day and just sort of sits around  until she's finally summoned to the throne room for a little chat. And Amarantha really wants  to know her name. She is clearly not named Clare and so she just keeps asking and Feyre just keeps  refusing. It's like this weird standoff. Rhysand, Amarantha said ,not needing to raise her voice  to summon him. My heart became a lead in weight as those casual strolling steps sounded from behind  me. They stopped when they were beside me - far too close for my liking. Amarantha lifted her brows.  Is this the girl you saw at Tamlin's estate? He brushed some invisible fleck of dust off his  black tunic before he surveyed me. Humans all look alike to me. I forgot to mention Clare did not  just get killed. Clare is like nailed to the wall of the throne room. Her dead body is like hanging  from the wall so anyway... Feyre is still like I'm not gonna tell you my name so finally Amarantha  just grabs Lucien and is about to torture him and so finally Feyre is like Feyre! My name's Feyre,  okay? But we get our riddle! There are those who seek me a lifetime, but never we meet. And those  I kiss but who trample me beneath ungrateful feet. At times I seem to favor the clever and the fair,  but I bless all those who are brave enough to dare. By large my ministrations are soft-handed  and sweet, but scorned I become a difficult beast to defeat. For though each of my strikes lands a  powerful blow, when I kill I do it slow. She sits in her prison cell for two days just thinking about  it, coming up with nothing, because Feyre sucks at riddles! So then it's a full moon and it is show  time. Time for our first task. The throne room has been turned into this weird labyrinth of tunnels.  Basically her first task is to prove her hunting skills. Amarantha heard that Feyre is a very good  hunter so she's like this one should be easy for you girl! She gets thrown into the canyon, cavernous  tunnels, and she starts to hear a little rumbling. The thing that comes out is a giant worm - it's shai  hulud basically. It's coming at her and she has to like run and try and kill this thing before  it kills her. She runs around, it's very exciting, people are watching from above jeering at her. She  is like knee deep in mud trying to run from this thing and that is when Feyre focuses and learns  two things. Number one being the worm is blind! It's relying on sense of smell. Number two there are a  ton of bones left over from like whatever the worm had eaten previously that she can possibly use as  a tool. All right, she's thinking, she gets to work using those bones. She also covers herself in the  mud and it's not just mud it's like nasty stuff so she no longer smells like her so the worm can't  track her right? And one of the fairies who is, you know, watching from above is like \"what's it doing?\"  A deep elegant voice replied this time. \"She's building a trap.\" Rhysand smiled, his violet eyes  twinkled. She is getting ready to like lure it into the trap, she uses a bone to cut open her  hand so that a little bit of blood comes out and that's what's going to get the worm to come over  but because she looked down at her hand for like a second, she loses sight of the worm and all of  a sudden she's like oh where is it?! And she hears a voice just go \"To your left!!!!\" Attaboy Lucien.  Yeah it was our boy Lucien who saved her life. She manages to run mere seconds before the worm  gets her and she finally gets it into her trap. She definitely broke some bones in the meantime  but she killed the worm. Amarantha obviously is pissed but somebody in the crowd is happy because  out of all of the people in the court, only one of them bet that she would win. So somebody just made  a lot of money, so good job Feyre. Feyre doesn't really care about that because she looks down at  her arm which is broken and the bone is like sticking out and so she faints. Which is like -  the rest of the book Feyre spends a lot of it unconscious. So this is about a week later. Feyre is  laying in her cell, her arm is still broken and she is still covered in the mud that she was covered  in during the trial so she has like not bathed, she has like a gash like huge ass open wound,  and she has she's covered in like mud and feces for like a week. She's also being given like rotten  food. She is pretty sure that she is gonna die of an infection. She has this really bad fever, she is  kind of like she knows deep in her soul like I'm fading. But then somebody walks in. It's the hottie  from the party with the nice voice but a nasty personality! Rhysand is in the room everybody!  He is like, hey girl you made me a lot of money that night! He's the one who bet that she would win,  so great. Anyway he's like let me see your arm and Feyre is stubborn so even though she knows  that she's about to die she's just like I would literally rather touch a slug, like no thank you.  