Latest / Fated / A Court of Splintered Harmony is Coming...RECAP of ACOTAR Part 1

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A Court of Splintered Harmony is Coming...RECAP of ACOTAR Part 1 · Fated

• Tay: Welcome to the podcast where your next favorite story is already written in the stars. April: Where your new book besties, April. Tay: And hey, here to get your book craving started and satisfied. April: Why? Tay: Because around here it's faded. April: So grab your current read, maybe a cozy drink, and hide your TBR list because today we are discussing the first three books in the Avatar series by SJM. Tay: And now I think it's the perfect time to tell y'all that this is a spoiler filled episode. April: Yeah, we do highly encourage you to read these books if you want to. If not, we're glad you're joining us for this spoiler-friendly episode. And feel free if you're not interested in Avatar, we never want to push something on somebody that you don't want to read or you don't support. So if you want to skip these next couple of episodes, we completely understand. But if you're with us, we're excited. Tay: Yes, and these episodes are to catch you up. and for current fans who have read the books, so you kind of just can get ready and prepared for the new book that comes out shortly. April: Yes. And other than that, if you haven't left, Tay: And we welcome you to the night court. Or whatever court you want to be a part of, but you know, we all have our favorites. April: That is right. For real. Well, first we're going spring court. I mean, truly, truly. That's our first court. Tay: Yes, truly. Truly. That is our favorite as of as of this book. And it was everybody's favorite, truly. Honestly. This book, spring court heavy. I was like, my gosh, flowers, roses, all the things. I mean, there's I mean, a spoiler there, and the fact that it's a court of thorns and roses. So I mean, like, heck, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: that screams springtime. April: Exactly. Yeah. So I have the OG covers because I actually started reading the series literally it was like I think release week for A Chord of Mist and Fury. And so all the OG covers I was able to get, thank God, because what people are paying for them now is insane. Tay: Yeah. Crazy. April: I will die with these books. I'm going to be buried with them. These are signed by SJM and personalized to me because she did a polycon one year and so I got them all signed. Literally gonna die with these books. So but those who get it get it. But, anyways, Tay: Yeah, yeah. Those are yours forever. April: in the first book, Tay: I get it. April: which to me, when I first picked this up, was sold as like a beauty and the beast retelling. Now This takes us back a while. Retellings were super, super popular years ago, around 2016, 2015, when these first came out. and Beauty and the Beast retelling was one that was being done heavily. I feel like she just like knocked it out of the park with this in a way that I didn't even almost really feel like it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Like there's some similarities, obviously, that are Tay: Yeah. April: super obvious in this book. But when it was portrayed to me as that, I was like, that's cute. And then I went into it and I was like, wait. That was more than I was expecting. Tay: the way she just I mean created this entire world and this entire fandom, truly incredible, but also, I think it's just part of the reason why you and I became friends. So I got a lot of love April: Mm-hmm. Tay: for SJM. we heavily bonded over that. it's so cool to see readers that are just now getting into the books because they're seeing it all over the darn place. We're having stuff which for us as a fan that have been a fan for like a hot minute. Seeing stuff in Target, seeing stuff in is like incredible. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: It's like I had to buy this off of Etsy from someone making it because this wasn't like something you could just like purchase. Same thing with my necklace. April: Purchase, yeah. Tay: I went and got it hand engraved. It has the mountains as well. So I'm like, there's just things that like prior fans are like, thank God. I had to go so niche in finding stuff. So it's nice to actually see April: Mm-hmm. Tay: it out there and her getting that moment because it is such a good series. and also too. moment in the back for April Shelf. Like it's a whole dedicated SJM love April: yeah. Tay: affair. but me and her April: There's quite a bit. Tay: just speak that same love language towards the series. we are introduced to Fera Archeron. So Fayra Archeron is a mortal. She's a human being. She has two other sisters. Who live in a house with their single father. You find out later that their mother had passed. and so the dad's a spice merchant. And so he does what he can for his daughters, but you kind of start to realize that like Fayr's really almost treated as an only child. she goes and fends and kills their meat and stuff so they can eat. you kind of sit there and you're like, you think, okay, he's the dad. He needs to be getting up and doing something about this because this is crazy. she's the youngest of the sisters. So April: Yeah, so and I feel it's important to point that out. Fayera's the youngest and she's also a teenager in this book. She's like eighteen years old or something like that. she is a child herself at the beginning of this book. Tay: 18 years old. Yeah, she should be enjoying enjoying like that first step into adulthood. And really she's acting like the eldest out of any of them, like responsibility April: Mm-hmm. Tay: through the roof. And so I think it was one too, because she really didn't get to have that deep connection or bond like with her mother, like her other sisters did. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: and she only has glimpses and memories of her mother. So really she's just like, Okay, well, mom died. We have to get grow up and do what we need to do. Meanwhile, everybody else is still kind of like grieving that loss. but that's where we kind of start our story. she's, you know, doing what she can for her family. she has like a little like farmhand boyfriend that we see for five seconds and then he leaves. but you know, she's living kind of a very ordinary life until one day. April: Yeah. Yeah. So sweet little Farah with her little farmhand boyfriend, who I did appreciate when I was reading this book, because obviously I read it as an adult. and she is not a virgin. She's not a virginal character. And I really appreciate that. That's something that we see ESJM do a few times actually with her characters, is they're not necessarily this pure, this wholesome, you know, white veiled bride character. So I really appreciate that about her, but Fayra, our girl, she goes out hunting for food for her family because they are starving. It's wintertime, they're hungry. She's the only one putting food, putting money on the table. And she goes out hunting thanks to a little mercenary who kind of like helps her along. And I kind of hope this is like me big braining, big plotting. I hope we get to see that mercenary again one day in the future when we talk about these books. That would just be a really cool just nod to the beginning of the story. But She goes out hunting and they have this thing called the wall. The wall divides the sort of like immortal realm of the fairies to the human lands. And so it's supposed to keep the fairies in the fairy realm and it's supposed to keep the humans in the human realm. But over the years, the wall has weakened. And there's places where you can kind of slip through. So Farah, she is out on the wall hunting and she comes across a wolf who happens to be hunting this deer that she was after. And she has this moment that is really human of her. She has this moment of knowing that there are legends that there are fairies who can take like other animal forms, but also needing to feed her family. And at the end of the day, needing to feed her family wins out. And so she takes the shot with her bow and arrow and Tay: Mm-hmm. April: that changes the whole course of everything that really sets off our stories, Vera the Huntress. Tay: And if and if you see kind of behind the scenes, y'all, if you're watching April: Yeah. Tay: on our YouTube, you can see the wolf being shot with the arrow. So that's very April: Yeah. Tay: much a nod to that specific scene. but I did love that where she has like a rationale of humanity of like, you know, April: Yeah. Tay: I need to do what I need to do to survive. and she chose herself, honestly. which is April: Mm. Tay: kind of a cool way of looking at it, but then That of course ends up having its own set of consequences because, like you said, it ends up being a April: Mm-hmm. Tay: Faye, who she takes the life of. April: Yeah. And of course, there's a price to pay for taking a