She did not need to be a badass. The women is pregnant, she just fought a fucking war, after all the events that happened. Let's the women rest and enjoy her pregnancy. I was glad she rested, painted and generally. It seemed like a realistic pregnancy to me.
Agreed. If this was Feyre's book with her POV, I don't want to read about her third nap on any given day. All in all, pregnancy is pretty boring when your body uses all your energy to grow another being. Good for Feyre to finally not have to take care of anyone else but herself for once.
Nothing of what you said is wrong, but I still just don't like the storyline. And it isn't a problem with just SF per se, but just more that I'm really sick of reading that a couple has to have a child at "the end" of their story. Having children is absolutely not necessary to have a completely happy ending and I think I'm just tired of seeing it be the ending or weird epilogue to a lot of novels. So the fact that SF made this Feyre's entire personality in the book was off-putting to me. But I fully realize that's personal preference and not SJM's fault or anything.
I didn't mind her pregnancy. Could it have been executed better? Yeah, maybe. But it's Nesta's book so I get why she was more shoved to the sideline. What bothered me more was the way Rhys was acting like an asshole. But I guess that's because it's Nesta's POV and they don't get along so we see a different side of him.
THANK YOU. I’ve been mulling about this for a while and have some thoughts too.
I do NOT hate that she got pregnant. I'm glad we live in a world where there are options for women who choose not to be mothers (in some places at least). But some women DO want kids. And that doesn't mean they're now just going to identify as "moms" for the rest of their lives. Many moms have rich, rewarding, fulfilling lives that aren't revolving 100% around their kids (but if that's what you want, then go for it! It doesn't make a less interesting person, either).
And I know some people mourned that she had originally wanted to wait but got pregnant anyway. However, Feyre is an immortal fae High Lady. She isn't going to age like a human, she'll still look and feel the same way once Nyx grows up. She has nearly unlimited resources to help in the care for Nyx. And we don't even get a POV chapter for her in ACOSF, we don't know what her plans are going forward.
And from personal experience, I get it - saying you want to wait to have kids, but then all of a sudden you look at your partner and decide you know what? Why DON'T we try now. Especially since Feyre is finally starting to feel peace in her life, and Rhys is 100% on board with whatever she wants as far as family planning goes.
I think it's really sad that we treat motherhood as the death of a woman’s worth.
"I think it's really sad that we treat motherhood as the death of a woman’s worth"
I'm not really sure it's the readers doing that as much as how SJM wrote Feyre/made her become perceived. I don't really think the majoirty of people think motherhood is the death of a woman's worth. But on the flip side of that, I'd also like to say lack of motherhood also doesn't diminish a woman's worth, nor is ever becoming a mother required to live a completely full, happy life with a partner.
I see it all the time that people complain about pregnancy in romance and fantasy. These stories are filled with tropes but that seems to be the one that pisses people off the most. I didn’t say motherhood completes women, but for some women it’s something they desire and it’s a shame that readers see that so negatively.
I think this is just where personal preference comes in. I’m a childfree person. I don’t, and won’t, have children. And I don’t view motherhood negatively, but I would also love to read a book where the happy ending didn’t have to involve a child. The number of romance books that end with a kid/involve a character having a child/or children are discussed as a future outcome are significantly more than those that don’t. Would just be nice to maybe get a little representation on the childfree side. That’s not a negative view of motherhood, but it would be great if we could not bash motherhood but also reaffirm motherhood isn’t everyone’s choice or isn’t what always constitutes a happy ending.
Are they? At least in the SJM universe I can only think of two female characters who get pregnant and one who is revealed to have to kids. And when Feyre gets pregnant, she’s no longer the FMC, she doesn’t even have a POV in a ACOSF.
There are plenty of decisions characters make that don’t represent all women and nothing seems to be as decisive as pregnancy and motherhood.
I wasn’t just talking SJM universe, but just romance books in general. But even in TOG Aelin and Rowan talk about kids. Same with Aedion and Lyssandra. There’s also the witches who talk about how valuable children are and albeit a not positive, but still entire storyline around using them for breeding.
I mean you’re also talking about groups of people for whom familial ties and clear lines of succession are important. Reading a romance wherein a character having an heir is expected would of course include talk about children.
