I made a fatal mistake. That was terrible. IT GOT WORSE. MONTHS?!? I CRIED SO HARD.

I honestly did not think it would be just a big time jump between books. Can you imagine all the mayhem Erawan has caused? ALL THE TIME LYSANDRA HAS SPENT AS AELIN? DORIAN & MANON?

i am deceased after that excerpt.

Same here, THE BOOK ISN’T COMING OUT FAST ENOUGH. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!!!!

JUST GIVE IT TO MEEEEEE

This series was horrific.

In a good great spectacular way tho

No. As in a "The protagonist was brutal and unfeminine yet still praised as a feminist icon despite the fact that the only feminine traits she displays are shallow and surface level" and a "The biology of this world is unrealistic because there is no logistical way that a girl (regardless of strength) would be able to beat up well trained fighting men" way. This is coming from a girl who has been thoroughly trained in martial arts (almost 12 years at this point) by the way.

^ahem^
Are we even reading the same book? That description is really off.
A. Not every female is pretty dresses and fancy teas. Is a girl not allowed to be brutal? Can she not be able to be unladylike? She can be a trained assassin and still represent females really well. I don’t see where you’re getting ‘feminine traits that are shallow and surface level’. What do you classify ‘feminine traits’ as?
B. And she doesn’t train in ‘martial arts’ either. And a female could beat a well trained male too, by the way. Pressure points, weak spots, skill et cetera. Did you expect the author to write a story about a girl who isn’t very skilled and loses to all the big strong males because ‘a girl can’t take down a well trained male’. That would be just sad. Strong girls can definitely take down strong guys.

I just don’t see where you’re coming from at all.

First off, speaking from personal experience, men far overpower women in fights regardless of how strong the girl is. Men have bigger hearts (are able to pump more blood), broader shoulders (more stability), more upper body strength, and better spatial awareness - all things needed to be successful in a fight. Second, by “brutal” I meant emotionally stunted. And on this point, the book would have been a whole lot more interesting if the author had gone into the effects of a lifestyle where somebody kills without any remorse but instead her lack of empathy is completely ignored. Of senseless killing were present in a male protagonist, he would be accused of toxic masculinity and branded a sociopath. But in the case of a female protagonist these traits are heralded as feminist and progressive despite it being obvious to everyone over the age of 16 that they are incredibly destructive and would be cause for a lot of jail time in our society.
Also do you have any idea how hard it is to actually cause damage with a tap on a pressure point in the middle of a fight - there is a reason that the first thing you learn in any fighting discipline is how to punch, kick, and escape grips.
With the feminine traits section, the traits given to the protagonist were effectively surface level. A liking of boys and pretty dresses are not real feminine behaviours. Real feminine traits are things like a desire to nurture, understanding, heightened empathy, and an ability to create beauty without being destructive. Of course these traits are not exclusively female but they do present more in girls than they do in boys. The protagonist displays none of these traits and is effectively written the same way you would write a male character which is ultimately ridiculous because gender does effect personality.
Anyway, I know you are probably 12 and think that this is the best book you have ever read, but there are so many good books out there that don’t encourage girls to participate in dangerous or destructive behaviours and don’t glorify what is in fact a horrific lifestyle. This book is absolutely unrealistic even for fantasy, and indeed when you write fantasy your task is to make the world and characters ultra realistic so the reader can suspend their disbelief - a thing Sarah J Maas failed almost comically at.

I’m not saying these people can’t enjoy the series and as an older teenage girl with a national martial arts ranking aim not saying that girls shouldn’t do martial arts or other dangerous sports, in fact I encourage it. But I do want the people who read this series to understand and note that some of the messages in these books should not be taken out of them. I respect their right to defend the series they love so long as they respect my right to comment on why I didn’t like it - debate is a healthy thing. I also did say that there are exceptions to these traits and they don’t come as a package, some are more nurturing than others and some are more likely to display less empathy and understanding but to create a realistic f male character to whom a majority can relate the author should have at least included some of these traits.
I’m also not saying that just because the protagonist is a girl and statistically girls are worse in fights, that the character has to get beaten up every time - but I would have preferred to see her have to work on herself and her skills and improve gradually as you would in real life and it would make her victories that more compelling. And yes the novels are fantasy but that should not act as an excuse for them being unrealistic.

And…
I feel like that personal attack on someone’s age weakens the entire argument, it doesn’t matter someone’s age as long as they have evidence to actually back up their points.
And did you expect tons of people to agree with your dislike to the book when you come to a chat of fans talking about a series they love?
Also, did you not notice how Celaena is in love with the piano? Did you not notice how she cried when she was playing, because it was so emotional for her? She loved the music in Wendyln, and she also loved having a good time and laughing with her friends. Is that not ‘feminine’ enough for you? I don’t think a girl should conform to all the gender rules, that’d just make the book poorly written and dull. And I, as a female, very much relate to this girl. Heck, the author even acknowledged monthly cycles in the book, which I thought was pretty realistic and exceeded my expectations. Celaena has realistic emotions too, like all the relationships she made with the half fae in Wendyln and Nehemia.
The character was beaten down, how far did you even read in the series? She did train and improve, like with the silent assassins in the Red Desert and when she spent all that time in Wendlyn training her butt off and almost dying to become better.

