ACOTAR: Love It Or Hate It

ACOTAR is the kind of fantasy romance series that can revive your reading habit and also make you question your taste, your patience, and your emotional stability. We sit down with big opinions and zero chill to talk through A Court of Thorns and Roses and the chaos it unleashed for readers who love “fairy smut,” romantasy, and high-drama character arcs.

We get into the real-world reading experience first: buying a misprinted copy with missing chapters, swapping to ebook, and finally leaning on the audiobook to finish, only to run into the classic problem of one narrator tackling a cast of similar-sounding names. From there, we debate “worldbuilding” versus description overload, and why some readers crave more action while others don’t mind the slower, moodier stretches.

Then we go straight for the character fault lines. We unpack the shift from Feyre and Rhysand to Nesta and Cassian in A Court of Silver Flames, why Nesta gets labeled a villain, and how trauma shows up differently across the Archeron sisters. We talk about the scenes that hit hardest, including Rhysand’s backstory and the ways the series uses physical imagery to show what it means to carry trauma in your body. And because we can’t help ourselves, we also spiral into Elain-Lucien-Azriel mate theories, the deleted chapter, Eris and Mor’s complicated history, and even a crossover fan theory that ties the Suriel to Throne of Glass.

If you’ve read Sarah J. Maas, if you’re ACOTAR-curious, or if you just love arguing about fantasy romance characters like they’re real people, you’ll fit right in. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend who has strong ACOTAR takes, and leave us a review. Which character do you defend the hardest?

Check out our Bookshop.com book store where you can get your own copy of the books we are covering!  https://bookshop.org/shop/wreckedbyfiction

Transcript

Welcome And Emotional Stability Check

Emma 0:01

Welcome to the Wrecked by Fiction podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

That's not a covering. Yes, it is.

Emma 0:07

Did I read it on my lunch break?

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Yeah. I made I made notes because I didn't know there was gonna be a quiz.

Emma 0:13

Hey, everything's for a great while I was watching a movie with my six-year-old. Yeah. I didn't know I could be both right and so fucking wrong. Wrecked by fiction, where we read, cry, and question our emotional stability.

Why ACOTAR Divides Readers

Emma 0:31

Here we are again. Hi. Hi. You ready to venture into the world of fairy smut? Yeah. You know. It took the world by storm. It did. And it allowed many people to read books again who hadn't read books in a decade. Right. So I can't be mad. Sarah J. Moss a achieved what she was intending to achieve, I suppose. Right. But I know that there are many people. I think that Avatar in general is you either love it or you hate it. I think that comes across as like, like now there's such a like diversion.

Amanda 1:17

Right.

Emma 1:18

Like. Yeah.

Amanda 1:20

I'm which we're opposites on that.

Emma 1:24

Which side do you firmly sit in, I suppose. And I mean this series specifically, not Sarah J. Moss in general, but I mean Akatar, Akawar, Akamath, whatever.

Amanda 1:36

I wanted to like it so bad. Okay. But it was a struggle to get through it. Really? Yeah. It's it is we have talked about it before. I was mostly audiobook. I try okay. I tried to read the hard copy.

Emma 1:54

Yes.

Amanda 1:55

I bought it from Target.

Emma 1:56

Yes.

Amanda 1:57

The one I purchased was a complete misprint. I had missing chapters and duplicated chapters and the such.

Emma 2:04

That was like book one.

Amanda 2:05

Yes. Okay. So I ended up, our local bookstore didn't

Misprints Audiobooks And Name Confusion

Amanda 2:10

have it. And so I bought the ebook copy of it. And then switched to audiobook version. And it's one narrator doing all of the voices. Okay. All of the characters. There's so many names that are similar to each other. And it just got to where it was very difficult to decipher who's who because all the voices started to sound the same because it's one person doing them and all the names sound the same. And it yeah, I just and it's a ton of description on the surroundings and such and very little action. And I wanted more of the action and less description.

Emma 2:56

Interesting. So I would not agree that the world building is that much in these books.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Yeah.