But he doesn't like to be told no, so he just kind of grabs her arm. Her arm is broken so like  grabbing it kind of hurts right? Rhysand says listen I'll heal you and Feyre is like what's  it gonna cost me? She's played this game before. Two weeks, every month. Two weeks of his  choosing. Feyre will stay with him at the night court after the trials - assuming she lives right? If  she dies, deals off. She obviously says no. I believe she also spits on him. But he's like listen you are  like absolutely going to die of this wound. You have the tiniest tiniest chance that your little  foxy friend Lucien could somehow find his way back in here and heal you, but he might not come in time.  You're about to die so either take my bargain, I heal you, and you can go live happily ever after  with Tamlin if you win, or you just die and Tamlin dies and everybody dies. He's basically like you  don't really have a choice here girl, like come on. Finally she bargains it down to one week and she  accepts his offer. He grabs her arm one final time. She blacks out. Wakes up, her arm is healed,  she's not covered in mud anymore - but she has a new tattoo all the way down her arm and like  in the middle of her palm there's an eyeball. That wasn't part of the deal but yeah she's got a sick  tat now. And the next time she sees Rhysand, she's like you didn't tell me about the tattoo  and Rhysand is just like oh you didn't ask. He also hints that Tamlin is going to be pissed at her  when he sees it and she realizes that Rhysand didn't do this to help her, it wasn't like out  of the goodness of his heart - he just seems to really hate Tammy and like did this whole thing  just to like get another dig in at him. Right? So she feels very used, she feels very silly that she  was tricked by Rhysand. She tries to spit on him again but he was ready this time and he bounced.  There is this really random scene where she is also forced to do chores. The first one, she has to  clean the floors but the bucket and mop that she has is like dirty water but as she's doing that  this red-headed lady walks up to her and at first she thinks it's Amarantha so she's freaked out  but then she's like it kind of looks like Lucien? And it is! It's Lucien's mom.  And she was there in the throne room when Amarantha was going to torture Lucien in order  to get Feyre to say her name, do we remember this? That's when Feyre broke and was like no stop like  don't hurt him. His mom saw that and as a thank you, she actually like does some magic stuff and  cleans the water so that she can clean the hallway right? Some people are kind of on her side, I guess.  Her next chore is that she has to go into one of the rooms and clean the fireplace because  somebody spilt lentils in there and she has to like separate the lentils from the ash of the fire?  I don't know, it's stupid. So anyway she's in there like trying to get through the soot  and stuff - it's another semi-impossible task - and whose room is it? Rhysand's room. He walks in and  he's like can I help you? And she ends up finally asking him about the whole Clare thing. She's like  you remember what I look like buddy. Like we met at the party prior when I thought you were  just this mysterious hottie so why did you give Clare's name to Amarantha? Rhysand basically just  says like, it's boring down here. I like to play games. Feyre starts peppering him with questions  as she loves to do with everyone, but she's asking him specifically about his powers because he seems  to have them still. He like went into her mind so he still has powers and she's like what is  this about? Can you shift like Tamlin can? Blah blah and that's when he pops out massive bat wings.  So yeah he can shift, he is a bat boy and we're going to hear about the wings, boy are we going to  hear about the wings. And finally her last question is do you know the answer to Amarantha's riddle?  And Thysand is literally like damn you've got balls to even ask that girl, like no  obviously I can't tell you. Amarantha can put a spell on all of them ,like how Tamlin couldn't  talk about the curse. He does clean up the ashes for her because he was impressed that, you know  she's got big balls. And then to take it one step further, Rhysand actually goes to the guards and  is like you are not allowed to give her any more chores, like you aren't allowed to touch her, just  leave her alone, like just let her sit in her cell and rot okay? Stop being mean. And once again Sarah  J Maas, just cannot stress enough how sexy his voice is. The words caress, erotic, purring, velvet.  