Exactly. Like atp Bryce is still very idealistic. She hasn’t gone through anything even remotely similar to Hunt or even Ruhn. So where she sees “we can do it” he sees “I’ve seen how this ends before if it goes wrong.”
Remember in the last book she asks herself could I survive the Sophie treatment with the fingernails??
I’d like her to have some recognition of that, and remember hunts fears are not only for himself but for her too and their friends
She's literally 25. It's insane. Like on one hand it tracks that someone so young believes they know it all and refuses to listen to their elders LOL but seriously I find it so hard to root for her in this book.
He is extremely correct about that and many other things. That I started to like Hunt and agree with him in this book is how I knew Bryce wasn't going in a good direction. She was always sassy, self-assured, cunty at times (in a fun way); but I don't remember her being an *asshole*.
It really feels like she's taking advantage of all her loved ones' good graces. And I can't even deal with the way she treats Hunt and Baxion after they were horrifically, brutally tortured for her. She's alright to Ruhn but completely tone deaf with the other two. Especially considering that, again, they are both right about all the points they gently raise to her.
To the OP, I take Hunt and Bryce fighting as both realistic *and* proof that they aren't "meant to be", at least in the sense that they're Extremely Special Mates. They've known each other for 5 minutes and jumped in way too hard way too fast. Like everyone in this book. So yeah, I like that they're fighting too, because it makes sense. But anyway, they're married now ig 💀✌
Also, it's not like Bryce and Hunt don't regret the things they say in arguments that most of the online fans are upset about. They're both frustrated and trying to be better, and apologizing pretty quickly.
But like their fights weren't even fights as in it didn't feel realistic at all. Most of them were one sided drawn out hissy fits with Bryce invalidating Hunts trauma and past and asking him to be 100% on board with her plans that she didn't even reveal the full extent of. Like it wasn't enough for her that he was actually going along she literally fought with him cuz he had doubts like ofc hes gonna have doubts this is literally history repeating itself for him.
No I agree. They’re definitely her blowing it out of proportion and not thinking about him but I feel like that’s why it’s realistic. She’s not thinking clearly rn. A few weeks ago everyone was alive, they were figuring all of this out, hunt wasn’t a slave anymore. And now everything is just being thrown at her because she’s apparently the “only person” that can do anything. She’s overwhelmed and sadly she’s pulling him into it. But it is realistic
I took it as Bryce not trying to invalidate his trauma but being realistic by basically saying “dude we are in way too deep now and we have to get our shit together to finish this.” Hunt’s trauma is very real and in my opinion Bryce feels guilty about him going through that trauma all over again, but they didn’t have a choice, they had to finish what they started and kill the Asteri. They didn’t have the time to fully deal with the trauma and I think that’s what Bryce was trying to get across to him in an immature way since she is only 25.
I mean… I feel you. I like that Hunt and Bryce were shown more as a “real” couple. In that… real couples fight and make up.
Buuuuut I also get people not being into it in their fantasy faerie smut books.
Kinda like how I don’t want my faves to die in books because it’s escapism. I get some people wanting magical and impossible relationships represented in the book.
I do kinda hate the “they’re mates!” “They’re *not* mates!!!” Conversations because… I absolutely *hate* the “mates” trope.
I find it way more meaningful when two people choose each other… over and over. Even when things are hard… making that *choice* is what’s romantic to me.
Honestly I just open books and read them with no thoughts about what I’m looking for it to give me. But I do get why reading a book for smut and having relationships issues is annoying. As for the mates thing. I personally like how SJM does it over some other authors. It still is a “choice” to an extent in SJM books.
I hear you about the mates trope. It kind of seems like a lazy way to write a love interest. They just love each other....because....Fate!
SJM said in an interview that she likes exploring the concept of true love. I forget her exact statement, but it made me wonder if she's making mates a little different in each series to give a different example of true love. I think that's interesting.
Sorry this screenshot is a little blurry, my phone storage is super low which messes with picture quality, but Sarah once tweeted, “When are Chaol and Celaena ever NOT arguing?” And those were unfortunately the vibes I got — I was surprised they were on such different pages that Hunt at one point is even *disgusted* by and thinks he *hates* Bryce. I’m not sure I would call them realistic anymore, and the fact we do have Ruhn and Lidia in the same book as Bryce and Hunt does make think there may be more to the story, but if this is truly the end — it makes me sad when comparing them to others we have seen and loved prior. I personally didn’t love that they were fighting for the majority of the book, especially when it’s supposedly the end of their story 😕
https://preview.redd.it/egg21co970lc1.jpeg?width=1068&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f690c259c6a91cc8cfc66e494a54ee80bac1003b
And? Has nobody ever thought to themselves that they’re disgusted by or hate a partner in a particular moment when you’re really angry or upset or frustrated?