life. I mean, there's a price to pay no matter what, but there's a price to pay. And this monstrous beast like bursts into their cottage and he's all angry and growling. He's like, You're coming with me. And what we don't know as the reader at that point in time, that the fairies are cursed. Their whole land is under this curse. Fahra has no idea herself. I really like that we're discovering it through Farah's eyes. And as people who also ourselves don't know anything that's happening in this world, I like that it's not spoon-fed to us in a way that like we didn't go into it knowing that this was something that was happening. Because humans know nothing about the fairy realm because the people who happen to make it over the wall don't typically come back. And so she gets taken into the fairy realm by who we meet as Tamlin. Tay: Yeah, Tamlin, aka No, just kidding. I'm not gonna give him his nickname. That's so mean. well, he's a mean person. April: We'll save that for later. Tay: He has his moments of like, hmm. but Tamlin is very much like this, I would say like tortured soul, you end up kind of finding out. He when he shifts back into his human form and he's all grouchy and telling her, like, how dare you kill this person, et cetera. He is wearing a mask and that is part of their curse. So everybody in this land is wearing what I think of is I think of just very like renaissance fair, just like very ornate masks April: Like masquerade, yeah. Tay: that they cannot remove. and so she learns that that is part of their curse from this woman named Amarantha who lives under April: Mm-hmm. Tay: the mountain. and that's one of the just the many areas within Prithian. So there's the spring court, dawn court, autumn court, night court. Day court. I'm gonna forget all of them. but we have all the seasons basically, and then we have our dawn April: Mm-hmm. Tay: and day and dusk court, I think. maybe. Maybe. April: T B D Tay: but yes, so she's like introduced to this world, kind of starting to see what's going on with the land. and I think it's cool April: Mm-hmm. Tay: too because she's like, Well, if I'm gonna live here, I might as well kind of embrace what's going on. So I think that's kind of where. People probably see the parallel of Belle where she's like in the castle and she's like getting used to all the characters there. She's like, Well, if I'm gonna be trapped with the beast, I might as well. but while she's there, she also starts to fall for Tamlin. And it's pretty easy too, because he does care for his people. and there's just like things around the court that she gets to witness that, you know, like lead her to these feelings and, you know, she starts to have that kind of bond with April: Yeah. Tay: Tamlin. April: And I think once again, like, cause there's people who how could she ever fall for him? Okay, but we're talking about a young girl who has only ever really experienced like a short fling. It wasn't even an emotional attachment. I think his name was Isaac, her farmhand kid that she was getting with. But like it was never an emotional relationship. She's never kind of allowed herself to be connected to others because others have hurt her. They've hurt her family. Her family was nobles, and when they fell out of money, when her dad's ships went down in like this storm or whatever, they all kind of abandon her. And so she's experienced nothing but abandonment in her life, like from her friends, from her family. Her two older sisters are absolutely worthless, in my opinion, especially in the first book. They Tay: Yeah. April: do nothing really for her. And her dad also kind of abandons her in a way. And so suddenly you have this person, this this bigger you know, kind of being who is like, I'm gonna take care of you. And that's that's what she really does kind of in that moment need is somebody to like take care of her to so that she can have time for herself. And so she falls in love, in my opinion, with the idea of being taken care of and just having a safe space. And Talman is that safe space at that point in time. Tay: Yes. And that is part of the curse and his curse is that he needs a human to fall in love with him. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: but it's you're right about kind of like her falling in love with the area and not really her has having said, like, I have fallen in love with you, Tamlin. So there's moments April: Mm-hmm. Tay: where, you know, I mean, and us as the like reader, we didn't really know how to how the curse was gonna be broken. But when you do rereads, you kind of sit there and you're like, Okay, like I see kind of like April: Mm-hmm. Tay: him in UN doing about like trying to not lead her there, but like getting her there in some ways. and you know, April: And Lucian especially, his best friend. Tay: yeah. And so use and Lucian, who I believe in our book coming up will have a bigger part. I'm excited to hear a little bit more about Lucian. but Lucian is kind of like I would think a sidekick character but he is best friend to Tamlin. and you realize that he's actually not from the Spring Court, he's from the Autumn Court. and he is now serving like time with the Spring Court, and you kind of like are well, why is he here? So they kind of leave that unanswered in the first book. So you just April: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Tay: kind of know him very surface level of just being like his best friend, and he'll do anything for Tamlin. So you know, anytime Tamlin gets into shenanigans. Lucian seems April: Yeah. Tay: to be there. Now we do have April: Yeah. Tay: a thing called Calamine Night, which is all April: Yeah. Tay: kind of very secret secret. And she's told like she can't attend as a human and all of that. And Tamlin makes like a very big deal about you need to stay put, do not leave this room. And our girl, who, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: you know, breadwinner of her family, she's like, I'm gonna go do what I. April: Yeah. Tay: wanna do. Yeah. April: And she feels this pull. There's like this thing that is pulling her to this this Kalamai fire night. And so she goes there. And it's it's very, I love the way it's written because you feel like you're there. You are in this space with them. You are with Fera. You are doing what you are told not to do. And you just feel very compelled to go. And of course she shows up. And there's these fairies there who immediately find her, immediately know that she is immortal. And humans are not well liked over the wall at this point in time, not very well accepted. And so they start like kind of coming at her. she's being threatened essentially. And then there's that like classic peak moment, probably one of the most popular moments in a Court of Thorns and Roses. that happens. And I have to say when I read this book, I remember reading this because it's such a visceral memory to me. When I was reading this book and this this scene happened, I was like, my God, what? What? And I was like, do I like this? I think I like this. Tay: Okay. See, yeah. And when I read it, I was, I would say I was air on oblivion. Like I literally was like, I I think I was more like cautious. I was feeling like Farah, April: Uh-huh. Tay: a little human, like I was like, mm, like I don't know how how we felt about that. I was trying to wrap my brain still around it. what April was leading to is that we get to meet Re-Sand. And Re-Sand ends April: Yeah. Tay: up being a very big character throughout these stories. But the moment she's talking to is do you want to say the line? April: Yes, he's like, There you are. I've been looking for you and we're all like dead deceased now. But at that time, like I said, we didn't know as readers. And Tay: Yeah. Yeah. April: I just think back to this because I went to one of her later book releases on tour when she used to do that around the US. And she was talking about how it was this awkward moment because like Court of Mist and Fury had just come out and she was like, Yeah, A reader came up to me with a Tamlin tattoo and she just wanted to be like, because, you know, at that point in time with just the release of book one, a lot of readers did not really pick up on that moment as being something that would become so huge to Farah and really set off a major chain of events that I think is even gonna go on to affect the later books in the series that are coming out. But her meeting Rhysand on that night, you know, it really changes everything. And it Tay: Yeah. April: it you don't even know it in that moment as a reader. So like I can totally get like reading it and not getting it. Me, I was like already into Shadow Daddy. So I was like, ooh, do I like this? Do I like it? Tay: Yeah. I was like, when I saw There You Are, I've Been Looking For You. I read it not in like the sultry whatever voice. Cause of course, y'all, I'm April: Uh-huh. Tay: reading these before even the audio