{"id":13650,"date":"2023-11-06T10:53:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T15:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jennytrout.com\/?p=13650"},"modified":"2023-11-06T10:53:24","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T15:53:24","slug":"a-court-of-jealousy-and-haters-acotar-chapter-33-or-the-selflessness-of-twu-wuv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/?p=13650","title":{"rendered":"A Court of Jealousy and Haters: ACOTAR chapter 33 or “The selflessness of twu wuv”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m shamelessly plugging my new Fantasy Romance serial in the intro to an unrelated post. Join the new Patreon tier<\/a> or my Ream page <\/a><\/strong>, or read it on Kindle Vella<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As promised, I\u2019m importing the A Court of Thorns and Roses recaps here from Patreon. These were originally written beginning in August of 2020, so there will be references to upcoming or seasonal events that won\u2019t fit with our current timeline. I am not a time traveler and you\u2019ll never be able to prove that I am.<\/em>\u00a0I will also include editors notes like this every now and then as we go, mostly to amuse myself but to give re-read value to those who\u2019ve already been on this awful, awful journey with me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Remember how long the last chapter was?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chapter isn\u2019t like that, so please don\u2019t be too disappointed in the length of this recap. There\u2019s nothing here to really recap, as you\u2019ll see at the end, which I assume will be like five hundred words from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I might have been going to my death, but I wouldn\u2019t arrive unarmed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s got a bow and arrows and two daggers. For some reason, Maas is sure to explain that there are other weapons in the manor, but Feyre doesn\u2019t know how to use them. Like, at this point, we know that she fights with a bow and arrows and daggers. No reader, at nearly seventy percent into the book, is going, “Why didn’t she take the mace?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Better than nothing, even if I was up against faeries who\u2019d been born knowing how to kill.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Now that some fairies have done something bad to someone she knows, Feyre is back to her hardline \u201call faeries are cold-blooded killers\u201d stance from earlier in the book. Except, of course, for the nice, helpful fairies she knows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know. The ones who are \u201cthe good ones\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m just saying, as someone who wrote a super racist fantasy series due to sheer ignorance of how my words looked outside of the lens of a white person? It’s really easy to make your book about warring races…racist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alis leads Feyre through the woods, sniffing the air to make sure they\u2019re safe. It’s weird how the sniffing power didn’t come up for Alis until it was time to throw it in there to make the situations seem tense and scary. In fairness, we have seen pretty much every single other fae creature sniff Feyre or find Feyre by her smell, but I honestly just assumed that Feyre stinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Stay with the High Lord,<\/em> the Suriel had said. Stay with him, fall in love with him, and all would be righted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Suriel never implied that Feyre should fall in love with him. Just that she should stay with him. But whatever, we’ll just go with it at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They walk until nightfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I was beginning to wonder whether I should have brought more than a day\u2019s worth of food when she stopped in the hollow between two hills.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Or the top of a mountain, or a municipal fish ladder, who can say at this point, the way geography has been handled so far?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The air was cold\u2014far colder than the air at the top of the hill, and I shivered as my eyes fell upon a slender cave mouth. There was no way this was the entrance\u2014not when that mural had painted Under the Mountain to be in the center of Prythian. It was weeks of travel away.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

IDK, the manor was basically right up against the human world, so who\u2019s to say if the mural means anything at all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what a fucking strange way to phrase that. \u201c[…]that mural had painted Under the Mountain to be in the center of Prythian.\u201d The mural didn\u2019t paint anything. What was wrong with just saying, \u201cNot when the mural had depicted Under the Mountain as the center of Prythian?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey, just a quick question here\u2026 why did the mural depict Under the Mountain as a seat of huge importance at all, when it\u2019s basically the military base of an opposing force? Why is that something Tamlin would have had commissioned at all? \u201cBecause Sarah needed to show us the exposition, dummy!\u201d is not an answer I am accepting at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

All dark and miserable roads lead Under the Mountain,\u201d Alis said so quietly that her voice was nothing more than the rustling of leaves.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I appreciate that Alis is a tree person and all the little tree-adjacent words Maas has used in conjunction with that. I would enjoy it a lot more if that had been sprinkled in consistently with Alis from the very beginning or even, idk, before chapter thirty-two, when Maas apparently remembered Alis is a tree person. But as I\u2019ve mentioned before, I suspect Maas has no idea you can scroll up in a Word .docx to revise literally anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

She pointed to the cave. \u201cIt\u2019s an ancient shortcut\u2014once considered sacred, but no more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

