Sjm really lost the plot when she let Feyre accuse Lucien of not being a good friend to her after all he suffered for HER. He saved her life many times over and was whipped for it(and couldn't heal properly because Amarantha didnt let him)and then used in a trial that could've ended his life. Lucien gave Feyre a weapon to protect herself. He also literally defended her against Tamlin his best friend and HL and was abused for it. He believed Feyre when she lied to his face because that's what a good friend does. Told Feyre to run when Ianthe was about to rape him to save herself. He helped Feyre kill Dagdan and Brannigah. Went with Feyre leaving his home not just to see Elain but also to protect Feyre. Lucien brought an army plus her Father to save the day in the war against Hybern.
Feyre is the bad friend who lied and used Lucien against Tamlin by making him jealous thus endangering his life. While also knowing Ianthe was sexually assaulting him. Mocked him for having "no home", when shes the reason he has no home. Made fun of his choice of human friends and the name of their friend group.
Invaded his mind without his knowledge or consent. Feyre felt disgust at his natural desire for his mate when she had no business or right to his private thoughts and feelings.
When Lucien has been respectful af towards her sister and stays away from her because he knows Elain wants him to, only checking in to see her and ask how she's doing a couple times a year and brings Elain thoughtful gifts. Feye gets angry that Lucien doesn't want to live in Velaris knowing Lucien is uncomfortable there and doesn't care how rudely he is treated by her new friends, plus Rhysand and ignored by Elain. Judges him and looks down on him despite Lucien continuing to be her friend and helping the IC. Lucien absolutely is the better friend and one Feyre quite frankly doesn't deserve. He didn't deserve to hear he was the villain in her story. He's been nothing but a badass hero throughout the series.
In this post we are going to discuss the various and stricking similaries between Sarah J Maas series TOG/ACOTAR with original books she admited to consume, as well as the use of direct lines from movies, books and tv shows in her books, and where do we draw the line in what we consider to be inspiration vs plagiarism.
As some people know, SJM is a big fan of Anne Bishop's work, especifically her Black Jewels trilogy. Some people already noticed similarities between the two series (and in her TOG books as well) in terms of storyline, races and characters, but it's not nearly talked about enough.
It's good to make clear that the first book of "the black jewels" was published in 1998 and the last one of the trilogy was published in 2000, over 12 years before acotar and TOG was even launched. So Bishop's work was around a long time before sjm started to publish her books.
That being said, let's start with the fact that the beginning of her first series TOG is pratically the same as the beginning of the second book of The Black Jewels, Heir to the Shadows, but with a different character:
"After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point. Most of the thousands of slaves in Endovier received similar treatment—though an extra half-dozen guards always walked Celaena to and from the mines. That was expected by Adarlan’s most notorious assassin. What she did not usually expect, however, was a hooded man in black at her side—as there was now" (TOG, 2012)
"Surrounded by guards, Lucivar Yaslana, the half-breed Eyrien Warlord Prince, walked into the courtyard, fully expecting to hear the order for his execution. There was no other reason for a salt mine slave to be brought to this courtyard, and Zuultah, the Queen of Pruul, had good reason to want him dead. Prythian, the High Priestess of Askavi, still wanted him alive, still hoped to turn him to stud. But Prythian wasn't standing in the courtyard with Zuultah." (Heir to the Shadows, 1999).
So, Sarah's first work begins with a paragraph that is already really really similar to the first one in Bishop's second novel.
Now, let's then move on to the part that shocked me the most and made me sure of doing this post: The extreme and undeniable resemblance between the Illyrians with the Eyriens, a race portrayed in Bishop's Black Jewels books, who one of the main characters, Lucivar (coincidentally or not, Sarah's favorite one) is a part of.
The Eyriens are described to be warriors with tanned skin, gold eyes, and "batlike wings". Eyrien males are trained in hunting camps as children, and the females are forbidden to touch weapons. They are often found in a mountainous territory called "Askavi Terreille", and carry prejudice against half-eyriens. Does all that sounds familiar?
The Illyrians are so much like the Eyriens, it's not even funny. They have bat-like wings, the males are trained in camps, live by the mountains, have their own personalized weapons, and the females are usually mistreated and not allowed to fight. And what does Rhysand suffer from them? Prejudice, because he's half illyrian. Even their physical characteristics are the same: golden brown skin, hazel eyes, black hair. What mainly sets on them apart is their names (which still sound pretty similar) and the fact that the illyrians have tattoos.
"He spread his dark, membranous wings, trying to ease the ache in his back." ( Daughter of the blood, page 12)
"Indeed, it was still Rhysand’s face, his powerful male body, but flaring out behind him were massive black membranous wings—like a bat’s, like the Attor’s" (ACOTAR, page 348)
"Still, it was home, and centuries of enslaved exile had left him aching for the smell of clean mountain air, the taste of a sweet, cold stream, the silence of the woods, and, most of all, the mountains where the Eyrien race soare" (Daughter of the blood, page 16)
"The Illyrians … We love our people, and our traditions, but they dwell in clans and camps deep in the mountains of the North" (ACOMAF, page 165)
"He had never felt this weary, this beaten. Not as a half-breed boy in the Eyrien hunting camps, not in the countless courts he'd served in over the centuries since" (Heir to the darkness, page 13)
“When I turned eight, my mother brought me to one of the Illyrian war- camps . To be trained, as all Illyrian males were trained" ( ACOMAF, page 168)
”She kept resisting because Eyrien females traditionally didn’t touch a warrior’s weapons" (Queen of the darkness, page 151).