book. So like I'm just reading April: Yeah. Tay: it on in my book. You can see my little notes and annotations. So like I'm sitting there and I read it as there you are, I've been looking for you. Like, like a bro trying to save this girl from getting her drink roofied. that's the vibe. I didn't go with April: Yeah. Tay: like, there you are, I've been looking for. I did not get the sexiness April: Yeah. Tay: from it until like reading it later after I've digested the series and then I do a reread, and then I'm like, boy, was that so stars are aligning? But like my brain first time reading it was like like she's just meeting this guy, he just saved her. He might be a bestie later, but like didn't even think that far ahead. So I was kind of like April: Yeah. That it would go that far ahead. Yeah. Tay: Above the above the threshold. So I hadn't gotten to Shadow Daddy level. April: Yeah. And I do want to say, because I feel like there's a lot of points in this book where when we talk about a court of Mist and Fury, I'll refer back to this. But a lot of people at this time thought like Tamlin is end game. He's such a good guy. He's such a good protector. But as somebody who read the first book, and I kind of like there were some things that I was like, that sounds kind of weird to me. But then reading it. Through a second time. And even I feel like every time I reread this series, which has been so many now because it's been out for so long, I feel like I pick up on new things where I'm like, that was actually super unhealthy. And his response Tay: Yeah. April: to her showing up at Kalamai is super unhealthy in a relationship, in my opinion. he really responds poorly to it. at the time you think it's kind of hot, but it's really not. Yeah, yeah. Like goes full on Faye on her. Tay: Yeah, he like full on bites her neck, right? Yeah. Like hard bites her neck. April: And She's yeah, it's like a punishment, like it's not done out of like love. Like, and Tay: Mm-hmm. April: so I think that that's where the first time you're reading it, you're like, because she does kind of get a little bit into it, you know, but reading it back, you're like, but wait, this is that's a problem. So I have to just point that out. But of course, this sets off a chain of events. We know there's Fera learns because. Drama happens. She gets sent back to the human world suddenly by Tamlin because the time for the curse is up, and it's time for him to go under the mountain and be with Amarantha, who is you find out been in love with Tamlin forever, essentially, in the way that I'm sure she thinks she can love. I don't know. But Faera comes back because she don't listen to no one tell her nothing, and she decides that she's going to rescue Tamlin and she I think in her head, knows it's going to be hard, but also thinks that she is just this this human girl with just these bare minimum huntress skills that she's self-taught is gonna be able to handle this fay curse. Tay: Yeah. And it is very heroic. I mean, she really comes in like, I'm I'm gonna save him. I'm gonna figure it out very much as I go, because she's like, I don't know what to expect. She does bring her ash arrows with her because she thinks, you know, hey, like it killed one Faye, it might kill another. So she has her cross or her bow and arrow with her, and really that's it. to go under this mountain. She ends up seeing all of the courts there, all of them being imprisoned by Amarantha. And of course And Mirantha's like, she's very much game to play. So he's like, okay, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: like you, you think you've like won or bested me, or you think you're in love with Tamlin, prove it. So she puts her on these like set of trials and basically imprisons her. And while she's April: Mm. Tay: imprisoned, she meets Resand again. and he ends up kind of helping her slash not in some ways. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: You're like, okay, he's giving her stuff, but then he's still like her. puppet, you know, so April: Yeah. Tay: she's not getting the vibe of and then two, very much like she treats Amarantha does like Reese is very much like a a slave, but of the sexual nature to Amarantha. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: and that becomes very apparent later and just how like sad and dark like his days were with her. But like picture her as Pharaoh April: Okay. Tay: seeing that she doesn't really know full picture and she's thinking he's like a party to it and thinking it's okay, but April: Mm-hmm. Tay: it's not, y'all. April: Yeah. She shows Tay: And April: up at the court, gets the snot beat out of her right away. And Tay: Yeah. April: one of the things about Farah that's really great and that comes on to save her multiple times in the series is even though Farah has like I said, major trauma in terms of abandonment, has had to kind of grow up faster than she should have to take care of her family and be the responsible one. She has a super kind heart. And that is something that is consistently pointed out is her kindness and her kind heart. And that actually ends up helping her several times while she's facing these trials under the mountain. There's three trials she's gotta face. And Amarantha is not playing fair, as lots of us probably know. and Fera is illiterate. And because she's illiterate, it's hard for her to immediately answer Amarantha's riddle. Cause her she's given like the choice of, you know, you can answer this riddle at any time. If you get the right answer, this is over with. If you get the wrong answer, it's over with, right? Or we can do these three trials. Tay: Mm-hmm. April: But even reading the riddle the first time I read it, I did not get the answer myself. And, Tay: Yeah. April: you know, especially someone who would be illiterate, understanding a riddle and being able to figure out the answer, a lot of people are like, How did she not get that? Y'all, this is pretty hard to figure out in my opinion. Especially if you are not somebody who's read. Tay: Yeah, it is. It is a hard one. And she honestly wouldn't she grew up poor and never April: Mm-hmm. Tay: had an opportunity to go to school or do those things. So but of course, you know, like you said, Amarantha just took advantage of it. and thank God though, April: All right. Tay: she did get help. the actual April: Mm-hmm. Tay: riddle. Where we find out that the word is love. Which reading that riddle, y'all, if you get there, you get there. I'm so glad and happy for you. Now you won't because you know what to expect. but I'm April: Yeah. Tay: telling you now, we did not get there the very first time. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: but another thing what didn't cross our minds is she has to kill this like massive, like mid-engard worm. and it's spelled with a Y also. It's W Y R but like the pictures of this thing is massively scary. But my brain and my 90s April: Okay. Tay: brain, what I grew up with is I grew up with the Alaskan bullworm from SpongeBob. And so I picture this worm, like like April: Yes. That's what we all pictured. Shh Tay: like him saying, like, ouch, after she stabs him. I'm picturing that. So I'm kind of like, but like what helps April: Yeah. Tay: me is fan art because there's some incredible artists out there. And when I looked up this worm on fan art, my God, it is terrifying. Razor sharp teeth, a million miles long, just very scary April: Yeah. Tay: looking. and so I'm like, okay, yeah, she conquered that, she's golden. So she ends up conquering the swarm, solving an impossible riddle, and then we're led to our third one, which I think our third one is really truly what like changes Farah completely from the person that she April: Yeah. Tay: was. And also too, it's like to me of her life changing. it's like a point of like. She will never be the person she was when she entered the spring court and she'll never be the person she was in the human world. because she's asked to kill three Faye is her very last challenge. and at that point in time we had known that she had already killed one when it was as a wolf, but she had never killed Faye where they were as Faye, and April: Mm-hmm. Tay: not in their like shape shifted selves. April: Yeah. And it's important to know at this point in time, Amarantha has not been playing fair with Fera. she's had the snob beaten out of her multiple times to the point that she develops like an infection. Her bone is broken, sticking out of her body. Sorry for those who are triggered by this. and she is dying because she's she's human still. And Rissan shows up who has been kind of helping her, or at least kind of In her way, he's been like tormenting her the whole time, but really truly we find out as a reader, he's really been helping her to the best of his abilities at that time to get through these trials to win this, to free them from this curse. And he makes this bargain with her. And