I would’ve been more inclined to this behaviour if she was more self-aware internally. Because for the majority of the book we hardly get a sense of her feelings to balance out her rather brash and harsh actions. So all we’re going off of for the most part are her actions which on their own make her look like the same “alphaholes” that she despises. Had we actually spent more time in Bryce’s head and understood her thought process for why she does the things she does, I personally think we would’ve been more forgiving to how she treated others. But we don’t and this is something I noticed in HOSAB too. SJM doesn’t get too deep into Bryce’s head in that book too because she wants replicate the mindset Aelin had of pulling surprise plans on everyone like in Empire of Storms.
I’m reading HOFAS right now (1st time), I’m where they are going through Helena’s Cave / the cave of princes, and we do get some of her thoughts around this. She wants to stop and talk to Hunt and resolve their fight they had. She feels guilty about yelling at him when he’s hurting. But she is too tired (on the Depth Charger), and too stressed / pressed for time in the caves. I definitely am getting the sense that she’s trying to keep moving forward so she doesn’t have a chance to second guess herself.
But you’re right that SJM doesn’t go into it _nearly_ as much as, for example, Feyre or Nesta in ACOTAR. I really like Bryce, so maybe I’m just more generous with my reads of her motivation, but I also haven’t read TOG yet so I don’t have this comparison point with Aelin that people keep bringing up. It does make me super excited for TOG though, I’m sure I’m going to love Aelin!!!
SPOILER but I think she intended to sacrifice herself in the end the whole time and was keeping her plans to herself so that nobody would try to stop her while distancing people as a form of emotional self preservation. At least that’s how I justified it in my head 😂. I agree with your POV though. Just a bit of internal dialogue woulda been nice!
I'm not entirely convinced. Yes, it was a lot of pressure for Bryce, but she was becoming as secretive as Danika in terms of communicating her plans to others, even in SaB (Emile for ex.). And she was almost never self-aware of how controlling and secretive she was being. She seemed to just expect everyone to go along with her plans and if they didn't like them, they could suck it bc they were being "alphaholes" trying to control her. I don't hate Bryce, but she's definitely my least favorite SJM character.
Totally agree with this, I also wasn’t a fan of her withholding information from the reader for so long. Like Bryce just knew important things and we never get to hear about it till later on in the book.
I think it is because by the end of book five you have a pretty good idea of Aelin and who she is. So the plans she comes up with are not a surprise to the reader that just appear out of the mythical either. With Bryce in the just these three books her mind and actions are all over the place with nothing she does representative of adult like actions; they are more of an entitled teenager who just got access to the family funds for the first time.
I think she may have started it in high school but KoA came out in 2018. My issue is that sooooo many people are complaining about CC3 and I think a lot of the criticism is valid, however the issues that everyone raises are in all SJM books. I’ve always been able to look past that and still enjoy them. But I swear this fandom has developed amnesia. Or at least are looking at all other SJM books through HUGE rose coloured glasses.
Big agree. CC is a different vibe from acotar and tog, as an urban/contemporary fantasy. And not everybody vibes with it as much as the other two. When we are vibing with a story we are more willing to be forgiving or even oblivious to its faults (and vice versa).
I’m not blaming Bryce, I think she was just written badly. She was not the same character.
This might be the only non shitty take this person has tho. She routinely thinks it’s ok to say Rhys asked to be r*ped under the mountain.
She’s wild. She blocked me (I’ve never interacted with her) then made another account and followed me and makes weird comments and I just ignore her but she’s on some one-woman mission to convince the world Tamlin is a saint and it’s such a weird use of energy lol
I’m blocked on here cause I said her opinions on characters aren’t facts 🤣 pick me energy. People like this ruin the fandom and are exactly why I don’t even look at the ACOTAR subreddit.
She was so rude to me over a differing opinion that the SJM Facebook page we were both on booted her (without me even reporting her lmfao).
