Feyre and her new monster friend/owner head out, and Feyre is quite maudlin about how dark and dismal the world is. Until they find a pure white horse waiting for them, and the fairy monster indicates she should mount up.

So…was this his plan the whole time? Why did he bring a horse? Is the horse magic and it just showed up when needed?

…does the giant horse-sized monster also ride on a horse?

he hadn’t specified in what manner, exactly, I would live. The Treaty forbade faeries from taking us as slaves, but—perhaps that excluded humans who’d murdered faeries.

Look, you might not use the word, but forcing someone to come live with you against their will and saying that they’re going to ‘take’ your life…I’m pretty sure we’re in the realm of “that’s just semantics” at this point.

Feyre spends the trip musing to herself so we can get more information about the High Fae and Prythia. Apparently the fairies rule not just the northern half of this island, but vast stretches of the rest of the world, as well. No word yet on why a few rebels over here were allowed to set up their own half-an-island territory. I mean, that’s the kind of shit you want to squash even if it’s not in your own country, lest your own human slaves get any ideas. So why did these kings and queens she briefly talks about not step in to help squash the uprising? Or why do they not invade now? Do they…not have their own subjugated human class?

No one had ever told me why humans chose to linger in our territory, when so little space had been granted to us and we remained in such close proximity to Prythian.

I’m beginning to wonder if anyone ever will.

Also, she says the other fairy empires/kingdoms are more or less in the ‘northern parts’ of the world, so…why? What stopped them from taking over everything, if they have such awe-inspiring power?

Feyre makes vague plans to escape/attack/do something when they stop for camp, but then she gets slammed with magic and falls asleep, only to wake up two days later when they reach the border of Prythia.

The estate sprawled across a rolling green land. I’d never seen anything like it; even our former manor couldn’t compare. It was veiled in roses and ivy, with patios and balconies and staircases sprouting from its alabaster sides. The grounds were encased by woods, but stretched so far that I could barely see the distant line of the forest. So much color, so much sunlight and movement and texture … I could hardly drink it in fast enough. To paint it would be useless, would never do it justice.

Okay, so I get that it’s hard to describe an indescribable scene. That’s rather the nature of them. But could you…try? Like even a little? This is so lazy.

For the record, I think stuff like this works best when you evoke emotions. Like, “I can’t even describe all the colors, but it makes me feel like sunshine and innocence and one of those trippy Klimt paintings on the inside.” If you can’t describe something, at least make your reaction to it evocative, not this soulless copout.

There are no other people, animals, or fairies in sight, but doors still open as her captor walks around.

So, the magic-to-do-servant-things is something that’s bothered me ever since I read Farla’s review of Beautiful Creatures, except there it’s even more relevant because of the setting. But, using magic to create signs of wealth that traditionally rely on human labor is a hugely cheap way of buying into the classist trappings of what’s considered ‘civilized’ while simultaneously ignoring all the bullshit that goes into that. Used to be you kept massive gardens and large houses that needed thousands of candles and never opened your own doors as a way of showing off you could make someone else do it. It’s a power status, specifically ‘power over others,’ and keeping the trappings of that while removing the ‘others’ is just a way to prop up a classist system while removing your own sense of guilt.

Again, Beautiful Creatures is much more relevant an example of this, because once you get into fairy tale territory there’s a lot more wiggle room with tropes/expectations and such. Still something to think about, and also I wanted to bring up her excellent commentary.

Feyre thinks about trying to escape, but she hasn’t had anything to eat for two days so that turns out to be a bad idea.

When I was steady enough to walk, I left the horse at the bottom of the stairs, taking the steps one at a time.

Wait, you were too dizzy to move from lack of food, but just waiting a minute suddenly makes you able to climb stairs? And then walk through this massive castle/manor/whatever?

The place is huge and opulent and gorgeous, of course, because what were you expecting.

but I’d never considered how they might live today, the elegance and wealth they might possess.

So, aprops of nothing, here’s a question I don’t see addressed very often when it comes to stories like this. Does it still count as wealth if everything is static?

I mean, the house only has to be paid for once, same for all the things in it. What if he just inherited it all? He’s got magic to open doors and possibly do things like cook and clean as well, so he doesn’t have to pay for servants. He doesn’t have to pay rent or utilities or normal bills. Maybe if there’s some government he’d have to pay taxes, but…is there really any economic movement going on here? Is this a display of his power and status, or of past power and status that an ancestor used to have? What if none of this stuff can be sold, because it’s all tied up in estatehood? What if the guy has this awesome house, but he can do literally nothing with it because he has no liquid assets? (A thing which totally happened – a lot – to historical nobles.)