Emma 3:06

Um, I would say that this again, we are just talking Avatar. This series is the world building is kind of minimal for me. Yeah. In in general when it comes to fantasy.

Amanda 3:19

Okay. I don't read a lot of fantasy, so maybe that's, you know, to me it was a lot, but to you it may not have been.

Emma 3:26

I just think that's there are some series and even standalone fantasy books that I have read where it's so much world building that I'm like, I don't care. Yeah. I don't want to know what the feeling of the brick behind this building, behind whatever behind. Yeah. I don't need all of that. Yeah. Um, but I I would not say that in Akatar the the world building is quite as expansive. Okay. Um, especially when it comes to like other Sarah J. Moss series.

Amanda 4:00

Yeah.

Emma 4:01

Um yeah, I would say that it it doesn't hit with me on being too much. I would say that the like we go back to like what's your reading level kind of conversation where like where do you fall on what you're able to consume and understand and comprehend? Um, it's pretty low for me. I it was not difficult to read in like the like vocabulary and sentence structure and all of that. That was easy. I also will say I I in general I liked it.

Amanda 4:39

Yeah.

Emma 4:40

Um we have discussed this a little bit, but I don't think when I first started reading it, Silver Flames had been released. Either that or it had just been released. Um and so when the internet got a hold of the series um and I had the omnibus version of at least the first four or three and a half technically, because the what is it? Frost and spar Starlight, whatever, uh is uh, you know, a novella. Yeah. But I will say that I was posting when I was finishing a book and starting it, I was like posting a picture on Facebook and like talking to

The Switch From Feyre To Nesta

Emma 5:25

my friends on Facebook about uh like oh my god, this chapter in this book was so devastating or whatever.

Amanda 5:35

Yeah.

Emma 5:36

I will say that I I struggled with the jump from how the first three and a half books were Phayra, and then we jumped to Silver Flames, and it's about Nesta. I didn't love that. Why is that? Because I was so wrapped up in Phayra and Reese.

Amanda 6:00

Okay.

Emma 6:01

I wasn't, and and their story isn't done, right? Like it's not it carries through Silver Flames, but I wasn't done with them. And then to jump and have your FMC be Nesta now, I wasn't prepared for that to change. It didn't feel like a continuation of the same series.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Okay.

Emma 6:21

It felt like we had a trilogy and a half of Fera, and then this is a new series with Nesta and Cassian, and it I don't I just think it could have been done differently.

Amanda 6:37

I'm smiling at you because Nesta and Cassian were my favorite. I know I yeah. I related more to them, and Farah drove me insane.

Emma 6:48

So you and everyone else. Many people thought that Phaira uh was the worst. Yes, including my husband. Hated those books. He he did the audiobook for all of them. Yeah. And I don't think he got, I believe he read through, maybe read Acho War. Okay. Wings and Ruin. I think he read that one. He definitely read one and two.

Amanda 7:16

Okay.

Emma 7:16

Um and then I I finally was like, you can stop. I was like, nobody is forcing this on you. Um I was like, I just wanted somebody to talk to about it.

Amanda 7:28

So then you forced me instead.

Emma 7:30

Yeah, well, you were reading though when we met, you were already reading those books. Yep. Um, no, I forced the other series on you. You did. This series you were doing of your own free will. I was initially. I I don't know. I just think like they're so with Farah and Reese. Farah is dumb, right? That's like her whole shtick. Yes. Is like she can't read. There's this whole big thing. But also I think it's so there's so many interesting pieces about Reese and his storyline that I was so like encapsulated in who Reesean was as a person. Right. Um, and his own character development um through Under the Mountain and everything happened to him. And so that's why I got wrapped up in him, right? Really. And like Fayra aside, I that wasn't I honestly I could have I could have done without her. It could have just been a story about Reese and I still would have read it.

Amanda 8:38

I probably would have preferred that. Because I liked him as a character.

Emma 8:41

Yeah.