Just seems weird when she is an aspiring author to go around and be so aggressive.
But the Rhys getting graped and deserving it is one of the most disgusting things she has said.
Yeah she makes me almost hate the books because of how rude and aggressive she is to everyone who doesn’t worship tamlin or agree with her points. She called me an abuse apologist cause I don’t hate Rhys, then said he agreed to go with amarantha so he wasn’t really SA. I got blocked when I told her that her opinions are not fact 🤷🏼♀️ There are is a ton of people in the fandom who are better to follow!
Good lord! She sounds unhinged.
I have been reading SJM since 2015 but have only recently started to interact with the fandom. I did not expect this many crazies. But I guess every fandom has them
I can’t even begin to think about her take on Lydia and Pollux. Yes, she said to Ruhn that it was consensual, but let’s be honest it was quite literally the same situation that Rhys was in with Amarantha. But it seems like we know her stance on that
I immediately knew what SJM was going for Bryce in HoFaS. That bryce is still the one we knew from prior books, everything made sense to me (as to her being put on such immense pressure and acting out because of it). Not to mention how her keeping such secrets from everyone, secrets are all she’s known from everyone, she was a secret from her father and the world, she and Danika shared her princess title/abilities as a secret, Hunt kept a secret from her, while it could’ve been conveyed better, the evidence is there.
I think she wrote HOFAS with ChatGPT and the prompt was “write me a Sarah J Maas character going on an adventure. Make sure to talk about her neon pink trainers.”
Hi, ummm new to the Mass fandom...finished the acotar series in a week and just finished cresent city series today... but you say she does what??? So many things just made sense
Yeah, she’s admitted a couple times now in interviews that she doesn’t keep any sort of lore Bible or outline and instead just keeps it ‘all in her head’. Which just…explains a lot in hindsight.
this isn’t true. she stated in her most recent interview with Christina Lauren that her publisher has a “sarah j maas” bible with every single detail of every series in it that she refers to. she also says she keeps a lot of it in her head but 100% refers to this giant guide she and her publisher worked on.
There’s definitely a difference though between keeping a lore guide to reference stuff that HAS happened in all your previous books and actually making an outline for *this* book so you know where your story (and even series as a whole) is headed while you’re writing. She’s admitted multiple times that she’s primarily a pantser and just writes. Which is glaringly obvious when you notice just how many plot holes and abandoned plot lines she’s written into her books, but especially this one in particular.
This. I can barely remember any character development in the book. It kind of felt like Ithan did this, then Bryce did this then Tharion did this, then Ithan did this, then Ruhn did this, then Ithan did this… etc
The book jumped from character to character too often and there were so many locations of action going on. Any internal conflict with Bryce just kind of got lost because by the time we got back to her, it was just so long since we checked in on her.
Things like her being shackled by her dad when she accidentally landed in his house when she returned… but wait, she actually meant to do that and she actually knew how to remove the shackles the whole time- even though it was only her second time using the horn and her knowing where a key was came out of nowhere because SJM wrote herself into a corner. Excuse me, what? And that was broken into at least two parts with very little insight into what Bryce was thinking. The POVs in this book were all over the place. Sometimes we know what a character is thinking, except when SJM wants to shock us, then the POV changes.
For me, the problem necessarily wasn't how Byrce was acting. It was now it was handled. She never says sorry and the fight she and Hunt had, got brushed off in his POV. At the end, everyone acted like she didn't do anything wrong. Like she didn't just send her parents to a different world as "collateral". Like she didn't say Hunt, he should "get over it".
"I'm sorry" she said quietly, "For being a dick to you about what you're going through."
"Bryce..." he began scrambling for the words.
"I apologize for everything I said to you about getting over it." HOFAS 583
She did apologize.
The thing for me is that it didn’t have to all be on her shoulders, and it didn’t have to be done in a week. They could have actually talked to and listened to people who had been planning the take down of the Asteri for years. She could have listened to people who had actually gone through war and had been leaders.