Tay: Mm-hmm. April: it ends up as a tattoo on her arm. And that's why I love these OG covers because you can kind of see they did do the tattoo on her arm. And it goes down her whole arm because he is, you find out, the high lord of the night court. And their court is all about making deals and bargains, but also it shows up on your skin. And so she's going into these trials, you know, with his help and thank goodness, because it really it helps her get through the second trial. By the time we reach the third trial, and she's got to essentially kill these innocents. That's what it is. And that's definitely, I agree, where we see like the death. of mortal Fera and just the death of the innocence of Fera. where you know, you already thought she really wasn't as innocent of a character, but that kind heart is now something that is definitely being like challenged and provoked by Amarantha. And she does the deed. I mean, she's gotta do what she's got to do to break the curse. But she literally talks the whole time about it wanting to be her. Yeah. Tay: And also too, the Faye understand that too. They're like they're communicating with her. So the Faye can actually speak into Fayra's mind. and and to like even later on, you can I don't know, like I thought in some ways maybe that they hadn't because she technically wasn't Faye at this point. She's still human. Spoiler y'all, another thing later. but April: Unless like Resan's helping her, yeah. Tay: It's like, okay, like, you know, maybe it was her own body's way of coping with understanding April: Mm-hmm. Tay: their death is that to give them a voice to that. but they were communicating with her and they were telling her, like, it's okay, like this curse needs to be broken. because big picture, three die, but three hundred could die, if they're staying April: Mm-hmm. Tay: under this reign of Amarantha. So she did it what she needed to do, but it does how counter effects for Vera and our main character, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: she dies. April: Yeah. Yeah, it does. And Amarantha, we know, does not play fair. And when she sees that Faira's going to win, she retaliates. And at the end, you know, Faira does figure out the answer to the riddle. She figures out that love is the answer to this riddle. And so Amarantha's response is to kill her hopefully before the releasing of the curse, you know, the curse breaking takes place. and this I also think is a really important moment for people to notice just in like her relationships, her relationship with Tamlin, her relationship with Rhysand, her relationship with Lucian and all that who are there watching this happen to her. when this happens and Amarantha starts beating on her with her powers, Tamlin does nothing essentially. And you know he's a high lord at this point. You know he has a lot of power. You know that like some of it is under her control. But you also see other people trying to make a stand for her. You see Resand and there's like this moment where she describes him picking up this knife, right? To go and fight for her and defend her when nobody else really is. And then it's this moment where it's like and then her neck cracks and breaks and that's that's her human death there. Tay: In the voice that you hear through it is Resand yelling no, like that's the only April: Yeah. Tay: distinct, and you would think like Tamlin, this person who we loved, and literally like you know, rallied. Yeah, we've April: She has given up everything for him. Tay: rallied behind our main female character. We're like, Fayrah, go to the mountain, save Tamlin. April: Yeah. Tay: And then I'm sitting there like, Why are we hearing him yell no? this is so crazy. Like, why is he doing nothing? She literally just died April: Mm. Tay: for him. It was kind of like a little bit of a frustration for the reader because it's she loves him, but you're not like completely sold. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: You're like, Why would you do that? That's so weird. that was my April: Yeah. Tay: first cause I was in love with Tamlin. I was. I would had blinders on the entire book. I like, No, like he's still good. April: Mm-hmm. I like Tamlin too. Yeah. There was some points where I was like, that's kind weird. I was also reading it because we're in this young girl's head, right? Her first experience at love. We're in her head. We're like, this is love. she thinks it's love. I think it's love. which is probably a part of why she didn't get the riddle at first, is my like big overall theories because it wasn't real love. It wasn't true love. but she obviously she dies. She does get saved, brought back to life by all of the High Lords. Risan goes into their minds, we find out, and essentially orders them all to bring her back. And the way to bring her back is to give them a droplet of their powers. And so she is bestowed, you know, a droplet of every single High Lord's powers. And that brings her back into her, I guess you would say her her fay form, her high fay form. and she's kind of born again. And it kind of leads us to the end of the book there. like this big thing happens. She breaks these trials. You know, she's reborn again and everything is the same, but it's not. And it's not in a big way. Tay: Yeah. And we realize that like Fayra is now Faye. She is no longer human. And that's the way the April: Mm-hmm. Tay: book ends. It's like, okay, what's next? she's now waking up into this new life. I kind of like the that image of one of the last breaking down movies or whatever breaking down part one. Where like she wakes up and she's a vampire. It's kind of like April: Yeah. Tay: that's the ending it gave me of like she wakes up and she's a Faye and like April: and it was so good. And then she goes out and she meets Rissand, it's like this moment of them seeing each other and they're just sharing a couple of words and he's kind of just you know, reminding her, we've got this bargain still, it's still on your hand. And then it's his eyes locked on mine, wide and wild, and his nostrils flared. And then you see that he stumbles. this is a character who up until this point has been nothing but absolutely steadfast. Tay: Yeah. He's like suave. Yeah. April: And a bit of an asshole. Like we can Tay: Yeah. April: call it like we see it. He's been a bit of an asshole. And so you're like, wait, why is he? And then the book ends. it's like, okay, now she's going home with Tamlin, but something is wrong with Reese and what was that all about? And you don't know. I'm so glad that I picked up the series when the second book had just released, or I would be tormented. Tay: Yeah. I cannot imagine either. having read. So if you're out there, listener, and you're like, yeah, I was April: No. Tay: a member of that crew. I had to sit and wait on book two. I cannot imagine. That would have been that would April: no. Tay: have done me in. Because I would say popular opinion of most people, because this is to me, I don't think it's an unpopular opinion. Book two is a lot of people's favorites. yeah. Yeah. April: It's my favorite. Hands down the series. It's also seriously chunky compared to the first book. It's seriously chunky. Yeah. Tay: Thick. So thick. This is a lot of more world building. We find out so much in this book. And it's also two, it creates like your true love of Prithian. Like, I think I April: Mm-hmm. Tay: fell in love with Fayra as a character more than anything in the book, but I in the first book, but I I wasn't really sold on the courts because I was like, okay, like Tamlin really didn't do much. Like, I don't know like what led them to this. I didn't really have like high regards, but this book is where I fall in love genuinely with Prithian and everything that's there. And I'm like, who wouldn't want to live there? Who wouldn't want to live in the night court? of all things too. so this was really kind of a great book for that. And I can say probably for a lot of books that have a lot of world building, they're usually not my favorite, maybe, because it's like, very wordy, takes a lot, but this book really like just like she, Chef's Kiss gave to this, April: Yeah. Tay: whereas we fall in love just like Fayra falls in love with the Faye realm. and April: Mm hmm. Exactly. Tay: this book starts where the other book ends. I mean, she's going to live with Tamlin. Like she's like, April: That's like my favorite thing about her. Yeah. Tay: okay, we're living together, you know, I guess like this is where we're at. But like we said, our girls change. She's not the same person she April: Mm-hmm. Tay: was. She's having night terrors, night sweats. she's I mean, like honestly, like a PTSD form of like life that she's April: yeah. Tay: living where she's just like trapped in this like hell. and you April: Yeah. Tay: know, while everybody else is like, La Dita, I have no mask on, I'm so happy and free. April: Yeah. Tay: Our poor