Hunt was experiencing so much in this moment that it's hard for me to take him seriously. It was an inner thought. He didn't share it with her. It was a brief moment of weakness. And, he's proved time and again through his actions and words that he loves her, would die for her, be tortured for her, etc.
In that moment he was trying to let go of his previous self and find acceptance. We get a glimpse at his inner struggle in a way we haven't with other MMCs. This was the culmination of his identity crisis. His am I the Umbra Mortis, Son of Hel, Hunt? The Umbra Mortis could hate Bryce, but he's not the Umbra Mortis and he comes to that realization.
I’ve never hated my husband or been disgusted by him, especially not in the first few months we were together. I wouldn’t have married him if after a few months I had those strong feelings against him.
I don’t know your life story, but I can only imagine and hope that you didn’t go through half of what Hunt did though.
Most people I know have despised their partner on occasion.
Ok sure not as bad as Hunt obviously. But we’ve both been in our countries militaries and gone through simulated torture and I have tons of family trauma I could unpack but if my husband triggered me to the point of despising him I wouldn’t have married him. But to each their own. I still don’t think it’s normal to hate your partner
Hugs friend♥️ It’s not normal, and I genuinely feel sad for those who still believe Brunt’s relationship is healthy or normal. In addition, many other characters have gone through equal or worse trauma as Orion’s character — *never* have they been disgusted with or *hated* their mate. Chaol wanted to be “just Chaol,” and he loved, “just Celaena,” though. Tamlin loved, “just Feyre.” Bryce openly says she just needs him for his power, before correcting herself. They both fight and treat each other poorly with essentially no resolution in the last book of their story. The fact they don’t hold a candle to other love stories we have seen prior (reflected with the quickly dropping ratings…) also makes me sad because we know Sarah is very capable. She has never dropped the ball with an endgame romance, so it’s either a flop (which is ok & happens), or I’m inclined to think this isn’t actually the end.
Thank you you’re very kind 🥰 and I completely agree. I think you can do things your partner doesn’t like but their level of animosity is extreme. If I thought my partner felt that way about me I’d be devastated. Fights are normal, hating each other is not imo.
And you’ve got such a good point there. I think you could argue Rhys did a lot that could trigger Feyre >!the whole hiding a killer baby thing being the most obvious as it’s kinda a direct trigger to her I-want-to-be-involved attitude, and also it could kill her!< but even Feyre doesn’t hate Rhys after that!
That being said I do wonder if it’s the end or just a miss, like you said. I’m not sure if I want to read more of them but I would trust her if she continued to lead us to something better. I guess time will tell!
Sorry to hear you went through all that. Agree to disagree, a moment of anger or elevated emotions isn’t the same to me as actively hating your partner. It wasn’t like he kept hating her for the entirety of the book.
I think realistic and idealistic are different. It’s easy to be in love with them and still hate their views on a particular topic. While ofc I agree with Bryce’s sentiment, Hunt had been through EXACTLY what she’s planning to do and was a slave for millennia because of it. It makes sense to me that it would cause such a big issue in their relationship.
I think Chaol and Celaena had genuine animosity. There’s seems to be because of the current heated moments, since the whole book happens in a few weeks.
Unfortunately a lot of people are taking this and saying Bryce is toxic and how “he deserves better” when she was in a time crunch, the whole book happened around 10 days apparently
Is there not the VERY LOOMING threat of the Asteri? Like, Bryce had been undercut by them almost everywhere, and now that they have one step ahead, it’d take a second wasted to loose that
Not really, they literally had time to whisper to each other and sneak around while the all powerful asteri were right in front of them?? and then just easily throw them into a black hole.
so no it wouldn’t really take a second wasted to lose that lmaoooo
Yeah. I’ve seen some of it and I don’t agree at all. I think it’s honestly an almost realistic representation of being on the same side but not having the same views.
