There are a few unfortunate book series in which the protag goes from interesting, flawed, reasonable character to power-mad villain material with no apparent awareness from the author. But Feyre is definitely one of the more depressing examples. Was it that she was used as the main vehicle for retconning other characters' personalities in the sequels? Was it that SJM decided that the narrative HAD to support Feyre's every move, that nothing she did could be judged as wrong within the book? Did Feyre end up being a weird fanfic power fantasy self insert? It's all bad. But I miss her, too. Book one Feyre? I loved her so much. Would have adopted her in a heartbeat.
Yep, I agree with a lot of this. She changes, and for the worse, when she meets Rhysand. Suddenly she's on the "high fae are superior and actually humans are bigoted for hating the people who enslave, rape, and murder them" train. Which is... yikes. And she pulls the "must brutalize the token Black man in this story." And steals from him. And then she does ACTUAL FREAKING BLACKFACE. And she runs around mind raping sentries and toppling governments and unleashing her magic not caring who else is hit in the process (Lady Vanserra) and then she locks Nesta up and. Ugh. It's bad.
But at the same time... she's both a fictional character, so I can blame the racist out of universe writing (like the BLACKFACE) on Sarah J Maas, not Feyre, and for her crimes that are viewed as bad in universe (like. The mindrape. That) that's due to manipulation by Rhysand. She's 22. 22. Rhysand is... what? 538?
She's a victim of his manipulation, of him exerting his power and influence to make his wife isolated from everyone but him, to ensure that everyone she's close to is everyone he's close to, so that he can always control what she thinks, what she does, what she knows. And I know this sounds paranoid, but this is proven PAINFULLY true in ACOSF, when he instructs everyone to hide the truth about HER HEALTH from her. ACOSF makes it abundantly clear that Rhysand has succeeded. She's isolated. Alone--alone from everyone but Rhysand, that is.
And you can even see this in ACOWAR! Anytime she feels remotely guilty about doing anything, Rhysand is like "you were perfect and amazing" and it's a trap. It's a trap so no one likes her or trusts her and so she has no allies outside of him and his. It's a trap so everything she knows is filtered through Rhysand, so he can control what she knows and does as he sees fit. And it infuriates me.
And that's why I can't be as critical of her as I can of other characters. Book 1 Feyre--every Feyre--deserved so much better. It doesn't excuse her atrocities, but... its why I try to avoid too much Feyre criticism on this page, because a lot of people forget exactly what she is: a victim of Rhysand's emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. And now she thinks it's ok to act like him, to be like him, because he's groomed her so well that she doesn't know any better.
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