This<\/em> was the cave Lucien had ordered the Attor not to use that day.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I honestly looked back to make sure Tamlin mentioned the cave at all and it wasn\u2019t just something Maas decided to throw in right now for the hell of it. Good news, it’s there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if the cave is how Amarantha is getting her evil faeries into the Spring Court…why not just brick it up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I loved Tamlin, and I would go to the ends of the earth to make it right, to save him, but if Amarantha was worse than the Attor \u2026 if the Attor wasn\u2019t the wickedest of her cronies \u2026 if even Tamlin had been scared of her \u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Did you know \u2026 that using a bunch of ellipses \u2026 doesn\u2019t make your story \u2026 more suspenseful? That it just makes you sound like you can\u2019t breathe\u2014like you can\u2019t breathe \u2026 because you\u2019re having an asthma attack?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IDK what is up with the formatting of this book with the space before and after the ellipses but it\u2019s been bugging me for a while, now. And it\u2019s not like it\u2019s a font thing; I checked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But all that aside, why am I supposed to be like, oh no, so scary, spooky spooky Attor? We never saw him do anything. We heard about how oh, he\u2019ll definitely kill you, Feyre, but Tamlin and Lucien said that shit about every single other fairy creature. First, it was, oh, the Bogge is so dangerous, it would have killed you! Then, oh, be careful of the Suriel, the Suriel is the most dangerous thing ever! But wait, Naga! They\u2019re so dangerous! And the Attor is the scariest of all, except for Rhysand, he\u2019s really scary, but don\u2019t forget Amarantha, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t make every single creature the scariest creature in the book, Sarah. That\u2019s now how books work. It’s not how creatures work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And again, I must ask, why<\/em> is the Attor so scary? What has happened in the book so far that should have us frightened so badly? Because all he did was show up and shit talk Tamlin a minute and leave without a fight or anything. If we\u2019d learned that the Attor, idk, is the one who took Lucien\u2019s eye or ripped the wings off that fairy, or if the Attor put the head on the statue in the garden, he might be scary. At this point, he\u2019s just a random being that showed up to build some kind of suspense and not actually reveal anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, that\u2019s right. We know the Attor is a scary thing because the author told <\/em>us the Attor is a scary thing. Well, that clears it all up, no further demonstration is needed and how dare I question her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although, when I read that scene again for any clue that the Attor is somehow worse than, say, the Naga, who we saw be scary and strong and violent, he did mention that Amarantha was unhappy that Tamlin \u201cdispatched\u201d his men over the wall. Remember when in chapter thirty-two it was implied that Amarantha had to allow fairies to go over the wall? I do. I remember that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alis is like, yeah, bet you\u2019re scared now, and Feyre is like, I\u2019m gonna free Tamlin, and Alis is like, sure you are, anyway, hope you die quick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“A few rules to remember, girl,\u201d she said, and we both stared at the cave mouth. The darkness reeked from its maw to poison the fresh night air. \u201cDon\u2019t drink the wine\u2014it\u2019s not like what we had at the Solstice, and will do more harm than good. Don\u2019t make deals with anyone unless your life depends on it\u2014and even then, consider whether its worth it. And most of all: don\u2019t trust a soul in there\u2014not even your Tamlin. Your senses are your greatest enemies; they will be waiting to betray you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ooh, see how she changed it up there? You thought she would go for an em dash and she hit you with a semi-colon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway. Flashforward to Feyre doing absolutely all that stuff in the next few chapters. I haven\u2019t read them, but any time anyone tells Feyre, \u201cFeyre, no,\u201d she goes, \u201cFeyre, yes,\u201d and does it because she\u2019s somehow figured out that they\u2019re wrong and she knows better. I will be astonished if the next few chapters don\u2019t have her guzzling down wine at a contract negotiation with a bizarro Tamlin who’s wearing an eyepatch and a black goatee. ed.\u2014This is basically exactly what happens, but without the eyepatch and goatee.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Alis tells Feyre that by the way, those weapons are all shit, and oh, also?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere was one part of the curse. One part we can\u2019t tell you. Even now, my bones are crying out just for mentioning it […]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

