A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, The Butch Huntress Gets Bit, Bewitched, and Betrayed, Pt 2

Spoiler Warning Heads up, confessors: this is a SPOILER-HEAVY episode. We're back in Prythian for Part 2 of our deep dive into A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and we're getting into the Spring Court, Calanmai, a very memorable neck bite, and the moment G-Rex officially declared "fuck Tamlin" too. If you haven't read A Court of Thorns and Roses, go finish crossing that wall before you press play, because we are not holding back.   The Book Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series: Book 1 of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series Author: Sarah J. Maas Spice / Heat: Slow burn that finally catches fire — Calanmai, a possessive neck bite, and one very vanilla "I love you" that goes unanswered Tropes: Beauty and the Beast retelling, captor turned "protector," morally gray high lord, forbidden fire festival, the other man appears, glamoured secrets, love confessions nobody's ready for, and a heart of stone trying (and failing) to love somebody   The Confession Welcome back to the feral little sister of Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads. In Part 2, Feyre starts settling into Tamlin's estate — if you can call being glamoured, kept behind gates, and lied to about who else lives there "settling in." We meet Lucien (RIP to a real one; he catches every stray in this book), fall down the Tamlin-and-Lucien-are-definitely-a-couple rabbit hole, and unpack the fire festival Calanmai, where Feyre disobeys a very clear warning, meets a devastatingly hot stranger named Rhysand, and ends the night with Tamlin's teeth in her neck. We also dig into Tamlin's tragic backstory, Lucien's tragic backstory, Feyre's suriel-delivered prophecy to "stay with the High Lord," and the introduction of Amarantha — sorry, Amaretto — the reason this whole curse exists in the first place. By the end, Tamlin sends Feyre home for her own "safety," she finds out her family's been living off his money the whole time, and Nesta — never glamoured, never fooled — cracks something open in Feyre that sends her right back across the wall. Tamlin is officially past probation. He is in handcuffs. Keywords: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, ACOTAR, ACOTAR spoilers, Feyre Archeron, Tamlin, Rhysand, Lucien, Nesta Archeron, Prythian, Spring Court, Calanmai, fantasy romance podcast, fae romance, romantasy, Beauty and the Beast retelling, spicy book podcast, BookTok fantasy, Paperback Confessions   The Pour This one basically pairs itself: an amaretto sour, because we cannot say Amarantha's name correctly and we're not going to start now. G-Rex is bringing the amaretto, Nacho's supplying the felt for the Amaretto doll craft project we did not plan to start mid-episode. For a Calanmai-coded cocktail, go with something fire-toned — a spiced rum and blood orange situation with a cinnamon-stick garnish. Nonalcoholic confessors can stick with a spiced cider or a virgin amaretto sour (yes, that's a thing, look it up).   Just the Tip In Just the Tip, we get into whether Tamlin ever actually loved Feyre, or just loved what she could do for him. Dirty Skittles' theory: he has a heart of stone and was never capable of loving her — just the idea of her, and the curse she could break. Nacho pushes back a little, arguing Tamlin isn't intentionally controlling at first — he's doing what he thinks protection looks like, and it curdles the more Feyre pushes back. G-Rex lands somewhere in the middle: fighter, not a lover, kind of a narcissist, but she gets why some readers — depending on how they were raised — might actually vibe with the "provider" thing he's selling. On our Halos to Handcuffs scale, Tamlin is fully in handcuffs now. He glamours her, hides an entire population of people from her, locks her in during Calanmai "for her safety," and then sends her away the second she becomes inconvenient. He also tells her he loves her while actively trying to get rid of her. Sir. Ma'am. Whoever you are. This is not it.   