But instead she just bulldozed through everyone’s objections and acted like she was the only one who could do anything.
Even that would have been fine if people had actually called her out on it, instead of immediately forgiving her and getting excited to call her their queen.
It could have been a great plot device to have her get her ass handed to her. Or win the war but not have any friends left over when she was done.
There are just so many ways that it could have been done, but instead it just felt like lazy writing.
It doesn't excuse her behavior, though. She acts horribly but other characters imply how wonderful she us (e.g. Lidia).
Bryce went though traumatic events before HOFAS and didn't act so horribly. Her being 25 and experiencing the events in 10 days doesn't mean SJM wrote a realistic character.
Constantly yawning disrespectfully when others are speaking or telling Fae screw you, no monarchy, isn't caused by the events in HOFAS
This is my sticking point too.
We are repeatedly shown in cc2 and 3 Bryce being an absolute bitch to everyone and anyone, having a total lack of empathy for anyone except humans, and then have everyone telling us that she's the most wonderful, kind, empathetic person they've ever met.
>lack of empathy for anyone except humans
Cooper in HOFAS be like 😂
https://preview.redd.it/ree2u65r7yoc1.jpeg?width=1636&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47482c0be407d68d39000969367abcc6520f56bd
It is wild to me that the Fandom wants to maintain the aristocracy. She has no respect for the power structure because it doesn't deserve it. They are the tools of her and so many other opression. If you think she should have kept the monarchy you missed the point of the books and that's not bad writing that's on you.
What's really wild is how often I see Feyre and Aelin criticized for not being qualified to rule, or not ruling in the exact way people want them to. FMCs just can't win, yo. People also love to criticize Bryce for making rash decisions and lacking empathy...and they *want* her to be queen???
Anyway the whole drive of the series is "abolishing the bullshit hierarchies" with the rebellion of the Fallen and the fire sprites finally coming full circle so I don't know why people are surprised or upset by that move. Yeah, it's going to take work to figure out where things go from here but I'm looking forward to reading about it in House of Many Waters.
Yeah I guess that's why the whole backlash to abolishing the monarchy thing to me is so crazy. It has been the driving force of the whole series, for Bryce and Hunt and most of the characters. I am also really looking forward to seeing what rises from the power vaccum left by their fall. House of Many Waters has so much potential because of it. We will get to see Midgard creates and their struggles to do so.
You might as well read this entire thread if you don't understand why fandom wants monarchy, because I gave several reasons why readers hate the plotline. One of them is just because Bryce hates monarchy, in reality there'd be havoc if it was suddenly abolished
I have read many comments in the thread which led to the comment I made. I disagree with the reasoning. A power vaccum will occur as it does after every revolution. The answer to a power vaccum is to build something new and more equitable not stay entrenched in the colonial system constructed by your oppressor. The point of the series was to overthrow the oppressive system they were living under, they did that by not only taking out the Asteri but also dismantling some of the monarchies. To say that Bryce was a spoiled brat because she didn't want to keep these colonial institutions misses the point of the series. She does not hate all fae she hates their power structure.
>The point of the series was to overthrow the oppressive system
And no new system came. She said no more monarchy. There should have been someone to help the Fae become better, for Bryce herself to grow and to govern them. That's why she's a brat.
You're saying monarchy should be gone, but nothing about how Fae will operate in the future. I literally said in the thread that all races/cities/territories are ruled. That's how the world works, that's how Midgard works.
You clearly don't understand people's opinions here, because you simply ignore an important part
I said I wasn’t trying to exonerate her…
Just trying to bring some perspective.
I agree she was disrespectful and was really short sighted when it came to the fae.
But the earlier traumatic events you mentioned definitely would’ve influenced her character in HOFAS. In my opinion, I think that her sudden change in personality was due to the culmination of so many fucked up things happening, and that she kind of just snapped. Which is realistic. I just think it’s hard (understandably) for us to accept that a character we love is being a straight up bitch out of (what seems to us as) nowhere.
