Sarah Snyder > Recent Status Updates

OH NOT TO MENTION (spoilers) the most obvious plot twists known to man

wow isn’t it weird how we keep referencing the Fire Court Prince and avoiding the question. hm wonder who that could be. surely not the MMC.

double wow I wonder who the FMC’s target is that’s responsible for her mother’s death whose name we still haven’t heard. surely not ALSO the MMC. that would be preposterous!!

got so angry when the FMC had a giant irrational jump-to-conclusions freak out that I had to reread Crown of Midnight and the first half of Heir of Fire to calm down

I miss when FMCs were smart, or at least strategic. you can’t just tell your readers she’s an infamous assassin feared across the lands and then flip to show her making the most stupid choices and assumptions known to man. Consistency, people!!!

one more obvious lift from Throne of Glass and I’m throwing my phone down the aisle of the plane

imagine if you did a speedrun of all your deepest darkest secrets AND your readers are genuinely shocked you didn’t find out all of them like ten chapters ago

how in tf are those two things not mutually exclusive like what are we even doing folks

oh my god. (semi spoilers) “this one powerful woman vanished nearly two decades ago, and her jewelry is on this almost-two-decades-old girl. god I wonder who her mom is. it could be anybody’s guess. oh did I mention the girl is also super powerful. huh. lots of weird unrelated stuff happening here.” YOURE SUPPOSED TO BE SMART???? HELLO??

this feels like an AU if Rowan met Celaena in early TOG but she had no clue who she was. I’m interested (even if it’s practically moving at breakneck speed like… we’re really blabbing all our secrets before we’re 25% through? okay…) but I also keep going “hm. it was cooler when Aelin had actual secrets and not just memory gaps.” we shall see.

it’s like the author threw a dart at the list of character names to decide who dies. I can feel myself getting more cynical with every page, which is a real shame bc I finished book 1 with so much excitement

STOP GIVING FMCS ROMANTIC NICKNAMES ABOUT THEIR SIZE. when every romantasy repeats how small and tiny their FMCs are until the heat death of the universe, it grates on the nerves!!! it’s a body and age and beauty thing, sure, but it’s also a power thing. between the big strong man and the tiny woman he can either pick up or overpower if he so chooses. it has been and always will be a power thing. and I hate it.

alright, this is just getting melodramatic. it was kind of interesting until we forgot the “show, don’t tell rule.” this is reading like a 15 year old’s fanfic, but at least they give credit to their 2010s dystopian fantasy inspirations

first mention of God ever in this series??? and it comes here??? I feel like this was the writer’s slip up because mentioning the existence of religion this late into the game at such a critical moment is wild

there are so many mini and major betrayals in this last bit of the book that would have been way cooler if they were foreshadowed.

but alas, I guess I’ll read these manchildren trauma dumping what we as readers should’ve been allowed to guess at and theorize for at least the last book and a half.

I don’t know how else to say this except there are so. many. dead babies. in this book. and not only that, I swear every baby belongs to a different couple, a potential affair, a secret third party, I literally need an ancestry chart.

girl get UP‼️ you are drunk off your ass surrounded by people who genuinely want you dead

the lack of self awareness is making me feel like this is zodiac academy all over again (at least that book’s writing quality was consistent)

BE WARNED (sorta spoiler alert)

who could have possibly seen this coming?? this flashback plot twist?? who’d’ve imagined?? also if we get into it, it’s such a weird “well, they’re not ACTUALLY related” take, and we don’t even know for sure yet!! I know we will later, but it’s still icky.

and remember kids, THIS IS AN ALMOST RIPOFF OF EVERY 2010s ROMANTASY TO EVER EXIST. GIVE CREDIT WHERE ITS DUE.

it’s just… so reminiscent of every popular YA romantasy I read in eighth grade. ESPECIALLY The Selection. I’m finishing it out bc I’m a trooper but girl at least cite your sources

SWEET JESUS (spoiler alert)


it’s Katniss and Rue all over again good lord

look it’s fine, it’s whatever, I’m just a little concerned about the fact that our two main characters have been hanging out in the open by possibly the only water source in this hunger games-like wooded arena so that they can talk about their feelings. GIRL MOVE, TWO PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO KILL YOU ALREADY.

I’m gonna start a tally for every time the FMC has a mental narrative that includes the phrase “he’s right”

also this feels like one of those books where the FMC has no real flaws except for the fact that she knows nothing about life (see: MMC keeps smugly teaching her things and I keep rolling my eyes). jury’s out still, but we’ll see

ok so I need to get my mom’s paperback of twilight but until then, I’m reading this Hunger Games magic!AU situation to distract myself from how boring work is

obligatory quote from the chapter about consent because this book puts so many things that are worth saying into words that make sense:

“this is the work we inherit as creatures with a complex brain, which comes with inexplicable joys, like love and sex and making out in cars, but also the duty of empathy, of understanding what it means when someone is stumbling.”

I hate when the MMC can smell the FMC, especially when it’s emotion-based. (Especially when the FMC has no similar or power-equivalent magic or strength) It feels so goddamn icky and invasive. Please, for the love of god, romantasy authors, cut it out. It’s not the hot magical think you think it is.

rereading this bc a new book came out - how did I not catch the first time around that the best friend character described as having “rich brown skin and beautiful brown eyes” has the name “Tawny Lyon” ……. you’re joking

boooooo why does the woman always misunderstand the situation and the man’s always in the right 😭 be happy or whatever but good lord almighty

the only truly great bit of angst we’ve had in this entire series and it gets solved in three chapters. good freaking lord. well, it was nice while it lasted.

ok I said I was nervous about how this book was gonna go, but I’m 90% certain that I’m gonna do the same thing I did with the crescent city series - the 2 main characters are boring together, amazing apart, and I’m WAY more invested in the potential romance between some of the ensemble characters (literally grinning and twirling my hair, some of this EATS)

the ensemble cast is turning out TOG-cadre-esque, but every time I’m enjoying that, the MMC says/does something so disgustingly possessive with the FMC and there’s no logical pushback. it’s just a bunch of “MMC does something, FMC realizes he’s right and she should just accept it.”

she’s so badass on her own!! but every time they share a scene, she’s in the wrong and he knows more than her. HUGE ick

I’m sorry, did I just read that the king of the gods’ master plan to get his soulmate back from her own self-destruction was to magic-lipstick-roofie and imprison her??? am I going crazy???

I just love when terrifying women go on righteous murder sprees (and I’m tiredly gonna grit and bear it when her love interest makes her feel guilty about it ugh)

if I have to read one more iteration of the MMC going “I am possessive of her. she is mine… but not like that evil guy who said the exact same thing. this is totally different, trust me.” if you have to explain it, that’s a problem buddy

also re: my review of the first book in this series, we keep switching between casual tone with contractions and an imperious tone with none and it’s still throwing me off