That's the vibe. Okay. Feyre is alone in her cell for another four days until some night court ladies  come and take her away. And they start getting her dressed in this like really skimpy dress like  basically she's wearing nothing and she obviously doesn't like that so she's low-key fighting them  when Rhysand walks in and is like I wouldn't do that if I were you. Basically what's going  on is Amarantha is throwing some kind of midsummer party - which doesn't make sense because didn't they  have the summer solstice a while ago? Anyway she's having a midsummer party and Rhysand is bringing  Feyre. She is also covered in body paint so that Rhysand can tell if anyone touches her because  it would smudge the paint and so he'll be able to see if she's been touched...lovely. They head  to the throne room. Same setup as usual - Amarantha is in her throne, Tamlin is sitting next to her.  Amarantha looks at Feyre and is like what is this? And Rhysand tells them about their little  bargain. Not only does he get to piss Tamlin off (he looks bored but his knuckles are apparently  white as he's gripping onto his chair because he just found out that Feyre belongs to Rhysand for  a week every month for the rest of her life) but it also is there to piss off Amarantha because it  sure sounds like Rhysand is betting on Feyre passing the trials and walking out of here  alive right? When he says \"the rest of her life\" kinda sounds like he thinks she's going to live  for a while. And this is where we hit probably the most controversial part of the book. I'm not  going to give my opinions on it but just know that this is a part that is talked about a lot  and that is that the next thing Rhysand does is use his kind of mind control powers to get Feyre  to start drinking the wine. And remember the last time she had fairy wine? She was like quite loopy  right? Well he manages to get her to drink enough that she blacks out, she doesn't remember the night  at all, she wakes up in her prison cell throwing up sick. The only good thing we could say is that  she checks herself, she checks the body paint, and all she can see is that somebody definitely had  hands on her waist holding her but other than that she wasn't touched. Then Lucien walks in and Lucien  kind of gives her an update of what happened that night and he was basically like yeah Rhysand made  you dance with him all night or sit on his lap and like you weren't dancing the waltz girl, like maybe  it's better that you don't remember kind of thing. This is when Feyre is like why didn't you come  and help me? You know, like he healed her that one time but when she really needed it when her arm  was broken he never came, and like that's the whole reason why she's in this stupid bargain with Rhysand  in the first place. Do you remember when she was fighting the worm and Lucien screamed \"to your left\"?!  Yeah Amarantha really didn't like that. And so instead of killing him - Tamlin basically had to  beg Amarantha not to kill Lucien - he got 20 lashes and basically could not get out of bed until  that last night to see Feyre at the party. So if Feyre hadn't taken Rhysand's offer, she would  have died, there would have been no way she would have gotten help in time. And he's about to leave  but Feyre has one more question and she's like how is Tamlin handling like being under that curse?  Is there anything we can do? And Lucien's like what? And Feyre's like the curse that's making him  act like he doesn't know me? And Lucien's like that's not a curse  that's a strategy! Tamlin is trying everything in his power to not show any emotion towards Feyre  because that will just make Amarantha want to hurt her more and if he reacts strongly to one thing  like he really doesn't like it when blah blah blah happens, Amarantha will make sure  that happens all the time. So Lucien is like no he's doing this to keep you as safe as possible.  So that's sweet, like Tamlin is obviously not happy to be here right, he's suffering in silence. So this  drunken party thing goes on almost every single night. She gets dressed up, body painted,  is forced to drink, blacks out, wakes up the next morning hungover. Sarah J Maas writes it as almost  an act of mercy because her being drunk all the time is making her forget all of the time under  the mountain, like all of the days are just blurring together. At least now she doesn't  have as many painful memories right? And then to like recover from the parties she sleeps all day  right so basically like time is actually flying by for her. But then one night Rhysand comes in  and tells her that her second task is the next day. It has already been a month and they have  this little fight - like they're always snippy with each other but Rhysand says something about  Tamlin's court fell and like isn't he weak and Feyre is kind of like didn't the night court fall?  