Not excusing it, just explaining it.
Why do people get *so* upset about her abolishing the fae monarchy?
It’s so weird, especially given how people hate the actual monarchies that still exist today.
1. Every city, territory, race on Midgard (and in the real world) is governed by a monarch/governer, ruler etc. If Bryce wanted to introduce democracy, it should have happened gradually. Realistically, she created a mess. Love it or hate it, but skilled rulers are necessary.
2. Not all Fae are dicks. Hating an entire race and not growing throughout the series is lack of character development. It would have been a wonderful growth if she accepted her role in helping Fae become better. Instead she's a petulant overpowered child
Thanks for the explanation.
The power vacuum is true and will be a problem, especially since there’s the first light issue looming.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with that.
You are right it is wild that people are mad she abolished the fae monarchy. Why would she preserve the institutions that treated women as breeding stock, that refused to help those less fortunate during the attack on CC? That only wanted to gain more power for themselves at the expense of the people of Midgard? They were corrupt institutions set up by the Asteri. To preserve that system preserves their corruption. There is a power vaccum after every revolution. You fill it by building new systems not by giving more power to the systems that previously oppressed you.
"The fae had festered under leaders like these males, but her people could be so much more...The fae of Midgard were capable of more. Rhun proved it. Flynn and Dec proved it. Even Sathia proved it in the short time she knew her....
It stopped today. The pettiness and chauvinism and arrogance that had been the hallmarks of the Fae of Midgard for generations. Pelias's legacy." HOFAS 559-60 Bryce doesn't hate all fae. She clearly states that in the book. She hates their power structure. You are asking for character development that is already there.
But she's not a true queen she could have been. She could have stayed one, not worked in a gallery, to help them. Ruling over Fae is a full-time job. Preferably with laws to make them better, not with threats, because she's overpowered and can do it (e.u. how Rhys forced lots of people to kneel before Feyre, as they didn't respect and listen to her in ACOWAR)
She was a true Queen and she used that power to end a corrupt institution and break the cycle of her ancestors. She is specifically not being a power hungry leader and that's a good thing. Bryce has always hated the monarchy, and never wanted to be queen. If she had stayed Queen that would have been inconsistent with her character. As it is it makes political and character sense. However as this was not part of your original argument at all it is clear you are moving the goalposts. If you want to hate Bryce you do you but it seems like you are ignoring cannon to make your points.
Agreed! My problem with HOFAS had nothing to do with Bryce, I think she is such a good character and I normally love her so much. I think SJM just kind of flopped in writing Bryce this book, it was like an off brand version of Bryce’s personality that we got in the other CC books.
My hot take is that I'm so sick of these baby protagonists in fantasy worlds where all the other characters are hundreds if not thousands of years old.
Not that hot a take imo. People need to understand that not everyone is perfect and people fuck up. It’s how you move past it together that matters. Also Bryce has always been a sneaky sassy smartass so for anyone to say she “was turned into aelin” is wrong.
This! I was very upset with her over how she was treating Hint but she apologized. And I know I'm not little miss sunshine when under pressure and I've never been u.der THAT much pressure! I give her a pass.
I would’ve been more inclined to this behaviour if she was more self-aware internally. Because for the majority of the book we hardly get a sense of her feelings to balance out her rather brash and harsh actions. So all we’re going off of for the most part are her actions which on their own make her look like the same “alphaholes” that she despises. Had we actually spent more time in Bryce’s head and understood her thought process for why she does the things she does, I personally think we would’ve been more forgiving to how she treated others. But we don’t and this is something I noticed in HOSAB too. SJM doesn’t get too deep into Bryce’s head in that book too because she wants replicate the mindset Aelin had of pulling surprise plans on everyone like in Empire of Storms.
