I read books

29 | delusional | laughter enthusiast | Currently re-reading ACOTAR

[carolcarebear]

I started my reread of ACOTAR and I’m convinced Lucien was like

“I cannot be nice to her. I cannot be charming. She needs to fall in love with Tamlin”

and then accidentally became witty and charismatic anyway 😂

[carolcarebear]

I can’t wait for the switch from:

“He knew it was wrong, but there he was, sliding the necklace around her. Letting his scarred fingers touch her immaculate skin.”

To:

“He brushed a strand of coppery-brown hair from her face, fingers tracing the curve of her cheek as though memorizing every line. Her teal eyes caught his, and she leaned into him, smiling. He felt it in his bones. She made him feel like he was exactly where he was meant to be.”

[carolcarebear]

I’m actually so excited for my ACOTAR reread. I’ve decided to make a playlist. First song on the list:

IYKYK 😂😂

Also send me more song recs!!

[carolcarebear]

Ok, ok, hear me out:

Azriel and Gwyn go on a mission to find Koschei’s soul. I don’t think it’s under Ramiel. I think it was trapped with Bryaxis in the House of Wind (which, reminder, is carved into a mountain), so now they really have to find her. And we already know Gwyn is perfect to help Az because she tracked the beasts during the Blood Rite.

Meanwhile, Lucien and Elain travel to the Continent to free the swan trapped at the lake. Girlypop needs to get out of the Night Court and go see the flower fields. And I still need to know what actually happened between Papa Archeron and Koschei when he went there!!

And we basically get a Tandem Read 2.0: a callback to the Throne of Glass tandem read, but structured as a four-part, multi-POV story 👏🏻

[carolcarebear]

Person: what’s your favorite genre?

Me: Ohh nothing specific, just Lucien quietly yearning for Elain while being down bad in the most gentlemanly way possible and giving her all the space she needs 🥰✨

[carolcarebear]

She avoided giving plot details about past books, future books, or anything… but sure, this one sentence was the big reveal. 😂😂

[carolcarebear]

Everyone else after the interview: chaos.

Gwynriel & Elucien fans: we’ve actually been fine this whole time 🥰🥰

[carolcarebear]

Mild spoilers for Chapter 3 of House of Sky and Breath and ACOTAR. I’m only around page 60, so please no spoilers past that!

Cormac just said:

“I might be Ruhn’s cousin directly through his mother’s kin, but your father, King Einar, is Fae, and his line once crossed with ours long ago.”

I’m sorry… what?! The Autumn King. Fire powers. The red hair. The physical traits. This has to connect with the Autumn Court in ACOTAR somehow, right? 🙃

I don’t know what it means yet, but it really makes me wonder about the characters from the Autumn Court and if some could have secret powers 🙊

Why did I wait so long to read this series? 😂

[carolcarebear]

Watching Bridgerton, I couldn’t help but notice how Lucien and Elain-coded it was. And since I’m already obsessed with the show, I had to read the books. Then I came across this:

“Her brown eyes, wise and warm and undeniably perceptive, focused on his. For one split moment he had the bizarre thought that she somehow knew everything about him, from the moment of his birth to his certainty of his own death. It seemed, in that second, with her face tipped up toward his and her lips slightly parted, that she, more than anyone else who would ever walk this earth, truly knew him.

It was thrilling.

But more than that, it was terrifying.”

— Julia Quinn, The Viscount Who Loved Me

TELL ME this doesn’t sound like Lucien looking at Elain. TELL ME. The way he would feel seen for the first time in centuries? 🥹🧡💗

[carolcarebear]

I’ve seen so many people say they want Elain to have a villain arc, or Lucien to have a villain arc, and honestly, I don’t get it. Why are we so quick to jump to the idea of turning characters into villains?

I prefer arcs that serve the story, not ones that exist just to reinvent a character.

Elain is so often dismissed as soft, vanilla or boring, but that’s clearly not the full story. Her quiet, underestimated nature is an integral part of her character arc. It’s not who she is, it’s how people perceive her, and the point of her story is to challenge and defy that perception. Why would we want to sidestep that potential just to shove her into a villain trope?

And Lucien? Because people can’t easily empathize with his actions or fully understand his moral ambiguity, they feel the need to force him into this binary system: either he’s a character they can root for, or he’s someone they despise. But Lucien doesn’t fit neatly into those categories, and that’s the point. Reducing him to a villain doesn’t make him more interesting, it just flattens everything that makes him compelling in the first place.

Honestly, what’s the point of turning characters into villains when we don’t even know their full stories? For me, a villain arc only works if it drives the plot forward. But with Elain and Lucien, we don’t even need that. They’re already compelling as they are, and their potential lies in exploring who they are, not forcing them into roles they don’t belong in. Make it make sense.

[carolcarebear]

I’m on my reread of Iron Flame, and I cannot get over how Rebecca Yarros will find subtle ways to break your heart.

In the epigraph of Chapter 16, a recovered letter from Xaden to Violet reads: “My dad hoped I’d go into the infantry like he did. He thought riders were pompous pricks, and in his defense… we really are.”

