The whole main character falling in love with one guy in the first book then ditching him for another guy for the rest of the series is a Sarah J Maas thing.
people don’t talk about this enough! i noticed a pattern with sarah j mass where she seemingly ditches the original idea for the series and in the first book and by the second it suddenly seems like a completely different story. this is the main reason i don’t read her books anymore-i can deal with development and change, but it’s annoying without purpose.
don't forget the character assassination of the first guy just to make sure none of the readers want the main character back with him instead of the second guy
I genuinely believe she heard once that most epic fantasy series don't portray relationships in a modern way and she thought "Oh, I know. Break-ups". Because that's the one thing she does (besides having tattoed mates who happen to be exotic looking).
I honestly can’t tell if you’re being serious or not. But if you are, that’s not how love triangles work haha. But I’m pretty sure you’re joking, so if you are just ignore this 🙃
@@JustinPageSlayer That actually IS how love triangles are supposed to work. Completely serious. A true love triangle has love, of *some* sort, between each of the three people involved. That's the difference between a true love triangle and a rivalry, and why love triangles are more interesting than rivalries, because there's so much more to them than just, "one person in love with two other people who are competing for his/her affection." @lesmolbean is also correct, though... this story is actually one of the few instances where people call it a love triangle, and it actually IS, because Chaol and Dorian do actually love each other, as "brothers."
Katerine459 “While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two.” While it’s meant to be implied, it doesn’t *have* to exist. Also, that’s Wikipedia because couldn’t find a definitive definition and that’s very annoying. Also, brotherly love really shouldn’t count because that’s a totally different kind of love and is in no way romantic.
@@JustinPageSlayer Yes, it is annoying. But I remember the definition of a love triangle from my English class before Twilight got published and Meyer's insistence that there was a "love triangle" between Bella, Edward, and Jacob completely messed up everybody's definition of the term, so that true love triangles became much less prevalent, to the detriment of literature everywhere. Actually, the most common type of true love triangle DOES usually have brotherly love on one side, and romantic love on the other two sides. :) This is what lends the tension, with each person (that form the points on the triangle) not wanting to hurt the other two.
If you take out the love triangle, it’s a typical male centered fantasy too. Most male centered fantasies have a singular based love interest but still fall into that
What really bothered, despite being something smal that shoudn't bother me that much, is how her har is described as golden, but all the covers show her with a silver/white hair.
Idk the autor said something that the covers were black n white but idk it's pretty weird bc there are actually a lot of colors like blue red n golden but idk
Fun fact: this series began as a Cinderella retelling SJM wrote when she was like 16. I've read part of it and it's interesting what was changed and what wasn't. The original tournament was between all women, for example. Dorian and Celaena were also endgame in the original. I've read the series was originally going to be a trilogy and I believe the original work (titled Queen of Glass) encompassed what was originally planned for the trilogy. All this is a long-winded way of saying you can absolutely tell this series was originally written and created by a teenager and that SJM didn't do enough to edit and rewrite it as an adult.
Interesting because her other maim series, a court of thorns and roses, is a beauty and the beast retelling (for fhe first book) and I've heard its worse than the throbe of glass series
Ren Strange dorian and celaena as a ship made so much sense to me and I enjoyed the story and the action scenes thoroughly but I really disliked Aelin/Celaena throughout the books after book 3 and rowan just made her even more insufferable. I think she tried to do too much in the book? And her constantly putting Aelin in the spotlight wasn’t what annoyed me, the fact that the author made her so dynamic and multitalented to the point where a lot of the other characters basically became pointless to the plot? Like?? The other characters had a lot of potential for development, but it was spent revolving mainly around Aelin and that was quite disappointing. That being said, I really enjoyed reading the books (I’ve finished the series up until book 5) and it kept me on the edge of my seat. THAT being said, I would have enjoyed the trilogy idea way more, I think it would’ve made sure to filter out anything unnecessary.
@@EvilDickism on your opinion tho i gotta say that arguing with you would be childish af but srsly, no need to go all "eww" over someone liking something that you don't.
_She finds a copy of The Walking Dead_ was the moment in this video that I stopped thinking "this sounds like typical YA power fantasy love triangle trash" and started thinking "wait, WHAT?"
The one thing im gonna defend is that yes getting your period after a period of amenorrhea is VERY important. So it makes sense it'd get mentioned. I do a lot of sports and losing your period or getting it again gets mentioned just like someone getting a knee injury or a blood blister, it's NOT anywhere near the same category as, let's say, going to take a piss in the corner or tracking bowel movements. It completely changes your performance for multiple days. So I don't believe it was distasteful to mention it. I know it's an extremely minor point, just wanted to add my perspective from an athlete's POV. Also I keep thinking the kingdom is called Amway lmao
My thoughts exactly. It could be used for building tention, eg. she's about to fight some minor opponent but few hours before the fight - boom, period - and she isn't able to fight that day. Eg. "Berserk" utilised Casca's period in that way.
I mean sure, but it still read as Mor’s coming out in acowar: a way to gain feminist brownie points, and it could be used like that sure (Elide’s was, to some extent, and it made sense) but that was literally just: She got her period! And nothing.
I agree with the comments below that getting your period back is a huge deal. Not only does it mean that her body is healthy and well nourished again but also gives her disadvantage in the tournament. And I don't see why can't she be a skilled assasin and be girly and like dancing and fancy dresses at the same time. She has been trained to kill but she's still just a teenage girl
I feel like the problem with her being a assassin and also liking things that are traditionally seen as "girly" is that the book is failing to decide what it wants to do with the character, and without committing to a specific character type a character can feel generic and non-committal. It can be done well, but the problem was that it wasn't.
The issue with her being very “girly” while also being an assassin is that it doesn’t mesh well. She was trained most of her life to be a gritty assassin so she wouldn’t have time to dress up really. He forgets to mention that she’s also vain. Her interest in fashion isn’t just an interest. She OBSESSED with her looks. She constantly bitches about clothes and what other girls do and goes on and on about how pretty she is. It would make more sense is she was either a traditional female assassin (one who used her looks to lure in victims) or was just upset about not being able to be “girly” all her life. She was forced to be an assassin so her being upset about not being able to dress up and be “girly” would be understandable. But no. She had a boyfriend while being an assassin and constantly bitches about her looks and how hot she is. She’s unlikable, unrelatable character
I agree with the assassin's part. Years ago I read a short story where an assassin agrees to take out a band of bandits for a village that it on the path of the bandits. How does he take out a band of bandits that eradicates entire villages? He poison's their food. He knows they won't give their slaves their good food, so there is no risk about killing innocents. He was a little disappointed that he has to kill four bandits by himself. He hoped for two, because he wanted to get even with them. But yes, it would be nice to see an assassin doing it the assassin's way.
@@aileenzhao7951 Assassin by definition is as follows: a murderer of an important person by a surprise attack for political or religious reasons. So yes an assassin can use knives to kill people or even a canon if they want too but authors really do need to add other things than just the usual shanking.
afootineachworld Definitely agree, there’s also a lot of high praised traits projected onto Celaena that clogs the story. (EX: piano, reading, lavish dresses and stuff, fighting, knowledge in assassin-y things) Yes a lot of people have different traits and interests but for someone that was abused and raised purely to become a master assassin at 18, where??? Where did she find the time????
@@emilyvance3894 a high class education allows an assassin to fit in with the nobles, so reading & music, & dancing & sport & fighting all have interchangeable lessons to learn so it's of value, & then there's the fact that her adopted parent was a sicko who possibly & probably believed he was raising a love interest to cover which is repeatedly implied though never fully confirmed, it undermines the argument she was raised to only be an assassin anyway if so.
Broadbull, Enabler of Uncounted Combos your reasoning does make sense and explain why sarahjm added in those traits, but for me in a novel while i like diversity of a character and reality in their traits it does make her personality indistinguishable at times which may work for others but as a reader it makes me feel like i’m reading something that requires character not character analysis but... a deeper look and understanding of something that (for a ya fantasy series) should be relatively simple for the audience. don’t get me wrong i love a good book with depth but it seems that this series tries to accomplish too much and leaves a cloudy reminiscent of it in my head of an author that wants to breech deeper concepts but wants to stay in the target genre of ya. (side note: sorry if this is sloppy! also i appreciate your thoughtful counter, i still can’t help but feel a little self insert in there lol)
@@emilyvance3894 it has a Lot of flaws for sure, so even the bits that do objectively make sense seem to feel like 'that's the thing that's wrong' it seems from the comments and video to a lot of people, because the whole thing feels sort of 'off' when you read it.
@@douglasdea637 definitely give it a try, BBCs Merlin is actually one of my most favourite tv shows of all time, the characters are so loveable and people are still making successful Merlin videos on UA-cam despite the show ending a decade ago
@@gliscorpropagandaaccount1764 DM: It’s your turn, what do you do? Mary Sue: I hide then sneak attack the generic enemy with my rapier. *commence shocking nat20* DM: roll damage *commence near max damage* DM: okay they’re dead. *Rinse and repeat until encounter end*
@@mcBlueHiker oh that kind of stuff can be entertaining. There's a japanese YA novel called "Mahouka" where the protagonist is a beautiful OP sob and that's what 90% of the fans love about him.
The fist thing I thought of is why the hell was she not executed in prison for killing guards multiple times. It seems to me she would be executed by the other guards
Teenage girl who is a super badass assassin and also incredibly beautiful with golden-blue eyes? Sounds like a Mary Sue. *several minutes later* "She reveals that she's part Fae" -- oh come on, that's just too much. What's next, is she also going to be secretly a princess? *a few minutes after that* "He discovers she's the lost princess" -- dude, are you sure this isn't a satire?