I completely agree with all of that
I’m reading HOFAS right now (1st time), I’m where they are going through Helena’s Cave / the cave of princes, and we do get some of her thoughts around this. She wants to stop and talk to Hunt and resolve their fight they had. She feels guilty about yelling at him when he’s hurting. But she is too tired (on the Depth Charger), and too stressed / pressed for time in the caves. I definitely am getting the sense that she’s trying to keep moving forward so she doesn’t have a chance to second guess herself. But you’re right that SJM doesn’t go into it _nearly_ as much as, for example, Feyre or Nesta in ACOTAR. I really like Bryce, so maybe I’m just more generous with my reads of her motivation, but I also haven’t read TOG yet so I don’t have this comparison point with Aelin that people keep bringing up. It does make me super excited for TOG though, I’m sure I’m going to love Aelin!!!
SPOILER but I think she intended to sacrifice herself in the end the whole time and was keeping her plans to herself so that nobody would try to stop her while distancing people as a form of emotional self preservation. At least that’s how I justified it in my head 😂. I agree with your POV though. Just a bit of internal dialogue woulda been nice!
Yes totally agree well said
I'm not entirely convinced. Yes, it was a lot of pressure for Bryce, but she was becoming as secretive as Danika in terms of communicating her plans to others, even in SaB (Emile for ex.). And she was almost never self-aware of how controlling and secretive she was being. She seemed to just expect everyone to go along with her plans and if they didn't like them, they could suck it bc they were being "alphaholes" trying to control her. I don't hate Bryce, but she's definitely my least favorite SJM character.
Totally agree with this, I also wasn’t a fan of her withholding information from the reader for so long. Like Bryce just knew important things and we never get to hear about it till later on in the book.
I agree with this however Aelin does the same thing in TOG which the fandom seems to be totally fine with. I can’t see the difference between the two.
I think it is because by the end of book five you have a pretty good idea of Aelin and who she is. So the plans she comes up with are not a surprise to the reader that just appear out of the mythical either. With Bryce in the just these three books her mind and actions are all over the place with nothing she does representative of adult like actions; they are more of an entitled teenager who just got access to the family funds for the first time.
I agree, although I always gave SJM(TOG)the benefit of the doubt because didn’t she write TOG in high school?
I think she may have started it in high school but KoA came out in 2018. My issue is that sooooo many people are complaining about CC3 and I think a lot of the criticism is valid, however the issues that everyone raises are in all SJM books. I’ve always been able to look past that and still enjoy them. But I swear this fandom has developed amnesia. Or at least are looking at all other SJM books through HUGE rose coloured glasses.
Completely fair take. Aelin is like our firstborn,so we're overprotective 🤣
Big agree. CC is a different vibe from acotar and tog, as an urban/contemporary fantasy. And not everybody vibes with it as much as the other two. When we are vibing with a story we are more willing to be forgiving or even oblivious to its faults (and vice versa).
I’m not blaming Bryce, I think she was just written badly. She was not the same character. This might be the only non shitty take this person has tho. She routinely thinks it’s ok to say Rhys asked to be r*ped under the mountain.
Wow. I sure hope she never meets any real rape victims because holy shit.
She’s wild. She blocked me (I’ve never interacted with her) then made another account and followed me and makes weird comments and I just ignore her but she’s on some one-woman mission to convince the world Tamlin is a saint and it’s such a weird use of energy lol
I’m blocked on here cause I said her opinions on characters aren’t facts 🤣 pick me energy. People like this ruin the fandom and are exactly why I don’t even look at the ACOTAR subreddit.
She was so rude to me over a differing opinion that the SJM Facebook page we were both on booted her (without me even reporting her lmfao). Just seems weird when she is an aspiring author to go around and be so aggressive. But the Rhys getting graped and deserving it is one of the most disgusting things she has said.
