TW: rape

Feyre spends four days in her cell before a couple of shadow-y fea come by and shadow-ize her as well to take her out. They paint her body in swirly colors and give her a thin, revealing not-quite-a-dress to wear, while Feyre just mutely lets them. Because when she was starving, fevered, and in pain, that’s the time to protest, but when nameless bit characters are getting you ready for shippy times, well, we can’t interrupt that, can we?

Yeah, shippy times. Rhys comes by to say he’s busted her out so she can be his date to a party, and the paint is so he can be sure no one else touches her, Tamlin specifically. (Tamlin? He’s still in this book? Honestly, I keep forgetting he actually exists anymore.)

“And, Feyre,” he added, his voice a caressing murmur, “I don’t like my belongings tampered with.”

You are gross beyond words.

Rhys parades her around while everyone leers, then he…

…

………………………………….

Guys, why did you ask me to read this book? I just…

….

Rhys gets her to drink wine, even after her several protestations that she doesn’t want, she immediately blacks out and wakes up in her cell, and her paint has been smudged in a way to make it obvious that she’s been touched sexually.

Lucien is there, and he says she doesn’t remember it, but she spent most of the night dancing provocatively for Rhys and it was all done to “get a rise” out of Tamlin and…and then that’s it, they move on to another subject.

To be paraded around as a sexual object – explicitly owned, even – then having both your agency and memories taken, waking up in a different location sick from…

Just god, everything about the start of this scene reminds me so hard of stories I’ve read from rape survivors who were drugged before their assault. Every single marker is there, and the first hints of the same emotional reaction, and then everything is diverted for concern for FUCKING TAMLIN. I cannot imagine how utterly gut-wrenching it would be to read this scene if you’ve been through anything even remotely like that, and then have the emotional fallout be murdered for the sake of talking about some dude’s feelings. Just…to take something so clearly shorthand of a very present real-life problem and then…do that. And then move on from it like it’s nothing.

This book is gross. This book is sick and gross and rotten to the core. It’s not just that it’s predictive and trope-filled and poorly constructed. If it were a matter of those things and nothing else, I’d…still do these chapters, but I’d say “whatever, enjoy your fantasy fast-food, have fun however you like.” But shit like this? This is unforgivable. This is not tropey-goodness. This is not ‘just for fun.’ This is not ‘yeah it’s bad but it’s a guilty pleasure.’ This isn’t even using rape as a kink, which I have mixed feelings about but can at least be put in context. Ever since Rhysand showed up, this book has used red flags and rape-culture shorthand for no god damned reason and then gutted them to remove meaning or consequence. This is throwing in real problems that real readers face and then going “haha, it’s fine.” This is meta-level gaslighting.

This is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

I knew, at least, that I hadn’t been violated beyond touching my sides. The paint told me that much.

Oh AND THIS LINE.

As if touching genitals is the only thing that counts as a violation.

Set this line on fire and let it burn in hell.

It’s basically saying “look, his penis wasn’t involved, so how bad could it really be?”

Our culture is so super weird about penises that no one person can even parse all the ways it’s wrong, and a bunch of our weirdness around them is super contradictory, which just makes everything weirder. But a lot of it comes down to “penises are all important” and “they’re important in the way that benefits me most in whatever situation we’re talking about.” In the case of rape culture, that means that penises are THE MOST DAMAGING THING EVER (somehow) so if a penis wasn’t involved well then it just couldn’t have been that bad (or at the least, it could have been worse).

“You were treated as an object, had your consent and mind violated, lost your memories, have no control, and were publically humiliated and used, and also there’s nothing you can do about it going forward. But penises weren’t involved, so you can relax a fraction, because it’s not a real problem without a penis, dontchaknow!”

I hate that the book moves on from all this so fast and the only way to talk about the rest of the book’s bullshit is for me to do the same. I don’t want to move on from this, but god knows I can’t stay here forever, either.

Oh. Oh. After a brief argument about things that make no sense, we get the next scene which is…

A summary about how this exact same thing keeps happening to her.

I…just…

No emotional reaction from Feyre. She just…reports this to us.

And when I again entered that throne room, I was allowed only a glimpse of Tamlin before the drug of the wine took hold. But every time, every night, just for that one glance, I didn’t hide the love and pain that welled in my eyes when they met his.

This is the most we get, shipping angst. She’s being sexually violated (penises or not, because FUCK YOU, BOOK) repeatedly against her will every single night but the most emotional fallout we get from it is ABOUT A FUCKING BOY because this book is trash.

On the night before Feyre’s second task, their nightly sexual assault is interrupted by Amarantha asking Rhys to mindread and torture some fae who tried to escape. It’s an exceedingly long scene that, as far as I can tell, is just supposed to show that rapist-Rhys doesn’t like torture-killing people, even though he’ll still do it with just mild hesitation and sulking afterwards.

The second task comes, and suffice to say it’s stupid, has nothing to do with proving her love to Tamlin, and Rhysand helps her cheat through it so whatever.

Feyre then cries hot tears of everlasting angst because…she won through cheating?

?????????????????????????????????????????????????

Hon, Amarantha and all the fae do nothing but cheat; you get a little bit of help and it sends you into a spiral?

But being drugged insensate and puppeted around for sexual gratification doesn’t leave a blip?

Rhysand shows up, and there is yet more sexual assault, followed by “but your body said yes,” and FUCK THIS BOOK.

It took me a long while to realize that Rhysand, whether he knew it or not, had effectively kept me from shattering completely.

NO, REALLY, FUCK THIS BOOK.

NO, REALLY, FUCK THIS BOOK .

Because Rhysand has been doing the kind of shit that literally damages people’s psyche (especially combined with all the other SHITFEST going on her life) and they want to be like “oh, it was just to help her?” The book wants to throw in that line specifically?

No. Not just no, but ALL THE FUCKS WORTH OF NO.

You do not get to come in here and be all “I was just sexually assaulting you for your own mental health” like HOW DOES ANYONE WRITE THIS? HOW DOES ANYONE APPROVE THIS? HOW DOES ANYONE SIT THROUGH AN EDIT OF THIS AND NOT GET SICK? HOW DOES ANYONE PUBLISH THIS?

“I WAS JUST SEXUALLY ASSAULTING YOU FOR YOUR OWN MENTAL HEALTH.”

I HAVE NOTHING FOR MY SEETHING ANGER RIGHT NOW.