I mean it all doesn't really feel that awkward together if you read how everything came to be in the first place🤷♀️ except her looks of course😂 but no offense to anyone (cause I'm hella ugly too) I just don't wanna be reading about an ugly person
@@jessicas4530 There is a big middle ground between "incredibly gorgeous" and "hella ugly" though, lol. Most of the human race lives there. Also don't call yourself ugly! I don't know what you look like, of course, but try to be kind to yourself. :-)
@@Dachusblot yeah, I get you🙃 but for me, I don't mind if they're described as "incredibly gorgeous" except when "they don't know it themselves" yk🙄 but luckily Celaena definitely knows she be pretty😂 and don't worry, I accept and love myself😁 I just don't care about my looks, but I'm also not gonna start lying to myself😂
I always wished that Celeana and Aelin had been two different people- they couldve had an interesting dynamic between the ruthless assasin and the queen who doesnt want many people to die. Couldve been far more interesting and wouldve allowed for less cliche reveals etc
Spoiler warning for later books in series for those who somehow still care: 8:00 “The first cover has her looking like some sort of drow elf, which she’s not...” Haha aha haaa Heh *cough*
lmaoooo. I read Queen of shadows and Empire of storms before going back to read starting from Throne of glass and... all those really obvious hints. Huh.
The thing that I think bothered me the most is how Chaol is the captain of the guard but has never killed anyone. I thought it was dumb. And I hated how anticlimactic everything felt.
Well if you read the later books (specifically tower of dawn) he explains why he didnt kill anyone up until the point where he ended cains life Which is basically because the king had a devil in him and couldnt risk people finding out so he used special people to do the killing and chaol was kind of the clean picture of a perfect kingdom in front of the Common peoples eyes
@@malakaneesmohsin4952 It is still stupid and not subtle at all. For a brutal dictator, (who rules through fear alone) it would make much more sense to have battle hardened scary people on display. Not pempared high born lads how only wear a sword as decoration. Granted let's say he he chose Chaol because he has a good reputation, he would have still been asked to do something brutal for the King just to gain the respect of the people he is commanding. ( who have to be full on psychos when they work for such a person).
Having a ring of gold around your pupil is one of the signs of Wilson’s disease, where your body builds up too much copper and you eventually die of organ failure if you leave it untreated. Anyways I’m simultaneously pretty sure I’ve read this book and also fairly certain I’ve never seen it before in my life
@@BooksandBuns Yeah it's far more likely to be that and probably based off the author's own eyes, like I don't think we have to nitpick a fine way to describe eye color and acting superior over it. It's fine to just say they think the description is awkward or pretentious
@@edenmckinley3472 my rings are green & my base colour is grey. It's a really common thing, which can make many people just that lil but happier when they see it represented in characters they love
You make a lot of fair points about the series but I don't agree with the period thing. You're reading from a female perspective and as a female myself, getting my period back after an extended time would be a big deal to me. So isn't it logical to mention this as it is probably a big deal to the main character as well?
For me throne of glass is one of those series where you know it’s bad but it was one of the first books you read when getting into fantasy and loved it because you were young so the characters mean something to you even tho you know the series is problematic and annoying and bad
SAME I'd have DNFed the first book but then I was like, "A realistic period representation? Huh. Maybe I should stick with it" and as the books got worse I just felt like it was a waste trying to continue :(
@Draw My Story Listen, guys being uncomfortable about periods will never not be cute. Not like, attractive cute, but cute like a baby being scared of a duckling
@@arrowace5907 As a fellow someone who also read, I disagree. The only problem was a minor one about periods that everyone in this comments section has blown completely out of proportion (dude's a male; of course we don't think periods are that big of a deal, because we've never experienced them). Other than that, he's actually being kind towards this series.
From a female perspective, YES. Having your period after a duration without it is quite honestly a huge relief. It was realistically presenting what would happen to a female who was forced to endure those conditions and then suddenly placed into far more luxurious ones. A female would likely lose their period and regain it. The fear deep rooted in many women when we miss a cycle is that we will suddenly become infertile. It also indicates our bodily hormones are “out of whack” and it feels nice to find regularity. The other side to it is, cramps on periods hurt so bad and females could be forced to lie down in bed, on a couch, etc for DAYS. Seeing representation of that pain was really great. A lot of people in the comments are saying it isn’t worth mentioning a period because you don’t mention urinating, but they are far different things. Both are bodily fluids, sure, but periods are something that females are forced to deal with monthly and it feels more important than peeing or pooping.
@@laurenc5306 Dude mentioned it for like 5 seconds (even said that it makes sense biologically) yet these comments make it sound like he was on the subject for 30+ minutes. Like goddamn.
Actually this series was only 3 books when the author wrote it. Then when it got picked up for publishing they changed the number. So the plotline got broken up weirdly and the details that showed the build up of caelana and other key characters got moved around a lot.
Yeah, sounds like the first book was publishing meddling for the sake of following trends and the intended story was later, but this is what the author needed to do to get published to tell her original story. This might be why it feels like a prologue.
Not particularly. When Sarah first wrote it it was a 4 part series and the ending is VERY similar to how Queen of Shadows ends, the difference being that Erawan is defeated rather than actually having been inside Perrington. Sarah was signed on for 3 books as most publishing companies won’t give you 7 books outright, but she had always planned for a 5+ book series and when book 2 sold way better than expected they gave her the deal for the rest of the books. She never intended to have to squeeze the series in 3 books but has stated on the chance she was only allowed to do a trilogy she really doesn’t know how she’d have fit it into only that. The main issue with the story comes in at the 5th book where the issue becomes we need this story to move to point Z from point A and to do so within the amount of time we have character work has to suffer. Books 2 4 and 6 are regarded as the strongest books in the series because of their fine balance of character and plot.
Alura Storm-Screamer it’s so bad that the first time I read the first chapter, I actually thought that it was a self-aware parody. It was so monumentally idiotic that I actually thought that there’s no way a human being could have written this seriously. Oh boy...
I agree with basically everything you said except for the part where you said it was unnecessary to bring up her period. I think it's good that this book mentioned that since it is a thing that everyday women have to go through and it was nice to see it in a fantasy setting. The only thing I didn't like about it in this book is that Celaena made such a big deal about it. Not only were there a bunch of paragraphs of her just complaining about her period, but it also contradicts what has been mentioned in the book before. The book goes on and on about how she is the deadliest assassin in all of Adarlan yet she can barely walk or talk when she gets her period. I think just a couple sentences mentioning that she got her period and that it was painful would have been enough.
I actually thought that that might be because she hadn‘t had it in so long, and her body was still fairly weak. But I do agree that mentioning it was reasonable, especially since it‘s a pretty strong symbol for her getting her original strength back little by little.
After you get amenorrea, when you get your period back its usually as if every menstrual pain, cramp and slight soreness that you could have had if you had been having your period normally just accumulates and comes at once, and taking into account that for you to have amenorrea your body would have to be in a dire situation of almost dying and is now beggining to recover it makes sense that it would be so bad. Also some women just naturally have extremely painful periods in which they can't even get out bed, so maybe that whole part about Celaena being in too much pain might be the most accurate and realistic part of the book.
Yeah, as a person whose periods legit and make me lightheaded and are debilitating, I disagree with that. You can be a certified badass and have really horrible periods, it’s not about pain tolerance or anything some people genuinely have murder periods
@@mcz_13 I don't think it's about pain tolerance, it's just hard to imagine someone in such a debilitating state 1/4 of every month would be able to do the things she does. Does she plan her missions around her period? Is she able to defend herself?
I'm pretty sure it's because Chaol was bumped up from a supporting character in the editing from the original trilogy she wrote in her teens. He never really got enough development, while Dorian just wants to fuck both of them.
@@emjenkins464 I would've loved if Chaol and Celaena were like best friends instead of intimate together, but deeper into the series I feel like it was necessary for her development🤷♀️
what i really love about your channel is you also review books that are geared towards girls. like, you don’t look down on them just because they aren’t your target audience. thank you!
11:28 yes - it was necessary. for a long time young girls thought having a period was bad. it used to be called “the curse”. this scene in the book represents that a period is a blessing since it’s a sign you’re healthy. it also makes Celaena more relatable to younger girls.
@@BushBumperBakerMaybe you’re not reading enough into it. I have PCOS and my period literally is fucked up. I was OVER THE MOON when I got diagnosed and got medication to regulate my period and took away my painful symptoms. So… if I’m a tortured girl in a fantasy world and finally get my period, I’m going to be happy and yell it. You’re either a girl who has had 0 health problems or a man. Either way…. Periods are pretty fucking important, as annoying as they are.
I didn't mind the series too much when I first read it. I found it to be pretty generic with some hype points. You want to know what's funny? in the last books even the side characters get fed up with the main one because of how much she keeps shafting them.
@@pjuega MC keeps coming up with plans and wont tell anyone and gets her self captured by the main antagonist and everyone's fed up cause she kept refusing to let anyone help her
When Celaena thought "the heir they're rallying around is an imposter", really activated the almonds on GEE, I WONDER WHO THE HEIR COULD BE. And then young readers who don't know any better think it's peak foreshadowing
I spent time in Israel a lot, and no one in daere is named nehemi-watever-it-is. I don't know what your thoughts were...(my stopit keyboard hed effect the wording of this message. I hope you can still read perts of it.)
Nehemia is not a very popular name nowadays, but there are still people who have it. A famous example is Nehemia Strestler, a journalist and television news anchor who focuses on economic matters. The name should be a bit more common within the more religious circles in Israel, which prefer more traditional names and are not as averse to longer names as the more secular culture of Israel.
One of the only things I liked about the book was that it talked about her period! That's a huge part of womanhood and people should get used to it🤷♀️
@@TheJulleful Sansa getting her period in ASOIAF was a horrible event to her because instead of stepping into womanhood it just showed that she could concieve for the horrible king and will be used further which was significant in the story. But I do agree that the only part I liked about ToG was the period mention for some reason because it SHOULD be normalized and sjm did what she had to do by mentioning it but that's it.