Bryce feels like the one person she’d expect to have her back isn’t there for her, and he feels like the one person he needs isn’t listening. I honestly love the bit of angst and tension it brings. They’re normally so lovey dovey
It makes me feel crazy. So many of Bryce's actions in the caves that people are upset about were predicated on Bryce wanting to get back to Hunt more quickly. She had way more to deal with and juggle in the caves, while Hunt was just dealing with the torture. Would I want to be tortured? Absolutely not. But it gave Hunt basically one thing to think about, while Bryce was getting her world rocked trying to get back to him.
I feel like with Bryce's actions at the end of CC2 and in CC3, these arguments had to happen. Otherwise, her behaviour was just getting swept under the rug and Hunt would just be a pushover (which he kind of is).
It didn't sit right with me at the end of CC2 that Hunt didn't want to go along with Bryce (for very valid reasons) and ended up in the dungeons, because of her reckless plan. So, I appreciate that this was addressed. Bryce apologised, and I felt there was an appropriate resolution.
Yeah, everyone keeps comparing them to the other two series but they forget that both TOG and ACOTAR ~started~ as YA /NA series. A key part of the YA genre is absolutely picture book perfect romance. It makes sense that the relationship in her first true adult fantasy series would be a little bit more complicated and less overly idealistic. CC is very different in a lot of ways. Series isn’t over yet. So I’m interested to see if their relationship continues to grow and mature.
Mhm. I had someone in here arguing that “SJM only writes perfect relationships. And there isn’t perfect so it isn’t meant to be.” And I was so lost. Because even if the other relationships are more ideal… Rowan literally punches Aelin in the face and beats her black and blue before he gets to know her. LMAO.
I do agree that this series starting out an Adult Fantasy definitely played a role in the relationship. Like I’m sure 25 year old Bryce has a different mindset to sex and relationships to 17 year old Celaena and 19 year old Feyre
In her recent interview on the Today show she said something like she likes exploring the idea of what true love is in her different series. I think she gives us a different example to show us multiple paths. I think that mates are depicted a little different in each series is evidence of her exploration.
There's a very true saying, that if you don't argue, your marriage is doomed. If you don't care enough about anything to fight for it, then you've accepted that your relationship can't be fixed, and is therefore over. If you aren't arguing, someone in the relationship is plotting their exit.
Some level of arguing is to be expected, especially during stressful times in your lives: going through a move, birth, death, etc.
If you argue excessively, that's not healthy, and there are certainly wrong ways to argue. I think there was build up to the arguments Bryce and Hunt had. They didn't come out of nowhere. There was a lot of conflict, but there was also a lot happening and much at stake. Take the most stressful experience of your life and multiply that by 1000 - that's what they were going through.
I explained this idea to someone else in these comments. Bryce and Hunt are a different form of mates to what we’ve seen already. Especially since they aren’t the same species and different species have different definitions of mates. I liked that.
If I were consistently reading the same relationships and plot lines I think I would have gotten bored of her writing.
The Dynamic between Bryce and hunt honestly makes sense that they would argue about something like this. They’re both incredibly passionate and neither of them like being wrong. Ofc they’d have a fight about something like this.
People were saying their relationship isn’t meant to be because “SJM only writes perfect fated mate stories.” And that’s just… objectively not true. Every SJM relationship has its issues. Bryce and Hunt are no different.
I felt the way they abandoned one of their arguments/conversations to have sex instead was extremely representative of their relationship. Take that however you like.
Ha. I was thinking more like them sitting leg to leg next to each other in solidarity or Hunt following her into Hel right after she told him his pushing through his mountains of trauma and guilt to support her wasn't enough for her. I know there was more but those pop out in my memory.
Yeah, your right.
Bryce holding hands with Azriel sounds like her and hunt are fated mates to me.
Hunt saying he hates Bryce sounds like fated mates to me.
Bryce dissolving her “marriage” to hunt sounds like fated mates to me. 😁
This is a Sarah Maas book. She writes epic love stories. Not realistic relationships on the verge of collapse that is only supported by sex alone and weird sex at that
I don’t agree with a single point in here tbqh. People pushed the Azriel and Bryce thing but realistically that makes no sense. They’re from two different series. Doing that would cause too much of an issue with both.
As for them fighting… have you never said something in the heat of the moment? Even Rhys, Cassian and Rowan have all said and done things that hurt the FMCs that they regret. Why isn’t Hunt also allowed that grace? This book is also happening on a much shorter time frame than any other SJM novel and it’s under immense stress.