“Some camps issued decrees that if a female was caught training, she was to be deemed unmarriageable. I can’t fight against things like that, not without slaughtering the leaders of each camp and personally raising each and every one of their offspring.” (ACOMAF, page 434)
”There are reasons why Eyrien males are the warriors— Lucivar said, his eyes skimming over the women as he paced slowly down the line and back again.— We’re bigger, stronger, and we have the temperament for killing. You have other strengths and other skills. Most of the time, that works out well." (Queen of Darkness, page 156)
“The Illyrians— Rhys smoothly cut in, that light finally returning to his gaze — Are unparalleled warriors, and are rich with stories and traditions. But they are also brutal and backward, particularly in regard to how they treat their females.” (ACOMAF, page 166)
"She wanted to cut the wings off, raise the boy as Dhemlan maybe. But he said no, in his soul the boy was Eyrien, and it would be kinder to kill him in the cradle than to cut his wings" (Daughter Of The Blood, page 138)
“I banned wing-clipping a long, long time ago, but … at the more zealous camps, deep within the mountains, they do it." (ACOMAF, page 434).
"But they’re good boys, and they’ll carry their weight. And they are full-blooded Eyriens — he added.
— So they don’t carry the stigma of being half-breeds? — Lucivar asked with deadly control." (Queen of the Darkness, page 39)
"He gave Rhys command of a legion of Illyrians who hated him for being a half-breed" (ACOMAF, page 136)
"Then he called in his Ebon-gray Jewels and the wide leather belt that held his hunting knife and his Eyrien war blade" (Heir to the shadows, page 257)
"I went from physical defense to learning to wield an Illyrian blade, the weapon so fine, I’d nearly taken Cassian’s arm off." (ACOMAF, page 367)
Some people can look at this as simple inspiration, but others consider the races to be almost identical. Their prejudices, the place they live, the place where they train and how they train being the same, with only a few minor key points being changed.
In Bishop's work men and women are adressed and divided as "males" and "females". Their society is based the existence of jewels, where the darker someone's jewel is, the more powerful that person becomes.
The jewels are close to what SJM called siphons, used by the illyrians. They are a representation of the powers of members of the blood, serve as containers, and vary in colors. Siphons, however, are literally jewels who filter Illyrians powers, manipulating magic. Members of the blood can have more than one jewel, and illyrians can have more than one siphon.
"An uncut Jewel is a rare thing, little Sister — Titian said, removing something from the box. — Wait until you know who you are before you have it set. Then it will be more than a receptacle for the power your body can't hold; it will be a statement of what you are." (Daughter of the blood, page 71)
"He held up his hands, the backs to me so both jewels were on full display.— They’re called Siphons . They concentrate and focus our power in battle.” (ACOMAF, page 162)
"The Black-Jeweled ring on his right hand glittered with an inner fire." (Daughter of the blood, page 39)
"Siphons atop his scarred hands flickered like rippling blue fire as he reached for the Attor." (ACOMAF, page 262)
" Your fingers clenched around that Jewel. There was a flash of Red light, and the guards were flung backward." ( Daughter of the blood, page 136)
"Cassian lifted his hand into the air. Red light exploded from his Siphon, blasting up and away" (ACOMAF, page 543)
"Her strength was gone. The Jewel hungaround her neck, dark and empty" (Daughter of the blood, page 399)
"Azriel’s blue Siphons were dull, muted. Utterly empty." (ACOMAF, page 554)
The Blood possess some ability to sense and mask their psychic scent. The conception of "scent" not only acts as a way for them to recognize each other, but also sense their emotions, and seems to be highlighted between couples, with Daemon for using it in order to fantasize or look for Jaenelle. That matches perfectly SJM's universe where the Fae are able to feel each others scents, sensing their emotions through it, it being stronger between mated couples:
"The psychic scent was almost gone, but he recognized it. A dark scent. A powerful, terrifying, wonderful scent. He breathed deeply, and the lifetime hunger in him became intense".(Daughter of the blood, page 178).
"Like the body that housed it, a witch's psychic scent had a muskiness that a Blood male could find as arousing as the body—if not more so" (Daughter of the blood, page 184)
His scent drifted to her, darker, muskier than usual. She’d bet all the money she didn’t have that it was the scent of his arousal. (ACOSF, page 235)
"A room where she had slept would still be strong with her psychic scent, even if it had been cleaned" (Daughter of the blood, page 182)
"Cassian had flown back up to the House. And found the oak door to the stairs open, Nesta’s scent lingering." (ACOSF, page 99)
"No psychic scent of emotions for the guards to play with as they put the sobbing man into the old, one-man boat." (Daughter of the blood, page 149)
"He didn’t need to use a psychic probe to know who was on the other side of the door. The scent of her fear was sufficient." (Queen of the darkness, page 120)
"Their faces were vacant. Not a trace of fear in them, or in their scents." (ACOSF, page 344)
"Those of us who have would notice the similarities in your psychic scents and reach the correct conclusion" ( Queen of Darkness, page 114)
"He didn’t believe me. So he grabbed Catrin, because our scents were nearly identical, you see" (ACOSF, page 652)
The basic unit of Blood society and government is a Queen and her Court. To create a Court, she must be at the age of majority and have twelve males who agree to be in her First Circle. Jaenelle creates hers in the second book, who is denominated as the "dark court". How is Rhysan's court called? The night court. How is his unity of power named? "the inne circle". Rhysand's court is also referred as "the court of dreams", and Jaenelle is called "dreams made flesh".
"He hoped she'd be pleased to have the use of this place. He hoped he'd be invited when she established her own court. He wanted to see whom she selected for her First Circle" (Daughter of the Blood page 92)
"They’re Rhysand’s Inner Circle.The ones I’d heard mentioned that day at the Night Court—who Rhys kept going to meet." (ACOMAF, page 135)
"The living myth— Saetan whispered.— Dreams made flesh— His throat tightened. He closed his eyes." (Heir to the shadows, page 459)
“And what is this court? — I asked, gesturing to them. The most important question.
It was Cassian, eyes clear and bright as his Siphon, who said — The Court of Dreams.”