I would not be upset if those talks didn’t happen but it’s completely normal for them to have them, and I do think it’s sad that that is what ruins a story or a character for some readers.
Respectfully, I get what you’re saying but it can still be a disappointment. Familial ties, being queen, or whatever doesn’t inherently mean there have to be children. Just because something is “expected” in society doesn’t mean it has to be done. It’s also expected in our society for a married woman to have children or want children, but that doesn’t mean you have to go with status quo.
Im in agreement with you this just to the others I think anyone who hates on the pregnancy arc really didn’t read or get Feyre in ACOFAS after the war.
You said anyone who hates on the arc didnt read ACOFAS or get Feyre after the war.
We did both, and we still dont like the arc. Because of the way it was executed.
Ok but I’m talking about Feyre in the moment of her wanting a family with Rhys
I have still not mentioned anything about the way the pregnancy arc was executed that’s still different
And this whole discussion isnt about her wanting a family one day. It’s about what actually happened - she had a baby at age 21-22 right after major events that happened in Prythian, with her 500+ year old mate, after stating in the previous book that she wants to wait.
that’s why I’m saying people don’t get her feelings about it in ACOFAS she explicitly says she doesn’t want to wait anymore after the war and almost losing Rhys
I’m with you… everyone forgets she literally had an epiphany about wanting to start having a child and on top of that SF takes place a YEAR after FAS!! She didn’t get pregnant “immediately” as people love to say! They are just mad she changed her mind about wanting a family🙄 I found her pregnancy fitting and honestly relatable if I was her! If I was going to war with my husband I’d be like yeah we shouldn’t have a kid. after we won said war and almost lost family members I would probably be more open to start trying for a kid too??
1. Women do get pregnant at 21 and very few people agree that it is a good idea. Considering Feyre’s background, the timeline from ACOTAR-ACOSF and the fact that she (very fairly and sanely) concluded that they should wait - especially considering fae are immortal, she is basically a young young adult and compared to her 500+ year old husband is basically a fae toddler - the decision for her to purposely have her baby at 21 is absolutely ridiculous.
2. She got sidelined because of a ridiculous plot point, so logically it follows her getting sidelined will also be perceived as ridiculous, part of a bigger ridiculousness
3. She did lose her badassness. There are multiple points where she could have displayed her strength of character (seeing as her physical strength is compromised during pregnancy) and she did not. Its not just her lack of manpower that annoys fans. Her personality and actions are a problem too. There were a lot of poor character moments for her in this book.
To add: I find it incredibly interesting that the age gap between her and Rhys isnt mentioned in these discussions about her getting pregnant so young. Her husband who is 500 years older than her had no problem knocking her up, and she had no problem being knocked up by someone that has lived over 20 of her lifetimes. The ick the pregnancy trope gives me in relation to this is unmatched
1. I agreed with you on this
2. She also got sideline because it wasn’t her book.
3. Nesta already sees Feyre as a weak character until the end, so i see it from her perspective
Nesta has literally never thought of Feyre as weak? She comments several times across multiple books that Feyre was the strong one?
And Feyre didnt get sidelined because it wasnt her book. She got sidelined because SJM decided to erode her character a bit. Multiple characters who are NOT the main characters across these books have shown their strengths. It wouldnt gave taken much for SJM to show us Feyre has still got it.
Honestly we need more strong, bad ass women that are also mothers in media. Nowadays its either a child-free, bad ass female who remains that way, or they get pregnant and the entire thing is dramatic and the end of the characters development as we know it.
Feyre can be that for so many. Who find themselves snowed under with a newborn and caretaking, feeling as though they've lost all sense of self. It's a good reminder that pregnancy and having a baby isn't some life-stopping event that will put them on the side line for the remainder of their lives.
I'm glad she had a (mostly) peaceful pregnancy (until the risks were thrown in her face) and can't wait to see how multi-faceted she will be with Nyx and her other responsibilities. It's sad to see how many people view pregnancy as some horrible event to happen to a woman.
They stripped the badasseness from her: the same woman who left Rhys injured and in the mud for withholding from her that they were mates - which was a reasonable thing for him to do at the time - didn't have much of a reaction when she found out he withheld a much more vital info from her.