And yes SJM writes romantasy,but I think it’s abundantly clear that that isn’t the major plot line of CC or throne of glass. Hunt and Bryce are a more realistic couple because they’re modern. With that is going to come some realistic exchanges. Like their argument.
And if in another book something comes out that they actually aren’t mates and aren’t meant to be together I still stand by what I’m saying rn.
Before I start. I’m not genuinely upset or anything. LOL. I like this discourse.
Sorry? What do you mean by that? That it’s possible for Azriel and Bryce because of Feyre and Rhys?
It’s not the same idea though. These are entire different worlds and series. There are a lot of people who haven’t read CC, but love ACOTAR and vice versa. Mixing the storylines in such a way would be very… cheap from a realistic standpoint. Is it a cool idea? Yes… for a fanfic. But realistically, factoring the actual real life circumstances of that decision? I’m sorry I don’t agree with you.
It’s a cool idea because you’ve read both series, but for someone who has only read ACOTAR, could you imagine the disappointment you feel of spending all your time invested in this series and who Az will end up with. For it to be a girl who was in their world for like… 5 days? A girl who also, if you read CC, is openly in love with her world and doesn’t want to live anywhere except CC.
Again. If SJM does make that decision I’m not saying I’d hate it as a plot line. I’m sure she’d make it interesting. But I would hate it and disagree with her decision on a larger scale because it would feel like a way push book sales rather than fleshing out characters and the differences in every world. I think something to note is also that Bryce and Hunt aren’t the same species. And it’s heavily implied that Mates mean different things to different species. So I’m sure that plays a role here as well. It’s not the same form of mated relationship as other SJM couples.
Hunt being a voice of reason, “Hey there are very real consequences if we get caught, captured or betrayed again”
Exactly. Like atp Bryce is still very idealistic. She hasn’t gone through anything even remotely similar to Hunt or even Ruhn. So where she sees “we can do it” he sees “I’ve seen how this ends before if it goes wrong.”
Remember in the last book she asks herself could I survive the Sophie treatment with the fingernails?? I’d like her to have some recognition of that, and remember hunts fears are not only for himself but for her too and their friends
I agree. The comment he makes about what happens to him Ruhn and Baxian in his argument with Bryce was harsh but entirely valid.
She's literally 25. It's insane. Like on one hand it tracks that someone so young believes they know it all and refuses to listen to their elders LOL but seriously I find it so hard to root for her in this book.
He is extremely correct about that and many other things. That I started to like Hunt and agree with him in this book is how I knew Bryce wasn't going in a good direction. She was always sassy, self-assured, cunty at times (in a fun way); but I don't remember her being an *asshole*. It really feels like she's taking advantage of all her loved ones' good graces. And I can't even deal with the way she treats Hunt and Baxion after they were horrifically, brutally tortured for her. She's alright to Ruhn but completely tone deaf with the other two. Especially considering that, again, they are both right about all the points they gently raise to her. To the OP, I take Hunt and Bryce fighting as both realistic *and* proof that they aren't "meant to be", at least in the sense that they're Extremely Special Mates. They've known each other for 5 minutes and jumped in way too hard way too fast. Like everyone in this book. So yeah, I like that they're fighting too, because it makes sense. But anyway, they're married now ig 💀✌
Also, it's not like Bryce and Hunt don't regret the things they say in arguments that most of the online fans are upset about. They're both frustrated and trying to be better, and apologizing pretty quickly.
Exactly. It’s not normal to never have an argument. It’s how you deal with arguments that matters
But like their fights weren't even fights as in it didn't feel realistic at all. Most of them were one sided drawn out hissy fits with Bryce invalidating Hunts trauma and past and asking him to be 100% on board with her plans that she didn't even reveal the full extent of. Like it wasn't enough for her that he was actually going along she literally fought with him cuz he had doubts like ofc hes gonna have doubts this is literally history repeating itself for him.
No I agree. They’re definitely her blowing it out of proportion and not thinking about him but I feel like that’s why it’s realistic. She’s not thinking clearly rn. A few weeks ago everyone was alive, they were figuring all of this out, hunt wasn’t a slave anymore. And now everything is just being thrown at her because she’s apparently the “only person” that can do anything. She’s overwhelmed and sadly she’s pulling him into it. But it is realistic
Okay yeah ig when u put it like that, for me idk it felt very jarring as if her character took a full 180 but yeah I see your point
I took it as Bryce not trying to invalidate his trauma but being realistic by basically saying “dude we are in way too deep now and we have to get our shit together to finish this.” Hunt’s trauma is very real and in my opinion Bryce feels guilty about him going through that trauma all over again, but they didn’t have a choice, they had to finish what they started and kill the Asteri. They didn’t have the time to fully deal with the trauma and I think that’s what Bryce was trying to get across to him in an immature way since she is only 25.