Remember Lucivar? The main Eyrien character? Well, it doesn't help sjm's case that he's incredibly similar to Cassian:
Because he's an eyrien, Lucivar was raised as a warrior and has bat wings, together with gold eyes and tanned skin. He also has long black hair and is considered to be well-built. Initially his jewels are birthright red, and later they descent into being ebon grey. Just like his father, he is known as having an explosive temper who often lead him to trouble. Thanks to him not being recognized by Saetan initially, Lucivar is seen as a bastard. This is not at all far from how Cassian is written.
Let's also keep in mind: Lucivar is also responsable for recruting and training Eyrien warriors in the Dark Court, later training the women who live in Ebon Askavi (which, as I will show later, is almost identical to the House of Wind).
Cassian's tragetory is marked by him being underlooked as a "bastard" and not being able to control his temper, and that is further developed in acosf. His appereance is carbon-copy of Lucivar (the only difference being that his eyes are hazel), and his siphons are red. He also happens to train illyrian warriors, and later Feyre, Nesta and the other priestesses from the library. Like Lucivar has a brotherly bond with Jaenelle and waits for her to be his queen, Cassian has a brotherly love for Feyre and respects her as his high lady:
"Unlike the other slaves who couldn't contain their misery or fear, there was no expression in Lucivar's gold eyes" (Daughter of the Blood, page 13)
"Like their High Lord, the males—warriors—were dark-haired, tan-skinned. But unlike Rhys, their eyes were hazel and fixed on me as I at last stepped close" (ACOMAF, page 155)
"She looked so pale against his light-brown skin, and he knew it wasn't simply because she was fair-skinned" (Daughter of the blood, page 19)
"She watched his light brown fingers play against her pale skin" (ACOSF, page 367)
"The man wore a leather vest and the black, skintight trousers favored by Eyrien warriors. His black hair fell to his shoulders, which was unusual for an Eyrien male. [..] A wild joy filled Daemon, even as his heart clogged his throat and tears stung his gold eyes. Lucivar." (Queen of the Darkness, page 45)
"Cassian surveyed Rhys from head to foot, his shoulder-length black hair shifting with the movement" (ACOMAF, page 155)
"Because he was a half-breed bastard, he had no hope of attaining a position of authority within a court, despite the rank of his jewels" (Daughter of the Blood, page 17)
"I can tell you how I hear Eris and Devlon and the others talk and, deep down, I still believe that I am a worthless bastard brute. That it doesn’t matter how many Siphons I have or how many battles I’ve won" (ACOSF, page 434)
"Tears stung Lucivar's eyes. Why, Daemon? What did she do to deserve being hurt like that? His voice rose. He couldn't stop it. She was the Queen we had dreamed of serving. We had waited for her for so long. You butchering whore, why did you have to kill her?" (Heir to the shadows, page 31)
"He’d thought about that painting a great deal in the days afterward—how it had made him feel, how close they’d all come to losing their High Lady before they’d ever met her." (ACOSF, page 43)
"Because he was a trained Eyrien warrior and had a temper that was explosive even for a Warlord Prince" (Daughter of the blood, page 16)
"Cassian was lounging in his chair, a glass of wine in his hand, staring at nothing. A brooding warrior-prince, contemplating the death of his enemies." (ACOSF, page 275)
"He could have caught him on the first pass. The young one will have to concede the battle, but it’ll stay in his mind that he put up a good fight. No, Lucivar understands how to train an Eyrien warrior.” (Queen of Darkness, page 103)
"Cassian prayed that the gods were watching over him as Rhys sipped from his tea and said,
—You’re ready?
He leaned back in his seat. — I’ve gotten young warriors in line before." (ACOSF, page 43)
There's even a line when Lucivar is training the women in ebon askavi that hits very close to one used when Cassian is training the priestesses:
”If you can become half as proficient with this as she is, you’ll be able to take down any male except an Eyrien warrior — Falonar said slowly. — And you’ll be able to take down half of them as well.” (Queen of the darkness, page 158)
"Cassian continued to train Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn. The rain didn’t let up, and they were all soaked, but the exertion kept the bite of the cold away.— So this can really down a male in one move? [...] He concentrated on the females in front of him. — This move will knock anyone unconscious if you hit the right spot.” (ACOSF, page 385)
Daemon, his brother, is too very similar to Rhysand. He has the reputation of a sadist, after being tortured and used as slave in the hands of Dorotothea, close to how Rhys was known as a cruel fae who had to serve Amarantha (the way they a called is also pretty much the same, as well, being referred as their "pet" or "whore"). Daemon believes to be destined to Jaenelle, even before meeting her, sometimes feeling her touch, and dreaming or her, just like Rhysand talks about knowing Feyre was his mate, and dreaming of her before they met. He, like Saetan, Jaenelle, and Lucivar, is a black widow: which means he can access people's minds and thoughts, as well as communicate telephatically, exactly how daemanti in acotar have the ability to do.
"His face was a gift of his mysterious heritage, aristocratic and too beautifully shaped to be called merely handsome. He was tall and broad-shouldered. He kept his body well toned and muscular enough to please. His voice was deep and cultured, with a husky, seductive edge to it that made women go all misty-eyed. His gold eyes and thick black hair were typical of all three of Terreille's long-lived races, but his warm, golden-brown skin was a little lighter than the Hayllian aristos—more like the Dhemlan race." (Daughter of the blood, page 24)
"I stepped out of the shelter of my savior’s arm and turned to thank him. Standing before me was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Everything about the stranger radiated sensual grace and ease. High Fae, no doubt. His short black hair gleamed like a raven’s feathers" (ACOTAR, page 193)
"I had no answer to that—to the tenor in his rich, deep voice. So I examined the tattoos on his chest and arms, the glow of his tan skin , so golden now that he was no longer caged inside that mountain." (ACOMAF, page 289)
"Daemon smiled that cold, cruel smile. "Now you know what it's like to get into bed with Hayll's Whore." (Daughter of the blood, page 77)
"Lucien interrupted — What do you know about anything? You’re just Amarantha’s whore.