Amanda 8:42

And I do think that Farah was a lot of why I really struggled, struggled to get through it all, was just because I could not stand her. And then it was just

Trauma Responses And Character “Likeability”

Amanda 8:55

like, yeah. I just because we got to we got to Silver Flames and I was like Nesta's not. I mean, she's a bitch, but valid reasons.

Emma 9:05

Yeah, well, um, I think honestly, all of them should have been more bitchy.

Amanda 9:10

Uh agreed.

Emma 9:11

Like Fayra was uh not traumatized enough, no, in my opinion. No. Um, the things that she went through and what she had to sacrifice and all of the things that Farah dealt with, she was not broken enough for me. I would agree. Um I do think that Nesta very unfortunately, because she was as traumatized as she was, she chose people to be the villain who weren't the villain. And I think that's why, like in general, readers kind of villainized Nesta. Nesta, yeah. Because she was mad at everyone that hadn't couldn't those people that she was mad at couldn't have changed their circumstances. Right, their circumstances. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think that with like Elaine, I am very interested to see how the rest of the series carries out because Elaine has such significant, like in modern terms, PTSD.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah.

Emma 10:15

That the other two don't have like, yes, they probably both also have PTSD, but Elaine's is um this internalized version.

Amanda 10:25

Right.

Emma 10:26

Um, whereas Nesta's was outward rage and Ferah's was I never learned how to be a person.

Amanda 10:32

Right.

Emma 10:32

Um, and Elaine's is this like she's so broken because she was the baby and she doesn't know how to function anymore. Right. And so I just I one of the things the the Lucian's character development from his and Phayra's relationship, I loved their relationship. Yeah. Um, especially when you get for you get past the first book and everything, and um Fayra is learning how to uh like fly and do all of that stuff, and then Lucian comes in and is like, you need to come back with me, and she's like, I'm never going back. Yeah. I'm not going anywhere with you. Right. First of all. Yeah. Uh but I do think that his development when he like he realizes that Elaine is his mate. Um side note, would be interesting if we got like a a weird twilight scenario where like Elaine isn't actually his mate. Right. But like Elaine's baby is what if we had a Renezme?

Amanda 11:49

That would be wild.

Emma 11:51

What if, what if? I'm just saying. Right. Somebody write that fanfic.

Elain Lucien Azriel And Mate Chaos

Emma 11:55

Um we get uh who what? Nope. Lucian and Elaine are not actually mates, but Elaine and Azreel's baby is Lucian's mate. That would be because I love Azreel. Do you think that Azreel okay here, let's dig in. Do you think Azreel's uh going to end up with Elaine, or do you think that Azriel's gonna end up with one of the the ladies? The ladies in waiting, essentially. Well, you and everybody else. You want the shadow daddy to yourself, huh? Yeah, sorry, ladies, he's mine.

Amanda 12:37

I don't know. I have not thought about that.

Emma 12:40

Because there was a do you remember the deleted the the the chapter? You know what I'm talking about?

Amanda 12:46

Yes, the one that's not in the ebook, but it's in the hard copy.

Emma 12:50

Yeah. But not in the version I have. Right. It's in like the most recent print or something, I think. Because I have an older print version. Yeah. Um and yeah, it's the it's during like Yule or whatever. And they Azriel gives a gift, but then doesn't end up Elaine doesn't end up keeping it or whatever it is. Yeah. And then one of I don't remember which one, but one of Nesta's little ladies in waiting, handmaiden, yeah, whatever whoever she is, takes it and then and then Elaine is heartbroken because Azrael chose somebody else. Yeah. So I I am very interested to see how that goes. Yeah. If Azrael sticks with I do think he feels this draw to her. Um or hell, maybe we get a dual mate situation. Maybe Elaine has more than one. Maybe. I mean she was human until she fell into the cauldron.

Amanda 13:54

So who knows?