girl is like feeling like the most like down she's ever been. April: Yeah, she's just gone through this major traumatic experience. Bam, bam, bam, right in a row. She's killed three innocents, has literally sacrificed every single part of her for this love with Tamlin and for these people who aren't even her people. And you kind of see, like, I always like to think of Akatar itself, the first book, is definitely Ferah's breaking. This is her breaking story. And then The Court of Mist and Fury is her healing story. It's definitely a story that comes from a point of healing and needing to heal. She's definitely super trauma, PTSD, all of the things suffering with in the beginning of the book. And she's getting married to Gamelin. Tay: Yeah. And that I I can't imagine being suffering in all this. And then like your significant other's like, Yeah, we're gonna be planning this wedding and makes her do all these things. April: Yeah. We need to be together because that's Tamlin in the Springcourt's way of handling this big tragedy, this big trauma that has happened to them is masking. It's very much like, you know, we're just gonna put our heads in the sand, you know, it's gonna be okay. And if we keep telling you it's gonna be okay, then it's gonna be okay. But we're never gonna handle this big elephant that's in the room that you are not okay. yeah. Tay: Yeah. And then two, like he, I mean, Tamlin later on, we find out that like, he knows how powerful Faya is right now. Like knows how April: Mm-hmm. Tay: powerful. she has all these little droplets of power from, and I mean, like, maybe not the full scope of her power, but definitely knows she has a little bit of each one of these chords in her right now. So like April: Mm. Tay: versus building her up, he like I would say almost tears her down to like you're still like. April: Yeah, he minimizes her constantly. Mm-hmm. Tay: treats her like a human still, even though she is definitely not a human anymore. She is definitely full Faye at this point. And she's experiencing things as a full Fae. she has all these cool little powers now that she he should really be like teaching her and showing her and he's not doing any of that. He's just like wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding. And we meet Ianthe. Is that how we say it? April: Yeah, yeah, Yankee. And she's this priestess who is Tay: and she's yeah, and friend of Tamlin that like I don't know to me gives me the hop on his D kind of vibe. Yeah, like she's like all over April: Yeah. Not a good friend to Farah. Yeah. Tay: him, like, he's so great. I'm like, okay, chill. Like, do you want to marry April: Yeah. Tay: him? Like it feels like that. April: Yes, she does. Yeah, no, and so poor Fayra, you really see her suffering. she's getting sick at night and he's just still going about their relationship. Like everything is cool. I just to me, this is when I was like, Okay, this is and it's very evident. It's like right at the beginning of the book. You see, like she's getting sick, she is not doing well, she's losing weight, she's not sleeping. Meanwhile, he's like, you know, beside her, not giving a shit. I mean, we can call it like it is. He's not giving a shit. And it's like this person has given it all for you. And she's also in some retrospect just letting herself be treated this way too. she is also doing nothing to help herself either. and Tamlin, because he is this protector and he has this inner beast, and I don't I wanna say we are not Tamlin apologists here. We are not this is not his redemption in any way, shape, or form. He has not been redeemed in my eyes, even up until the books that I have read. But, you know Tay: No, if anything, if the books I read more, I like started to hate him more. Like to me, there was no April: Yeah. Tay: redeeming qualities there, period. Like it was like every book is like, April: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Tay: I like him, I love him, maybe. no, why is he acting that way? no, he's a horrible person. my god, ew. Like there's like this whole circle about of like ew. April: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And he essentially he locks her up. I mean, he literally locks her up in their house. Yeah. Tay: Yeah. He treats her like a prison. And two, there's a difference between ruling people and protecting him. And he's definitely a ruler of his land. He is not like a I help my people. He April: Yeah. He does not care about the people. Tay: that has the tilth where he like collects from people and yeah, April: tithe, yeah. Tay: tithe. Yeah. that gave her the ick from the get-go. It was like, ew, why does he treat his people like this? April: Mm. Yeah. Tay: when she starts questioning things, yeah, he starts to get ultimately defensive and he's like, well, you don't know what you're doing, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that leads us to this wedding that is a basically in essence a shit show. Like, I imagine her in this big, ugly ball gown, ready to walk down April: Yeah. Tay: the aisle to marry him and like her just being like like full panic, just like ran runaway bride. Like, I don't wanna like April: Yeah. Tay: and like, you know, I'm I April: Yeah. It Tay: I literally would had aches being there. I'm like, ew, somebody get her out of there, get her out of there. And then, you know, I'm sitting there going, like, this would be a great time to cash in. April: Right. And he does. Rheesan, you know, you find out later on that he kind of hears her. 'cause Tay: Mm-hmm. April: she's don't she's saying no in her head. Like she's literally about to Tay: Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. April: say no at this altar. at the sweating, and Rheesan shows up and it's like boom, here's this super hot shadow daddy guy who's just shown up, his hands are in his pockets, and he's here to just fucking annoy Tamlin. it was such a good moment as a reader, because at this point. You're only a few chapters in, honestly, and you are just upset. You're upset with her treatment. You're upset that this whole thing is happening to this character that you love. And you're like, okay, girl, we gotta get it together. You're wanting her to tell him no. And then Reese and shows up, but he's like, You're coming with me for this week. And so she goes and she meets his cousin Morgan there at the night court. He takes her to this palace of wind And we'll learn more about that later on. But during that week, essentially she does nothing still. She throws her shoe at him, which is an iconic scene and hits him in the back of the head, which is all funny. We all really liked that. But that was it. Like that's all you really see. And then you just see her, from there, really continue spiraling into this depression that she has. and then like I said, then Tamlin locks her up. He literally locks her up after attacking her, too. Like he'd attacked her as well with the glass shattering and shooting it towards her, and she ends up protecting herself and you find out she does have some of these powers and he's aware and he's not doing anything about it and then he, you know, is gonna go check the borders or something like that, because stuff is going on behind the scenes in this big overarching plot. And he shuts her in and she loses it. Tay: Yeah, I I think of Throne of Glass too in this moment. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: it's where our character and I yes, she broke in the first book, but this was truly rock bottom breaking, but two of her last April: Mm-hmm. Tay: like she was like, I've had enough. Like, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: and in Throne of Glass, our main female character, there's a part where she gets rescued and she has an iron mask on her face. And I just remember April: Mm-hmm. Tay: her being like, take it off, take it off, take it off, take it off. And I was reading that and I was in pain with her. I was just like, she just witnessed all these horrors. She was like trapped and feeling this way. And that was April: Mm-hmm. Tay: Farah is experiencing that same moment with that other character of like that, I just can't, I can't be in here, I can't be in here, I just can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: And then everything explodes. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: and One, her powers have just come full force out of her body. But April: Mm-hmm. Tay: two, Reese feels her from and he knows something is not right. I like he almost calls it. So Moore ends up showing up and rescues Ferah away from Tamlin, which April: Mm-hmm. Tay: I wanna know more about more. I really do. Like, I hope I get a POV from her April: Yeah. Tay: at some point of like her just like anything, because she is I mean, I would say like the equivalent of like a like a Best friend for life, homie, bro, all the things April: Mm-hmm. Tay: in one for Reese. She is like a ride or die. that's her cousin, and she's like, I April: For sure. Tay: would do anything for him. and it's her High Lord. So, you know, she but she that the difference between the High Lord of the Night Court versus Tamlin's court is his people respect him. Everybody respects Reese and they treat him as an April: Mm-hmm. Tay: equal and not like this like supreme leader, which Tamlin expects everybody to treat him like that Reese was like, go get my girl. Like, you are not gonna leave her there. April: Yeah. Tay: And so more rescues her. So it's so great too. Because like Fayra chooses to leave of her own. She's like, I am not, I do not want to be here. I don't want to be around you. I hate you. Like, it's like you trapped me, you imprisoned me, you yeah. Like, I don't want to be here. April: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And she hates herself like so bad. Yeah. And so she gets to go to the night court. And this is where Fera's healing really kind of sets off. There's a lot of things that happen. you really have to read this book. we can sum it up for you and tell you the big things that happen in it, but It's really a book about feeling that healing. I feel like especially for me, there's just so much that happens to Farah and you just got to you see her, you know, in the beginning when she goes to the night court, like she's been lied to about this court. Tamlin and everybody in the spring court has been selling these lies to her that they're terrible people, they hurt innocence, like, you know, you go to the night court, you're gonna die, sort of a deal. They're awful, awful, awful. And then you find out that it's all kind of like a a facade really that they've put on to protect their real true court and their real home Valaris, which is the city of Starlight. A lot of people will recognize. But Ferah goes and Reese, the first thing he does is he teaches her to read. Tay: Yeah. And our guy being the, you know, very funny person that April: Yeah. Tay: he is, he's teaching her to read, but he's also teaching her to write. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: And so he's like, write this line over and over again. So she's writing it. I was sitting there giggling, my God, when is it when is it gonna connect? That she knows what she's writing. And it says, Reese is the most handsome High Lord over and over again. April: Yeah. It's so funny. Tay: that it's putting it together. She's like, That son of a bitch. Like how dare you just April: It is so funny. Literally one of my favorite scenes I've ever read. It's so good. And, you know, for those of us who know, reading and writing go hand in hand. If you want to be a reader, you have to know how to write, you know, and vice versa. So I love that that's incorporated in that and I Tay: Yeah. April: love that we see it continue because then they start writing notes to each other. And it's Tay: Yeah, they do. April: a way of him to like tease her, but it gets It brings back life to Farah because she responds to that teasing. It's the only thing she really responds to. And because of that, you start to see her begin to heal. You start to see her, you know, sort of begin to interact with others and not just be this, you know, the light that has gone out on her. You start to see it kind of get rekindled again. And she meets his family, his inner court, his inner circle. Tay: Yeah. His inner circle. And that that that to me was like the found family we needed because as up until this April: Mm-hmm. Tay: time, we're like her family's a piece of shit. So you're like, we April: Yeah. Tay: need Farah to have happiness and be around people who bring that because Tamlin certainly didn't. Her family, her father, none of that. Like her sisters, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: where are they? we need her to find that. So this inner circle, man, like Getting introduced to the Bat Boys, which is Riesan, our main guide. Then we have April: Mm-hmm. Tay: Azreel, Shadow Daddy, and then we have Cassian. and that's our three main male guys that are kind of like in this inner circle. And then we have more. and then we also have Amaren that are a part April: Mm-hmm. Tay: of this inner circle that we get to lead. And then two, I think Farah needs that female kinship too, because she doesn't really have that as well in her April: Mm-hmm. Tay: life. So Her getting close with these other two girls. They're taking her out, doing these things, getting to know her. things that Farah hadn't done in years or hadn't got to enjoy. She gets to paint again. She starts painting and going to April: Mm-hmm. Tay: a little studio in Valaris. And like you start to see that impressionism come out. Now, there's a lot of discourse online about what Farah paints like, because there's just like some like glimpses of what she paints. I like to think of her as like a growing artist. Like she's learning what kind of textures and styles she likes. She's like, am I a charcoal person? No, I'm not a charcoal. Do I like chalk? No, April: Right. Tay: I don't like chalk. Ooh, I love oil paint. Like she's really kind of like just like, let me see what medium. Cause I've been in that, like where I like tried all these different things to see like what I liked and what I was good at. Because I don't think you can be good at all mediums. Ask any artist. I don't think there's one that's like, yes, I was a great sculptor and a painter April: Mm-hmm. Tay: and a thing and a this and a that. So I think that was all she needed was just to like dip her toe in everything. But people like to say she drew like stick art. Like shows her April: So funny. Tay: like drawing like a stick or something. And I'm like, I think our girl's just trying what she likes, but I do think she is a fantastic artist. Like my picture of my brain is she can make like beautiful artwork. And that ends up being like a parallel too of like as she gets happier, her art gets better. because April: Yeah. Tay: she's like discovering, you know, Valaris and falling in love with it and all of those things. she's getting happier as the book's progressing because she's April: Mm-hmm. Tay: doing these pains. She's doing things that make her like Fayra and not like the sh the person April: Well in Tay: that Tamlin was molding her into or trying to mold her into. April: Yeah, and Rhysan gives her a purpose. he tells her, We need you. be my ambassador for the humans. there is war brewing on the horizon. There's this big bad king of Hibern, you know, across the sea and he's coming. it's this war that's been going on for so long. And before Ferah ever even was like a twinkle in her parents' eyes, you know, it's it's this big overall arching plot really starts to come into play in book two. And it sets us up even all the way to the new books that are coming out. And you know, he gives Fayer a purpose, but he does more than just that. He starts to train her. So she's given friendships. She's given, you know, access to food and experiences and purpose and trains. She learns how to move in this new body because it doesn't move the same way that she did when she was immortal. you see her go through this healing process, but you do see glimpses of like, Hanging on to this relationship with Tamlin. you find out later on in the book, she's decided, like, I cannot go back because if I go back, I will die. Like, Tay: Yeah. April: I cannot survive in the spring court with who I am as a person, who I've become since this experience. And so she kind of sends him a note, like, hey, we're done, bro. I mean, essentially, you know, that's making light of it. But she does. She lets him know, like, Tay: Yeah, like I yeah. April: I am not coming back. Tay: I don't want to be a part of this. He takes it as like, she's still manipulated. I'm like, brother, no, like she April: Yeah. Tay: is like wants to be gone of you because she realizes that if I am with him, like, yeah. April: You're not good for her. Yeah. Tay: while you're figuring all this out, she's finally like killed it with Tamlin. Reese starts to open up and like I think her and him like kind of embrace each other's darkness. Because she April: Mm. Tay: starts to understand one why he was under the mountain and we learn about like all April: Mm-hmm. Tay: the stuff that Amarantha was making h this poor guy do. you April: Mm-hmm. Tay: ugly, nasty woman. and so you're April: Mm-hmm. Tay: like, first of all, poor guy. So then you're winning yourself over with Reese. he's not this big evil person that you April: Mm-hmm. Tay: know, everybody else is thinking that he is. really ultimately what he was doing to protect his people and okay, if she's focused on me, she's not gonna be focused on the people that I love most or where they are, Valaris, or any of this. So April: Mm. Tay: he was taking on the brunt of that and doing anything, you know, that she desired to him, whether it'd be hurting April: Yeah. Tay: him or doing just