— Her whore I might be, but not without my reasons.” (ACOTAR, page 239)
"In his soul, he knew her. In his dreams, he saw her. He never envisioned a face. It always blurred if he tried to focus on it. But he could see her dressed in a robe made of dark, transparent spidersilk, a robe that slid from her shoulders as she moved, a robe that opened and closed as she walked, revealing bare, night-cool skin. And there would be a scent in the room that was her, a scent he would wake to, burying his face in her pillow after she was up and attending her own concerns." (Daughter of the Blood, page 27)
“Three years ago, he said quietly, — I began to have these … dreams [...] The images were foggy, like looking through cloudy glass. They were brief—a flash here and there, every few months. I thought nothing of them, until one of the images was of a hand … This beautiful, human hand. Holding a brush. Painting—flowers on a table.” (ACOMAF, page 504)
“I saw you through your dreams—and I hoarded the images [...] I’d wake up with your scent in my nose, and it would haunt me all day, every step." (ACOMAF, page 505)
"There was a bitter taste in Daemon's mouth. The ashes of dreams. After all, he was Hayll's Whore, a pleasure slave, an amusement for the ladies no matter what their age, a way to pass the time" (Daughter of the blood, page 267)
"And he would be at that table in the town house, roaring with laughter—never again cold and cruel and solemn. Never again anyone’s slave or whore" (ACOMAF, page 497)
"You're my Queen,he thought fiercely. His body ached. She was his Queen. But with her family surrounding them, watching, there was nothing he could say or do to help her" (Daughter of the blood, page 360)
"My equal in every way; she would wear my crown, sit on a throne beside mine. Never sidelined, never designated to breeding and parties and child-rearing. My queen." (ACOMAF, 598)
"He caught her wrists, holding her off with an ease that made her scream. He hit the Black shields on her inner barriers hard enough to make her work to keep them intact, but they wouldn't keep him out for long." (Daughter of the blood, page 302)
"My innate talents allow me to slip through the mental shields of anyone I wish, with or without that bridge—unless they’re very, very strong, or have trained extensively to keep those shields tight." (ACOMAF, page 59)
At some point Daemon is even called Jaenelle's mate:
"He’s here! Jaenelle’s mate is finally here! Daemon felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him" (Heir to the shadows, page 117)
His position and title of highlord is parallelled a lot by how Saetan is decribed:
"High Lord of Hell, the Prince of the Darkness, the most powerful and dangerous Warlord Prince in the history of the Blood" (Daughter of the darkness, page 266)
"For what it’s worth, I’m the most powerful High Lord in Prythian’s history" (ACOMAF, page 145)
Moving on to other similarities, Ebon Askavi, known as the black mountain or "the keep", who is put as a sanctuary, keeping a library containing the history of the blood, matches the form in which the house of wind is developed in sjm's books, with the palace also being embedded into a mountain. The Keep is a safe place where the high lord of hell reserves for the demon dead to rest, same as Rhysand turning the library into a home for the priestesses. And the whole Bryaxis situation? A creature who lives in the pit of the library? Well, Ebon askavi used to be the home of the prince of dragons: Lorn, who guess what? Used to reside beneath it. Finally, Bishop literally describes the palace as the place where "The winds meet".
"Saetan limped across the empty courtyard to the huge, open-metal doors embedded into the mountain itself, rang the bell, and waited to enter the Keep, the Black Mountain, Ebon Askavi, where the Winds meet. It was the repository for the Blood's history as well as a sanctuary for the darkest-Jeweled Blood. It was also the private lair of Witch" (Daughter of the blood, page 59)
"Draca led him through the corridors of Ebon Askavi toward a large stairwell that descended into the heart of the mountain." ( Daughter of the blood, page 431)
“Her throat closed at the surge of memories and at the sprawling view—the glimmering ribbon of the Sidra far below, the red-stoned palace built into the side of the flat-topped mountain itself." (ACOSF, page 49).
“I made this library into a refuge for them. Some come to heal, work as acolytes, and then leave; some take the oaths to the Cauldron and Mother to become priestesses and remain here forever" (ACOWAR, page 212)
"She still served the Keep itself, looking after the comfort of the scholars who came to study, of the Queens who needed a dark place to rest" (Daughter of the Blood, page 61)
"— Who was here before them?
— A few cranky old scholars, who cursed me soundly when I relocated them to other libraries in the city. They still get access, but when and where is always approved by the priestesses.” (ACOWAR, page 213)
“There is a creature beneath the library. Do you know it?
Amren shut the book.
— Its name is Bryaxis.
— What is it.
— You do not want to know, girl.” (ACOWAR, page 452).
"Mother Night, Saetan — Geoffrey said, his breathing ragged. — The Keep is his lair.
He's been here all the time.
He hadn't expected Lorn to be so big. "(Heir to the shadows, page 476)
As for Amren being a unknown creature who was tuned into a faerie and lived centuries before everyone else? Same thing as Draca. She lived by the time Dragons ruled the world and was later turned into something "human", assisting the high lord of hell:
"When only the Queen and her Prince, Lorn, were left, the Queen bid her Consort farewell [...] When the last scale fell from her, she vanished. Some stories say her body was transformed into some other shape, though it still contained a dragon's soul" (Heir to the shadows, page 375).
"— Why won’t Amren go in here?
— Because she was once a prisoner.
— Not in that body, I take it.
A cruel smile.