And that's when we see a little bit of pain in Rhysand's eyes. He's always like  teasing and like you can never take him seriously but he actually looked a little hurt and even if  she hadn't caught that look in his eyes she could physically feel his sadness and that's when she  realized oh this tattoo is not a normal tattoo. Like she could feel his emotions which uh, ruh roh ? So they head to the party but Rhysand has a job first - apparently somebody from the summer court  tried to escape and was obviously caught. Amarantha wants to know how he escaped, was he working with  anyone else, etc and calls upon Rhysand to use his like mental mind reading power thing to get  answers to which Rhysand reports - it looks like he was just gonna run, there weren't any accomplices,  there wasn't a motive, he's just a typical coward. And the high lord of the summer court is in  the room and he looks like a little relieved by that answer which makes Feyre think maybe Rhysand  let some stuff slide? Amarantha tells Rhysand to shatter this guy's mind so Rhysand literally just  looks at the guy and melts his brain - like his brain literally comes out of his nose.  Amarantha is like I said shatter his mind not his brain! So she basically wanted him to live  in madness as torture for the rest of his life but Rhysand just killed him kind of as a mercy killing  right? And he's just like oops I got carried away, my bad. And he just goes off to the drink table.  So we start to think maybe we don't know everything there is to know about this  lord of the night court. It is the day of the second task, we're wasting no time. Feyre gets  lowered into this weird chamber and on the other side of it is Lucien and whatever she has to do,  he's wrapped up in it too. Amarantha is like we're gonna practice riddles since you still haven't  solved the first one I gave you. So her and Lucien are like in this thing, there are these like metal  spikes that are possibly on fire lowering towards both of them and there's a riddle written on the  wall and basically there are three answers and she just has to pull the correct lever  and the spikes will stop. And what is something that Feyre struggles with?  Reading. She can't read or write still, barely, and Lucien is too far away and like whatever is in  between them like he can't even yell the answer to her - like she's completely on her own. So she is  just standing there watching the spikes come down and down they're almost on top of her, she can feel  the heat. She is just like mentally saying her goodbyes to Tamlin. She looks up at him and like  she's ready to die. Lucien is screaming like \"just pick one!!!!\" Like pick a lever, we're gonna die  anyway just pick one! She's like okay yeah yeah I'm just gonna pick one and she goes to reach for the  second lever and she gets this horrible pain she kind of recoils and she's like what the   So then she reaches for another one but there's no pain.Sso she's like um...reaches for the final one  and ouch this one's pain - and this pain by the way is emanating from her tattoo. So she looks up at  Rhysand but he's like not even paying attention so she's like this is so weird. She is about to be  impaled her and Lucien and so she decides to just pull the one that doesn't hurt her and she's right.  The spikes stop. Like within centimeters of both of them. And she's free, she passed the second test.  She gets out of her little death pod, whatever it was, and she is like shaking, crying, convulsing. This  was the closest she's ever felt to death. When she hears a voice in her head. The voice says  don't let her see you cry, stand up, don't give her the satisfaction of seeing you break. So she  somehow gets up and Rhysand's mind voice - because it's Rhysand - is like good girl, now don't look at Tamlin,  just stare at her, now walk awa,y chin high, let the crowd part, one step after another, and she finally  makes it to her cell. Rhysand disappears from her brain and then she breaks. She is essentially like  I came that close to death in the second trial, there's no way I'm passing the third one.  It's over, I'm ju- she's prepared to die at any moment basically. And eventually Rhysand  comes in and tells her to stop crying. How does he get her to stop crying you ask? He licks the tears  off of her face with his tongue yeah. And she's like so disgusted by it that she stops crying.  This is a pretty common thing in Sarah j Maas's writing is that in order to distract someone from  usually sadness or fear, a character will make them have a different strong emotion - so usually  anger. So that's what Rhysand does. Whenever he doesn't want Feyre to be sad, he tries to get  her feeling feisty. He makes fun of her for not being able to read, he's just an in general  but when he leaves she's not sad anymore. It took me a long while to realize that Rhysand,  whether he knew it or not, had effectively kept me from shattering completely. Hmm. The parties start  again and at this point Feyre is the one asking for the wine - she's like I actually really liked  that blackout thing, like let's keep it going. One day her night court