Emma 13:56

Who knows? I just think there are so many things about this series that kind of like claw. Occasionally I'll think about it. They like claw at the back of my mind. And it's one of those things where like it sticks with you because like uh Reese and his um his explanation of the like decades of sexual assault he experienced.

Amanda 14:27

Right.

Emma 14:28

Um, and how Fayra's meltdowns and everything, and he's like, it's okay, it's just a body response, it doesn't mean anything. And I'm like, no. And then, but also Reese not wanting Fayra to see or like touch his fully open wings because they were used against him, yeah, is like hits something. Like I'm a little teary right now, but like touches something inside me where I'm like, that's such a good representation of how we carry trauma and the way that he like he literally cannot let it go because it's part of his body. Right. Um he can't escape it, he has to see it on his person every day. Yeah. And I think that that is such a good, like su the imagery there is very important um to what he went through and the way that he has molded himself since those things happened to him.

Amanda 15:36

So yeah, I do think that that was a very poignant part of the story for sure. So yeah.

Emma 15:46

I don't know. I the other thing, I think I've mentioned this to you. You know, when they put all well, when they put Elaine and Nesta in the cauldron, and Nesta goes in and the description says that she uh goes in and she's pointing um at the King of Hibern when she does it. Um, or like she points one finger at him, I think is what they say. Yeah. And so like the imagery there is that she's doing this.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Yeah.

Emma 16:17

You know, that's not what I think that's going on. I think she's doing this.

unknown 16:21

Yeah.

Emma 16:22

I think she's going in and she's flipping him the bird. Like we can only hope that that's actually also Sarah J Moss and uh a vulgar gesture. Yes, it's gotta be flipping people off. Yeah. Or um we could go Ross from Friends. I like this one too. I every time I'm like, I'm like, somebody's just doing this in the background in Hibern. Right? So yeah, I just think that there's um Yeah. Yeah, it it she's not just pointing at him. No, there's no way. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. There's so much about that, like I'm sure you have notes of things that you, you know, have held on to. Is it this book's is it silver flame specific or is it series?

Amanda 17:12

It's kind of the whole series. I was trying, it was some of it's stuff that I made when when I read it, but that's been a little while. Yeah. Some of them I'm trying to, you know, remember decipher. Yeah, and then some of it's stuff that we had talked about that we wanted to talk about, um, and trying to remember kind of what that was for.

Tamlin Red Flags And Under The Mountain

Amanda 17:35

Um we we have sisters in the cauldron finger. Yeah, see noted. Just saying, right? I have a note that says Tamlin's sex noises comment in front of a group of high lords. Do you remember that? I don't remember. Okay, why do I not remember that?

Emma 17:52

So when they are meeting, and it's all of the High Lords and Fayra, because she's a High Lady once she marries Reese and he names her his High Lady. Okay, and they all go to a this giant meeting, and Tamlin walks in and he says, So does she make the same noises or whatever he says?

Amanda 18:12

He's such an asshole.

Emma 18:14

And everyone like kind of like does like this, like in my head, I'm like, they're all bracing for impact. And Azreel says, Watch how you speak to my eyes. Yes. Yeah, now I remember. No, and I'm like, why the fuck? What possessed you? Because Tamlin's just a dick. See, I think that there's a very real possibility that so we know from these books that when they stay in when the the the the Fey who can transform or transfigure or whatever you want to call it, when they stay in their animal forms for too long, it is difficult for them to come back. Right. So Tamlin, having lived in his bear form for so long after Fayra left the first time, right, probably broke his brain. And so he doesn't know how to be an appropriate part of society.

Amanda 19:20

He wasn't a great partner even in the first book, though. You're right. He was horrible. Yeah.

Emma 19:30

Uh you know, I'd I would have left his ass, but I just think the first book is so interesting. After you've when you you know you've read all of it, right? And you come back and to think about Tamlin and the way he was, it is written so beautifully, in my opinion, because you don't see the red flags in the fur in the first book, especially in the first half of the first book.

Amanda 19:57

Yeah, I could see that. There were a couple of I can't remember exactly, but there were a couple of times where I remember being like, Maybe not.