Yeah! I think it’s really cool how she was so psyched up about books cause I’m just like that. I literally am just browsing in my school and city library all the time lol

Honestly that's a mood, @Rvan

rolls up sleeves to defend my sweet killer baby Aelin
@"n o s t r a d a m u s"
Firstly, Id like to say as a tiny female in her early 20s that has been training in various martial arts and american fighting styles since she was 5 years old, (ahem) fighting men twice my size isnt as impossible and as fatal as you make it sound. Have i had my ass handed to me? yes of course. Have i kicked more ass than i can bother to count? also yes. A fight isnt always about brute strength and size, you should know that as a fellow martial artist, and yet you want a protag that went through years and years of mental and physical training (that bordered on abuse) to get her ass kicked in every fight? now THAT is unbelievable for a fantasy. YOu can easily take down a larger opponent just by being faster or being smarter with your move set. Fighting is like chess just more brutal.

We literally see her training and becoming stronger in every single book and like my fellow fans said she frequently almost dies because she pushes herself to her absolute limit. And she does this because she has one goal that is so ENTIRELY feminine that im surprised you missed it…. She wants to protect those she loves. Have you ever met a woman that wouldnt lay down her life for someone in her family? Have you ever had a friend that cared so much for you that they'd drop everything for you? Thats Aelin. Her absolute love and devotion to her friends and family (the empathy she has toward an enemy that becomes an ally even!) is the most feminine characteristic that you could give an assassin for gods sake. Let's not forget to mention that she has been in mourning over the death of her best friend for THREE BOOKS AND IS STILL GOING… This goes without mentioning: her love of chocolate and candy, her love of dresses, her casual pettiness, her jealously when another female comes between her and her man, her love of music, her love of books, her love of children, her love of dance and art, her love of dogs… home girl would sit in a bubble bath all damn day with a glass of wine and a good book if she could. Can you get anymore feminine????

I like to compare Aelin to Black Widow (aka Natasha Romanov) because who could be a more of an amazingly complex character than one of the first female Avengers, hmm? Their stories are so similar full of darkness and pain and horror and yet we still love Natasha for her capability to smile on a day to day basis; to kick someones ass and look damn good doing it. We love Natasha because she thought she was unlovable and a monster and yet she still jokes and has fun and trusts those around her. We love her because she's not all black and white but has a mind of her own and will willingly fight for her right to think the way she does. She fights for that morally grey area that many people, especially women in this day and age, are currently stuck in. These are all the reasons we love Aelin and will argue til our last breath on why she is so amazing and a character worth reading about.

SJM puts so much into her characters that makes them so relatable and yet youre stuck on…. "she's not girly enough"

Please -_-

cheering in background
I couldn’t agree more, @TinyZombieKat

@Rvan_I’m-sick-of-bias

I gotchu. :*

24 days

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I’M DYING FROM SUSPENSE AND CRYING AND SCREAMING

11 days y’all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AMAZON ALREADY CONFIRMED MY PREORDER
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

IT’S COMING NEXT WEEK I’M SCREAMING
GOSH I’M GONNA DIE

Psst there's a blog on Tumblr that has spoilers if you want…..it's called 'Nor bid the stars farewell' or 'starcrossed voyager'. It's an Anti blog, but like….if you want spoilers, you can brave it because spoilers are worth hater's pathetic range.

ima troll this anti

mwuahahahahahahaha

No don't troll the anti. It's always a bad idea, and she has some valid points as well. Constructive criticism is good! Also don't be a troll. That's bad, harassment online is bad, and if you're gonna troll someone make it about something serious, not simply disliking a series you like. Trust me, my main fandom is one of the most split, and I learned just let them have their wrong opinion, ya know?

Also if you want spoilers (Idk if they're real or not) I can put them in under a spoiler tag???

yeah, we should make a deal for when KoA comes out to not say spoilers (or say them under spoiler block thing)

So here's what the 'spoilers' said.
I don't know if they're legit but they might be??
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, DON'T HECKING BLAME ME!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WUT

Wait can you put like a physical and personality description for:
Aedion
Lysandra
Manon
Elide
Lorcan
Sam

I want to be able to picture them before reading the books since I have no time to start ToG right now.

Here’s some fan art I got from pinterest (keep in mind none of them are perfectly accurate, but you get a general idea)

Aedion and Lysandra

Elide and Lorcan

Manon

Sam (Prolly the hardest to find a good picture example of. It’s definitely not perfect)

MY HEART