ladies are helping  her get dressed when suddenly they hear someone coming by the hallway and it's the attor. And the  night court women are suddenly like shh and they hide and Feyre's like these women are spies! Holy  ! So yeah the night court ladies, we don't know whose side they're on, but I mean they're  probably working for Rhysand, but Feyre's just like oh okay okay I can jam with this. We overhear  that the king of Hybern is ready to launch a war on the mortal realms and this is her worst fear because  she's trying to save Tamlin she thinks she's going to die in the third trial so she's like okay  we've lost Prythian and now I'm hearing that Hybern is going to attack the mortal realm  and so I've just lost my family. Like everything is basically and she's sitting in her cell  slowly losing her mind because she has absolutely lost all hope at this point, she hears, of all  things music. Someone is listening to music and it's like trickling into her cell somehow. There  was beauty in this music, beauty and goodness. And she literally goes on a trip like this music  takes her to like a meadow and then she's flying over a castle. The music was Tamlin's fingers  strumming my body, it was the gold in his eyes and the twist of his smile. It was that breathy chuckle  and the way that he said those three words. It was this I was fighting for, this I had sworn to save.  And then the music made a quilt that wrapped around her and warmed her bones. And it was two  days until her final trial. We have reached the last party of Feyre's life whoo! Rhysand, for some  reason, is a little bit late so she gets all dolled up, painted whatever, and she's just waiting in the  throne room and she is like so tapped out that she's not really paying attention and she doesn't  even realize that Tamlin is standing right next to her! He is standing like real real close to her and  just kind of like brushes his hand next to hers and she has to stay really still right - like nobody  can see this going on - but he kind of like walks out of the throne room and kind of looks back  and Feyre follows. They somehow both manage to get out of the throne room without being seen and  this is where we get a steamy steamy steamy scene. They figure that these are their like very last  moments together so let's just say they're making it count. But then party pooper Rhysand shows up  and Rhysand basically just starts yelling at Tamlin and he's like do you know how much Amarantha would  love to see this and use it as an excuse to hurt you? Like she'll probably kill Lucien now  like because she's already gonna kill Feyre right? Why don't you, before Amarantha sees anything,  why don't you be a good little high lord, buckle your belt, and go back to the throne room? And to  Feyre's horror - Tamlin listens. He whispers I love you and just peaces out. And this is when Rhysand  just like lets Feyre have it - he's like are you stupid?! Like can you imagine what we have risked?  You know? If you got caught? And 'Feyre's like what do you care? And Rhysand is like what do I care? What  do I care???? He's really, you know, these these fae men, let me tell you - drama! But before he can continue  he like looks at the door and then just like pounces on Feyre. He's kissing her all over, right,  getting that paint real messy and who walks in but Amarantha and Tamlin. We're not sure if Tamlin  understands what's happening but Amarantha sees Feyre and is like I knew it! These humans!! But what  we realize is that Rhysand actually was doing this to save Tamlin's ass - or Tamlin and Feyre.  Because when they were having their little steamy scene he up all of her paint  so Amarantha could look at Feyre and be like who were you with - Rhysand wasn't here yet, you  know? So Rhysand took that like couple of seconds to violate Feyre but in a way it saved them??  iI got Amarantha off the, you know? Do you get that? It looks like he was the one who smeared the paint?  Rhysand tells her go to your cell, no dancin,g go to sleep. Rhysand does come to her cell that night to  vent and Feyre has been trying to get the taste of his lips off of hers for hours apparently. Rhysand  admits that the rumors are true where, you know how Lucien kept calling him Amarantha's   ?So apparently Amarantha as well as having him as like her personal torture person, she also asks him  to do some services for her in the bedroom sort of thing. Feyre is like why are you telling me this?  