My bones are crying out at the fact that there\u2019s yet another condition of this inexplicably detailed curse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201c[…] One part you have to figure out \u2026 on your own, one part she \u2026 she \u2026\u201d She swallowed loudly. \u201cThat she she still doesn\u2019t want you to know, if I can\u2019t say it,\u201d she gasped out. \u201cBut keep\u2014keep your ears open, girl. Listen<\/em> to what you hear.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The curse ended after forty-nine years. It\u2019s over. Why is the magic still preventing Alis from talking about just one part of it? The curse is over. It\u2019s finished, Tamlin lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feyre thanks Alis for the help and Alis is like, sure, but you\u2019re really gonna die, but good luck. And Feyre is like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201dOnce you retrieve them, if you and your nephews need somewhere to flee,\u201d I said, \u201ccross the wall. Go to my family\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You told your family to flee, assjob. What’s she gonna do, tree-people her way into an empty palace and claim squatter’s rights? That sounds like it’ll go great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feyre goes into the cave and there\u2019s a section break and she\u2019s trying to inch her way through the cave in the dark. That\u2019s right. Miss badass survivor? She doesn\u2019t try to make a torch or anything. They\u2019re in the woods with like, branches and tree sap but she just plunges into a dark cave without anything to light her way. But that\u2019s okay because she sees light up ahead finally. But also\u2026voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Hissing and braying, eloquent and guttural\u2014a cacophony bursting the silence like a firecracker.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

They have firecrackers in Feyre\u2019s world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, they have gun powder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they all fight and hunt with swords and bows and arrows and shit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the voices move on, she goes to investigate a crack in the wall, where the light is coming out, and she knows she has to go through it, even though she\u2019s afraid, because she knows Tamlin is being held captive and she needs to find him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

And hopefully not run into anyone in the process. Killing animals and the naga had been one thing, but killing any others \u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Please note: Feyre also killed a High Fae. But High Fae are different from Naga. But also, Naga are the only non-western European myths presented in this book so far, and they were described as having dark skin. And she’s fine with killing them, they’re in the same category for her as animals are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m just pointing it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I took several deep breaths, bracing myself. It was the same as hunting. Only this time the animals were faeries. Faeries who could torture me endlessly\u2014torture me until I begged for death. Torture me the way they tormented that Summer Court faerie whose wings had been ripped off.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The torture. The torture for Feyre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep your chin up, Boo-berry. You don\u2019t have wings for them to rip off, and you\u2019re not immortal, so they can\u2019t torture you endlessly. The way that this book is torturing me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feyre goes through the crack and gets into a hallway. This is kind of a Labyrinth<\/em> thing, I guess, where if she had gone through the wall, she would have gone straight to the castle. I can think of a few fantasy books that could have used similar magic shortcuts, so I am not mad. I\u2019m so glad that we don\u2019t have to travel with Feyre for weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, she\u2019s sneaking along this hallway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

This was a mistake\u2013\u2013only an idiot would come here.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not mean if I\u2019m not the one saying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing is, Feyre is<\/em> making the most foolish choice possible. She had an opportunity to go back and tell everyone in the human world that Amarantha is coming. She could have rounded up a bunch of fighters or something. Instead, she chooses what she knows is a suicide mission. Feyre has come here expecting<\/em> to die. Not knowing that it\u2019s a danger, just expecting<\/em> to die and hoping she\u2019ll get to tell Tamlin she loves him before that happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not her fault, though:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Alis should have given me more information.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

How could she possibly<\/em> have given you more information, Feyre? The entire previous chapter was just her talking at you and telling you all the exposition that should have been in the book up until that point in one enormous lump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feyre does, however, note that she could have bothered to ask for that information or just not have gone on the journey in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s still creeping through the hallways, thinking about how she might need to wait to \u201cgather information\u201d about where Tamlin is and I\u2019m so thankful she decides otherwise because I don\u2019t want to read anymore fucking block paragraphs of \u201cthis is why things are the way they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

No.<\/em> A second opportunity might not arise for a while. I had to act now<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Why? Because she\u2019ll be too scared to try again, is her reasoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, something grabs her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

A pointed, leathery gray face came into view, and its silver fangs glistened as it smiled at me. \u201cHello,\u201d it hissed. \u201cWhat\u2019s something like you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

I knew that voice. It still haunted my nightmares.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

So it was all I could do to keep from screaming as its bat-like ears cocked, and I realized that I stood before the Attor.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Oh no, spooky Attor, who\u2019s tied with the Suriel for having the least amount of times trying to kill Feyre.<\/em> Good thing that\u2019s used as a chapter hook, so we know it\u2019s suspenseful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m shamelessly plugging my new Fantasy Romance serial in the intro to an unrelated post. Join the new Patreon tier or my Ream page , or read it on Kindle Vella.<\/p>\n

Read moreA Court of Jealousy and Haters: ACOTAR chapter 33 or “The selflessness of twu wuv”<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13651,"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650\/revisions\/13651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}