Emma 20:05

Yeah. Maybe maybe don't do that.

Amanda 20:07

This might this might be headed down the wrong path, but Yeah, I think that's true. I I think But there was also still a part of me that wanted it to work out because I didn't know that there were gonna be all these other characters, right, from the beginning. But Right.

Emma 20:22

You were like, well, this is the end. They're either together or they're not. Right. Um, and then if they're not, then Faber goes back to the human realm and the human realm dies because of the war. Right. And whatever. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Tamlin with his fairy wine and his banjo. What was he playing? It's I don't even, but you know what I mean? Like and Fayra getting hammered two minutes after Lucian says, Don't drink the fairy wine, and she's like, fuck it. And then she gets drunk and she's doing stupid shit. Right. Um I do think though, the parallel between like that moment in the series where she drinks the fairy wine and she's dancing in uh for Tamlin, right? Right. And then we get under the mountain, and she's told uh that she like Reese paints her with the the magic paint um or whatever, and she knows that like she has the choice to drink and not drink, and she chooses to drink because she knows what it's going to do. Right. And therefore she doesn't remember anything.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Yeah.

Emma 21:39

Um, I think that's an interesting like thread.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Mm-hmm.

Emma 21:42

Because at the time when she first drank it, she didn't know that it would completely change, you know, the way she existed.

Amanda 21:51

Right.

Emma 21:51

Um So that was interesting for me. But the whole under the mountain part of this series has me kind of fucked up. I'll be honest.

Amanda 22:01

It is it yeah. It was a rough good God. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. There's a lot to unpack in that. And it just for anybody who's been through trauma, right? Like it's there's a lot to go through there and to be aware of.

Emma 22:23

And um, what's Lucian's brother's name? Eric? Is that right? Maybe.

Amanda 22:30

I don't remember.

Emma 22:31

I don't know. Whatever it is. The the guy that Nesta dances with um when they're trying to like pull one over. Do you know what I'm talking about? You know that scene where she she was like a world-class dancer. Um, and so they agree that she'll dance under the mountain. Yes. And Eris, not Eric, Eris,

Eris Morgan And Hidden Motives

Emma 22:55

yes. And so she dances with Eris and he like proposes on the spot. And then Cassian's like, the fuck I think not. Yeah. And I'm like, don't get me wrong. Like, I I'm I'm all about Nesta and Cassian, but I'm like, somebody Ares is not who everyone thinks he is. Right. For sure. Yeah. Like the I'm a bad guy is a mask. It has to be. Right. I would think. Um, because we also get a lot of sides, you know, side story, backstory on the way that Ares was so kind to well, kind. It's m Morgan. Okay. Okay, the Morgan, because Amron is the tiny demon bomb.

Amanda 23:49

She's the second in command. She's a creature from another world.

Emma 23:52

She's the tiny demon bomb. Yep. Yes. Uh if if an atom bomb was a person, that would be Amron. Yes. Um The Morgan and Morgan and Eris were like supposed to be wed or whatever. Right. Um, but he like defaces her and like denounces her as his mate and you know, leaves her to die, basically. Right. Um, but we find out in Silver Flames that Morgan doesn't like men. Correct. And so you to me, I draw the line there with like between Ares recognizing that if she had been the one to denounce him, it would have looked bad on her. On her because she was, you know, refusing a match.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

Right.

Emma 24:52

Um, whereas if he made the choice that he didn't want her, then she could recover from that. Right. Um so was it awful and nasty and yes, but that was intent it was intentionally awful and nasty and hurtful.

Amanda 25:11

Yeah.

Emma 25:11

So I do think that I hope that that's a like kind of like explored plot line.

Amanda 25:19

I can see that.

Emma 25:20

For me. Yeah. Who knows? Yeah, I don't know what we're gonna get with the rest of this series. Yeah. I don't know. Acatar is I don't think about it as often as I do like throwing a glass. Um, but and I will say I haven't reread it's been almost two years since I read Akatar the first time.

unknown 25:43

Yeah.

