Take a drink every time:
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a character’s throat bobs
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the word “male” appears
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a villain explains their entire evil plan to the protagonist for no justifiable reason
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you physically cringe during a sex scene
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two consecutive paragraphs start with “indeed”
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a character blasts their way out of a perilous situation with a convenient but totally improbable burst of hitherto unknown power
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a fragrance is described by more than 3 words
Caution: unless you have a heroic tolerance for alcohol, you’ll be dead by the end of the first chapter.
This was my first time reading Sara J Maas. I had my doubts from the first book but I kept going as it does have a tendency to hook you. I made it halfway through A Court of Wings and Ruin (book 3) before I decided to stop torturing myself. I honestly think the editors (and possibly SJM herself) gave up too.
This series is self-insert junk food fantasy. I felt like Feyre had some Mary Sue (do people still use that term?) tendencies from book one, chapter one, when she takes down a Fae wolf with a single arrow and somehow packs out its pelt and an entire deer in the dead of winter, but her struggles under the mountain had me rooting for her. Gradually, she and all of her posse just gets so overpowered that you know there is nothing they can realistically struggle with. It’s boring.
The characters are one-dimensional with flimsy backstories. There could be some poignant parallels made to the brutal practices of real cultures, but their past experiences just end up reading like torture porn. Most of them don’t struggle with their traumas in any kind of realistic way.
The dialogue is cringey and unrealistic. Feyre’s family is absolutely toxic and the surrounding characters just sort of chuckle and roll their eyes when Nesta says something horrific (Oh that Nesta!). I can’t think of any reason why Cassian would be attracted to her other than critically low self esteem. Tamlin becomes a caricature of an abusive ex.
I initially liked Rhysand as the bad guy with a heart of gold, but his character development consists of him slowly turning into a cardboard cutout of an ideal partner. Or hurtling solo into peril for no apparent reason (Insert Vin Diesel saying something about FAMILY).
And don’t get me started on the female protagonists. It’s honestly hard for me to believe that this series was written by an adult woman. Feyre’s breasts literally swell when she’s aroused. I felt like I was reading Stephen King. Some of the sex scenes made me physically shudder. It’s like they were written by a virgin who has no understanding of human anatomy or intimacy.
The writing style constantly took me out of the story. SJM overuses words so much (indeed). She’s overly sentimental and she blatantly plagiarizes lines from famous novels and slightly rewords them.
It was more forgivable when the story was developing, but by book 3, it’s just pages and pages of preparing for battle with Hybern, a cartoonishly evil nemesis with feeble motivations. And I was honestly rooting for him by the time I quit reading.
I’m glad that people can look past the flaws and enjoy this series for what it is, but I don’t see myself reading any more of SJM’s books.
I’m sure I’m late to the game on this series, but I needed to vent. I would love to hear your take on it or more rules for the drinking game. Maybe it will help me finish it. Or die of alcohol poisoning trying.
UPDATE - Additional rules submitted by others in this thread:
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every time someone "purrs" or "growls."
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whenever there is toe curling
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any time she says “alpha” or “smirks”
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whenever she alludes to the size of the love interest's member
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she calls the love interest a "prick"
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someone makes a "vulgar" gesture
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someone's bowels turn to water
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"my mate"
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someone's bones make any kind of canine noise (barking, growling)
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an ellipsis or emdash
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a character is described as "predatory"
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a character removes a an invisible piece of lint from their clothes
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"she could have sworn..."
We're all going to die of liver failure. Cheers to all of you males and females (and everyone in between). May The Cauldron bless you. And thanks for the gold!
![r/ac_newhorizons - The Rainbow of Velaris [inspired by A Court of Thorns and Roses book series by Sarah J Maas]](http://web.archive.org./web/20240425203518im_/https://i.redd.it/ne2rt0zy48fa1.jpg)