— No. Not at all.” (ACOMAF, page 185)
"Spiraling? — Geoffrey thought for a moment and shook his head. — No, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Ask Draca. Compared to her, you're still in the nursery and I'm just a stripling." (Daughter of the blood, page 243)
"In the countless millennia they had existed here in Prythian, Rhys—Rhys with his smirking and sarcasm and bedroom eyes ...And Amren was worse. And older than five thousand years." (ACOMAF, page 145)
"When they had first arrived at the Keep, Lucivar had given him a cryptic warning: Draca is a dragon in human form.The moment he’d seen the Seneschal, he’d understood what Lucivar meant. Her looks, combined with the feel of great age and old, deep power, had fascinated him." (Queen of the darkness, page 252)
"Because even though the short, delicate woman looked like High Fae … as Rhys had warned me, every instinct was roaring to run. To hide. [...] But Amren’s eyes …Her silver eyes were unlike anything I’d ever seen; a glimpse into the creature that I knew in my bones wasn’t High Fae. Or hadn’t been born that way." (ACOMAF, page 158)
"Draca asked. Her unblinking reptilian eyes revealed nothing" (Daughter of the blood, page 431)
You can also find some of the names of characters and places of Anne Bishop's books in Sarah J Mass ones. For instance: Sarah admited Prythian was a trick on Pryddain from the chronicles of Pryddain but that she couldn't put the original name because it belonged to Phillip Alexander, so she choose Prythian. But one of the high priestesses in Bishop's trilogy is indeed named Prythian.
"Prythian, Askavi's High Priestess, couldn't leash his temper enough to serve witches he despised" (Daughter of the blood, page 16)
If you look at the titles of some of the TOGs books, you realize they are alike Anne Bishop's as well:
The thing is: where do we draw the line when it comes to inspiration in books? It's common to have some similarities between author's works, however, to have that many in lines, places, plots, on top of races and characters who are nearly identical to the ones someone created fourteen years before you? I don't know.
I don't appreciate Bishop's work, in fact, I suffered a lot to go through the trilogy, for problems like: explicit sexual violence, mutilation, and worst of all grooming (Daemon meets his so called soulmate when she's a child, and he kisses her when she's 12), which literally made feel sick, but, is clear Bishop came up with a lot of things a long time before SJM did.
Because her series of books came out by the 2000, most of sjm's target audience doesn't know Bishop's work, making it very easy to avoid comparison. This is one of the reasons why this situation becomes a big problem, because most of her fans think SJM work is totally original, and that she came up with 99% of the concepts by herself.
Besides the black jewels, Sarah was said to have taking scenes, plots and quotes from other original productions/books, like the lord of the rings (which she's also a huge fan):
For example, The White Tree of Gondor and Kingsflame.
The White Tree of Gordon only blooms when the rightful ruler sits on the throne. Coming to later bloom in Aragorn's coronation:
"And so the kingdom of Gondor sank into ruin, the line of kings failed, the white tree withered and the rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men."
Kingsflame, however, it’s a magical flower that first bloomed when Brannon arrived, proof that was a good king:
"since those ancient days, only single blossoms had been spotted, so rare in their appearance that their appearance was deemed a sign that the land had blessed whatever ruler sat on Terrasen’s throne. (KOA 686)"
Similarly, the flower also blooms after Aelin’s Coronation:
Across every mountain, spread across the green canopy of Oakwald, carpeting the entire Plain of Theralis, the kingsflame was blooming. (KOA 984)
We also have the scene when Haldir arrives at helms deep:
"I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell. An alliance once existed between Elves and men. Long ago we fought and died together. We come to honor that allegiance."
While Manon says this in KOA:
"Long ago the Crochans fought beside Terrasen, to honor the great debt we owed the Fae King Brannon for granting us a homeland."(KOA, page 693)
And don't forget, Aragorn saying:
"My friends, you bow to no one"
While Rhysand says this in ACOWAR:
"You bow to no one, was all he replied"
Don't forget, the conversation between Theoden and Gamling in the Two Towers movie:
"Theoden: Who am I, Gamling?
Gamling : You are our king, sire.
Theoden : And do you trust your king?
Gamling : Your men, my Lord, will follow you to whatever end.
Theoden : To whatever end... "
Followed by this conversation between Rowan and Aelin:
“—To whatever end? — she breathed.
Rowan followed her, as he had his entire life, long before they had ever met, before their souls had sparked into existence. —“To whatever end, Fireheart.”
We also have other examples, like treasure island:
"Look at you! Glowing like a solar fire. You're something special, Jim. You're gonna rattle the stars, you are!" (Treasure Island-2003)
"You could rattle the stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if only you dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most. "( TOG page 385, chapter 54)
ASOIAF:
A quite similar phrase to "Queen that was promised" was used in GRRM’s ASOIAF, where an ancient prophecy talked about a "Prince who was promised", later it being reveleaded that they expected a boy, but the title was said to fall to Daenarys Targaryen (a queen). This is mentioned in " A dance of dragons" which was published in 2011. This prince is also mentioned as being “the Heir of Fire”.
"Westeros must unite beneath her one true king, the prince that was promised, Lord of Dragonstone and chosen of R'hllor" ( A dance with dragons, 2011)
"Perhaps it had all been for nothing. The Queen Who Was Promised" (KOA, page 121, 2018)
"He is fire made flesh, she thought, and so am I." (A dance with dragons, page 949, 2011)
"Fire - he reminded her of fire made flesh." (ACOWAR, 2017)
Harry Potter is added to list, as well:
Dumbledore: Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love. (HP and the deathly hallows, page 705, 1997).
Rhysand: Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all. (ACOTAR, page 418, 2012).
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." (Harry Potter and the prisioner of Azkaban, 2004)
“Light can be found even in the darkest of hells” (ACOWAR, page 577, 2017)
The movie spirit:
Little Creek: Take care of her, Spirit-who-could-not-be-broken (Spirit, 2002)
Nehemia: I name you Elentiya, ‘Spirit That Cannot Be Broken.' (TOG, page 44)
Shadow and Bone:
The quote "like calls to like" explains one of the most important plot points in shadow and bone, the first book was published in 2012, and Sarah was mentioned in Leigh's acknowledgments as the person who gave her first review. She had used "magic calls to magic" before in throne of glass in 2012, yet the book was published in august, while Shadow and Bone came out before, in june. The principle of "like calls to like" in her books was mentioned by the time ACOMAF came out, in 2016, four years later. It was also used to describe attraction to objects of power, which follows Bardugo's concept.