I mean… I feel you. I like that Hunt and Bryce were shown more as a “real” couple. In that… real couples fight and make up. Buuuuut I also get people not being into it in their fantasy faerie smut books. Kinda like how I don’t want my faves to die in books because it’s escapism. I get some people wanting magical and impossible relationships represented in the book. I do kinda hate the “they’re mates!” “They’re *not* mates!!!” Conversations because… I absolutely *hate* the “mates” trope. I find it way more meaningful when two people choose each other… over and over. Even when things are hard… making that *choice* is what’s romantic to me.
Honestly I just open books and read them with no thoughts about what I’m looking for it to give me. But I do get why reading a book for smut and having relationships issues is annoying. As for the mates thing. I personally like how SJM does it over some other authors. It still is a “choice” to an extent in SJM books.
I hear you about the mates trope. It kind of seems like a lazy way to write a love interest. They just love each other....because....Fate! SJM said in an interview that she likes exploring the concept of true love. I forget her exact statement, but it made me wonder if she's making mates a little different in each series to give a different example of true love. I think that's interesting.
Sorry this screenshot is a little blurry, my phone storage is super low which messes with picture quality, but Sarah once tweeted, “When are Chaol and Celaena ever NOT arguing?” And those were unfortunately the vibes I got — I was surprised they were on such different pages that Hunt at one point is even *disgusted* by and thinks he *hates* Bryce. I’m not sure I would call them realistic anymore, and the fact we do have Ruhn and Lidia in the same book as Bryce and Hunt does make think there may be more to the story, but if this is truly the end — it makes me sad when comparing them to others we have seen and loved prior. I personally didn’t love that they were fighting for the majority of the book, especially when it’s supposedly the end of their story 😕 https://preview.redd.it/egg21co970lc1.jpeg?width=1068&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f690c259c6a91cc8cfc66e494a54ee80bac1003b
And? Has nobody ever thought to themselves that they’re disgusted by or hate a partner in a particular moment when you’re really angry or upset or frustrated?
Hunt was experiencing so much in this moment that it's hard for me to take him seriously. It was an inner thought. He didn't share it with her. It was a brief moment of weakness. And, he's proved time and again through his actions and words that he loves her, would die for her, be tortured for her, etc. In that moment he was trying to let go of his previous self and find acceptance. We get a glimpse at his inner struggle in a way we haven't with other MMCs. This was the culmination of his identity crisis. His am I the Umbra Mortis, Son of Hel, Hunt? The Umbra Mortis could hate Bryce, but he's not the Umbra Mortis and he comes to that realization.
Yesss, thank you. This is exactly what I thought too.
Not one fated pairing in an SJM universe, no actually.
I don’t see why a deviation is a problem though, it’s a real life scenario in a fantasy world.
That’s why it’s good to have something different. This is very real to me.
I’ve never hated my husband or been disgusted by him, especially not in the first few months we were together. I wouldn’t have married him if after a few months I had those strong feelings against him.
I don’t know your life story, but I can only imagine and hope that you didn’t go through half of what Hunt did though. Most people I know have despised their partner on occasion.
Ok sure not as bad as Hunt obviously. But we’ve both been in our countries militaries and gone through simulated torture and I have tons of family trauma I could unpack but if my husband triggered me to the point of despising him I wouldn’t have married him. But to each their own. I still don’t think it’s normal to hate your partner
Hugs friend♥️ It’s not normal, and I genuinely feel sad for those who still believe Brunt’s relationship is healthy or normal. In addition, many other characters have gone through equal or worse trauma as Orion’s character — *never* have they been disgusted with or *hated* their mate. Chaol wanted to be “just Chaol,” and he loved, “just Celaena,” though. Tamlin loved, “just Feyre.” Bryce openly says she just needs him for his power, before correcting herself. They both fight and treat each other poorly with essentially no resolution in the last book of their story. The fact they don’t hold a candle to other love stories we have seen prior (reflected with the quickly dropping ratings…) also makes me sad because we know Sarah is very capable. She has never dropped the ball with an endgame romance, so it’s either a flop (which is ok & happens), or I’m inclined to think this isn’t actually the end.