Emma 25:44

And I haven't reread them.

Amanda 25:45

And you still remember all of that. My brain's been like, nah, we're good. We will hold on to that.

unknown 25:51

No.

Emma 25:53

No, I can I'd say I yeah. I have not reread them. I think it was like July of 2024-ish when I read them. Maybe June when I read them the first time. So almost two years. Okay. Um, and I haven't reread them, which says something about but I've read 400 books since then. So like maybe it doesn't say something, and maybe it just says that there are too many books to read. Agreed. But I don't know.

unknown 26:26

Yeah.

Emma 26:27

I think Nesta was villainized so extensively that um people because people really, really didn't want to like her. Yeah. But I don't think she was a villain, I think she was just broken. And Cassian pushed her to her fucking limit.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Yeah.

Emma 26:46

And so when you get the the mean Nesta, it's because somebody pushed her over the edge. Right. Like she was done. Yeah, she didn't try to do that, but then she fucking sacrificed everything to make sure that Ferah's baby doesn't die. Right. So, like, you know, and that's like the most simplified version of how it could possibly be. Right. But like, to me, that's, you know, why how can you hate someone when they're literally just surviving? Right. And that's all Nesta was able to do was just trying to survive the absolute cluster fuck of change that happened to them.

Amanda 27:24

And also navigate her feelings towards Cassian because she didn't think that he liked her that way either. Right. Because they start having their like friends with benefits relationship, and she wants more, but they had made the agreement that it wouldn't be more.

Emma 27:41

And yeah, but then you know you get that dual POV from Cassian where Cass you know Cassian knows that he's like, well, if I just tell her this, then she'll stick around, but God forbid I tell her that we're mates, right, and she'll run as fast as she possibly can away from me. Right. Um, I do think though that Nesta was holding on to every ounce of her humanity, and I mean we get parts of that, right? Where she's like, mates aren't something that humans do. Right. And I'm a human, and really we're like, babe. You're not. You're not though anymore. No. And it took for me, it took a little too long for her to recognize that like she needed to adapt. But again, that's you know, the trauma speaking, right? She she couldn't adapt because she couldn't move

The Suriel Theory Meets Throne Of Glass

Emma 28:35

forward.

Amanda 28:36

Yeah, she wasn't ready to accept all of that.

Emma 28:38

So um, oh, the surreal. I love the surreal. I can't believe we almost missed talking about um okay, so and here's where I divert from Aquatar into Throne of Glass. Because the Surreal, I I sit firmly in the camp that the and I haven't read Crescent City, right? So that series is not something that's on my radar. However, I know that there are many people who have read all three series who believe that the crossovers between the series, there's like a piece in Throne of Glass where uh they're flying and they see Reese or they meet someone named Reese or um whatever. There's there's like like crumbs from each series that kind of cross planes. Yeah.

Amanda 29:43

Okay.

Emma 29:44

Um So here's where I divert from Akatar to Throne of Glass. The cereal is Caltaine. Do you remember Caltain from Throne of Glass? I think so. So Caltaine was the uh like she was described early on in the series as like evil um bitch. Yes, and she was taken from the main palace to the witch's keep. Right. Um, and then held hostage because a piece of the whatever was embedded into her body. Right. Right. To try to uh for her to absorb and to turn into what they wanted to create her right as. Yeah. Um I believe that the and this is not my, you know, my own idea, right? Um again, the internet is a wild place. Um the fan theory goes that so in Throne of Glass, Caltain Um Caltain gives the shard to Alid, and um with the explanation that like to take this to Ailen because Ailen once gave her a cloak to keep her warm. What does the serial ask for in exchange for information? A cloak. Interesting.

Amanda 31:19

So there are some people that have way too much time on their hands to be drawn on. I'm just saying together.

Emma 31:25

I think that's so interesting because I'm like, it has to be, you know, I want it to be because that would be so fun.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

Yeah.