Shadow and Bone: The grounding principle of the Small Science was “like calls to like" (page 113)
ACOMAF: The box—the Book—was silent. Then it said, Like calls to like (page 350)
“The Grisha claims the amplifier, but the amplifier claims the Grisha, as well. Once it is done, there can be no other. Like calls to like, and the bond is made.” (page 130)
The movie troy:
"Menelaus : Prince? What prince? What son of a king would accept a man's hospitality, eat his food, drink his wine, embrace him in friendship, and then steal his wife in the middle of the night?
Paris : The sun was shining when your wife left you." (Troy, 2004)
“If you hadn’t stolen my bride away in the night, Rhysand, I would not have been forced to take such drastic measures to get her back.
I said quietly, The sun was shining when I left you.” (ACOWAR, page 396, 2017)
The Land before Time:
"Some things you see with your eyes. Other things you see with your heart." ( The Land before Time 1988)
"Some things you hear with your eyes. Other things you hear with your heart."( Crown of Midgnight, page 168, 2011)
Mulan:
"Shan Yu: How many men does it take to deliver a message?
The other Hun: One.
The Hun proceeds to shoot one of the imperial soldiers with an arrow." (Mulan, 1998)
“But it seems like tonight isn’t really your night, Elide said to the ilken, lifting the hatchet again over a shoulder. The ilken might have been whimpering as she smiled grimly.—Because it only takes one to deliver a message. And your companions are already on their way.
The axe fell.
Flesh and bone and blood spilled onto the stones.” (Empire of Storms, page 455, 2016)
There's more to show about the black jewels, but this posts is already huge, so I'm going to finish by talking a little bit about her new series: Crescent city, which people already pointed out to be similar to another series she also talked about before: The Fever series by Karn Marie Moning, published in 2007. Now, I don't think is the same case as the black jewels, because crescent city does follow a much more different story, but is still have matching characters and main storyline.
Darkfever tells the story of MacKayla, a girl who seemingly had a perfect life. After the murder of her sister, she sees herself obligated to make an alliance with the mysterious Jericho in order find her killer, whilst exploring her sidhe-seer powers. Crescent city, on the other hand, is also about a girl losing people close to her: her best friend and her crush, then deciding to solve their deaths by teaming up with the fallen angel Hunt.
Mackayla is a sidhe seer, a person who can see fae, and ends up in the book series as their queen, while Bryce is half fae. They are both extremely attractive girls, who love to party and take good care of their appereance. Jericho, however, is a handsome, tough supernatural being who resources to Mac in order to find answers, ending up getting involved with her. Lastly, Hunt is a fallen angel, who needs to make sure Bryce cooperates with the investigation, and develops feelings for her.
"My sister's whole body had holes in it, Inspector! Not just her arms! The coroner said they looked like teeth marks! — Not of any person or animal he'd been able to identify, though.— And parts of her were just fora!— I was shaking. I hated the memory. It made me sick to my stomach" (Dark Fever, page 71)
"She knew in her bones it was not a hallucination, what lay on that bed, knew in her bones that what bled out inside her chest was her heart. Danika lay there. In pieces" (Crescent City, page 74)
"Grieving wasn't going to bring her back, and it sure wasn't going to make me feel better about whoever'd killed her walking around alive out there somewhere, happy in their sick little psychotic way, while my sister lay icy and white beneath six feet of dirt" (Dark Fever, page 10)
"Briggs planned to hurt people, and he deserved to be in jail, but—he’d been wrongly accused of the murder.Danika’s killer was still out there" (Crescent City, page 145)
"I think I just finally expelled the last drop of moisture from my body that wasn't absolutely necessary to keep me alive. And rage watered my parched soul. I wanted answers. I wanted justice.I wanted revenge." (Dark fever, page 11)
"She didn’t know where to start.But she’d do it. Find whoever had done this.[...] She ground her teeth. She’d find whoever had done this and make them regret ever being born." (Crescent City, page 164)
Once again, Hunt has the exact same appeareance as Jericho, and their personalities are also pretty much alike.
"He studied me with his predator's gaze, assessing me from head to toe. I studied him back. He didn't just occupy space; he saturated it.The room had been full of books before, now it was full of him. About thirty, six foot two or three, he had dark hair, golden skin, and dark eyes. His features were strong, chiseled." (Dark Fever, page 36)
"An angel who reason and history reminded him was an ally, though every instinct roared the opposite.Predator. Killer. Monster. Hunt Athalar’s angular dark eyes, however, remained fixed on the window. On Bryce Quinlan." (House of earth and blood, page 80)
"Hunt nodded once, his golden-brown face betraying nothing." (House of earth and blood, page 81)
"Then the male leafed through Quinlan’s thin file, his shoulder-length black hair slipping over his unreadable face." (House of earth and blood, page 81)
Darkfever presentd V'lane as a third character, an attractive seelie prince, who rules the Tuatha Dé Dannan, and happens to go after Mackayla as revenge against Jericho. In crescent city, there third main character is Ruhn, Bryce's half brother, and who is he? A crowned prince of the fae. And what is his last name? Danaan.
"Even today, after all that I've seen, I couldn't begin to describe V'lane, prince of the Tuatha Dé Danaan." (Dark Fever, page 134)
"Thinking she’d get a nice, sweaty ride with a Prince of the Fae, she’d be sorely disappointed. He was in no shape for fucking right now." (Crescent city, page 199)
“I got a phone call, Naomi said. From Ruhn fucking Danaan. He’s livid that we didn’t notify Sky and Breath about bringing in the girl." (Crescent city, page 96)
The scene where Hunt goes to watch over Bryce in her apartment follows the exact same patterns of the scene Jericho goes to visit Mackayla in her home:
"A moment later, her phone buzzed on the coffee table. Right as her show began.She didn’t know the number, but she wasn’t at all surprised when she picked up, plopping down onto the cushions, and Hunt growled,
— Open the curtains. I want to watch the show.” (Crescent city, page 84)
"Someone knocking at my door awakened me [...] I glanced at my watch. It was two o'clock in the morning. I was sleepy and grumpy and didn't try to disguise it.