@@TheJullefulSarah j Maas has so many retcons, plot holes, plot armor etc you can’t even compare sansa period with this. she had to literally try and carve the blood out of her mattress so Cersei wouldn’t see it. Meanwhile here it’s just like “omg it made the Prince Charming YA copy paste love triangle interest *blush*” 😂💀 bad villains with constant low stakes and no chance of any main characters dying, only side characters dying to further the main characters story.
One of the few books I couldn't finish, one min she tells herself she could kill any one with a flic of an eyelid, the next she is gushing over his dark dangerous sad and emphatic eyes, Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually Throne of glass has 7 books. It's pretty tiring to me ngl. There's a lot of minor characters who have a boring part which for me, killed the whole book itself. Dorian and Chaol had a very interesting role in the series but that one character came and it ruined them.
side note but the period thing does matter actually. in both ways (pain and pregnancy) but like think of berserk & the part where casca got her period and passed out. that's a big deal
@@DanateDMC good point. Still, sometimes periods are worse than usual so maybe that was it. (Still the book is stupid so maybe it was just the author being dumb as well but id kinda like to hope there was some thought put into it lol)
@@sokkvabekkr5973 I mean, yeah I get it that periods are important, but if they aren't really used in any meaningful way and are just mentioned it feels more like a way to manipulate people into feeling either more invested in character for some arbitrary reason.
@@DanateDMC that's propably what was done in this book, tbh. But in general, I like it when periods are includes in fiction, especially in fantasy settings
「Danat 」 The 「Iron Revenant」 It was mentioned this time because it was painful and represented her getting better. The rest were not considered noteworthy enough to mention
I never even finished the series, it stole so much of my soul. Should have ended at the 4th book tbh. Also missed opportunity for the two main guys to get together, they set that up so much throughout and it would have been a nice twist in a fantasy ya book.
The period thing is important cause it’s a signal that Celaena is getting better. Generally when you don’t have your period is cause your health is really bad, you have an hormonal problem or you’re under a lot of stress, so for Celaena to have her period after a long time means a lot.
Cause they were under orders by the king to work her to death. Not a quick, mercy kill. Edit: plus, the king of assassins also probably used his influence to make her time their easier-as in not kill her.
@@iikittydr8503yeah but when goes all navy seals copy pasta and kills like 18 guards or some unbelievable bs then that realistically would become an excecution 💀
The point of her escape wasnt to get out though she wanted them to kill her. She says "I never intended to escape". We have completly different points of view but I really enjoyed this
I haven't even read those books. I just like to get inspired to do better in my writing. Also I really like your insights. I made myself a cup of tea, let's do this!
@@matthiasw8777 Das Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein im Thumbnail. Grad hier oben rechts im Benachrichtigunsfester, falls Du auf die Benachrichtigung geklickt hast.
@@matthiasw8777 Keine Ahnung, ob das jetzt trockener Humor von Dir war oder ob Du es total lustig fandest. Ich habe so reagiert, als wäre das erste der Fall.
The most hilarious part is that there was a pronunciation guide (yes, the names are that complicated), and either I read the guide wrong, or he did, because that's not how I thought they were pronounced.
Yes bringing the period up is necessary. It was one of my pet peeves with Hunger Games that we never got to see the MC dealing with periods and body hair...
The moment you mentioned the long lost princess and faes parts I just thought "hmm I wonder when we will learn about the main character actually being that princess?" "oh and I bet she is part fae." Because with books like these where a mary sue is the main character, the whole world is created in service of the protagonist. the world literally turns around him/her. and I understood that it would be that kind of book when I read about 20-50 pages and put it away in disgust. it reminded me too much of my own mary sues I used to write about when I was a teen. Im sorry if there is someone who is a fan but I just thought it wasnt worth my time.
While I mostly agree (although some of the issues get kinda resolved later), I have a point about the magical creatures. Until book three, the story only took place in Ardalan, where magic is banned and many people who once had it were executed. But now Celeana/Aelin is in Wendlyn, where magic still exists and the Fae kingdom is even kind of it's own place where there are more creatures than anywhere else on the continent. Also, there was a mention of 'the little folk' on Celaena's journey back from Endovier. So while it might seem strange to suddenly have more creatures, it's actually not that off
I don’t remember a single goddamn thing about the walking dead wtf, I guess I haven’t read the first books in a while but I feel like I’d remember the ridiculousness
When my boyfriends sister joined our campaign she actually made her first dnd character based of Selena (idk how her names supposed to be spelled)... She ditched the character after 2 sessions
@@A-Rather-Dubious-Character I mean, just from the fact that it mentions spells and was..you know..a _book_ and not a comic/graphic novel should've made it obvious It's a shame too, because "The Walking Dead" makes sense as a book title in that universe
Yeah his fixation on it confused me. I’m sure, out of universe, it was just an Easter egg. In universe, it’s just a book with the same name, not the actual franchise.
The sheer casualness with which you talked about "she found the Walking Dead" and "Mort the magical talking doorknob" absolutely blindsided me. I thought you had to be joking. What the fuck is this series
It’s so interesting watching this when you’ve read the entire series. So many questions raised in this video are actually resolved later on in the series.
@@iikittydr8503 No, not really tbh. It’s a bit of an undertaking with 8 books (and the last few are large enough to be as big as two or more of the first). It was enjoyable though, so unless you’re super into these types of fantasy books where the adventures start off small but boil down to a huge war by the end, I wouldn’t recommend. The author does have a tendency to write all male characters the same as well (I can’t remember if this was brought up in this video, I watched it a year ago lmao). Tbh I think if anyone was going to read it they should have done so as the books came out so it didn’t feel like so much of an undertaking, but I might just be thinking that because i ended up having to read all the books twice because I forgot what happened while waiting to get my hands on the next one. So really the books were good and entertaining, yes. At times I couldn’t put them down, yes. But there are s o m a n y o f t h e m. And you can probably get the same or a similar experience from reading an even better series that’s smaller. Idk tho. Sorry for massive answer.
I don't know in which of the books it was explained, but the guards were ordered not to kill her by Arobynn. That's how she got close to escaping and managed to kill guards. Her "escape attempt" was meant to be her attempt at suicide because she expected to be shot and killed on sight. (also Chaol is pronounced like the vegetable "kale")
Cause it was a stupid point to mention that it was unessacary when it actually shows that she was getting healthier. Besides it was one moment in the book, so he didn’t have to mention it at all.
@@Moony1568 It’s the equivalent of writing a pissing scene then saying it’s healthy and completely necessary because peeing shows you’re getting healthier. The general rule of writing is: “If it can be cut out and the same story gets told without it, you don’t need it.” If your story’s so tediously pointless that you have to write an unnecessary scene like that yet completely skip over something more relevant by lazily summarizing the tournament, then rethink whatever it is you’re writing.
The period comment is pretty important to her character journey because it shows that her body is healing and getting stronger after being starved for months (at least, idk the time frame she was in prison). Its a major thing and would land with its target audience
What kind of assassin fakes assassinations after murdering people in prison. Did she just grow a conscience like a tree grows flowers instead of apples?
I stuck through this stories besides not liking it from a critical standpoint. It was still entertaining for me as long as I ignored the flaws. But the last book was the worst especially if you're a Tolkien fan, she copies a lot. Sarah j mass isn't good at world building and establishing lore either imo. Very messy
I find it surprisingly great that I can come to this channel and genuinely enjoy watching videos tearing apart books that I also genuinely enjoy. I don't know how you do it. Good job!!
Celaena is an interesting spelling. I have a "you do you" attitude toward unusual name spellings, so while I personally don't like that spelling, I won't lose sleep over it. Also, Zoloft-Prozac solidarity gang waddup
I actually think it looks more fascinating written this way than it sounds when you speak it out loud. Then it's just Selena and I have to think of Underworld and/or Sailor Moon.
I personally loved these books just how I’ve loved all action/ fantasy books. I got into reading to help my depression and anxiety, the bigger the world building, plot and characters are the better. Gets me out of my own head. I think it’s just a matter of opinion and the kind of reader you are.
Robyn Morin Same I really enjoyed this series and her other one. Like everything, it’s not perfect. I love it tho because all the characters’ personalities are so fun. And the banter? Yesssss. It was wild. I’m really surprised tho at the huge amount of people who have strong distaste for the series. It’s so strange. The people who hate it act like it’s objectively the worst thing in the world. Maybe my brain’s broken but I can’t relate. 🤣
I agree with a lot of the points you are making, such as the first book feeling a bit like a prologue, but to be honest, I think you missed the mark with these books. While these books are definitely not the most well-written and perfectly structed books ever, they serve a very specific moral purpose, which I will admit is particularly aimed for a female audience, (which might explain why you overlooked it.) For example, you complain that the fact that Celaena loves luxury and nice dresses etc. clashes with the fact that she is a badass assassin. In my opinion, what you call a contradiction is actually the author making a point that femininity and strength/power/being a badass can coexist. I feel as though this addition to Celeanas character is there to say that being traditionally "girly" (liking nice clothes etc.) does not mean you cannot be a badass. Also, I disagree with what you said about Celaena's period being irrelevant. Reading this book as a woman, I felt as though a huge part of my life had finally been recognised. Of course Celaenas period returning is a big deal, because being on your period consumes so much of your life. I think this is far too frequently overlooked in literature. Personally, Heir of Fire was my favorite of the whole series. While as you say, very little actual events happen in this book, I feel as though it has a lot to say about mental health, self-discovery, personal development, the strength of women, overcoming your ego, etc. (I'm particularly talking about Celaenas storyline, however some of these are present in Manons storyline also). While maybe you consider these things to be boring, I find that the best books not only those that are perfectly written/paced with everything being very logical/realistic, but those that you can take something from, the books that teach you a life lesson, maybe not literally (I'm not planning on spending months training to control my insane magical power with a similarly powerful fae prince) but by giving a broad statement about self discovery that you can apply to your own life. I am very interested to see what you think about the next books. Although I don't agree with everything you said, it was a very entertaining review all the same. (Also, on the topic of the walking dead, I don't think (or at least I don't remember) the novel ever mentioning that it had any affiliation with the walking dead tv series, apart from having the same name. I think it is merely a coincidence and is not meant to be about zombies - its a book of wyrdmarks)
Honestly, it's the "badass" part that always rubs me the wrong way in books like this. Do girls and women out there really fantasize about easily beating guys twice their size? Especially through an avatar that looks like the prom queen of any given high school, with nothing in the way of muscle on her body?