awful things, you know, either way, it was, you know, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: portion of that. So then, but she's also telling him about how she was feeling and all of these things. So like they're really kind of sharing in that darkness together. Which is, I think, where April: Mm-hmm. Tay: our characters really start to bond and everything, all walls kind of start to tumble away. and she's really like, Okay, maybe I maybe maybe I did know what love was. Like that's what she's starting April: Mm-hmm. Tay: to like. Maybe this is that. And it's not with what I had with Tamlin. And this is like really April: Mm-hmm. Tay: what is showing up, is because I'm getting to know this person. And it wasn't immediate. she had to work herself into this. And so her and him, I think, really start to like hone in on that relationship and they start to become friends, I think, before they even cross that line. April: Yeah. They're friends. Yeah. speaking of the darkness that's in them both, I've seen it sketched out so beautifully in fan art is you find out like she's having nightmares, but Reese and is two and they kind of help each other, you know, with that. And one of the more popular lines happens in the series speaking on their darkness is After she sent this note to Tamlin, they run into Lucian, who has come into the night court with some other Spring Court guards. And their goal is to take her back to Tamlin because Lucian's like, Tamlin has lost it. You know, he got your letter, he's lost it, and it becomes like this. You have to come back to help him, regardless of what it will do to you. It's kind of like one of those situations. And I kind of did lose some respect for Lucian at this point because I was like, you know, she's told you that she cannot go back. she recognizes that it's not a healthy place for her. And she tells Lucian, you spend so long looking at the darkness, you find that it begins to look back. And that's one of the most famous lines in this book series, I feel like, because a lot of people connected with that is seeing the darkness or the heavy things in another person and accepting it and also recognizing that in yourself. And wanting to just not put it under the rug. Like, how can I help you? How can I just be a support? being able to sit with somebody is a totally different experience than being like, okay, just, you know, pretend everything's sunshine and rainbows all the time. So I really appreciated that about this book. There were so many parts of this book. It is it is by far one of my most favorite books I've ever read. Tay: And there's so many niche categories. We probably won't hit all of them. So sorry y'all if we're not going into April: no, yeah. Tay: little things. We probably really won't talk about the surreal all that much. the serial is April: No. Tay: like I think of like this little, like just like Dementor looking guy floating around the forest, like telling secrets and stuff. but also yeah, April: And he's been helping her since book one. Tay: yeah, literally. And so I think it's kind of like we I mean, he is a big character, but like not in some ways, because it's April: It's so funny. Tay: It's such like a a piece of the story that all these pieces have to mold together for them to make sense. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: there's gonna be things we miss on here. So we just want to preface that to y'all because there's gonna be things that we just are skimming over. there's so much to talk about. But April: It's just a lot to talk about in an hour's time. Tay: ultimately what we want to get to the good stuff of you know, favor and Reese finally admit their feelings, but she learns, learns through the like, you know, elsewhere, not. April: Through the serial Tay: Yeah, through the surreal, April: Tico Tay: that re-sand is her her mate, her fated mate. and stay with the high lord. Yeah. Yeah, he didn't April: Yes. And when he was saying in book one, stay with the high lord, he did not mean Tamlin. Tay: mean Tamlin, he meant our guy Reeseand. So she is like kind of like like, did he know that? And she they're like, yeah, I mean he's like, you know, it's she's even more like, that's no, like. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: I get to choose just because somebody's like, you know, it's so she actually goes to the cabin. She's up there and she's like, Okay, like I'll just, you know, I'm gonna paint and just think about myself. So, but she starts rationaling all these things. She's like, why wouldn't I love him? Or why wouldn't and why wouldn't he April: Mm-hmm. Tay: tell me these things or this and this and that? Ultimately, our girl finally fully accepts. She's like, yeah, he's that's my guy. But she's not gonna say it outwardly. So she just kind of like, mm, like I'm gonna give off this put that like not that you can't win me over that easily. So he ends up showing up and he ends up spilling his guts from the get go. He tells a whole story of how this love started and not just an instant, like, you know, it. It was more of like he talks about how his draw to her on Calamine and talking to her and then realized that she was a human and thinking like why April: Mm-hmm. Tay: would I, you know, why would my mate be a human, you know, this and that. And then when April: Mm-hmm. Tay: her her neck broke, it basically broke him. And then he's like, so you're getting all this inward tea that you wanted. You wanted to know all his inner April: Mm-hmm. Tay: thoughts because you hadn't up to this point. You don't know anything about what Reese is thinking. And he just lays April: Mm. Tay: it all out on the table. And it's funny enough because she had made soup and so you'll see a lot of parallels with soup on pictures y'all have set things but it's because of the scene she's just like well April: Ha ha ha. Tay: let's have like let's eat this soup and have dinner it's just like like did she hear me? Did she like I April: Yeah, because like one of the one of the things to accept the mape on is you have to feed your mate and it's just soup. So it is really funny. But you kinda need that Tay: It is like her way. April: relief. Like it is very super plain and it's very human affair because she is, you know, human at heart. She has her human heart still and it has, you know, kind of healed in a way, not fully, but in a way has healed. enough to embrace this life and she accepts the Mapon and then we have the iconic chapter fifty-five that if you know anything about this series. Yeah. Fift yeah, you're like, there was fifty-five and fifty-six that went down. But it's so good. The payoff is worth it. Yeah. Tay: That leads into fifty six. Everybody kind of forgets about fifty-six. I'm like, homie, it went into two chapters. What do you mean? They both were involved. But it's like finally our crescendo too. because like we get hinted at it. There's a moment where they have like starfall, and they April: Mm-hmm. Tay: go and the stars fall, and she gets like little stuff on his her face, and he flicks it off and like April: So romantic. Tay: he kisses her and like. You know, it's very sweet, but it's like her just still like, ooh, like or not even like, you April: Yeah. Tay: know, And then this crescendo was like piece of resistance. April: Yeah. Tay: I was like, screw Starfall. I mean, I not not hating on Starfall, don't cover me. But like, you know, I'm sitting there like, This is the scene. I'm like feeding the soup and being covered in paint, say less. April: Yeah. That in the Court of Nightmare scene where she's like sitting on his lap and getting turned on is so hot. So like by this point in the book series, you are ready for some action. we have been teased Tay: You're ready. You are ready. April: enough. We it is time and you're glad because she's finally Yeah. Tay: Yeah. Because you know they're both head over heels for one another at this point. Almost as the reader, you're like, please just freaking get to the point because y'all like y'all are just y'all are just fighting this. Y'all are just fighting this April: Like just mooch. Yeah. Yeah. Tay: endless thing that's gonna happen. So whether you like it or not, so just accept it. And they do. April: Yeah. And of course they do and it sets off, you know, a whole load of fun times. But then it also sets off what goes on to be the rest of the book series. the big back king of Highburn, you find out, is kind of working with Tamlin in this book. So you think that Tamlin has betrayed, just like how she's dealing with thinking that she's betraying their relationship you know, she finds out that Tamlin has betrayed essentially what she thinks is the whole of Prithian by working with the King of Highburn to bring down the wall. and the King of Highburn, it it goes through a whole long storyline of them being betrayed by these mortal queens when they're looking for the the peace to help get to the