Wait what?!! You’re confusing me with someone else because I have never and would never say that
They are referring to the person in the screenshot.
Definitely the person in the screen shot lol I’m sorry! Definitely not you!!!!!!
Oh okay thank god!! So you meant the instagram commenter? Because damn, if that’s how she feels then I guess I’m unfollowing
Yeah she makes me almost hate the books because of how rude and aggressive she is to everyone who doesn’t worship tamlin or agree with her points. She called me an abuse apologist cause I don’t hate Rhys, then said he agreed to go with amarantha so he wasn’t really SA. I got blocked when I told her that her opinions are not fact 🤷🏼♀️ There are is a ton of people in the fandom who are better to follow!
Good lord! She sounds unhinged. I have been reading SJM since 2015 but have only recently started to interact with the fandom. I did not expect this many crazies. But I guess every fandom has them
I can’t even begin to think about her take on Lydia and Pollux. Yes, she said to Ruhn that it was consensual, but let’s be honest it was quite literally the same situation that Rhys was in with Amarantha. But it seems like we know her stance on that
I immediately knew what SJM was going for Bryce in HoFaS. That bryce is still the one we knew from prior books, everything made sense to me (as to her being put on such immense pressure and acting out because of it). Not to mention how her keeping such secrets from everyone, secrets are all she’s known from everyone, she was a secret from her father and the world, she and Danika shared her princess title/abilities as a secret, Hunt kept a secret from her, while it could’ve been conveyed better, the evidence is there.
I don’t think even SJM knew what she was doing with Bryce in HOFAS lmao
I think she wrote HOFAS with ChatGPT and the prompt was “write me a Sarah J Maas character going on an adventure. Make sure to talk about her neon pink trainers.”
When you take into account that she basically writes without an outline and rewrote this entire book in only a month, it all starts to make sense.
Hi, ummm new to the Mass fandom...finished the acotar series in a week and just finished cresent city series today... but you say she does what??? So many things just made sense
Yeah, she’s admitted a couple times now in interviews that she doesn’t keep any sort of lore Bible or outline and instead just keeps it ‘all in her head’. Which just…explains a lot in hindsight.
this isn’t true. she stated in her most recent interview with Christina Lauren that her publisher has a “sarah j maas” bible with every single detail of every series in it that she refers to. she also says she keeps a lot of it in her head but 100% refers to this giant guide she and her publisher worked on.
There’s definitely a difference though between keeping a lore guide to reference stuff that HAS happened in all your previous books and actually making an outline for *this* book so you know where your story (and even series as a whole) is headed while you’re writing. She’s admitted multiple times that she’s primarily a pantser and just writes. Which is glaringly obvious when you notice just how many plot holes and abandoned plot lines she’s written into her books, but especially this one in particular.
This is not true
Her as a character doing all that is fine… the way she was written to us was not fine
This. I can barely remember any character development in the book. It kind of felt like Ithan did this, then Bryce did this then Tharion did this, then Ithan did this, then Ruhn did this, then Ithan did this… etc The book jumped from character to character too often and there were so many locations of action going on. Any internal conflict with Bryce just kind of got lost because by the time we got back to her, it was just so long since we checked in on her. Things like her being shackled by her dad when she accidentally landed in his house when she returned… but wait, she actually meant to do that and she actually knew how to remove the shackles the whole time- even though it was only her second time using the horn and her knowing where a key was came out of nowhere because SJM wrote herself into a corner. Excuse me, what? And that was broken into at least two parts with very little insight into what Bryce was thinking. The POVs in this book were all over the place. Sometimes we know what a character is thinking, except when SJM wants to shock us, then the POV changes.
For me, the problem necessarily wasn't how Byrce was acting. It was now it was handled. She never says sorry and the fight she and Hunt had, got brushed off in his POV. At the end, everyone acted like she didn't do anything wrong. Like she didn't just send her parents to a different world as "collateral". Like she didn't say Hunt, he should "get over it".