Infantry uniforms? Navy blue. Sgaeyl? Navy blue.

Me? In my feelings about this man bonding a dragon that represents the path he never got to choose and the life he never got to live, but is exactly where he’s meant to be.

For some reason this ruined me. I’ll never recover from how beautifully cruel this is 🫠

[carolcarebear]

I’m rewatching Bridgerton again, and all I can think is… Elucien is painfully, perfectly regency coded

[carolcarebear]

Tumblr is turning me into a Gwynriel

I’ve always been an Elucien girly. Always. There’s just so much potential, so much beauty in their dynamic. The tension, the slow burn, the second-chance-at-love vibes... I’ve always seen something special in Elain and Lucien, and that’s the ship I’ve rooted for from the start. 💕

And Azriel? I care about him, I do. I want him to be happy, but…I’ve just never paid him much attention. He’s cool, but not my focus

But Tumblr is turning me into SUCH a Gwyriel girly. The fan arts, the theories, the analyses, the fics! Y’all are changing me. I’m suddenly looking at Azriel differently, noticing all these nuances, and pairing him with Gwyn is perfection. She’s such a powerful, dynamic character, and they just fit.

The bonus chapter has me hyped for their story.

His shadows had not warned him 🖤

Something sparked in his chest ✨

The shadows know.

I’ve been imagining a scene for their book: Azriel and Gwyn hunting Bryaxis together. Gwyn’s in full Blood Rite mode, tracking Bryaxis with her hunting skills, and Azriel’s just like, “She is incredible.”

When they find Bryaxis, she thinks they’re going to attack and readies to strike, but Gwyn steps forward and starts singing. Azriel's shadows slowly begin swirling around Gwyn, drawn to the glow of her hair. 🥹

Yeah, I'm a Gwynriel now.

[luneserene]

The ring color discourse feels like THAT dress discourse rn😂

[carolcarebear]

Imagine achieving a major career milestone only for people to debate the significance of your jewelry in a fictional ship war…

[carolcarebear]

Lucien’s moment of Dominance

I’ve noticed something fascinating in HOEAB and ACOSF: italicized commands that seem to carry a deeper, almost magical power. Many people have already pointed out Lucien’s dominance, but what struck me is how this moment connects to similar instances with Rhys and Ruhn and now I can't stop thinking about it.

1. House of Earth and Blood (Bryce's POV)

Ruhn gripped Bryce’s face with a hand. ‘Take a fucking breath.’ That horrible, useless Fae side of her obeyed the dominance in his command, her body falling back on instincts that had been bred into her, despite her best attempts to ignore them.

2. A Court of Silver Flames (Nesta's POV)

‘Sit down,’ Rhys snarled. The raw command in that voice, the utter dominance and power… Nesta froze, fighting it, hating that Fae part of her that bowed to such things.

3. A Court of Silver Flames (Cassian's POV)

‘Tell her’ Rhys ordered him, night swirling around his wings. Cassian bristled. ‘Tell her, Cassian.’ The asshole had used that inherent dominance on him.

All these moments feature an italicized command and they highlight the inner dominance both Ruhn and Rhys possess. The italics seem to imply there’s a deeper, almost magical power at play. It makes sense, Rhys is a High Lord, and Ruhn was Crown Prince of the Valbaran Fae. Their positions give them the authority to command and, in a way, force compliance through this inherent dominance.

But then, there’s Lucien.

4. A Court of Silver Flames (Cassian's POV)

‘Easy,’ Lucien said. Cassian snarled. ‘Easy,’ Lucien repeated, and flame sizzled in his russet eye. The flame, the surprising dominance within it, hit Cassian like a stone to the head, knocking him from his need to kill and kill and kill whatever might threaten—

Okay, but can we talk about this?! Lucien isn’t a High Lord or a Crown Prince, but his command hits Cassian with the same kind of dominance we’ve seen from Rhys and Ruhn. The use of the word “surprising” is so funny to me because it's screaming he's been holding back, and it's about to show!

I can’t stop thinking about what this could mean. It feels like foreshadowing, a hint at the magnitude of Lucien’s power and the role he’s destined to play. He’s the son of Helion, the heir to the Day, and clearly more than what we’ve been shown so far. SJM, what are you planning for him?! 🦊☀️

[carolcarebear]

Spoilers for Empire of Storms!

I’m reading Empire of Storms right now, and I just realized Anneith and Hellas are literally bringing Elide and Lorcan together, and I am not okay. 😭

Elide’s ability to “make people see and hear what they wanted” is:

“A gift from Anneith, the Lady of Wise Things.” — Queen of Shadows

Lorcan’s immense power?

“A gift from the dark god, from Hellas—a dark gift, for her dark warrior.” — Empire of Storms

And here they are, traveling together, wielding gifts from two gods who are consorts. It’s like Anneith and Hellas, death and wisdom, are pulling their chosen ones toward each other. Their gifts complement each other perfectly.

The gods didn’t just bless them, they shipped them. 🖤✨

[carolcarebear]

Lucien out here catching fish with his bare hands in ACOWAR and I’m just like… why is this so hot? It’s literally fish. No business being this attractive, and yet 😂🔥