ACOFAS Spoilers!! (ranty, just be warned)
Okay, these are my thoughts 5 seconds after reading the book, so they might change etc-but I am so fed up with Feyre and Rhysand right now! I love how happy they are and everything-but considering what’s going on with the other characters, they honestly seem like such self-righteous, unforgiving people to me.
I get that they hate Tamlin. I get that Rhysand‘s fed up with Nesta. I get that Feyre has better stuff to do than helping her friends and family sort out their problems.
I get it to a certain fucking degree.
I think what bothers me most is Nesta‘s arch in this book. She starts drinking, drops a lot of weight, sleeps with countless men (???? That is such a red flag considering her character description in the previous books!) and isolates herself. She stops taking care of body and her surroundings, battles the horrible memories form the war/being turned into a fae and has to mourn the death of her father. She‘s obviously deeply depressed. She‘d obviously unable to escape that cycle of depression. She obviously should NOT live alone in a run-down house, drinking alcohol and having sex with men whose names she can‘t remember while dealing with PTSD.
But Feyre fucking lets her. For literal months. Yes, she and Elain „try“ to talk to her, but honestly, Nesta does not seem like a priority on Feyre‘s list. More like a bothersome footnote. To quote Feyre: „Nesta had chosen her own home across the city, one that I opted not to think about for too long.“ Feyre acts awkwardly when Nesta shows up for Winter solstice. She doesn‘t have a present for her. She makes no more effort than necessary.
You may say, why should she? Nesta doesn‘t have a present either, she makes no effort either, she‘s rude and lives off her sister‘s money. True.
But she is fucking depressed. And when you‘re depressed, you don‘t think logically. She‘s past caring. She doesn‘t feel anything at all anymore. As her sister, it‘s Feyre’s fucking job to help her and to find her way back to life. And to make her feel at least a little but welcome. But as Nesta notes, Rhysand actively doesn‘t like her and she has no real purpose in Velaris. His double standard towards Nesta and Elain is also deeply unfair.
Once again, why should Feyre help? Hasn‘t Nesta done the same to her? Hasn‘t she abandonded her little sister to the woods? What does Feyre owe her?
1) It‘s Feyre‘s fault that Nesta was turned into a fae. Admittedly, Feyre didn‘t choose that, but she‘s the reason for Nesta‘s situation.
2) Nesta and Elain killed the king of Hybern. They won that fucking war for them. They lost their father. They are NOT warriors. As Cassian notes, it takes years to recover from battle. Everybody owes them some fucking respect. Everyone, ESPECIALLY Rhysand, should be able to acknowledge that Nesta suffers from severe PTSD and depression.
3) Feyre swims in money, she has all the power, she‘s found her mate, she has amazing friends, there‘s literally nothing in her life that she lacks. Yes, she can absolutely blame Nesta for abandoning the family back when they were humans. But that situation was fucking different. Nesta had little to no power to help the family back then. The fact that Rhysand still blames her for „abandoning“ the family (blame the Dad!) is honestly so ridiculous. Feyre obviously forgave her, Nesta was obviously already a broken person during those years. Rhysand, you have no BUSINESS forgiving Nesta for anything, because she hasn‘t done anything to you. Stay in your lane.
Feyre could VERY WELL have Nesta taken out of that house and helped her. By force, if necessary. Make her your priority. Don’t rest until you’ve brought her back.
She opts not think about her sister too much.
It was honestly a bit difficult to read Feyre‘s parts- look how great my life is!- and then see how completely lost Nesta is, has been for months, and will be for several more if we include that excerpt from the end.
The same goes for Tamlin. For the love of god, that man has paid for all the things he‘s done. He‘s utterly alone, has no power, no love, nobody who cares about him, and Rhysand still shows up to brag about his great life. Honestly, why? Why does he still resent Tamlin that much? Because Tamlin didn‘t do anything as Feyre wasted away with each day? As she battled PTSD? As she lost herself and all her will to live?
ISN‘T THAT PRECISELY WHAT YOU‘RE DOING TO NESTA ARCHERON RIGHT NOW?????
What makes a hero truly great in my eyes is compassion. The ability to understand others, even when they do bad things. The ability to forgive. To be the bigger person. That‘s why I support a character. I love those who recognize the moment their enemy is on the ground and then show that they are better. That they are able to overcome hatred and resentment.
Rhysand is obviously not capable of that, not towards Tamlin and also not towards Nesta.
Feyre also seems more annoyed with Nesta than actually concerned. As we can read in the excerpt at the end, she throws Nesta out of Velaris because she can‘t deal with her anymore. Throws her to the Illyrian war camps, and to Cassian, so that he can take care of Nesta.
And he will manage. Nesta will get better. But I won‘t get over the fact that Feyre stood and watched Nesta waste away, like Tamlin watched her waste away and was villanized for the next three books as if he had skinned somebody alive. I won‘t forget that Feyre and Rhysand got rid of Nesta in the way you get rid of an unwanted problem.
I can‘t forget that they „opted not to think about her too much“ when she was at her worst.