@@yarpen26 yes lol, it can be so so easy to feel powerless as a woman when you're constantly told how easily a man could overpower you, taught ways to defend yourself etc - reading from a badass character like celaena's perspective is a form of escapism, especially when her contrasting "girly" qualities make her more relatable
The moment you mentioned that there is a missing heir, I knew where it was going, because the writer is cliche. Attractive, badass assassin, 2 attractive guys, can transform, princes. Mary Sue?
"Wouldn't it be cool if Assassins weren't just badass fighters but actualy were good at sneaking about and stuff?" Sorry.... Did you just ask the authors to.... get innovative and smart? How DARE you
This series was one of the first I read and completed. Boy I thought it was great and would defend it with tooth and nail. But now I'm more well read in fantasy, boy it's terrible. Has as much plot convenience and plot armour than Chamber of Secrets in every book. And her romances in every book she writes overpower the story. And she prioritises romance over plot, that the plot feels weak and the romances seem worthless, since they don't feel earned at all
This review reminded me of why I wanted to write books in the first place; because there is so much garbage out there :3 Thank you for throwing out the garbage, my dude. It was entertaining and kind of inspirational to watch. :33
i only realized the author was a woman when he put her face on the screen (i wasn't paying a lot of attention tbh lol) and i was genuinely surprised, cuz that description he read of the MC sounded like something taken from r/menwritingwomen
How to make the main character more interessting. 1. Shes in the prison, tried to escape once while she still had enough strength, failed got beaten and then left with even less food, when she meets Dorian (or whoever the fuck the prince is), he sees just the shadow of her former self. Her eyes still showed deviance in the pure emerald colored pupils. 2. she manages to win the first few trials through ingenuity and intelligence (since her body is still weak af), later on she gets stronger and she manages to keep up with the remaining competitors. 3. she falls in love with dorian because he helped her become who she was before, never judged her and was just generally supportive (though he only did so for his own gain until he himself also slowly starts liking her) Boom. Thats... thats how you write a badass character who naturally falls in love...
This series is honestly one of my favorites of all time. I’ve recently gotten into medieval-fantasy series and I’ve liked almost all of the ones I’ve read.
The whole main character falling in love with one guy in the first book then ditching him for another guy for the rest of the series is a Sarah J Maas thing.
What I loved about this series tho is later on she ditches both of them for another guy😂 (but liked it wayy more that way)
people don’t talk about this enough! i noticed a pattern with sarah j mass where she seemingly ditches the original idea for the series and in the first book and by the second it suddenly seems like a completely different story. this is the main reason i don’t read her books anymore-i can deal with development and change, but it’s annoying without purpose.
don't forget the character assassination of the first guy just to make sure none of the readers want the main character back with him instead of the second guy
@@aj_814 We all know who you’re talking about lmfao. And I still like that first guy.
I genuinely believe she heard once that most epic fantasy series don't portray relationships in a modern way and she thought "Oh, I know. Break-ups".
Because that's the one thing she does (besides having tattoed mates who happen to be exotic looking).
Its not a love triangle unless the prince and the captain of the guard also like each other, otherwise its a love bent line
But Dorian and Chaol *do* love each other, just in a different way. They’re pretty much brothers.
I honestly can’t tell if you’re being serious or not. But if you are, that’s not how love triangles work haha. But I’m pretty sure you’re joking, so if you are just ignore this 🙃
@@JustinPageSlayer That actually IS how love triangles are supposed to work. Completely serious. A true love triangle has love, of *some* sort, between each of the three people involved. That's the difference between a true love triangle and a rivalry, and why love triangles are more interesting than rivalries, because there's so much more to them than just, "one person in love with two other people who are competing for his/her affection."
@lesmolbean is also correct, though... this story is actually one of the few instances where people call it a love triangle, and it actually IS, because Chaol and Dorian do actually love each other, as "brothers."
Katerine459 “While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two.” While it’s meant to be implied, it doesn’t *have* to exist. Also, that’s Wikipedia because couldn’t find a definitive definition and that’s very annoying.
Also, brotherly love really shouldn’t count because that’s a totally different kind of love and is in no way romantic.
@@JustinPageSlayer Yes, it is annoying. But I remember the definition of a love triangle from my English class before Twilight got published and Meyer's insistence that there was a "love triangle" between Bella, Edward, and Jacob completely messed up everybody's definition of the term, so that true love triangles became much less prevalent, to the detriment of literature everywhere.
Actually, the most common type of true love triangle DOES usually have brotherly love on one side, and romantic love on the other two sides. :) This is what lends the tension, with each person (that form the points on the triangle) not wanting to hurt the other two.
Oh. Edgy, strong female protagonist involved in a love triangle in a YA fantasy is the heir to a lost throne? You don't say!
I'm starting to wonder if Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the only female character of a YA genre to escape this black hole of a trope.
As soon as he mentioned that the rebels believed the princess was alive I was like 😒 let me guess. It’s her isn’t it?
that sounds so clique
If you take out the love triangle, it’s a typical male centered fantasy too.
Most male centered fantasies have a singular based love interest but still fall into that
@@WTKB82 nah they got harems whachu mean
What really bothered, despite being something smal that shoudn't bother me that much, is how her har is described as golden, but all the covers show her with a silver/white hair.
Keep reading the series
All the covers are stylized like that
YES
Idk the autor said something that the covers were black n white but idk it's pretty weird bc there are actually a lot of colors like blue red n golden but idk
Cuz.... well spoilers
She fae, that has to be the only explanation for it
"She kills the demon. She could have died, but she didn't"
Have you ever sounded more disappointed?
Just a worse version of David vs Goliath.
Fun fact: this series began as a Cinderella retelling SJM wrote when she was like 16. I've read part of it and it's interesting what was changed and what wasn't. The original tournament was between all women, for example. Dorian and Celaena were also endgame in the original.
I've read the series was originally going to be a trilogy and I believe the original work (titled Queen of Glass) encompassed what was originally planned for the trilogy.
All this is a long-winded way of saying you can absolutely tell this series was originally written and created by a teenager and that SJM didn't do enough to edit and rewrite it as an adult.
Now the title make more sense.
Interesting because her other maim series, a court of thorns and roses, is a beauty and the beast retelling (for fhe first book) and I've heard its worse than the throbe of glass series
Kick high dragon Personally, I prefer the ACOTAR series, but take that with a grain of salt because now I don't really like either.
weird because the first book in her other trilogy, A Court of Thorns and Roses, is basically a fantasy retelling of the Beauty and the Beast
Ren Strange dorian and celaena as a ship made so much sense to me and I enjoyed the story and the action scenes thoroughly but I really disliked Aelin/Celaena throughout the books after book 3 and rowan just made her even more insufferable. I think she tried to do too much in the book? And her constantly putting Aelin in the spotlight wasn’t what annoyed me, the fact that the author made her so dynamic and multitalented to the point where a lot of the other characters basically became pointless to the plot? Like?? The other characters had a lot of potential for development, but it was spent revolving mainly around Aelin and that was quite disappointing. That being said, I really enjoyed reading the books (I’ve finished the series up until book 5) and it kept me on the edge of my seat. THAT being said, I would have enjoyed the trilogy idea way more, I think it would’ve made sure to filter out anything unnecessary.
Did I read most of the tog series and like it? yes. Am I still going to watch this hour long rant video and thoroughly enjoy it? also yes.
Ewww
Glad that you aren't shutting out different opinions on media! 😊
@@fairycat23
Who is shutting out anything ?
I can have an opinion on her opinion.
These books are bad
@@fairycat23 yeah I mean it wasn't my favorite or anything I don't mind listening to someone rip it up lol
@@EvilDickism on your opinion tho
i gotta say that arguing with you would be childish af but srsly, no need to go all "eww" over someone liking something that you don't.
_She finds a copy of The Walking Dead_ was the moment in this video that I stopped thinking "this sounds like typical YA power fantasy love triangle trash" and started thinking "wait, WHAT?"
The one thing im gonna defend is that yes getting your period after a period of amenorrhea is VERY important. So it makes sense it'd get mentioned. I do a lot of sports and losing your period or getting it again gets mentioned just like someone getting a knee injury or a blood blister, it's NOT anywhere near the same category as, let's say, going to take a piss in the corner or tracking bowel movements. It completely changes your performance for multiple days. So I don't believe it was distasteful to mention it.
I know it's an extremely minor point, just wanted to add my perspective from an athlete's POV.
Also I keep thinking the kingdom is called Amway lmao
I agree!!
Yeah girl, you're right!
My thoughts exactly. It could be used for building tention, eg. she's about to fight some minor opponent but few hours before the fight - boom, period - and she isn't able to fight that day. Eg. "Berserk" utilised Casca's period in that way.
I mean sure, but it still read as Mor’s coming out in acowar: a way to gain feminist brownie points, and it could be used like that sure (Elide’s was, to some extent, and it made sense) but that was literally just: She got her period! And nothing.
@@knittingsofi7521 women having periods isnt feminist rhetoric. Man the antifeminist movement is WEIRD.