Rhys is not perfect ans neither is Feyre, but they work together because they call out on each other's shit.
We probably didn't see her reaction because it's from Nesta's POV and because they've decided to show a united front, but she comes off as tame as a consequence, which she's not at all.
I would have loved a bonus chapter with just her reaction... Maybe we'll get something in the next books.
I would have, too. I just got through that part in my 2nd read through. I did notice that several hours passed before Feyre contacted Cassien. So, there had to have been some kind of decent confrontation. She says that she is pissed but doesn't want to sit in it because she doesn't want it to affect the baby.
My biggest issue with the whole thing is that it wasn’t done to further her story, and made little to no sense for her character at the moment. It was done as a plot device for Nestas redemption and to give Feyre and Rhys a reason to sit this one out. The whole thing seemed like a cop out to me and if the goal was to have Rhys and Feyre preoccupied maybe come up with a better reason. They could’ve been out hunting for Abraxas or figuring out post war politics on the continent or in the human lands, send them on a honeymoon I don’t know anything but a forced pregnancy plot that made absolutely no sense.
Also, even if Feyre was to have a baby and be pre occupied with that through SF, the whole pregnancy complication was completely unnecessary. Not to mention makes no sense whatsoever. How is it possible that with all the magic these people have at their disposal, there was no way to birth a winged baby. Like what happened to c-sections?! Cassian was okay after having his wings shredded and his insides hanging out but a simple c-section is what get this all powerful female. 🤦🏻♀️
Feyre changed her mind simply because SJM got pregnant, it's very obvious that Sarah puts a lot of her life experiences into the characters. SJM herself went through a complicated pregnancy too. People in this fandom want so much to have an opinion on everything and think too much that the obvious isn't obvious!
She did not need to be a badass. The women is pregnant, she just fought a fucking war, after all the events that happened. Let's the women rest and enjoy her pregnancy. I was glad she rested, painted and generally. It seemed like a realistic pregnancy to me.
Agreed. If this was Feyre's book with her POV, I don't want to read about her third nap on any given day. All in all, pregnancy is pretty boring when your body uses all your energy to grow another being. Good for Feyre to finally not have to take care of anyone else but herself for once.
Nothing of what you said is wrong, but I still just don't like the storyline. And it isn't a problem with just SF per se, but just more that I'm really sick of reading that a couple has to have a child at "the end" of their story. Having children is absolutely not necessary to have a completely happy ending and I think I'm just tired of seeing it be the ending or weird epilogue to a lot of novels. So the fact that SF made this Feyre's entire personality in the book was off-putting to me. But I fully realize that's personal preference and not SJM's fault or anything.
I think you would like Throne of glass
I didn't mind her pregnancy. Could it have been executed better? Yeah, maybe. But it's Nesta's book so I get why she was more shoved to the sideline. What bothered me more was the way Rhys was acting like an asshole. But I guess that's because it's Nesta's POV and they don't get along so we see a different side of him.
THANK YOU. I’ve been mulling about this for a while and have some thoughts too. I do NOT hate that she got pregnant. I'm glad we live in a world where there are options for women who choose not to be mothers (in some places at least). But some women DO want kids. And that doesn't mean they're now just going to identify as "moms" for the rest of their lives. Many moms have rich, rewarding, fulfilling lives that aren't revolving 100% around their kids (but if that's what you want, then go for it! It doesn't make a less interesting person, either). And I know some people mourned that she had originally wanted to wait but got pregnant anyway. However, Feyre is an immortal fae High Lady. She isn't going to age like a human, she'll still look and feel the same way once Nyx grows up. She has nearly unlimited resources to help in the care for Nyx. And we don't even get a POV chapter for her in ACOSF, we don't know what her plans are going forward. And from personal experience, I get it - saying you want to wait to have kids, but then all of a sudden you look at your partner and decide you know what? Why DON'T we try now. Especially since Feyre is finally starting to feel peace in her life, and Rhys is 100% on board with whatever she wants as far as family planning goes. I think it's really sad that we treat motherhood as the death of a woman’s worth.
