Let the pettiness commence
Let me be frank here when stating that if the quarantine werenāt happening I would probably remain the type of blogger to just re-blog posts without commenting or making my own posts. I enjoy looking at things more than commenting what can I say? I should say thanks and welcome to all the followers Iāve gained these past few years. You all are awesome and hope you all are staying safe during these troublesome times!
Alright, Iām going from civil to petty here and I should forewarn you if youāre a fan of Sarah J. Maas and her novels youāll prefer to stay away then listen to my rant. Just being polite and giving a heads up.
Listen, there are periods where atrocious books become a major part of trending pop culture. Eventually, the hype dies down and people can take a deep inhale of relief. Around the 2010s time-period, the hype was focused on Twilight books. No matter where you went you felt suffocated by the hyper-fixation people had on this series. Iāll be honest I was an avid Twilight lover for a period until I wised up and had to recognize these books are horrendous and having a bad influence on teens during my era. Teens were getting Aids from drinking each otherās blood literally, they were drinking someoneās blood literally. While theyāre still popular main societyās attention has begun to wane.
Pop culture has an new interest in Sarah J. Maasās series: Throne of Glass (ToG) and A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR). At one time I was part of the fan-base obsessed with her books. During a bleak period where every book I purchased ending up a dud despite strong premises; Maasās first books, in both series, were a breath of fresh air. They had characters you found hysterical and enjoyed the story-lines (even though the storytelling was meh at times) and you couldnāt help anticipating future novels to see where the novels took these characters. Both series died for me at the books: Queen of Shadows and A Court of Mist and Fury.
These novels were my wake-up call to Maasā manipulative storytelling patterns and her inconsistent characterizations. She completely morphs characters depending on the scenario. A noble, decent character is turned heinous to either add unnecessary drama or to make readers turn their affections towards another character Maasā manipulates into becoming āthe heroā- typically a love interest. Usually, the first-or second in TOG- love interests are noble characters with a few flaws but nothing to make readers despise them other than the fact theyāre not the prettiest men in the series. Literally, readers adore the male characters that are otherworldly attractive than an average looking male who is humane and unproblematic. Problematic much? The message Iām receiving is you should fall in love with a pretty face rather than explore the personās entire being (this includes past history, personality, characterization, etc).
People will say Iām petty because Iām annoyed Chaol and Tamlin did not remain the love interests. This is absolutely untrue. Iām annoyed Maas had to pull absolute garbage reasoning out of her ass to make the characters despicable.
Letās start with Throne of Glass. Celaena (I refuse to call her Aelin because the name visually repulses me, it sounds like something Maas stole out of better high fantasy novels) realizes she doesnāt find Dorian compatible and finds Chaol more of an equal. Chaol has flaws but his main one seems to be heās good-looking but only average in comparison to Dorian and Rowan- whose sex on legs apparently. Maas realizes people will deny Rowan as a love interest (after he gets into a punching match with Celaena) so she has to make Celaena despise Chaol and interact towards him with hostility despite her recognition Chaol had his reasoningās for certain events in previous novels. Then, Maas takes Chaolās character, who is known for being awkward around women and loyal to a fault, and make him have one night stands, cheating on women, and apparently the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong because Celaena canāt own up she made mistakes. Nehemia also died to give Celaena that necessary push to go against the king but itās entirely Chaolās fault for Nehemiaās death since Celaena can do no wrong. Horseshit I say.
Dorian is not a match, Chaol is the bane of Celaenaās existence so Rowan is her champion. Gag. I actually liked Rowan in Heir of Fire but I found it repulsive how Celaena keeps throwing herself at him in Queen of Shadows and growing dependent on him. When she put him in a bath and started throwing her favorite shampoos in I found it to be the most awkward scene. Itās a moment someone with limited knowledge of sexual encounters would conjure up. āLet me give my love interest a bubble bath!ā Iāve read these type of bath scenes in other novels but theyāre more maturely done. Although I have to remember these books are written for teens. Then, they become mates. A contradicting setup because he had a mate in the past. But, no one is compatible unless theyāre mates in Maasā world. So, mates are stuck together and seem to have a servant/master relationship in certain portions of the stories. Yuck, just yuck.