And all of his swagger and nastiness was gone. Rhysand says because I'm tired and lonely and  you're the only person I can talk to without putting myself at risk. He tells her that if  she breaks the curse tomorrow, because tomorrow is her third and final trial, if she breaks the  curse Tamlin's power is gonna be so great that he could potentially kill Amarantha - like that's  what he has to do, he can't hesitate. Curse breaks, kill amarantha right? And if he kills Amarantha  everyone will be free. Because remember Feyre only bargained for Tamlin and the spring court  to be free but if Tamlin zaps our mean little lady over here, everyone will be free from her wrath so  that's why Rhysand is helping her so much - he's like you are gonna help all of us my friend. And  that's also why he's been especially picking on Tamlin because the madder that Tamlin is, the more  power he's gonna use so if Rhysand is like ringing him up into this tight little ball before he snaps,  he's hoping that that's actually like helping him in a weird way. So everything Rhysand does has like  a weird reason behind it. He's always like two or three steps ahead. And he's also hoping that the  fact that he hasn't touched her - other than that time that he kissed her in order to like get the  paint all whatever - he's hoping that the fact that he, you know, didn't take advantage of Feyre and  helped kind of drug her through this experience to help lower her trauma level - again questionable -  he's hoping that that his treatment of Feyre will get Tamlin to not kill him. He's like I'm  winding Tamlin up but hopefully because I didn't hurt his true love, he'll go easy on me. Does that  make sense? And he's also being punished the most like he is Amarantha's as they say, because  his family was the one who killed Tamlin's family and so Amarantha loves Tamlin so she's going to  hurt Rhysand in order to get revenge for Tamlin? I don't know this is - I don't, this doesn't even  need to be in here to be honest. I don't know why this was added. Feyre replays everything  and agrees that Rhysand is actually keeping her alive, like we've said he's like keeping  her from shattering completely whether - even if that means that she's like angry all the time or  drugged whatever. And she finally says, when you healed my arm, you didn't need to bargain with  me. You could have demanded every single week of the year and I would have said yes. A half smile  appeared on his sensuous lips. I know he said and vanished. All right, final task, let's do it people!  We're powering through. Amarantha - we're in the throne room. Amarantha says any last words? Feyre:  I love you, no matter what she says about it, no matter if it's only my insignificant human heart,  even when they burn my body, I love you. He didn't react, he didn't even grip the arms of his throne.  I suppose that was his way of enduring it even if it made my chest cave in, even if his silence  killed me. Amarantha said sweetly oh you'll be lucky my darling if we have enough left of you  to burn. The last task - easy! Stab three innocent fairies in the heart. The three fae that she has  to kill are kneeling in front of her with hoods over their faces, but one by one they take the  hoods off so that Feyre has to look them in the eye as she does it. So the first one is obviously  crying, screaming, begging for his life but she does it. She stabs him right in the heart. She goes on to  the second one which is an older woman and she is just praying and she seems to be kind of ready and  she kind of looks at Feyre and she's just like, you know, do it fast. I understand. And so Feyre  kills the second one. The third and final fae, the hood is ripped off and who is kneeling before her?Tamlin. This is up. And at this point even Rhysand's face is pale, like he didn't expect this  either. Feyre's options are essentially kill Tamlin but his court and Feyre herself will be saved.  Or if Feyre kills herself, him and his court will be Amarantha's slaves and then she and the king of  Hybern are going to take over the mortal realm, so she is very stuck. But then Feyre does the damn  thing - she uses that beautiful brain of hers that's been missing for a lot of this book. Remember when  Alis told her to listen? To hear the things that come through her ears? Right? She starts replaying  every conversation that's gone on in this book. Because of the curse, Tamlin and Lucien couldn't  outright tell her things, but if they happen to leave a door open and she happened to eavesdrop...  So she combs over every word and here's what she realizes 1.Amarantha wouldn't kill the one person  she wants, right? She wants Tamlin so she's either really sure Feyre won't do it or  she's got some kind of trick up her sleeve. Number two, Lucien and the Attor both said  something weird to Tamlin - that he has a heart of stone. Lucien said it jokingly like \"man, for a  guy with a heart of stone you're sure warming up\" and the attor said something similar right?  Which could just be a common fairy turn of phrase but Feyre is also like hmm maybe I can't kill him?  