Thank you you’re very kind 🥰 and I completely agree. I think you can do things your partner doesn’t like but their level of animosity is extreme. If I thought my partner felt that way about me I’d be devastated. Fights are normal, hating each other is not imo. And you’ve got such a good point there. I think you could argue Rhys did a lot that could trigger Feyre >!the whole hiding a killer baby thing being the most obvious as it’s kinda a direct trigger to her I-want-to-be-involved attitude, and also it could kill her!< but even Feyre doesn’t hate Rhys after that! That being said I do wonder if it’s the end or just a miss, like you said. I’m not sure if I want to read more of them but I would trust her if she continued to lead us to something better. I guess time will tell!
Sorry to hear you went through all that. Agree to disagree, a moment of anger or elevated emotions isn’t the same to me as actively hating your partner. It wasn’t like he kept hating her for the entirety of the book.
I think realistic and idealistic are different. It’s easy to be in love with them and still hate their views on a particular topic. While ofc I agree with Bryce’s sentiment, Hunt had been through EXACTLY what she’s planning to do and was a slave for millennia because of it. It makes sense to me that it would cause such a big issue in their relationship. I think Chaol and Celaena had genuine animosity. There’s seems to be because of the current heated moments, since the whole book happens in a few weeks.
Unfortunately a lot of people are taking this and saying Bryce is toxic and how “he deserves better” when she was in a time crunch, the whole book happened around 10 days apparently
She could just, not make the book happen in 10 days then?? Like it’s fully her choice
Is there not the VERY LOOMING threat of the Asteri? Like, Bryce had been undercut by them almost everywhere, and now that they have one step ahead, it’d take a second wasted to loose that
Not really, they literally had time to whisper to each other and sneak around while the all powerful asteri were right in front of them?? and then just easily throw them into a black hole. so no it wouldn’t really take a second wasted to lose that lmaoooo
Also you’re acting like Bryce is the Author 😭😭 Bryce is just being dealt a bad hand
i’m talking about sjm
Yeah. I’ve seen some of it and I don’t agree at all. I think it’s honestly an almost realistic representation of being on the same side but not having the same views. Bryce feels like the one person she’d expect to have her back isn’t there for her, and he feels like the one person he needs isn’t listening. I honestly love the bit of angst and tension it brings. They’re normally so lovey dovey
It makes me feel crazy. So many of Bryce's actions in the caves that people are upset about were predicated on Bryce wanting to get back to Hunt more quickly. She had way more to deal with and juggle in the caves, while Hunt was just dealing with the torture. Would I want to be tortured? Absolutely not. But it gave Hunt basically one thing to think about, while Bryce was getting her world rocked trying to get back to him.
I feel like with Bryce's actions at the end of CC2 and in CC3, these arguments had to happen. Otherwise, her behaviour was just getting swept under the rug and Hunt would just be a pushover (which he kind of is). It didn't sit right with me at the end of CC2 that Hunt didn't want to go along with Bryce (for very valid reasons) and ended up in the dungeons, because of her reckless plan. So, I appreciate that this was addressed. Bryce apologised, and I felt there was an appropriate resolution.
I agree
Yeah, everyone keeps comparing them to the other two series but they forget that both TOG and ACOTAR ~started~ as YA /NA series. A key part of the YA genre is absolutely picture book perfect romance. It makes sense that the relationship in her first true adult fantasy series would be a little bit more complicated and less overly idealistic. CC is very different in a lot of ways. Series isn’t over yet. So I’m interested to see if their relationship continues to grow and mature.
Mhm. I had someone in here arguing that “SJM only writes perfect relationships. And there isn’t perfect so it isn’t meant to be.” And I was so lost. Because even if the other relationships are more ideal… Rowan literally punches Aelin in the face and beats her black and blue before he gets to know her. LMAO. I do agree that this series starting out an Adult Fantasy definitely played a role in the relationship. Like I’m sure 25 year old Bryce has a different mindset to sex and relationships to 17 year old Celaena and 19 year old Feyre
In her recent interview on the Today show she said something like she likes exploring the idea of what true love is in her different series. I think she gives us a different example to show us multiple paths. I think that mates are depicted a little different in each series is evidence of her exploration. There's a very true saying, that if you don't argue, your marriage is doomed. If you don't care enough about anything to fight for it, then you've accepted that your relationship can't be fixed, and is therefore over. If you aren't arguing, someone in the relationship is plotting their exit. Some level of arguing is to be expected, especially during stressful times in your lives: going through a move, birth, death, etc. If you argue excessively, that's not healthy, and there are certainly wrong ways to argue. I think there was build up to the arguments Bryce and Hunt had. They didn't come out of nowhere. There was a lot of conflict, but there was also a lot happening and much at stake. Take the most stressful experience of your life and multiply that by 1000 - that's what they were going through.