cauldron to stop all of this from happening. But the King of Highburn attacks Valaris, which is their beloved city. And while all this is going on, they, you know, of course have to get back at the King of Highburn and they're trying to figure out, okay, how can we get ahead of this, you know, from becoming this major, major war in Prithian. and so they go to Hiburn and that really sets us up for book three, the events that happen there. And it's awful what happens to her sisters. Tay: Yeah. we yeah, so the I'm trying to like where there's there's so much to like that we don't know up until this April: Yeah. Tay: point because things have just been occurring still in the human world. And honestly, too, I would say things have been moving pretty similarly. They weren't really advancing on anything of Fair being gone. It was just like Fayra's gone. but April: Yeah. Tay: her dad, I would say got a little more initiative, was like, we need to find my daughter. April: Yeah, and Tamlin had like given her family money again, like from the first book. Tay: Yeah. And so Nesta was just like living her best life. Elaine is supposed to be getting married. And this guy is like a notorious like Faye hunter or something, or he's like April: Mm-hmm. Tay: he is his family is just like a piece of crap family, anyways. With like April: Mm. Tay: Farah is always very selfless, very selfless and very forgiving, very mature. She's just like, I love my sisters no matter what. they could have done everything to me and I will still fight for them. and so she's trying to help save them, et cetera. Well they end up getting stolen. and they go into this cauldron. And this cauldron and we learn all kinds of stuff. in Court of Mist and Fury about like the Book of Breathings. They steal it from the summer court. April: Yeah. Tay: We hear about the different pasts that we they share. You hear about like Reese's past, you end up finding out that his family was killed by Tamlin. April: Mm. By Tamlin's father, yeah. Tay: Ew. Yeah. And so like this is happening, you're discovering all of these things. but also not at the same time, because I think there's some more room for that area where we can learn about the past and how it grows. they end up dunking her sisters in this cauldron. and this cauldron is notorious for having made these objects the called the dr dead trove, that are very, very powerful objects. And I don't know necessarily what the objectivity was other than to like kill her sisters. but April: Mm. Tay: that's not what happened. And that's not what the Archeron sisters, because ultimately the Archeron sisters are pretty strong ladies. April: Yeah, they wanted to test it out. Tay: I'm gonna take power from the cauldron. Nesta herself. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: Steals that power. And we learn that when they emerge, because she basically I think set forth April: Elaine is forced in first. Tay: yeah. April: Elaine, the innocent fawn, like she's Tay: Yeah. April: the middle child, the, you know, epitome of a spring court person. And Tay: Yeah. Mm-hmm. April: the cauldron, you know, kind of loves her in a way and is like this beautiful being. And so it gives her, you don't really know what powers it's gifted her at this point. But then when Nesta goes in and she has the classic finger pointing. Because she is so pissed off at the King of Hibern for doing this to her sister, to Elaine, because Nesta doesn't really give a shit about Farah. And but she cares about Elaine. And she's so mad. And she does, she takes from the cauldron. And you don't really know what it is that she has taken. You just know that this this fiery being with fury in her heart has gone in and has stolen something from the cauldron. Tay: And when they come out, Where April: They've gone into the cauldron, they've come out. And then Tay: Jurian makes an entrance, we realize that he's not dead like we thought because his eyeball was on Amarantha, so we thought he's just gone. April: Yeah. Darian is alive. He comes out after as they're here dealing with this cauldron and the sisters going in and all that. And he is kind of hard to explain because he was human, but he's like not human. It's like, what are you? I don't really know. You were dead for a really long Tay: Evil. April: time. Kept on Amarantha's hand as your eyeball I don't really know his story. I imagine we'll be seeing more of him in the new books. At least I hope we'll be seeing more and learning more about him. But yeah, they they go in and they get changed. Yeah. An shit. Tay: Yeah. His his story makes that grand entrance though. And it kind of is like a like, what do you mean he's alive? Like that's the craziest thing. And then two, like, you don't know what side he's on either. He's like playing both fields. and he's April: Mm-hmm. Tay: really just like, Well, I'm loyal to nobody other than myself, which to me is kind of a dangerous person if you April: Yeah. Tay: don't really know like where their loyalties lie. It's like, well, okay, well, that kind of makes like an A Wall. So now I don't know. April: Yeah. Tay: I don't know what side you should be on or what side you are on, other than a self April: Yeah. Tay: advocate, which he seems to be very much that kind of a person. April: Exactly. And sweet Vera with her kind heart and her forever needing to self-sacrifice. Her and Rissan both suffer from this, sacrificing themselves no matter what for the people that they love, even though, you know, sometimes the people they love may not necessarily deserve it or even need it or want them to be self-sacrificing, but she does. They're here in this cauldron and they see, you know, the king kind of has them stumped, and the people that she loves are all there. you know that they're wounded, Cassian is wounded, Azriel is severely wounded, and you just know that things are not going well. And her sisters are there, Reesean is there. These are her they're her family. She loves Tay: Mm-hmm. April: them. And so when Tamlin shows up there, she fakes being under Re Sand's control because they know he is a mind control and she's like, Tay: he controlled me. Yeah. Yeah. And he April: Yeah, exactly. Like he's been controlling me this whole time. Tay: I mean, he hides her markings. He pretends the bargain is no more. He pretends that they're not mates. also she April: Mm-hmm. Tay: can one be ultimately a spy. So she can because they April: Yeah. Tay: are not gonna win this war if they continue on the route they're on. So now it's time April: Mm-hmm. Tay: to pivot. And the pivot is is that Fayra is gonna go undercover in the Spring Court to find out what she can. but by doing so she has to basically break off this thing with Reese and pretend it was never existent and all of these things. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: That way she can do what she needs to do and save that court. But you April: Yeah. Tay: kinda leave the book and you're like, Ew, I don't want her to go back. What do you mean? April: Yeah. I know it ends with literally it's kind of like the fox in the hen house thing. And you know, you want it. you want it. Like I Tay: Yeah. April: remember finishing a Court of Mist and Fury and being like, Farah, I want you to go in there and just mess everything up. Like I want you to get your revenge, girl. You feel it because, like I said, we're reading it from Fayra's point of view still at this point. And You know, you want her to have her revenge on them, which is not necessarily healthy. I understand that, but you feel that in this moment. You're there for it. And then it's like done. And you're like, okay, now what happens next? Tay: and that's where we're gonna leave y'all. we originally thought of April: Yes. Tay: doing books one through three, but we're realizing that there's so much to cover and we are not gonna be able to do this in April: Yeah. Tay: a full episode, but we will in the next one, and we will get y'all as fully prepared as we can. So you're ready by the twenty-seventh, and you can have a court of splintered harmony in your hand, and you can be like, This faded podcast prepared me so well, and we'll say, Yes, you're such a good girl. Now read that book. April: Yes. Now go read it for all the things that we missed. Cause there's so much. But Tay: So much. You need to read these books, y'all. April: that's right. Well, all right, besties. That's it for today's episode. Tay: Make sure to follow, download, and share our podcast socials with your other book besties. We would love to know about your favorite scenes from these books. Please leave a comment on your favorite platform letting us know. April: Awesome. And join us next week where we will start talking about books three, four, and five. Tay: And keep reaching out your hand. April: Climb the mountain. Tay: And remember, you are the rock against which the surf crashes. April: We're glad you're here because Tay: It's faded.