Readers if you have to state someone is someone elseās mate so youāre aware theyāre a thing then itās probably not a healthy relationship since youāre staying they own that person in Maasā world-building.
Iām going to stop while Iām ahead when writing about Rowan and Caelena because they repulse me. Buuuttt not to the same extent as Feyre and Rhysand. I absolutely despise these characters with every fiber of my being. This is one of the most unhealthiest relationships Iāve ever read. Before I jump into why theyāre disgusting let me just say I love how everybody hopped on the Feyre adoration bandwagon only when she got into a relationship with Rhysand. Nobody liked her until she got.into.a.relationship.with.Rhysand. Wow!
Listen, I understand why Feyre couldnāt stay with Tamlin after what he did (ahem what Maas decided he should do). However contradictory Tamlinās characterization was the relationship had turned unhealthy. Yetttt, no one batted an eye with Rhysand was giving Feyre date rape drugs, forcing her to give him lap dances making her sick when she came out of the haze, and her being entirely repulsed when he made-out with her. Plus, I read Rhysand as a gay or bi character when he was introduced. I think he would be a better character as a gay male seeking a friendship than their disgusting love story. He goes from giving her roofies and at least seeming like a morally gray character to Feyreās champion. Yeah, not buying the bullshit.
I pity Tamlinās character truly- he was butchered beyond recognition. He goes from allowing Feyre to wander to her heartās extent- as long as she wasnāt in dangerous areas- to locking her up because he thought it made sense. Heās suddenly possessive of her in the most disgusting ways (but Rhysand isnāt possessive in the slightest even when he calls Feyre his āmate!ā). All these details were added to make Rhysā character more heroic. Rhys goes from being a somewhat tolerable character in his actions to a fucking messiah. Rhysand goes from roofie expert to whisking Feyre away for her own safety. Rhysand assists Feyre under the mountain unlike Tamlin! (Because the queen didnāt give a shit about Rhysand and he wasnāt under her radar to the extent as Tamlin). He loves reading stories with Feyre unlike Tamlin. (Hmm, Tamlin offers to teach Feyre to read which she stubbornly refuses because sheās independent but Rhysand forces her to learn and heās romantic!). And gasp, Tamlin ended up being the one who murdered Rhysandās family hence their animosity (hahahaha how desperate are you Maas, I mean seriously how pathetic). Feyre, just like Caelena, was forced into this relationship with another abuser painted as a hero in storytelling. Rhysand and Rowan are constructed into heroes to make their disgusting actions justifiable in comparison to Chaol and Tamlinās ruined characters.
Iām mostly focused on the main relationships since thatās all I keep hearing about. Changing subjects briefly, Maasā does not acknowledge PoC or LGBTQIA unless readers are pointing out lack of representation. If theyāre introduced youāre guaranteed either they die to promote the white leadās agenda or forced to become a villain. What kind of statement does that make, Maas???? Also, her world-building is beyond odd. Random characters get introduced in weird scenarios that she has to force into the story-line just for sprucing purposes (Manon and the 12 and the 12 princesses from Earth or whatever). Really, what were the purposes of these characters???? And these kingdoms are written so bad. One realm has everyone wearing Renaissance era clothing while the next realm has people dressing hipster I mean wtf?
The reason for my rant is that I needed to get it out of my system. Lately, I cannot get away from these garbage novels. Iām on my Kindle the books are recommended. Iām on Goodreads her books are recommended and keep winning Book of the Year despite better novels being on the same list. I go on Facebook someone mentions deciding to give the series a spin under quarantine. Iām on tumblr (if youāre a fan then thatās fine, enjoy what you love) and artwork keeps popping up. I love itās typically Feyre giving Rhysand lap-dances in the earlier part of the series where sheās desolate and sicken by these moments. People are quite forgetful when they want to ignore something in order to make Rhysand babe. I wish I knew how to block anything Sarah J Maas on here because Iām trying to escape. I want to read other authorsā novels and not have Maasā smug face pop up on my recommendation lists. (Her books are on every list on Goodreads- every freaking list!) Hopefully, when quarantine ends the hype will quiet again but Iām getting ticked off here.
Just had to get it off my chest. Iāll probably go back to quietly ignoring the recommendations and artwork but Iām having a moment here.
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