Maybe his heart is actually stone. And she's like in all those times that like I fell asleep on  his shoulder and we've had all of our little like steamy moments, I've actually never heard his heart  beat. Hmm. Meanwhile it is like dead quiet in this throne room while she's doing this like 4d mental  chess with Amarantha right? But something must have sparked on her face and Tamlin can kind of tell  that she's had a little epiphany and he just kind of looks at her, tilts his chin up a little bit  and that's all the invitation she needs. I love you she said and stabbed him in the heart.  The ash dagger goes straight through, cracks bones, gushes blood, all the good stuff. And then it hits  a rock hard heart. She was right, Tamlin's heart is stone. And she stabbed it like she needed to.  The trial only said that she had to stab them in the heart, it didn't say that she had to kill them  technically so boom! She pulls out the dagger and is kind of letting Tamlin heal but when she turns  to Amarantha the queen is like yeah I never said when I was gonna free you. I said that if  you broke the riddle I would instantaneously end the curse but I never said anything about like  when I would free you after the trials. And then she just loses her She is like I'm gonna  kill you Feyre! Do you think you deserve a high lord you nasty human worm?! She then like uses her  magic to pick Feyre up and is like tossing her around like a rag doll and stuff, it's not cute.  Rhysand even tries to jump into the action to help or maybe kill Amarantha while she's distracted  and Amarantha throws him across the room into the wall he blacks out and Feyre is being so brutally  injured that she keeps passing out from the pain but then Amarantha uses the magic to keep her  awake so she's conscious for all of this. and Amarantha is like I'll stop if you say that you  don't love Tamlin! For a split second when Rhysand is thrown against the wall and kind of blacks out,  Feyre like sees through his eyes. I guess their like weird connection, that tattoo, she can see  herself on the ground from his vantage point so that's a weird thing. Next the queen makes Feyre  mentally live through all of her worst memories like a super cut. Tamlin is now awake and healed  and screaming - he's begging Amarantha like I'll do anything, please just stop. But it's too far gone.  Feyre can barely breathe because I'm pretty sure she broke all of her ribs or something like that.  But even though Feyre's lungs aren't working, her brain is still going. Blood filled my mouth,  warm as it dribbled out between my lips. I gazed at Tamlin's masked face one last time. \"Love,\" I breathed,  the world crumbling into a blackness with no end. A pause in Amarantha's magic. \"The answer to  the riddle ,\" I got out, choking on my own blood, \"is love.\" Tamlin's eyes went wide before something  forever cracked in my spine. When Feyre can see again, it's not through her own eyes. She's looking  at the scene from a different vantage point and she can see herself on the ground and her head  is just at a wrong angle - her neck has been broken. Amarantha is standing there looking shocked  not because Feyre died, because we're pretty sure that's what she wanted, but because Feyre  broke the curse. Tamlin wastes no time. Rhysand,you know, winding him up probably paid off because  within the blink of an eye Tamlin crosses the room and bites out Amarantha's throat.  Yeah she's dead. Feyre takes attendance and she realizes that she's seeing out of Rhysand's eyes  again. He is standing back and so she can just kind of watch as you know Tamlin and everybody run over  to her. Tamlin is screaming, trying to pick her up and she's....but then something weird happens. All of  the high lords start to come up to her body and dropping like glitter on her or something. Each  and every one of them. When Rhysand finally steps forward he says something along the lines of  like \"for what she did, we bestow the gift of our predecessors\" and drops his little glitter bomb  on her as well. And then Tamlin is the last one. He pets her very bloody head, whispers I love you,  and puts his last bit of glitter in her heart. Feyre is zapped out of Rhysand's head and now  she can see but she is like in some kind of pool of darkness - she's sort of in limbo  and she can like look up from this dark tunnel and see the high lords looking down at her but  it's very far away, but then she sees this little golden string and it's tying her to the world. She  uses that string to climb her way back up to her body. She wakes up surrounded by fae  but something is strange. Number one she's kind of glowing. Number two she sits up really fast  and is really strong. So yay her neck isn't broken but also like her body's acting kind of funny. She  can smell better,she can see better, oh no. Oh yes! Feyre is fae baby! It happened! So Tamlin stands  behind her and explains that this was the only way to save her, to make her fae, and she's not just  fae. She's high fae all right. She looks around, she starts to have a panic attack because she's  surrounded by dead bodies. They didn't just kill Amarantha, they killed everybody else who was on  Amarantha's side. She's also having a panic attack because she killed some of them - two of those fairy,  she stabbed them in the heart and they were just innocent fairies so she's having a rough time of  it. But then fingers find her chin and she's turned to face someone she's never fully seen before.  