A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, The Butch Huntress Gets Fae-Napped, Pt 1

Spoiler Warning Heads up, confessors: this is a SPOILER-HEAVY episode. We are beginning our three-part deep dive into A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and we are discussing everything—including Feyre’s dysfunctional family, Tamlin’s suspicious version of the treaty, and G-Rex’s painfully slow journey to Chapter 35. If you have not read A Court of Thorns and Roses, save this episode and come back after you have crossed the wall and developed at least one emotionally complicated opinion about a fictional faerie.   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: A very slow burn with plenty of world-building and very little relief for an impatient G-Rex Tropes: Beauty and the Beast retelling, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, magical bargain, cursed High Lord, human and fae romance, family obligation, and suspiciously attractive captors   The Confession Welcome back to the feral little sister of Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads. In Part 1, we meet Feyre—a starving huntress carrying an entire family that seems perfectly comfortable letting her do all the work. After killing a suspiciously large wolf, Feyre is confronted by Tamlin and forced to choose between death or living in the faerie realm. Because apparently “come with me or die” qualifies as a choice in Prythian. We unpack Feyre’s parentification, her deeply frustrating family, Tamlin’s questionable treaty, and G-Rex’s immediate conclusion that Feyre has serious butch badass energy. Keywords: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, ACOTAR, ACOTAR spoilers, Feyre Archeron, Tamlin, Nesta Archeron, Elain Archeron, Prythian, fantasy romance podcast, fae romance, romantasy, Beauty and the Beast retelling, spicy book podcast, BookTok fantasy, Paperback Confessions   The Pour Pair this episode with a glittery Night Court cocktail made with lavender, butterfly pea tea, vodka, lemon, and tonic water. Nacho recommends a Patron margarita made by Lisa the Lesbian, while G-Rex suggests an espresso martini—because she probably should have consumed several while trying to stay awake until Chapter 35. Nonalcoholic confessors can cross the wall with lavender lemonade, sparkling water, butterfly pea flower tea, or coffee strong enough to survive several hundred pages of world-building. Just the Tip In Just the Tip, we ask whether Feyre’s removal from the human realm is imprisonment, freedom, or one deeply fucked-up combination of both. Dirty Skittles believes Tamlin may have manipulated the ancient treaty to force Feyre into his lands and help break his curse. Nacho sees Feyre’s departure as the final way she can directly protect a family that has always expected her to sacrifice herself for them. For G-Rex, leaving home may give Feyre her first opportunity to stop parenting everyone else and begin living for herself. On our Halos to Handcuffs scale, Tamlin is already drifting dangerously close to handcuffs. He threatens Feyre, glamours her family, refuses to answer her questions, knocks her unconscious, and carries her across the wall. Sir, this is not romance yet. This is a magical abduction with nice landscaping.   What We Get Into Feyre’s butch badass energy Her deeply dysfunctional family Parentification and emotional neglect The wolf, the ash arrow, and the ancient treaty Why Dirty Skittles thinks Tamlin lied Feyre choosing captivity over death Tamlin glamouring her family Literary edging until Chapter 35 Night Court cocktails and espresso martinis Our first of many “Fuck Tamlin” moments   Favorite Chaos Moments G-Rex: “She’s like super butch with a little streak of feminism blended into her.” Dirty Skittles: “Butch badass.” G-Rex: “You don’t see Barbie doing that. It’s more of a G.I. Jane move.” G-Rex: “It took me six months to read this book. Six.” Dirty Skittles: “This book was one giant edge.” G-Rex: “I’m old and impatient.” Nacho: “You started it. Now you’re gonna finish it.” G-Rex: “I have my smutty parents. My smut mamas.” G-Rex: “Does Elain get any better, or is she still this fucking garden fairy?” Dirty Skittles: “Fuck Tamlin. I’m sorry, I just had to get that out of the way.” Nacho: “Let’s take away more choice.”   Our First Impressions G-Rex sees Feyre as a butch lesbian survivalist trapped inside a fantasy romance. She respects Feyre’s strength but remains deeply unimpressed that the story took six months and approximately 35 chapters to get moving. Dirty Skittles appreciates the world-building but becomes suspicious of Tamlin almost immediately, especially after examining his extremely convenient interpretation of the treaty. Nacho values the character development and recognizes that Feyre’s family has become so dependent on her strength that they no longer consider what their dependence is costing her. We agree that Feyre has been parentified, emotionally neglected, and forced into a role that should never have belonged to her. We also agree that her family needs to get off its collective ass. Feyre has crossed the wall. Tamlin is already on probation. And G-Rex is still waiting for the fucking spice.   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 2, Feyre wakes up in Prythian and begins navigating life inside Tamlin’s estate. We are getting into the Spring Court, Lucien’s attitude, Tamlin’s terrible communication skills, growing attraction, magical danger, and whether an elaborate mansion can distract us from the fact that Feyre was brought there against her will. The masks are staying on. The red flags are multiplying. And we have officially entered the fairy smut. Yes, bitch.   #PaperbackConfessions #ACOTAR #ACourtOfThornsAndRoses #SarahJMaas #FeyreArcheron #Tamlin #NestaArcheron #ElainArcheron #Prythian #SpringCourt #FaeRomance #FantasyRomance #Romantasy #BeautyAndTheBeast #SpicyBooks #BookTok #Bookstagram #FantasyBooks #BookPodcast #RomancePodcast #ButchBadass #LiteraryEdging #FuckTamlin 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