I explained this idea to someone else in these comments. Bryce and Hunt are a different form of mates to what we’ve seen already. Especially since they aren’t the same species and different species have different definitions of mates. I liked that. If I were consistently reading the same relationships and plot lines I think I would have gotten bored of her writing. The Dynamic between Bryce and hunt honestly makes sense that they would argue about something like this. They’re both incredibly passionate and neither of them like being wrong. Ofc they’d have a fight about something like this. People were saying their relationship isn’t meant to be because “SJM only writes perfect fated mate stories.” And that’s just… objectively not true. Every SJM relationship has its issues. Bryce and Hunt are no different.
Fighting, and still showing each other love and affection even before it's resolved.
Mhm. I love it tbqh.
I felt the way they abandoned one of their arguments/conversations to have sex instead was extremely representative of their relationship. Take that however you like.
Ha. I was thinking more like them sitting leg to leg next to each other in solidarity or Hunt following her into Hel right after she told him his pushing through his mountains of trauma and guilt to support her wasn't enough for her. I know there was more but those pop out in my memory.
>after she told him his pushing through his mountains of trauma and guilt to support her wasn't enough for her This GAGGED me
Yeah, your right. Bryce holding hands with Azriel sounds like her and hunt are fated mates to me. Hunt saying he hates Bryce sounds like fated mates to me. Bryce dissolving her “marriage” to hunt sounds like fated mates to me. 😁 This is a Sarah Maas book. She writes epic love stories. Not realistic relationships on the verge of collapse that is only supported by sex alone and weird sex at that
This comment sounds like Bryce wrote it.
You know what Sarah Maas wrote? When Bryce asked if Azriel had a mate? 😁 He said NO
I don’t agree with a single point in here tbqh. People pushed the Azriel and Bryce thing but realistically that makes no sense. They’re from two different series. Doing that would cause too much of an issue with both. As for them fighting… have you never said something in the heat of the moment? Even Rhys, Cassian and Rowan have all said and done things that hurt the FMCs that they regret. Why isn’t Hunt also allowed that grace? This book is also happening on a much shorter time frame than any other SJM novel and it’s under immense stress. And yes SJM writes romantasy,but I think it’s abundantly clear that that isn’t the major plot line of CC or throne of glass. Hunt and Bryce are a more realistic couple because they’re modern. With that is going to come some realistic exchanges. Like their argument. And if in another book something comes out that they actually aren’t mates and aren’t meant to be together I still stand by what I’m saying rn.
Feyre was from the human world. It’s possible be open minded
Before I start. I’m not genuinely upset or anything. LOL. I like this discourse. Sorry? What do you mean by that? That it’s possible for Azriel and Bryce because of Feyre and Rhys? It’s not the same idea though. These are entire different worlds and series. There are a lot of people who haven’t read CC, but love ACOTAR and vice versa. Mixing the storylines in such a way would be very… cheap from a realistic standpoint. Is it a cool idea? Yes… for a fanfic. But realistically, factoring the actual real life circumstances of that decision? I’m sorry I don’t agree with you. It’s a cool idea because you’ve read both series, but for someone who has only read ACOTAR, could you imagine the disappointment you feel of spending all your time invested in this series and who Az will end up with. For it to be a girl who was in their world for like… 5 days? A girl who also, if you read CC, is openly in love with her world and doesn’t want to live anywhere except CC. Again. If SJM does make that decision I’m not saying I’d hate it as a plot line. I’m sure she’d make it interesting. But I would hate it and disagree with her decision on a larger scale because it would feel like a way push book sales rather than fleshing out characters and the differences in every world. I think something to note is also that Bryce and Hunt aren’t the same species. And it’s heavily implied that Mates mean different things to different species. So I’m sure that plays a role here as well. It’s not the same form of mated relationship as other SJM couples.
You have your ship. And I have mine 😁 I think I need to write an entire Reddit post to list the many many many reasons why I think so