Tamlin's mask is on the ground and, you guessed it, he looks exactly how she dreamed. He smiled at me,  his entire face alight with that quiet joy I have come to love so dearly and he brushed my hair  aside. What I had done to get to this moment, to be standing here - in a minute, in an hour, in a day  I would think about that, force myself to face it. I put a hand on Tamlin's heart and a steady beat  echoed into my bones. So this should be our happily ever after moment right? Well.... As happy as Feyre  is that she saved Tamlin and like the world, the weight of those two innocent fae that she killed  is like really heavy on her heart. Everyone just pretty much immediately like wants to get out of  that under the mountain place so everybody just kind of scatters to their respective homes and  she just kind of sits there like clearly really haunted by this. Tamlin tries to get her to talk  about it but she's just sort of like later, you know? Tamlin and Feyre finally get their moment  alone together and there is some good steam. This is what they worked for, this is what Feyre almost  died for right? So they're finally together, so she wakes up a little bit after that and  she like feels a little tug, like she's being pulled towards the balcony. Rhyrhy is out there,  wing's out, waiting for her. He's just like, you know, I just wanted to say bye. I'll see you at the night  court soon, because remember they still have that bargain, and she does actually try and thank him  for helping with the second trial because she knew it was him, you know, and he's basically like you  know I didn't want you to fight or die alone. And that really sticks with Feyre because remember  with that fairy that she comforted while it was dying, she really feels like that - she never wants  to die alone. And he's like \"so how is it being high fae? You know, welcome to the club. And she's like  yeah it's dope but I wish we could have switched out my heart or something because I'm feeling  way too many human emotions right now. Like fae, because they're immortal, they kind of - they feel  everything but like maybe not as - like those two little deaths, in the grand scheme of things, might  not have been such a big deal but to Feyre it's like, she is shaken to her core. And Rhysand says  \"Be glad of your human heart Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all.\" And then he gets ready  to teleport or whatever, like peace out of here and he turns around to be like \"all right see  ya!\" And he just freezes. His eyes lock on mine, wide and wild and his nostrils flared shock. Pure shock  splashed across his features at whatever he saw on my face and he stumbled back a step. Actually  stumbled. \"What is -\" Feyre began, but he disappeared into the crisp air. So Rhysand literally did a like...  which, you know, he's Mr Suave. So Feyre's just like okay.... After that, Tamlin and Feyre make their way  back to the spring court and she realizes that she's never actually thought about what happens  next. Now that they're all free, what do they do you know? She's still really broken by the killings...  but she had tomorrow, because there would be a tomorrow, and an eternity to face what I had done.  To face what I shredded into pieces inside myself while under the mountain. But for now,  for today, \"let's go home.\" I said and took his hand.Oh baby. All right. That is A Court of Thorns and Roses.  This book was about 400 something pages. The books continuously get longer so I am working on the  second one right now but it's taken a lot out of me. So yeah I hope that you enjoyed this. There  are definitely going to be a lot more characters in the next books. I never actually noticed  kind of how few recurring characters there were in this book, but because everyone was  under the mountain with Amarantha, we really only had Tamlin and Lucien most of the time so  it's gonna be quite different, it's gonna be quite crowded with the next books. So thank  you for being here with me and I will see you guys next time. Let me know your thoughts down below and  see you for A Court of Mist and Fury. Arguably most people's favorite book in the series. And  once again, thank you to our sponsor, Squarespace, for sponsoring this video. If you would like, all  the information is down below, but you can go to squarespace.com/caricanread to get 10%  off of your first website or domain. I will see you guys next time.\n"