I ask this because we see no evidence of Prythia doing any sort of trade or even interaction with the outside world, besides a few raids, which (despite Feryre’s claims to the contrary) actually indicate someone lower on a power axis. You don’t do sneak attacks on people weaker than you.

(I also have this question about the Malfoys. They’re called rich, but…where…is their money…??? Like, what does Lucius do???? Like, they don’t seem to be involved in and business. He does some Ministry stuff but…???? Maybe the Malfoys just have a cool old house that’s already paid off and no bills and one kid, so he pulls in the same amount that Arthur does but he can spend 100% of it on luxury items and pimp canes? RICH WIZARDS IN THE HARRY POTTER WORLD MAKE NO SENSE, THEIR SOCIETY CAN’T SUPPORT IT.)

(Sorry, I have feelz about ‘wealthy’ HP wizards.)

(And, heaven help me, pureblood ‘society.’)

(THERE’S NOT ENOUGH OF YOU FOR A STRATEFIED SOCIETY, YOUR AUTHOR DID NOT THINK THIS THROUGH.)

A long table—longer than any we’d ever possessed at our manor—filled most of the space. It was laden with food and wine—so much food, some of it wafting tendrils of steam, that my mouth watered.

So…magic? There’s no other option.

If you can magic up food, does it really still count as wealth?

That would be interesting, an economic system built on magical power instead of currency in a world where everything can be straight-up conjured. I’ve no idea how that would work, though, with no finite goods. Would anything even have trade value at that point? Are rubies worth anything when you can fart them out on command?

The beast sits down at the table and turns into a Hot Blond Dude, because even in a Beauty and the Beast retelling we can’t miss out on our hot boys. He’s wearing a mask covered in emerald designs.

Feyre refuses to eat, because of that old legend about if you eat fairy food you’ll be stuck there forever. I’m not sure how she expects to regain her strength before escaping if she also can’t eat, but whatever, brains are weird.

“Leave, if you want,” he added with a flash of teeth. “I’m not your jailer. The gates are open—you can live anywhere in Prythian.”

But…her living here is literally the whole point of the plot so far…??????

Another High Fae in a mask – a Hot Redheaded Dude this time – arrives. This is Lucien, and he’s furious over the fae that Feyre killed, because that guy was his friend. Blond Dude makes him be nice to her, because…????

*reason not found*

Then Blond Dude summons a fae servant to take her to her room and I’m???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Why the fuck is Feyre here? I’m so confused right now? What the hell is going on?

As Feyre is leaving the two dudes say some cryptic stuff about a mission and others that were doing something outside the wall and it sounds like they’re about to…IDK, rebel or something?

And as for the girl, she stays. Unharmed. End of discussion. Her life in that hovel was Hell enough.”

But the other three people you left behind in ‘hell,’ well, fuck those guys? Hello, protagonist centered morality.

Alis (the servant) takes her off to get her standard makeover and WHY IS SHE BEING TREATED SO WELL? Like, not thrown in a cell, okay, but to the point where three other fae are waiting on her? Give her a scrub brush and access to a bath and a closet-sized room as long as she’s the only one in it, she’ll think that’s heaven compared to what she just left. But no, nope, not good enough for our main character, she’s got to be a motherfucking princess.

(It made sense in Beauty and the Beast; he was awkwa-horribly trying to woo her. Here? WHAT IS GOING ON?)

Alis went on. “Some folk are bound to be upset about Andras. Yet if you ask me, Andras was a good sentinel, but he knew what he would face when he crossed the wall—knew he’d likely find trouble. And the others understand the terms of the Treaty, too—even if they might resent your presence here, thanks to the mercy of our master. So keep your head down, and none of them will bother you. Though Lucien—he could do with someone snapping at him, if you’ve the courage for it.”

Okay, but…..why????? is she being treated????? so well?????????????????????????? And most importantly why is she not curious about this fact. She keeps thinking about how she expected this place to be all death and chaos and such, and like she expects people to lolnope and kill her after all, but she has no thoughts in between ‘death’ and ‘pretty pretty princess’? She just sort of accepts that this is the natural alternative?

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