What We Get Into Lucien, the mask, and the curse Tamlin can't explain The great "are Tamlin and Lucien secretly together" theory Alis, the actual MVP of the Spring Court Fairies "can't lie" — a claim we do not trust The generational debate on whether Tamlin's whole vibe is romantic or a red flag Calanmai, the fire festival nobody explained properly Meeting Rhysand: "There you are. I've been looking for you." The neck bite heard 'round Prythian Lucien's Autumn Court backstory and his tragic scar Tamlin's brutal family and his "trying not to be like them" arc The suriel prophecy: stay with the High Lord The first (very vanilla) sex scene and the audiobook narrator's "Sarah, Sarah" problem The heads on spikes and the reveal that Rhysand put them there Rhysand crashing dinner, glamour or no glamour Introducing Amarantha, forever known as Amaretto Tamlin sending Feyre home "for her safety" (sure, Jan) Feyre coming home to a family living off Tamlin's money Nesta was never glamoured — and she went looking for Feyre The conversation with Nesta that finally cracks Feyre open   Favorite Chaos Moments Nacho: "I have enough felt to get this done." Dirty Skittles: "That is my favorite line I've ever heard you say." G-Rex: "Can we give him a bottle of amaretto dressed up like Emma— Amarantha?" Nacho: "May she be ever known, forever known as Amaretto." Dirty Skittles: "Fuck this guy anyways." (on Tamlin, repeatedly, and we mean it every time) Dirty Skittles: "He's like, fuck that guy, I got money now." G-Rex: "I got money around. I'm gonna go fucking spend it like it's the last thing on earth. I don't fucking care." Nacho: "We're so rich, we know we have three times what we had before." Nacho: "That would've sucked. Thank you, Sarah J. Maas." Dirty Skittles: "This is the part where I got hooked into the book — when I realized she's going back. That's when it got good."   Our First Impressions G-Rex sees Tamlin exactly for what he is — a fighter, not a lover, and more than a little narcissistic — while admitting that if she'd been raised differently, the "let me provide for you and lock the gate behind you" energy might have landed differently. It doesn't for her. Dirty Skittles came in hating Tamlin and leaves hating him more, convinced he's never once thought about what Feyre needs, only what he needs from her. Lucien, on the other hand, gets nothing but love — loyal to a fault, catching strays for a friend who doesn't deserve him. Nacho holds a little more grace for early-Tamlin, arguing he's not trying to be controlling on purpose — he just doesn't know how to stop once Feyre stops fitting the shape he needs her to be. That grace runs out fast once Calanmai happens. We agree on this much: Tamlin sent her away not to protect her, but to protect himself and the fantasy he built her into. And Nesta — messy, guarded, never glamoured Nesta — might be the one who actually gets through to Feyre.   Subscribe, Rate & Review Subscribe so you never miss an episode of Paperback Confessions, and rate and review us wherever you listen. Every review helps more confessors discover our messy little book club. Visit www.paperbackconfessions.com for episodes, bookish chaos, questionable fictional men, and everything else we probably should not be saying into microphones.   Coming Up Next In Part 3, Feyre goes back across the wall — and straight Under the Mountain. We're getting into Amarantha's trials, Rhysand's real game, the true cost of loving someone with a heart of stone, and whether Feyre saves Tamlin or finally starts saving herself. The masks are coming off. The curse is running out of time. And we are just getting started. Yes, bitch. #PaperbackConfessions #ACOTAR #ACourtOfThornsAndRoses #SarahJMaas #FeyreArcheron #Tamlin #Rhysand #Lucien #NestaArcheron #ElainArcheron #Prythian #SpringCourt #Calanmai #FaeRomance #FantasyRomance #Romantasy #BeautyAndTheBeast #SpicyBooks #BookTok #Bookstagram #FantasyBooks #BookPodcast #RomancePodcast #FuckTamlin #HeartOfStone #Amaretto   Where to Find Us Website: https://www.paperbackconfessions.com Instagram: @paperback_confessions Paperback Confessions is the feral sister podcast to the award-winning Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads, where we normalize conversations about mental health through honest stories, laughter, and real connection. Discover more at: https://goesoninourheads.net