I agree with the comments below that getting your period back is a huge deal. Not only does it mean that her body is healthy and well nourished again but also gives her disadvantage in the tournament. And I don't see why can't she be a skilled assasin and be girly and like dancing and fancy dresses at the same time. She has been trained to kill but she's still just a teenage girl
@@sethperron8204 found the incel
Same, i got my period back after my eating disorder and i cried bc it was such an accomplishment 💀
@@sethperron8204 what does that have to do with having a period lmfao
I feel like the problem with her being a assassin and also liking things that are traditionally seen as "girly" is that the book is failing to decide what it wants to do with the character, and without committing to a specific character type a character can feel generic and non-committal. It can be done well, but the problem was that it wasn't.
The issue with her being very “girly” while also being an assassin is that it doesn’t mesh well. She was trained most of her life to be a gritty assassin so she wouldn’t have time to dress up really. He forgets to mention that she’s also vain. Her interest in fashion isn’t just an interest. She OBSESSED with her looks. She constantly bitches about clothes and what other girls do and goes on and on about how pretty she is. It would make more sense is she was either a traditional female assassin (one who used her looks to lure in victims) or was just upset about not being able to be “girly” all her life. She was forced to be an assassin so her being upset about not being able to dress up and be “girly” would be understandable. But no. She had a boyfriend while being an assassin and constantly bitches about her looks and how hot she is. She’s unlikable, unrelatable character
I agree with the assassin's part. Years ago I read a short story where an assassin agrees to take out a band of bandits for a village that it on the path of the bandits. How does he take out a band of bandits that eradicates entire villages? He poison's their food. He knows they won't give their slaves their good food, so there is no risk about killing innocents. He was a little disappointed that he has to kill four bandits by himself. He hoped for two, because he wanted to get even with them.
But yes, it would be nice to see an assassin doing it the assassin's way.
Yea sounds good
Ye, assassin isn't a word for "person who kills people with knives"
Assassin's Creed had influence on this, I think
Robin hobb’s assassins apprentice is about an assassin who uses poison. It’s one of my favourite books of all time.
@@aileenzhao7951 Assassin by definition is as follows: a murderer of an important person by a surprise attack for political or religious reasons.
So yes an assassin can use knives to kill people or even a canon if they want too but authors really do need to add other things than just the usual shanking.
My favourite line from this: "Celaena is just as much Fey as I am Japanese. Which is to say not...... very much."
Knowing the rest of the series, this made me giggle.
Is Japan a place in this book series
@@manmoy4104 tf are you talking about?
@@PhileasLiebmann oh I thought ur original comment was quoting something from the book
@@manmoy4104 No, I was quoting from the video
Sarah J Maas certainly isn't fooling anyone with the resemblance between herself and her protagonist.
Is that a problem? Many famous writers proyect themselves on characters all the time and no one seems to care.
afootineachworld Definitely agree, there’s also a lot of high praised traits projected onto Celaena that clogs the story. (EX: piano, reading, lavish dresses and stuff, fighting, knowledge in assassin-y things) Yes a lot of people have different traits and interests but for someone that was abused and raised purely to become a master assassin at 18, where??? Where did she find the time????
@@emilyvance3894 a high class education allows an assassin to fit in with the nobles, so reading & music, & dancing & sport & fighting all have interchangeable lessons to learn so it's of value, & then there's the fact that her adopted parent was a sicko who possibly & probably believed he was raising a love interest to cover which is repeatedly implied though never fully confirmed, it undermines the argument she was raised to only be an assassin anyway if so.
Broadbull, Enabler of Uncounted Combos your reasoning does make sense and explain why sarahjm added in those traits, but for me in a novel while i like diversity of a character and reality in their traits it does make her personality indistinguishable at times which may work for others but as a reader it makes me feel like i’m reading something that requires character not character analysis but... a deeper look and understanding of something that (for a ya fantasy series) should be relatively simple for the audience. don’t get me wrong i love a good book with depth but it seems that this series tries to accomplish too much and leaves a cloudy reminiscent of it in my head of an author that wants to breech deeper concepts but wants to stay in the target genre of ya. (side note: sorry if this is sloppy! also i appreciate your thoughtful counter, i still can’t help but feel a little self insert in there lol)
@@emilyvance3894 it has a Lot of flaws for sure, so even the bits that do objectively make sense seem to feel like 'that's the thing that's wrong' it seems from the comments and video to a lot of people, because the whole thing feels sort of 'off' when you read it.
For a land where magic is gone, or suppressed, there seems to be an awful lot of people casting spells.
It's pretty obvious why in the follow-up books
Ever seen Merlin?
@@akatie888 Nope.
@@douglasdea637 clearly
@@douglasdea637 definitely give it a try, BBCs Merlin is actually one of my most favourite tv shows of all time, the characters are so loveable and people are still making successful Merlin videos on UA-cam despite the show ending a decade ago
So its like a fanfic of their D&D character that has weighted dice
Oh shit you’ve nailed why I love this book
It's not even a good fanfic
And they never do anything crazy with the good rolls
@@gliscorpropagandaaccount1764
DM: It’s your turn, what do you do?
Mary Sue: I hide then sneak attack the generic enemy with my rapier.
*commence shocking nat20*
DM: roll damage
*commence near max damage*
DM: okay they’re dead.
*Rinse and repeat until encounter end*
@@mcBlueHiker oh that kind of stuff can be entertaining. There's a japanese YA novel called "Mahouka" where the protagonist is a beautiful OP sob and that's what 90% of the fans love about him.
The fist thing I thought of is why the hell was she not executed in prison for killing guards multiple times. It seems to me she would be executed by the other guards
because death would have been an easy way out, however slavery and whippings would be a better punishment for her crimes?? idk
amelia Yeah, and actually she did that to be killed by the guards
Didn’t she say that the guards were afraid of her because she killed the guards?
The king wants her to suffer for as long as possible
She had to suffer for her crimes
Teenage girl who is a super badass assassin and also incredibly beautiful with golden-blue eyes? Sounds like a Mary Sue.
*several minutes later*
"She reveals that she's part Fae" -- oh come on, that's just too much. What's next, is she also going to be secretly a princess?
*a few minutes after that*
"He discovers she's the lost princess" -- dude, are you sure this isn't a satire?
I mean it all doesn't really feel that awkward together if you read how everything came to be in the first place🤷♀️ except her looks of course😂 but no offense to anyone (cause I'm hella ugly too) I just don't wanna be reading about an ugly person
@@jessicas4530 There is a big middle ground between "incredibly gorgeous" and "hella ugly" though, lol. Most of the human race lives there. Also don't call yourself ugly! I don't know what you look like, of course, but try to be kind to yourself. :-)
@@Dachusblot yeah, I get you🙃 but for me, I don't mind if they're described as "incredibly gorgeous" except when "they don't know it themselves" yk🙄 but luckily Celaena definitely knows she be pretty😂
and don't worry, I accept and love myself😁 I just don't care about my looks, but I'm also not gonna start lying to myself😂
@@jessicas4530 Enjoy your white feminism.
@@sentuisbattlepants1810 LOL
Wait a moment. This video is one hour long and it is only part one.
How bad is this series.
Pretty fuckin' bad, mate.
I've only read the first book...it's not great. Not great at all.
@@reganbrooks8339 so why does it have a 4. Something ?
DE꙰C꙰R꙰E꙰W꙰S꙰ opinions bro
It's actually not that bad. It's worse.
Your martyrdom won't be forgotten
Everyone love martyr but you know, their dead....
You should have called yourself Nycolas cage of nightmares
I always wished that Celeana and Aelin had been two different people- they couldve had an interesting dynamic between the ruthless assasin and the queen who doesnt want many people to die. Couldve been far more interesting and wouldve allowed for less cliche reveals etc
Imagine if she had two personalities due to trauma of her parents death and they would just switch
@@koshmareq aw nice I like that it would’ve been an interesting twist
@@koshmareq it could have been pulled off well but I'm almost glad that it wasn't involved as I don't think it would have been handled well at all
@@koshmareq idk.. im so tired of seeing DID used as a scapegoat in fiction
@@violenciarivas7797 Oh, where? I've never seen that before
Spoiler warning for later books in series for those who somehow still care:
8:00
“The first cover has her looking like some sort of drow elf, which she’s not...”
Haha aha haaa
Heh
*cough*
Right?!?! 🤣🤣
LOL 😂
lmaoooo. I read Queen of shadows and Empire of storms before going back to read starting from Throne of glass and... all those really obvious hints. Huh.
Lol 😂 😂
Fae.. its FAE FAE FMFJSBSNKAAK!!🤣🤣
*yells in Erawan*
The thing that I think bothered me the most is how Chaol is the captain of the guard but has never killed anyone. I thought it was dumb. And I hated how anticlimactic everything felt.
Well if you read the later books (specifically tower of dawn) he explains why he didnt kill anyone up until the point where he ended cains life
Which is basically because the king had a devil in him and couldnt risk people finding out so he used special people to do the killing and chaol was kind of the clean picture of a perfect kingdom in front of the Common peoples eyes
fr it makes Chaol look so dorky. you’re telling me he’s captain of the guard and he hasn’t lost his kill virginity yet????
@@malakaneesmohsin4952
It is still stupid and not subtle at all. For a brutal dictator, (who rules through fear alone) it would make much more sense to have battle hardened scary people on display.
Not pempared high born lads how only wear a sword as decoration. Granted let's say he he chose Chaol because he has a good reputation, he would have still been asked to do something brutal for the King just to gain the respect of the people he is commanding. ( who have to be full on psychos when they work for such a person).
Having a ring of gold around your pupil is one of the signs of Wilson’s disease, where your body builds up too much copper and you eventually die of organ failure if you leave it untreated. Anyways I’m simultaneously pretty sure I’ve read this book and also fairly certain I’ve never seen it before in my life
Oh my gosh😂😂😂😂😂😂😂the way you insulted celaena and sarah problematic maas
It could also just be centralised heterochromia, which is far more common than most people think
@@BooksandBuns Yeah it's far more likely to be that and probably based off the author's own eyes, like I don't think we have to nitpick a fine way to describe eye color and acting superior over it. It's fine to just say they think the description is awkward or pretentious
That's hilarious, because my mom and my sister both have an orange ring in the center of their eye, and they are perfectly healthy.