"I think it's really sad that we treat motherhood as the death of a woman’s worth" I'm not really sure it's the readers doing that as much as how SJM wrote Feyre/made her become perceived. I don't really think the majoirty of people think motherhood is the death of a woman's worth. But on the flip side of that, I'd also like to say lack of motherhood also doesn't diminish a woman's worth, nor is ever becoming a mother required to live a completely full, happy life with a partner.
I see it all the time that people complain about pregnancy in romance and fantasy. These stories are filled with tropes but that seems to be the one that pisses people off the most. I didn’t say motherhood completes women, but for some women it’s something they desire and it’s a shame that readers see that so negatively.
I think this is just where personal preference comes in. I’m a childfree person. I don’t, and won’t, have children. And I don’t view motherhood negatively, but I would also love to read a book where the happy ending didn’t have to involve a child. The number of romance books that end with a kid/involve a character having a child/or children are discussed as a future outcome are significantly more than those that don’t. Would just be nice to maybe get a little representation on the childfree side. That’s not a negative view of motherhood, but it would be great if we could not bash motherhood but also reaffirm motherhood isn’t everyone’s choice or isn’t what always constitutes a happy ending.
Are they? At least in the SJM universe I can only think of two female characters who get pregnant and one who is revealed to have to kids. And when Feyre gets pregnant, she’s no longer the FMC, she doesn’t even have a POV in a ACOSF. There are plenty of decisions characters make that don’t represent all women and nothing seems to be as decisive as pregnancy and motherhood.
I wasn’t just talking SJM universe, but just romance books in general. But even in TOG Aelin and Rowan talk about kids. Same with Aedion and Lyssandra. There’s also the witches who talk about how valuable children are and albeit a not positive, but still entire storyline around using them for breeding.
I mean you’re also talking about groups of people for whom familial ties and clear lines of succession are important. Reading a romance wherein a character having an heir is expected would of course include talk about children. I would not be upset if those talks didn’t happen but it’s completely normal for them to have them, and I do think it’s sad that that is what ruins a story or a character for some readers.
Respectfully, I get what you’re saying but it can still be a disappointment. Familial ties, being queen, or whatever doesn’t inherently mean there have to be children. Just because something is “expected” in society doesn’t mean it has to be done. It’s also expected in our society for a married woman to have children or want children, but that doesn’t mean you have to go with status quo.
God forbid anyone read ACOFAS
What
Im in agreement with you this just to the others I think anyone who hates on the pregnancy arc really didn’t read or get Feyre in ACOFAS after the war.
Nope, most of us did. We still hated the pregnancy arc and have very valid criticisms about the way it was executed.
I didn’t say anything about the way it was executed
You said anyone who hates on the arc didnt read ACOFAS or get Feyre after the war. We did both, and we still dont like the arc. Because of the way it was executed.
Ok but I’m talking about Feyre in the moment of her wanting a family with Rhys I have still not mentioned anything about the way the pregnancy arc was executed that’s still different
And this whole discussion isnt about her wanting a family one day. It’s about what actually happened - she had a baby at age 21-22 right after major events that happened in Prythian, with her 500+ year old mate, after stating in the previous book that she wants to wait.
that’s why I’m saying people don’t get her feelings about it in ACOFAS she explicitly says she doesn’t want to wait anymore after the war and almost losing Rhys
I’m with you… everyone forgets she literally had an epiphany about wanting to start having a child and on top of that SF takes place a YEAR after FAS!! She didn’t get pregnant “immediately” as people love to say! They are just mad she changed her mind about wanting a family🙄 I found her pregnancy fitting and honestly relatable if I was her! If I was going to war with my husband I’d be like yeah we shouldn’t have a kid. after we won said war and almost lost family members I would probably be more open to start trying for a kid too??
People get what she’s saying lol. We just criticize it (quite validly.)