Emma 31:33

Um, but yeah, I there are so many pieces where I'm like, and she she wrote all three series, she can do whatever the fuck she wants. Right. If she wants to make Caltane part of Akatar and turn her into the serial who just gives bullshit information with the the most little amount of context possible, yes. Stay with the High Lord, which one?

Amanda 32:01

All of them.

Emma 32:02

Um, well, Fayra took that really literally, okay? Um, but yeah, I think that there are so many interesting pieces of these series that kind of like mix and mingle with each other. Yeah. Um I do think it's funny that you're like, I you read that two years ago and you still have all of that information in your head. I'm like, yeah, I don't know what it is about those books. But both of the series, and again, I haven't read Crescent City. I couldn't. I couldn't.

Amanda 32:34

Yeah.

Emma 32:34

Maybe I'll try again. I own the first one. I don't own the other two. Maybe I'll try again someday. And I'll be like, yeah, this is just as good as the other ones, but yeah, I don't know.

What We Want From Future Books

Emma 32:45

Avatar is something else, and it really did, you know, it did its job, it did what it was trying to achieve. Um yeah. Will you read number six? Or I should say three and a half, four, five and six, because I believe both are promised to us.

Amanda 33:03

Maybe. I don't know. It might depend on what I'm reading when it comes out on whether, you know, what my TBR looks like at the time.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Yeah.

Amanda 33:12

I don't know. We'll see. I do I do want to see where Elaine. Yeah, I do want to see where Elaine. Why did you give birth? I did it. Did my Elaine. Um I don't know why I did that. Um yeah, no, I would like to see where her story goes.

Emma 33:33

Yeah. Um do you feel like Silver Flames was enough of their of Nesta and Cassian's story?

Amanda 33:42

I mean, I'd love to have little bits of them, but I also I don't know that I need them to still be the main characters.

Emma 33:48

Okay. I would say because we got three full, three and a half full books of Phayra, do you need more Nesta as FMC? I guess is what I'm saying.

Amanda 34:02

I wouldn't mind, but I I don't know that it's necessary.

Emma 34:05

Or where would the story go?

Amanda 34:06

I think that's where my reminders are But I think you could fit their storyline in with Elaine's story. For sure. Right? Like kind of how they did with how Ferah's life continued, right? It still there were bits and pieces of it enough to kind of give you that closure.

Emma 34:21

I do think that it would be so it makes sense to me to carry their story over into the next book if the MMC is Azreel. Yes. Because Azreel is part of that, like the training piece of Nesta's story. And it would give you that connection. And it would give that connect that thread would be continued. But if it's not Azreel, then it's then weird. Then why then where does Nesta's storyline fit into Elaine's storyline? Yeah. You know what I mean? Right. Aside from just being sisters. Right. Yeah. So interesting. I yeah, I I I will read it for sure. I think I'm very interested to see what Sarah J. Mauss does with Elaine. Right. Because you have got we have gotten so little of her. Yeah. Um, really, like the least amount possible, other than knowing that she exists. Right. You really don't know anything about her. No.

Amanda 35:16

I would also kind of like to see the sisters kind of fix their be sisters. Yeah. Yeah. Not necessarily be like completely 100% okay, but at least work towards becoming closer together and forgiving each other and understanding that like while they were together in some of their experiences, what they experienced from their point of view was different.

Emma 35:44

Oh yeah.

Amanda 35:45

Um, and just having that grace for each other would be good, I think.

Emma 35:49

Well, and it's like the the saying like no two people have the same parents. Right. Because every child's experience with their parents is different. Right. Like my mom um is different than the mom that my sister had. Yeah. Or the mom my brother had, or whatever, you know? Yeah. Um, I think that's especially true for these three sisters, where like their dad was a very different man for each, and then obviously their mother died, and so that experience is different for each of them too. So I think like that crossover, like whether we get Azrael or we get Lucian or we get both. Um, I am very interested interested to see how Lucian um carries on because his like exit from the spring court was very dramatic. Yes. And his like alliance with um the night court now, I think we are um we're kind of primed to see a very interesting next few books. So agreed. I don't know. I don't know. Sarah J. Moss is something else. So I've seen, you know, we talk a lot about having like me being funny and having a book, uh,

Fandom Obsession And The Red String Board

Emma 37:05

uh a board with the red string.