@@edenmckinley3472 my rings are green & my base colour is grey. It's a really common thing, which can make many people just that lil but happier when they see it represented in characters they love
You make a lot of fair points about the series but I don't agree with the period thing. You're reading from a female perspective and as a female myself, getting my period back after an extended time would be a big deal to me. So isn't it logical to mention this as it is probably a big deal to the main character as well?
Even as a guy i get that
anothrdude thank you
As a female, I can agree - getting your period after one hell of a hiatus is a BIG deal.
I agree. Also I like that she brings up periods at all since so many fantasy novels just ignore that women have periods.
ccbib yes indeed. Somehow they walk through desserts for weeks and nobody even mentions their period? I even find it funny.
So, she's an assassin, princess who turns into a fae when angered, kinda like Hulk.
You wouldn't like her just in general.
@@romulusnuma116 so she's a mary sue then?
@@Rifky809 I think Mary Sue must hijack someone else's story to qualify so now she's just Super(wo)man.
I can say it was the best series in an Alaskan mental hospital I went to
Bruh
@@ianhartman3877 the only appropriate response to a comment like this tbh
Fraydizs bruh
For YA writers: assassins are like the Faceless Men from GOT. Their techniques make them dreadful, not an edgy family background or brute force.
All YA writers should play some Dishonored before they go writing an assassin character 🤣
For me throne of glass is one of those series where you know it’s bad but it was one of the first books you read when getting into fantasy and loved it because you were young so the characters mean something to you even tho you know the series is problematic and annoying and bad
Good thing I started with witcher and mistborn
That's The Mortal Instruments for me 😂😂😭😭
That's Eragon for me.
That is after by Anna Todd for me
I was lucky for me it was Mistborn
The fact that she gets her period is honestly one of the only details I liked in this entire thing, and it's honestly so cute that it made him blush.
SAME
I'd have DNFed the first book but then I was like, "A realistic period representation? Huh. Maybe I should stick with it" and as the books got worse I just felt like it was a waste trying to continue :(
Cute?
@Draw My Story Listen, guys being uncomfortable about periods will never not be cute. Not like, attractive cute, but cute like a baby being scared of a duckling
it’s giving Mary sue self insert wish fulfillment fanfic bc irl he would be like 😳😳😳😳
Hour long honest and well thought out review about a book I'll never read? Sign me up!
Same!
for someone o actually read the book, it doesnt sound that very well thought
@@arrowace5907 As a fellow someone who also read, I disagree. The only problem was a minor one about periods that everyone in this comments section has blown completely out of proportion (dude's a male; of course we don't think periods are that big of a deal, because we've never experienced them). Other than that, he's actually being kind towards this series.
"a" book
This entire comment section is going OFF about the whole period thing lmaooo
From a female perspective, YES. Having your period after a duration without it is quite honestly a huge relief. It was realistically presenting what would happen to a female who was forced to endure those conditions and then suddenly placed into far more luxurious ones. A female would likely lose their period and regain it. The fear deep rooted in many women when we miss a cycle is that we will suddenly become infertile. It also indicates our bodily hormones are “out of whack” and it feels nice to find regularity. The other side to it is, cramps on periods hurt so bad and females could be forced to lie down in bed, on a couch, etc for DAYS. Seeing representation of that pain was really great. A lot of people in the comments are saying it isn’t worth mentioning a period because you don’t mention urinating, but they are far different things. Both are bodily fluids, sure, but periods are something that females are forced to deal with monthly and it feels more important than peeing or pooping.
As they should
@@laurenc5306 Dude mentioned it for like 5 seconds (even said that it makes sense biologically) yet these comments make it sound like he was on the subject for 30+ minutes. Like goddamn.
Yeah, I'm here to confirm, that the Walking Dead thing is not a random hallucination that just happened to me in the middle of the video.
"She meets a magical talking doorknob"
Oh hell yes, now we're getting somewhere
So this is Alice in Wonderland instead of Cinderella?
Actually this series was only 3 books when the author wrote it. Then when it got picked up for publishing they changed the number. So the plotline got broken up weirdly and the details that showed the build up of caelana and other key characters got moved around a lot.
The Stitcher Twin I didn’t know that! That makes sense
Yeah, sounds like the first book was publishing meddling for the sake of following trends and the intended story was later, but this is what the author needed to do to get published to tell her original story. This might be why it feels like a prologue.
The Stitcher Twin that actually makes a lot of sense since in the original series her and Dorian get married too lol
Not particularly. When Sarah first wrote it it was a 4 part series and the ending is VERY similar to how Queen of Shadows ends, the difference being that Erawan is defeated rather than actually having been inside Perrington. Sarah was signed on for 3 books as most publishing companies won’t give you 7 books outright, but she had always planned for a 5+ book series and when book 2 sold way better than expected they gave her the deal for the rest of the books. She never intended to have to squeeze the series in 3 books but has stated on the chance she was only allowed to do a trilogy she really doesn’t know how she’d have fit it into only that. The main issue with the story comes in at the 5th book where the issue becomes we need this story to move to point Z from point A and to do so within the amount of time we have character work has to suffer. Books 2 4 and 6 are regarded as the strongest books in the series because of their fine balance of character and plot.
The Darkest Reads That makes a lot of sense. Even if I never got through 6, I remember 2 and 4 always being my favorites.
"i don't know why because she's a human in this story" lol
Lmao ikr
It’s the main character in a grayscale lol
When I first picked up these books I thought she just had blue skin. Had no idea she was white until I read it lmao
@Cian McCabe Shes not an elf, she’s Fae and even as a fae she’s white lmao
Ahh... Yes. Human.
"Organizing stories can be hard, just ask Sarah J. Maas", bro what a roast holy shit
So the main character is an Assassin Hybrid Fairy Princess? Dude that's a Gacha trope!
need to be part of the Ranger class
Wait James are you suggesting that the obviously evil king is evil
He goes from "King who is Evil" to *"Raven Darkness Dementia Way, the King"*
@@firetarrasque4667 Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way** It's been engraved into my brain
Alura Storm-Screamer it’s so bad that the first time I read the first chapter, I actually thought that it was a self-aware parody. It was so monumentally idiotic that I actually thought that there’s no way a human being could have written this seriously. Oh boy...
I agree with basically everything you said except for the part where you said it was unnecessary to bring up her period. I think it's good that this book mentioned that since it is a thing that everyday women have to go through and it was nice to see it in a fantasy setting. The only thing I didn't like about it in this book is that Celaena made such a big deal about it. Not only were there a bunch of paragraphs of her just complaining about her period, but it also contradicts what has been mentioned in the book before. The book goes on and on about how she is the deadliest assassin in all of Adarlan yet she can barely walk or talk when she gets her period. I think just a couple sentences mentioning that she got her period and that it was painful would have been enough.
To be fair, some people do have periods that are that bad, but it was a little much
I actually thought that that might be because she hadn‘t had it in so long, and her body was still fairly weak. But I do agree that mentioning it was reasonable, especially since it‘s a pretty strong symbol for her getting her original strength back little by little.
After you get amenorrea, when you get your period back its usually as if every menstrual pain, cramp and slight soreness that you could have had if you had been having your period normally just accumulates and comes at once, and taking into account that for you to have amenorrea your body would have to be in a dire situation of almost dying and is now beggining to recover it makes sense that it would be so bad. Also some women just naturally have extremely painful periods in which they can't even get out bed, so maybe that whole part about Celaena being in too much pain might be the most accurate and realistic part of the book.
Yeah, as a person whose periods legit and make me lightheaded and are debilitating, I disagree with that. You can be a certified badass and have really horrible periods, it’s not about pain tolerance or anything some people genuinely have murder periods
@@mcz_13 I don't think it's about pain tolerance, it's just hard to imagine someone in such a debilitating state 1/4 of every month would be able to do the things she does. Does she plan her missions around her period? Is she able to defend herself?
I think this is the first time I’ve heard of a love triangle so bad you can’t even tell it’s a love triangle 😂
In some copies of the first book on the back there is a line that goes something like "two men love her"
I'm pretty sure it's because Chaol was bumped up from a supporting character in the editing from the original trilogy she wrote in her teens. He never really got enough development, while Dorian just wants to fuck both of them.
@@emjenkins464 I would've loved if Chaol and Celaena were like best friends instead of intimate together, but deeper into the series I feel like it was necessary for her development🤷♀️
what i really love about your channel is you also review books that are geared towards girls. like, you don’t look down on them just because they aren’t your target audience. thank you!
11:28 yes - it was necessary. for a long time young girls thought having a period was bad. it used to be called “the curse”. this scene in the book represents that a period is a blessing since it’s a sign you’re healthy. it also makes Celaena more relatable to younger girls.
You're reading too much into it.
@@BushBumperBakerMaybe you’re not reading enough into it.
I have PCOS and my period literally is fucked up. I was OVER THE MOON when I got diagnosed and got medication to regulate my period and took away my painful symptoms.
So… if I’m a tortured girl in a fantasy world and finally get my period, I’m going to be happy and yell it.
You’re either a girl who has had 0 health problems or a man. Either way…. Periods are pretty fucking important, as annoying as they are.
@@BushBumperBakerfor sure im like it’s notttt that serious it’s Sarah j maas
“A small child playing with Legos and a blowtorch.” 😂
Reminds me of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.
@@filipstellberg8280 *Prequel
@@anubhabghosh8706 Nope, sequels.
@@filipstellberg8280 Oh ok
Fun note of historical assassin's. They usually were peasants with clubs ambushing people on roads.