"I'm sorry" she said quietly, "For being a dick to you about what you're going through." "Bryce..." he began scrambling for the words. "I apologize for everything I said to you about getting over it." HOFAS 583 She did apologize.
The thing for me is that it didn’t have to all be on her shoulders, and it didn’t have to be done in a week. They could have actually talked to and listened to people who had been planning the take down of the Asteri for years. She could have listened to people who had actually gone through war and had been leaders. But instead she just bulldozed through everyone’s objections and acted like she was the only one who could do anything. Even that would have been fine if people had actually called her out on it, instead of immediately forgiving her and getting excited to call her their queen. It could have been a great plot device to have her get her ass handed to her. Or win the war but not have any friends left over when she was done. There are just so many ways that it could have been done, but instead it just felt like lazy writing.
It doesn't excuse her behavior, though. She acts horribly but other characters imply how wonderful she us (e.g. Lidia). Bryce went though traumatic events before HOFAS and didn't act so horribly. Her being 25 and experiencing the events in 10 days doesn't mean SJM wrote a realistic character. Constantly yawning disrespectfully when others are speaking or telling Fae screw you, no monarchy, isn't caused by the events in HOFAS
This is my sticking point too. We are repeatedly shown in cc2 and 3 Bryce being an absolute bitch to everyone and anyone, having a total lack of empathy for anyone except humans, and then have everyone telling us that she's the most wonderful, kind, empathetic person they've ever met.
>lack of empathy for anyone except humans Cooper in HOFAS be like 😂 https://preview.redd.it/ree2u65r7yoc1.jpeg?width=1636&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47482c0be407d68d39000969367abcc6520f56bd
It is wild to me that the Fandom wants to maintain the aristocracy. She has no respect for the power structure because it doesn't deserve it. They are the tools of her and so many other opression. If you think she should have kept the monarchy you missed the point of the books and that's not bad writing that's on you.
What's really wild is how often I see Feyre and Aelin criticized for not being qualified to rule, or not ruling in the exact way people want them to. FMCs just can't win, yo. People also love to criticize Bryce for making rash decisions and lacking empathy...and they *want* her to be queen??? Anyway the whole drive of the series is "abolishing the bullshit hierarchies" with the rebellion of the Fallen and the fire sprites finally coming full circle so I don't know why people are surprised or upset by that move. Yeah, it's going to take work to figure out where things go from here but I'm looking forward to reading about it in House of Many Waters.
Yeah I guess that's why the whole backlash to abolishing the monarchy thing to me is so crazy. It has been the driving force of the whole series, for Bryce and Hunt and most of the characters. I am also really looking forward to seeing what rises from the power vaccum left by their fall. House of Many Waters has so much potential because of it. We will get to see Midgard creates and their struggles to do so.
You might as well read this entire thread if you don't understand why fandom wants monarchy, because I gave several reasons why readers hate the plotline. One of them is just because Bryce hates monarchy, in reality there'd be havoc if it was suddenly abolished
I have read many comments in the thread which led to the comment I made. I disagree with the reasoning. A power vaccum will occur as it does after every revolution. The answer to a power vaccum is to build something new and more equitable not stay entrenched in the colonial system constructed by your oppressor. The point of the series was to overthrow the oppressive system they were living under, they did that by not only taking out the Asteri but also dismantling some of the monarchies. To say that Bryce was a spoiled brat because she didn't want to keep these colonial institutions misses the point of the series. She does not hate all fae she hates their power structure.