—Who is it?
— Jericho Barrons." (Dark Fever, page 40)
“Open the curtains.
— No, thank you.
— Or you could invite me in and make my job easier.
— Definitely no.
—Why?
— Because you can do your job just as well from that roof.” (Crescent City; page 184)
"Do you intend to open this door, Ms. Lane, or shall we converse where anyone might attend our business? [...]. If he was willing to trade, I had to open that door. Unless…
— We can trade through the door, I said.
— No
— Why not?
— I am a private person, Ms. Lane. This is not negotiable." (Dark Fever, page 41)
"His dark eyes didn’t so much as blink. Striking—that was the only word Bryce could think of to describe his handsome face, full of powerful lines and sharp cheekbones. — You can make this investigation easy, or you can make it hard.” (Crescent City, page 187)
" When I said nothing, he said softly — If you are not with me, Ms. Lane, you are against me. I have no mercy for my enemies.
I shrugged." (Dark Fever, page 46)
So, I do believe SJM is the type author whose actions we need to discuss. Even if you see the whole thing with " The black jewels" is just an inspiration, you can't deny the fact there some exact lines of movies and books in her work. Plus: it's not just one quote or just one plot, but many.
If you ever try to read The Black Jewels trilogy you'll notice much more than what I brought in this post, and I do hope more people are able to research it. However, if you have any triggers regarding SA, mutil*tion, abuse, gr*mming, or torture scenes, I strongly recommend you do not read these books. They are not easy to go through, and the same thing goes to Dark Fever, although is a lot lighter.
Now, you can find more about the "Lord of the rings" and "Harry Potter" situation in here:
As I’ve been working on my reviews for the Throne of Glass series (you can see them all here), I’ve started to notice something. I’d noticed
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas Pages: 693 Published: September 6th 2016 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Goodreads Rating: 4.59/5 My Rating: 4/5
This is not a post trying to "cancel" sjm or simply attack her without reason. But I do believe we have to talk about her work and the problems with it, especially when it involves the work of other writers. If anyone has any more examples, or articles about this matter, quote this post with them if you can. I couldn't put more because you have a limit for tumblr posts, and it would be way too much. Anyway, thank you sticking here until the end.
“sjm is a feminist she empowers women in her books” no actually she kills and assaults women in her books in front of the men that love them so she can give those men sad backstories and make them seem deep. some examples include: feyre being tortured and killed in front of tamlin and rhys, aelin being tortured in front of fenrys, sorscha being beheaded in front of dorian, mor being rescued by azriel with a nail in her stomach, jesminda being murdered in front of lucien, rhysand’s unnamed mother and sister being murdered and their body parts being hung as trophies, the lady of autumn enduring domestic abuse, and so on. what sjm focuses on isn’t the actual death or assault of these women, it’s how their pain made the men feel, how the brutalization of their bodies traumatized the men. but yeah sure, sjm is just spreading the good ol’ feminist agenda with her writing, right?
My friend is all about Feysand and I casually like try and lead her to be better written books. She is trying to get me back to the ACOTAR but I rather read stories not shitty fae p*rn
Bro fr. Like Idgaf if you write smut and that’s the majority of the book—to each their motherfucking own, but don’t try and portray it as some turn of the century feminist thing. Write your p*rn script but dawg it’s genuinely not feminist and #WomenCanDoAnything—she did the bare minimum.
Imo, It’s a middle aged white woman writing about how she learned how to bounce on her man’s dick different and had a nut but that’s just my opinion
Anyways, be a slut. Do whatever the fuck you want. Love the ask, highly recommend Sharp Objects if you need any suggestions because I just finished it
The more I think about Feyre, the more I realize just how HUGELY MESSED UP her entire story/development was. Like, obviously that was at no point ever the author's intention (bc she thinks everything Feyre does is right and Rhysand is perfect and she developed positively), but if we ignore that, the story really does read like... a teenager getting manipulated by people hundreds of years older than her non-stop. I never liked Feyre, but damn, I can trace EACH AND VERY ONE of her negative traits or bad decisions back to Some Grown Man Pushing Her In That Direction. It's actually quite tragic, and gets even more disturbing because the books applaud it all as romantic/healthy/a good thing.
hey sis i am an anit sj/m and i saw this tik tok on booktok that said "women that can take over the world" and there was aelin and prehaps most sjm white female characters were there; just want to ask as an anti if you agree that they can take over the world alone because i kinda do and its making me feel guilty because their feminism is the amount of superpowers they have :(
I mean, isn’t Aelin like a whole colonizer? Like she did say something that was colonizer in KoA? Based on the superpowers, yeah, I think so. Then again, they’re attributed to practical gods with how much power they hold, which is unrealistic and provides for an imbalance.
However, literally none of Maas’s female characters have any training whatsoever in governing human beings when they take up their duties as people in positions of power. Considering Aelin is a white woman, we can more than likely assume her feminism is not intersectional.
White women in positions of power almost always do nothing for women of color.
Edit: I had this in my drafts forever and forgot to post. Hope I let you in on my thoughts, and as always if you wanna share your thoughts, please do! Thank you for the ask! ❤️😇
Bryce was always described as golden tanned. Hunt was described as golden brown. Most of her characters are described as golden tanned for some reason.