Amanda 37:08

Um Do you secretly have a room upstairs that I haven't seen yet?

Emma 37:12

No, but I am gonna pull up a picture. Um I have a friend who, when I was reading, so I read Aquatar First as my Sarah J. Moss um intro. Yeah. Um, I read Throne of Glass next, and then I tried to read Rest Crescent City and couldn't get into it. When I was reading Throne of Glass, I have a friend from years and years and years and years and years ago. Um, and she was is obsessed. She has read every book, Crescent City included. Um Does she have a board? Maybe. Hold on. I'm trying to. Is it a whole room? She had, she sent me a picture because she was trying to describe it to a co-worker or something. Uh-huh. And here it is. And she was trying to explain which way, like what chronologically, uh huh, how you read these books and in what order. Oh my gosh. And so she says thrown of glass, um, and she believes that um, we should read thrown of glass, crown of midnight, um, air fire, and then she doesn't have Assassin's Blade listed in there at all.

Amanda 38:44

Okay.

Emma 38:44

I don't know what order she read it in, uh, um, but then she has uh Aquatar listed, and then she thinks you should read the first three of those, and then you should read Throw in a Glass, um, and you should tandem read. It's insane. I'm just saying, like, there is a lot of this where you should read uh two from this series and then read four from this series and then go back to this series and read the next one and then go to Right, and I'm like I would like to say that I don't think my brain could handle that, but I am also reading three different books currently that have that are from completely different authors.

Amanda 39:30

So maybe my brain could handle something like that.

Emma 39:33

I don't know, but I do think that the the fandom is crazy. Yeah. The the people who are obsessed um really love these books. Like they can't they can't walk away from it.

Amanda 39:49

I know. I'm sure I'm gonna get ripped in the comments, but I don't know.

Emma 39:53

We we talked about Kale. You people agreed with you.

Amanda 39:58

Yeah.

Emma 39:59

So there was, however, one comment when you said I love Kole, and somebody said no one ever. Rude.

Amanda 40:07

And I was like, I just did, and I'll say it again. I love Kale. Thank you.

Emma 40:14

Oh my god. I don't know. There are so many things about Aquatar that we could probably sit here and talk for two hours just about this four and a half book series, and we really didn't even talk thrown a glass. No, and there are seven books.

Amanda 40:35

So throwing a glass will be its own separate.

Emma 40:38

Oh my god. We're not gonna talk every book. We're gonna just the little pieces that made me cry, probably.

Amanda 40:43

Yep.

Emma 40:44

I don't know.

Amanda 40:45

There's probably a lot of those in there, though.

Emma 40:48

Not as many as you would think, mostly just the last book.

Amanda 40:51

Yeah.

Emma 40:52

But I I will say that like Akatar didn't get me in the feels other than Mist and Fury. Yeah. Mist and Fury got me during the um like the official like mating of Reese and Fayra. Yeah. There uh like Reese's explanation of his past and Fayra making, you know, the food piece where they have to make a meal and give it to their mate in order to accept the mate bond and whatever. So yeah. I I do think that I was I was invested, um, but the only thing that

Final Thoughts And Sign-Off

Emma 41:35

made me emotional was Reese. Really in the whole series, I will say. Yeah. I did not get emotional in this book.

Amanda 41:43

I don't think I did. Not that I remember anyway. I just remember relating to her and understanding why she was being the way she was. Yeah. Right. And giving her that acceptance because nobody else really had.

Emma 41:59

So I could keep going, but we probably have talked about Faira enough for one day.

Amanda 42:07

Yeah. So Fayra darling.

Emma 42:10

And on that note, we're wrecked by fiction. Bye.