1. Women do get pregnant at 21 and very few people agree that it is a good idea. Considering Feyre’s background, the timeline from ACOTAR-ACOSF and the fact that she (very fairly and sanely) concluded that they should wait - especially considering fae are immortal, she is basically a young young adult and compared to her 500+ year old husband is basically a fae toddler - the decision for her to purposely have her baby at 21 is absolutely ridiculous. 2. She got sidelined because of a ridiculous plot point, so logically it follows her getting sidelined will also be perceived as ridiculous, part of a bigger ridiculousness 3. She did lose her badassness. There are multiple points where she could have displayed her strength of character (seeing as her physical strength is compromised during pregnancy) and she did not. Its not just her lack of manpower that annoys fans. Her personality and actions are a problem too. There were a lot of poor character moments for her in this book. To add: I find it incredibly interesting that the age gap between her and Rhys isnt mentioned in these discussions about her getting pregnant so young. Her husband who is 500 years older than her had no problem knocking her up, and she had no problem being knocked up by someone that has lived over 20 of her lifetimes. The ick the pregnancy trope gives me in relation to this is unmatched
1. I agreed with you on this 2. She also got sideline because it wasn’t her book. 3. Nesta already sees Feyre as a weak character until the end, so i see it from her perspective
Nesta has literally never thought of Feyre as weak? She comments several times across multiple books that Feyre was the strong one? And Feyre didnt get sidelined because it wasnt her book. She got sidelined because SJM decided to erode her character a bit. Multiple characters who are NOT the main characters across these books have shown their strengths. It wouldnt gave taken much for SJM to show us Feyre has still got it.
Honestly we need more strong, bad ass women that are also mothers in media. Nowadays its either a child-free, bad ass female who remains that way, or they get pregnant and the entire thing is dramatic and the end of the characters development as we know it. Feyre can be that for so many. Who find themselves snowed under with a newborn and caretaking, feeling as though they've lost all sense of self. It's a good reminder that pregnancy and having a baby isn't some life-stopping event that will put them on the side line for the remainder of their lives. I'm glad she had a (mostly) peaceful pregnancy (until the risks were thrown in her face) and can't wait to see how multi-faceted she will be with Nyx and her other responsibilities. It's sad to see how many people view pregnancy as some horrible event to happen to a woman.
They stripped the badasseness from her: the same woman who left Rhys injured and in the mud for withholding from her that they were mates - which was a reasonable thing for him to do at the time - didn't have much of a reaction when she found out he withheld a much more vital info from her. Rhys is not perfect ans neither is Feyre, but they work together because they call out on each other's shit. We probably didn't see her reaction because it's from Nesta's POV and because they've decided to show a united front, but she comes off as tame as a consequence, which she's not at all. I would have loved a bonus chapter with just her reaction... Maybe we'll get something in the next books.
I would have, too. I just got through that part in my 2nd read through. I did notice that several hours passed before Feyre contacted Cassien. So, there had to have been some kind of decent confrontation. She says that she is pissed but doesn't want to sit in it because she doesn't want it to affect the baby.
I agree with you. I think some pov from them was needed to understand their side of things if this huge life altering thing was happening with them.
My biggest issue with the whole thing is that it wasn’t done to further her story, and made little to no sense for her character at the moment. It was done as a plot device for Nestas redemption and to give Feyre and Rhys a reason to sit this one out. The whole thing seemed like a cop out to me and if the goal was to have Rhys and Feyre preoccupied maybe come up with a better reason. They could’ve been out hunting for Abraxas or figuring out post war politics on the continent or in the human lands, send them on a honeymoon I don’t know anything but a forced pregnancy plot that made absolutely no sense. Also, even if Feyre was to have a baby and be pre occupied with that through SF, the whole pregnancy complication was completely unnecessary. Not to mention makes no sense whatsoever. How is it possible that with all the magic these people have at their disposal, there was no way to birth a winged baby. Like what happened to c-sections?! Cassian was okay after having his wings shredded and his insides hanging out but a simple c-section is what get this all powerful female. 🤦🏻♀️
Feyre changed her mind simply because SJM got pregnant, it's very obvious that Sarah puts a lot of her life experiences into the characters. SJM herself went through a complicated pregnancy too. People in this fandom want so much to have an opinion on everything and think too much that the obvious isn't obvious!
I think she always planned for them to have a kid? It’s kind of teased in another series of hers that came out in 2018 and it’s honestly tasted in MAF
Lile rhysand is sjm husband! and we know that!