I didn't mind the series too much when I first read it. I found it to be pretty generic with some hype points. You want to know what's funny? in the last books even the side characters get fed up with the main one because of how much she keeps shafting them.
Really? Do tell me more...
I personally really enjoyed the series but that is so true lmao
@@pjuega MC keeps coming up with plans and wont tell anyone and gets her self captured by the main antagonist and everyone's fed up cause she kept refusing to let anyone help her
When Celaena thought "the heir they're rallying around is an imposter", really activated the almonds on GEE, I WONDER WHO THE HEIR COULD BE. And then young readers who don't know any better think it's peak foreshadowing
Reading bad books gives me confidence (I wanna be an author) and it teaches me what not to do in a book
I read bad books but not on purpose. If I read something it's because I think its cool. But if I get to a bad book its a learning experience.
Same here
Fun fact: Nehemia is a Male name. The name comes from Hebrew and means god encourages or gives comfort.
LostInNumbers wasn’t Nehima the name of Lirael’s sword in the Abhorsen books? Love those books!!!
I spent time in Israel a lot, and no one in daere is named nehemi-watever-it-is. I don't know what your thoughts were...(my stopit keyboard hed effect the wording of this message. I hope you can still read perts of it.)
Nehemiah is indeed a male hebrew name. The book or the Bible, Nehemiah is named as that because of the main character.
Nehemia is not a very popular name nowadays, but there are still people who have it. A famous example is Nehemia Strestler, a journalist and television news anchor who focuses on economic matters. The name should be a bit more common within the more religious circles in Israel, which prefer more traditional names and are not as averse to longer names as the more secular culture of Israel.
I’m so starved for actual representation from Sarah Maas that I’ll take this for trans headcanon material
One of the only things I liked about the book was that it talked about her period! That's a huge part of womanhood and people should get used to it🤷♀️
Also would you say that about Sansa getting her first period in A Game of Thrones?
@@TheJulleful Sansa getting her period in ASOIAF was a horrible event to her because instead of stepping into womanhood it just showed that she could concieve for the horrible king and will be used further which was significant in the story. But I do agree that the only part I liked about ToG was the period mention for some reason because it SHOULD be normalized and sjm did what she had to do by mentioning it but that's it.
@@TheJullefulSarah j Maas has so many retcons, plot holes, plot armor etc you can’t even compare sansa period with this. she had to literally try and carve the blood out of her mattress so Cersei wouldn’t see it. Meanwhile here it’s just like “omg it made the Prince Charming YA copy paste love triangle interest *blush*” 😂💀 bad villains with constant low stakes and no chance of any main characters dying, only side characters dying to further the main characters story.
Mom! James is having an existential crisis again!
Honestly I dont know why I forced myself to read the trilogy too. It was the manifestation of everything I hate in books released nowadays.
One of the few books I couldn't finish, one min she tells herself she could kill any one with a flic of an eyelid, the next she is gushing over his dark dangerous sad and emphatic eyes, Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually Throne of glass has 7 books. It's pretty tiring to me ngl. There's a lot of minor characters who have a boring part which for me, killed the whole book itself.
Dorian and Chaol had a very interesting role in the series but that one character came and it ruined them.
@@Ying13280 Which character came and ruined it?
@@alexandra1695 The extras... Sorscha, Manon, Lyssandra...
side note but the period thing does matter actually. in both ways (pain and pregnancy) but like think of berserk & the part where casca got her period and passed out. that's a big deal
Yeah, but if it was brought up once and for the rest of the book was just ignored for the rest of the book, then did it really matter?
@@DanateDMC good point. Still, sometimes periods are worse than usual so maybe that was it. (Still the book is stupid so maybe it was just the author being dumb as well but id kinda like to hope there was some thought put into it lol)
@@sokkvabekkr5973 I mean, yeah I get it that periods are important, but if they aren't really used in any meaningful way and are just mentioned it feels more like a way to manipulate people into feeling either more invested in character for some arbitrary reason.
@@DanateDMC that's propably what was done in this book, tbh. But in general, I like it when periods are includes in fiction, especially in fantasy settings
「Danat 」 The 「Iron Revenant」 It was mentioned this time because it was painful and represented her getting better. The rest were not considered noteworthy enough to mention
I never even finished the series, it stole so much of my soul. Should have ended at the 4th book tbh. Also missed opportunity for the two main guys to get together, they set that up so much throughout and it would have been a nice twist in a fantasy ya book.
KOA (the last book) left me crying for 4 hours but I loved it so much.
@@Spabibble for me it was kinda dragged out and disappointed
everyone always mispronounces Chaol's name, for future reference it is pronounced kale like the vegetable.
hehe there is a meme
I knew a guy named Kale once. Nice dude.
Idk it’s like with all her characters she finds names that legit fight you when speaking them
It isn't Kale, Its Kay-All
Its actually pronounced like: Kay-all. SJM gave her audiobook narrator pronunciations.
I have never read anything by Sarah J. Maas and I have a super important test in two days. Why did I just watch the entire video?
Good luck on your test!
@@fairycat23 Thank you! :)
You want to fail or waste your time.
Lol how’d the test go?
Same
The period thing is important cause it’s a signal that Celaena is getting better. Generally when you don’t have your period is cause your health is really bad, you have an hormonal problem or you’re under a lot of stress, so for Celaena to have her period after a long time means a lot.
James this entire video: "And that's fine, BUT..."
Yeah, the fact that they didn't execute an assassin instead of just putting them into a mine or even after she killed a bunch of guards is real dumb.
Cause they were under orders by the king to work her to death. Not a quick, mercy kill.
Edit: plus, the king of assassins also probably used his influence to make her time their easier-as in not kill her.
@@iikittydr8503yeah but when goes all navy seals copy pasta and kills like 18 guards or some unbelievable bs then that realistically would become an excecution 💀
I read those books I genuinely don’t recall the walking dead.
BerserkTheKid Crown of Midnight, Page 321. I had to look through my copy because I for the life of me couldn’t remember it either
Niether :')
@King Evans Damn...the shade
Wtf same, I was so confused when James mentioned it lmao
Looks like it really _was_ a prank. 🤣🤣😂
The point of her escape wasnt to get out though she wanted them to kill her. She says "I never intended to escape". We have completly different points of view but I really enjoyed this
I haven't even read those books. I just like to get inspired to do better in my writing. Also I really like your insights. I made myself a cup of tea, let's do this!
My mother language is German and your thumb nail cracked me up.
You made me check it. Well done!
Was ist so lustig
@@matthiasw8777 Das Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein im Thumbnail. Grad hier oben rechts im Benachrichtigunsfester, falls Du auf die Benachrichtigung geklickt hast.
Marie Lastname Achso, das ist sehr lustig
@@matthiasw8777 Keine Ahnung, ob das jetzt trockener Humor von Dir war oder ob Du es total lustig fandest. Ich habe so reagiert, als wäre das erste der Fall.
Oh my god! Finally someone talking about the god awful SJM self insert description of Celaena!!!!!!!! bless you!!!
Am I the only one who was hoping that Prince Dorian and Chaol would get together? They had more chemistry together then with Celaena.
Nope but Manon and Elide makes more since than either Elide and Lorcan/Dorian and Manon
they had more development than any of the other relationships
@@denji5426 nahh Rowan and Aelin definitely went through the biggest development together
@@jessicas4530 i didn't ending up reading those books
I agreed with pretty much everything you said about this, but honestly the period thing didn't strike me as wierd to mention.
The most hilarious part is that there was a pronunciation guide (yes, the names are that complicated), and either I read the guide wrong, or he did, because that's not how I thought they were pronounced.
Do you hear them?
*THE SJM STANS*
I can feel them coming
As a former and reformed stan, I cringe at the whole of YA tumblr these days. (No you do not want to date Lorcan/Kaz Brekker/etc)
@@emjenkins464 yeah they're definitely not the kind of people you'd want to date (especially Kaz) but they're still interesting charecters
Yes bringing the period up is necessary. It was one of my pet peeves with Hunger Games that we never got to see the MC dealing with periods and body hair...
The moment you mentioned the long lost princess and faes parts I just thought "hmm I wonder when we will learn about the main character actually being that princess?" "oh and I bet she is part fae." Because with books like these where a mary sue is the main character, the whole world is created in service of the protagonist. the world literally turns around him/her. and I understood that it would be that kind of book when I read about 20-50 pages and put it away in disgust. it reminded me too much of my own mary sues I used to write about when I was a teen. Im sorry if there is someone who is a fan but I just thought it wasnt worth my time.
almierae yes she’s a Mary Sue
Just wanted to say how much i like your videos. Had a pretty rough day, but when this video popped up, it really brightened my day.
While I mostly agree (although some of the issues get kinda resolved later), I have a point about the magical creatures. Until book three, the story only took place in Ardalan, where magic is banned and many people who once had it were executed. But now Celeana/Aelin is in Wendlyn, where magic still exists and the Fae kingdom is even kind of it's own place where there are more creatures than anywhere else on the continent.
Also, there was a mention of 'the little folk' on Celaena's journey back from Endovier.
So while it might seem strange to suddenly have more creatures, it's actually not that off
I don’t remember a single goddamn thing about the walking dead wtf, I guess I haven’t read the first books in a while but I feel like I’d remember the ridiculousness
I got the impression that it's just a book with an edgy name, I don't think it was ment to be a reference to the walking dead franchise...
@@ghoulmania7906 it's just such a recognisable IP it so distracting
I'm still not convinced you didn't make up the walking dead part to fuck with me specifically. I'm baffled lol
LMAO, I got a strong "girls have cooties" vibe from the period thing.
that says more about you lmao
@@mms2855 No. Actually it doesn't. Did you actually watch the video?