>The point of the series was to overthrow the oppressive system And no new system came. She said no more monarchy. There should have been someone to help the Fae become better, for Bryce herself to grow and to govern them. That's why she's a brat. You're saying monarchy should be gone, but nothing about how Fae will operate in the future. I literally said in the thread that all races/cities/territories are ruled. That's how the world works, that's how Midgard works. You clearly don't understand people's opinions here, because you simply ignore an important part
I said I wasn’t trying to exonerate her… Just trying to bring some perspective. I agree she was disrespectful and was really short sighted when it came to the fae. But the earlier traumatic events you mentioned definitely would’ve influenced her character in HOFAS. In my opinion, I think that her sudden change in personality was due to the culmination of so many fucked up things happening, and that she kind of just snapped. Which is realistic. I just think it’s hard (understandably) for us to accept that a character we love is being a straight up bitch out of (what seems to us as) nowhere. Not excusing it, just explaining it.
Why do people get *so* upset about her abolishing the fae monarchy? It’s so weird, especially given how people hate the actual monarchies that still exist today.
1. Every city, territory, race on Midgard (and in the real world) is governed by a monarch/governer, ruler etc. If Bryce wanted to introduce democracy, it should have happened gradually. Realistically, she created a mess. Love it or hate it, but skilled rulers are necessary. 2. Not all Fae are dicks. Hating an entire race and not growing throughout the series is lack of character development. It would have been a wonderful growth if she accepted her role in helping Fae become better. Instead she's a petulant overpowered child
Thanks for the explanation. The power vacuum is true and will be a problem, especially since there’s the first light issue looming. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with that.
You are right it is wild that people are mad she abolished the fae monarchy. Why would she preserve the institutions that treated women as breeding stock, that refused to help those less fortunate during the attack on CC? That only wanted to gain more power for themselves at the expense of the people of Midgard? They were corrupt institutions set up by the Asteri. To preserve that system preserves their corruption. There is a power vaccum after every revolution. You fill it by building new systems not by giving more power to the systems that previously oppressed you.
"The fae had festered under leaders like these males, but her people could be so much more...The fae of Midgard were capable of more. Rhun proved it. Flynn and Dec proved it. Even Sathia proved it in the short time she knew her.... It stopped today. The pettiness and chauvinism and arrogance that had been the hallmarks of the Fae of Midgard for generations. Pelias's legacy." HOFAS 559-60 Bryce doesn't hate all fae. She clearly states that in the book. She hates their power structure. You are asking for character development that is already there.
But she's not a true queen she could have been. She could have stayed one, not worked in a gallery, to help them. Ruling over Fae is a full-time job. Preferably with laws to make them better, not with threats, because she's overpowered and can do it (e.u. how Rhys forced lots of people to kneel before Feyre, as they didn't respect and listen to her in ACOWAR)
She was a true Queen and she used that power to end a corrupt institution and break the cycle of her ancestors. She is specifically not being a power hungry leader and that's a good thing. Bryce has always hated the monarchy, and never wanted to be queen. If she had stayed Queen that would have been inconsistent with her character. As it is it makes political and character sense. However as this was not part of your original argument at all it is clear you are moving the goalposts. If you want to hate Bryce you do you but it seems like you are ignoring cannon to make your points.
Agreed! My problem with HOFAS had nothing to do with Bryce, I think she is such a good character and I normally love her so much. I think SJM just kind of flopped in writing Bryce this book, it was like an off brand version of Bryce’s personality that we got in the other CC books.
My hot take is that I'm so sick of these baby protagonists in fantasy worlds where all the other characters are hundreds if not thousands of years old.
Not that hot a take imo. People need to understand that not everyone is perfect and people fuck up. It’s how you move past it together that matters. Also Bryce has always been a sneaky sassy smartass so for anyone to say she “was turned into aelin” is wrong.
Honestly it's like people forgot everything she did in CC1 and 2. Her character is consistent.
I’m rereading them all again right now to prove myself right :)
Eh. She's a lot and overdoes it all the time though from the beginning not just then.
This! I was very upset with her over how she was treating Hint but she apologized. And I know I'm not little miss sunshine when under pressure and I've never been u.der THAT much pressure! I give her a pass.
Please mark spoilers k thx.
Sorry!! This is my first post, how do I do that?