Yeah…I can’t stand it because, have you seen the color of gold? Idk, that shits always been weird and super lowkey racist to me
BROOO i forgot when i was like 14-15 i was a huge sjm fan and my science teacher who was a middle age white lady also loved it and now looking back i know she was reading some fucked up shit
I—I have no other response than I think that this is another reason SJM should be labeled adult erotica or something. Her books are for middle aged women who have a shitty marriage and don’t want to buy a vibrator imo🤷
omg i think we're around the same age and i absolutely get you i was a huge sjm fan around the time the books were releasing like i remember being excited for the upcoming books and buying them right as they hit the shelves and bringing them to school and reading them almost religiously LMAO now its the year of our lord 2021 and the only thing i feel looking at all the book spines in order on my shelf is disappointment
Ooooof I get that. I actually read ACOMAF religiously over and over until it began to fall apart. I keep them in a box in my closet now because I just don’t fuck with it no more. Same with all my Cassandra Clare books—which actually got me into reading. I’m going to donate them at some point but lowkey don’t want to do so because I don’t like the message they put out, ya know?
Sorry for such a late response, I work a lot and decided I’d try and take a very very long overdue hiatus from social media. Thank you tho!! Xoxo😘🥰
"Feyre deserves to be High lady because she is Rhysand's equal."
Except that means nothing? On what basis can u say that? Because of a stupid misogynistic mating bond that makes them horny when they are around each other? Like in what world is an illiterate 20 something the equal of a 500 year old warrior?? Because "that's how it works"?? Without any rhyme or reason or logical explanations?? Just because Sarah Janet's horny ass says so?
Have you read Evelyn Hugo? (IM NOT AN ACOTAR FAN FOR GOD'S SAKE) I saw a post of yours that mentioned bronze = tanned white, and there is this whole debate around Evelyn's skin because it is also described sometimes as "bronze", and somewhere is compared to her white friends and it is said something like "Nobody asked me why my skin was darker than Celia or Don's, but it was". But at the same time, I've seen black and brown people from US (im from Brazil) say she was brown, and others that she was indeed white. (keep in mind that im talking about her skin color not her nationality, though Americans seem to think as Latin America = one nation of non-white guys as it is not)
what are your thoughts? I was wondering about your opinion on it?
Heya!
I have not read it. Maybe I’ll look into it. 🤔
But to answer, Sometimes? Sometimes? it sounds like the whites know she has no melanin. Bronze is not brown, it’s white that’s been on the grill a little too long. She’s not poc, she stood in the sun for a few hours rotating. Bronze is a term used for sun tanning lotion. The reason poc would consider her brown I think is purely because of that one quote that says they asked why she was asked about her skin tone but not her friends. It gives the impression she’s a poc, but when I was a kid my white passing ass tanned during the summer and I went back to school and classmates also liked to compare themselves to the color of my arms and legs, etc. You can tell when people have actual melanin.
Sorry for the late response! Thank you! Hugs and kisses! 🌈
Hello! Just to make myself clear, I haven't read the books but as far as I've read about the sexual harassment between Feyre and Rhysand kinda make me disgusted. But a friend of mine is really into the series and there was a time when I haven't read nothing about the books except for being sO hOt, I told this friend there were some people saying Sarah was a bad writer. Do you think her writing is that bad?
Heya! Apologies for my super super super late reply. It’s 2022 now, but ya gorl works a lot.
Yeah, I just personally do think her writing is bad. I read a lot of Wattpad books in middle school, like consumed them one after the other. Her writing gives me vibes of being a 15-year-old who happens to take Honors English, and desperate for a boyfriend who is perfect and checks off all their boxes on the, “perfect man list”, doesn’t know any better on how a man should actually treat her, and writes down all their fantasies and publishes it on Wattpad. The male lead is hot as fuck, he falls head over heels in love with the girl, who is just described as being the most plain and average person on earth with the bone structure of a supermodel, the most beautiful sparkling blue/green eyes, big tittles, fat ass, and 12 inch waist. She’s just so average, maybe ugly, and she can’t believe this hunky self proclaimed feminist male with dark hair and light eyes, is in to her. I’ve seen quite a few posts from people who remark on Maas’s punctuation alone, and how awful it is, but that’s a different story for me. The SA is very much present. Rhysand gives Feyrat a drug so she can’t remember anything and paints her head to toe in this special paint that allows him to know if someone else has touched her besides him. She’s forced to wear a super revealing dress and is made to lap dance on him all night in front of tons of people.
Maas routinely uses the same characteristics for all her male characters and female characters. I.E. They’re the most beautiful in all the land, they’re super powerful, and even if God, creator of all came down, they could beat tf outta him and he’d scurry into the corner afraid of them. Not even the Devil could tangle with these guys. She uses one template for every every character that’s a favorite of hers, and honestly probably just in general. She does that Wattpad thing where she describes the outfit of a character, has the same writing style of a 13-year-old on Wattpad, etc. she tries so so hard to remember that people of color and gays exist, but only bc people remind her they exist. Usually minorities end up dead, usually in a gruesome manner, and they’re so sidelined that they only have one line and the studio can’t afford to give them more lines so you only see them in passing. World building is so bad I can only imagine them in a plain room every time. Sex scenes are cringey and makes me wonder. All main male leads are the dark, dangerous, I can hurt you, but I’m a good man, who is honest and believes your p*ssy would tempt Adam, and make Lucifer fall from grace. It is the forbidden apple.
On top of all that, she can’t even remember her own story, so multiple things get contradicted or ignored, as if they never happened or existed. She can’t even remember what names she’s already used for characters, and uses the same name for more than one character between series’. I know that in a large world that two people can share the same name, but Mess isn’t that smart to consider the idea of a name registry.
In throne of glass SJM tried to combine Christmas a crostini holiday and Yule a Pagan holiday
And as a pagan it really makes me mad that she did that
Yoooooo, but like she also minored in Religious studies.
I think it’s just hella disrespectful and lazy as fuck that she did so too. I think it’s super telling that she couldn’t even make up her own religion, but instead had to go and take two major holidays from two different religions and smash them together.