When my boyfriends sister joined our campaign she actually made her first dnd character based of Selena (idk how her names supposed to be spelled)... She ditched the character after 2 sessions
Celaena🙃
Bruh, in our first d&d game my ex made HER character Celaena too, and one of our others she made Frye from the Acotar series
I'm here for rants about books I will never read. Looking forward to part 2
...it wasn't the graphic novel "The Walking Dead"... just had the same name
Can you blame him?
I doubt the book went into detail to say-
"On no guys! It's not THE Walking Dead, just a shitty book name!"
@@A-Rather-Dubious-Character I mean, just from the fact that it mentions spells and was..you know..a _book_ and not a comic/graphic novel should've made it obvious
It's a shame too, because "The Walking Dead" makes sense as a book title in that universe
Yeah his fixation on it confused me. I’m sure, out of universe, it was just an Easter egg. In universe, it’s just a book with the same name, not the actual franchise.
The sheer casualness with which you talked about "she found the Walking Dead" and "Mort the magical talking doorknob" absolutely blindsided me. I thought you had to be joking. What the fuck is this series
It’s so interesting watching this when you’ve read the entire series. So many questions raised in this video are actually resolved later on in the series.
So would you recommend the series or not?
@@iikittydr8503 No, not really tbh. It’s a bit of an undertaking with 8 books (and the last few are large enough to be as big as two or more of the first). It was enjoyable though, so unless you’re super into these types of fantasy books where the adventures start off small but boil down to a huge war by the end, I wouldn’t recommend. The author does have a tendency to write all male characters the same as well (I can’t remember if this was brought up in this video, I watched it a year ago lmao). Tbh I think if anyone was going to read it they should have done so as the books came out so it didn’t feel like so much of an undertaking, but I might just be thinking that because i ended up having to read all the books twice because I forgot what happened while waiting to get my hands on the next one. So really the books were good and entertaining, yes. At times I couldn’t put them down, yes. But there are s o m a n y o f t h e m. And you can probably get the same or a similar experience from reading an even better series that’s smaller. Idk tho. Sorry for massive answer.
I don't know in which of the books it was explained, but the guards were ordered not to kill her by Arobynn. That's how she got close to escaping and managed to kill guards. Her "escape attempt" was meant to be her attempt at suicide because she expected to be shot and killed on sight. (also Chaol is pronounced like the vegetable "kale")
Dude talked about a period for like 4 seconds but these comments make it sound like he was on the subject for 30+ mins.
Ik,it's so ridiculous,lol.
Cause it was a stupid point to mention that it was unessacary when it actually shows that she was getting healthier. Besides it was one moment in the book, so he didn’t have to mention it at all.
@@Moony1568 It’s the equivalent of writing a pissing scene then saying it’s healthy and completely necessary because peeing shows you’re getting healthier. The general rule of writing is: “If it can be cut out and the same story gets told without it, you don’t need it.” If your story’s so tediously pointless that you have to write an unnecessary scene like that yet completely skip over something more relevant by lazily summarizing the tournament, then rethink whatever it is you’re writing.
The period comment is pretty important to her character journey because it shows that her body is healing and getting stronger after being starved for months (at least, idk the time frame she was in prison). Its a major thing and would land with its target audience
What kind of assassin fakes assassinations after murdering people in prison. Did she just grow a conscience like a tree grows flowers instead of apples?
I stuck through this stories besides not liking it from a critical standpoint. It was still entertaining for me as long as I ignored the flaws. But the last book was the worst especially if you're a Tolkien fan, she copies a lot. Sarah j mass isn't good at world building and establishing lore either imo. Very messy
So basically, the book equivalent of that trashy show you watch while drunk with friends?
@@wannabehistorian371 yea lol, you'll have fun not taking anything too seriously
I find it surprisingly great that I can come to this channel and genuinely enjoy watching videos tearing apart books that I also genuinely enjoy. I don't know how you do it. Good job!!
Celaena is an interesting spelling. I have a "you do you" attitude toward unusual name spellings, so while I personally don't like that spelling, I won't lose sleep over it.
Also, Zoloft-Prozac solidarity gang waddup
I actually think it looks more fascinating written this way than it sounds when you speak it out loud. Then it's just Selena and I have to think of Underworld and/or Sailor Moon.
@@johannageisel5390 Or 28 Days Later
"Do you want to find a cure and save the world or just fall in love and fuck?"
“While she’s casting spells from The Walking Dead,”
😭😭😭
I personally loved these books just how I’ve loved all action/ fantasy books. I got into reading to help my depression and anxiety, the bigger the world building, plot and characters are the better. Gets me out of my own head. I think it’s just a matter of opinion and the kind of reader you are.
Robyn Morin
Same I really enjoyed this series and her other one. Like everything, it’s not perfect. I love it tho because all the characters’ personalities are so fun. And the banter? Yesssss.
It was wild.
I’m really surprised tho at the huge amount of people who have strong distaste for the series. It’s so strange. The people who hate it act like it’s objectively the worst thing in the world. Maybe my brain’s broken but I can’t relate. 🤣
@@Schwa_ same😂 I'm actually also suprised cause it really wasn't a crap series at all😂
I agree with a lot of the points you are making, such as the first book feeling a bit like a prologue, but to be honest, I think you missed the mark with these books. While these books are definitely not the most well-written and perfectly structed books ever, they serve a very specific moral purpose, which I will admit is particularly aimed for a female audience, (which might explain why you overlooked it.)
For example, you complain that the fact that Celaena loves luxury and nice dresses etc. clashes with the fact that she is a badass assassin. In my opinion, what you call a contradiction is actually the author making a point that femininity and strength/power/being a badass can coexist. I feel as though this addition to Celeanas character is there to say that being traditionally "girly" (liking nice clothes etc.) does not mean you cannot be a badass.
Also, I disagree with what you said about Celaena's period being irrelevant. Reading this book as a woman, I felt as though a huge part of my life had finally been recognised. Of course Celaenas period returning is a big deal, because being on your period consumes so much of your life. I think this is far too frequently overlooked in literature.
Personally, Heir of Fire was my favorite of the whole series. While as you say, very little actual events happen in this book, I feel as though it has a lot to say about mental health, self-discovery, personal development, the strength of women, overcoming your ego, etc. (I'm particularly talking about Celaenas storyline, however some of these are present in Manons storyline also). While maybe you consider these things to be boring, I find that the best books not only those that are perfectly written/paced with everything being very logical/realistic, but those that you can take something from, the books that teach you a life lesson, maybe not literally (I'm not planning on spending months training to control my insane magical power with a similarly powerful fae prince) but by giving a broad statement about self discovery that you can apply to your own life.
I am very interested to see what you think about the next books. Although I don't agree with everything you said, it was a very entertaining review all the same.
(Also, on the topic of the walking dead, I don't think (or at least I don't remember) the novel ever mentioning that it had any affiliation with the walking dead tv series, apart from having the same name. I think it is merely a coincidence and is not meant to be about zombies - its a book of wyrdmarks)
Áine Reeves great comment
Honestly, it's the "badass" part that always rubs me the wrong way in books like this. Do girls and women out there really fantasize about easily beating guys twice their size? Especially through an avatar that looks like the prom queen of any given high school, with nothing in the way of muscle on her body?
@@yarpen26 yes lol, it can be so so easy to feel powerless as a woman when you're constantly told how easily a man could overpower you, taught ways to defend yourself etc - reading from a badass character like celaena's perspective is a form of escapism, especially when her contrasting "girly" qualities make her more relatable
@@yarpen26 Yeah, we all want to beat up a dude twice our size, is that not normal?
Really well written!
The moment you mentioned that there is a missing heir, I knew where it was going, because the writer is cliche. Attractive, badass assassin, 2 attractive guys, can transform, princes. Mary Sue?
Well I can add that she doesn't end up with either of those attractive guys😂
Thank you, James. You're sacrifice was unnecessary, but we appreciate it all the same.
"Wouldn't it be cool if Assassins weren't just badass fighters but actualy were good at sneaking about and stuff?"
Sorry.... Did you just ask the authors to.... get innovative and smart?
How DARE you
"And this other guy's the captain of the Royal Guards"
NYEH HEH HEH!
This series was one of the first I read and completed. Boy I thought it was great and would defend it with tooth and nail. But now I'm more well read in fantasy, boy it's terrible. Has as much plot convenience and plot armour than Chamber of Secrets in every book.
And her romances in every book she writes overpower the story. And she prioritises romance over plot, that the plot feels weak and the romances seem worthless, since they don't feel earned at all
This review reminded me of why I wanted to write books in the first place; because there is so much garbage out there :3
Thank you for throwing out the garbage, my dude. It was entertaining and kind of inspirational to watch. :33
Seriously same!!!
I watch James's videos for this exact reason. 😂😂
I love how the closed captioning called it "Thrown-up Glass" because that's exactly what it feels like 😂
i only realized the author was a woman when he put her face on the screen (i wasn't paying a lot of attention tbh lol) and i was genuinely surprised, cuz that description he read of the MC sounded like something taken from r/menwritingwomen
Tbh I've read almost as many books with badly written women by women as by men.
How to make the main character more interessting.
1. Shes in the prison, tried to escape once while she still had enough strength, failed got beaten and then left with even less food, when she meets Dorian (or whoever the fuck the prince is), he sees just the shadow of her former self. Her eyes still showed deviance in the pure emerald colored pupils.
2. she manages to win the first few trials through ingenuity and intelligence (since her body is still weak af), later on she gets stronger and she manages to keep up with the remaining competitors.
3. she falls in love with dorian because he helped her become who she was before, never judged her and was just generally supportive (though he only did so for his own gain until he himself also slowly starts liking her)
Boom. Thats... thats how you write a badass character who naturally falls in love...
This series is honestly one of my favorites of all time. I’ve recently gotten into medieval-fantasy series and I’ve liked almost all of the ones I’ve read.
All those one star goodreads review are TRUE
And funny
The walking dead plot point sounds like it reaches “so stupid that it’s genius” territory.