A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, The Huntress Stabs Tamlin, Dies, and Comes Back Fae, Pt 4

Spoiler Warning Heads up, confessors: this is a SPOILER-HEAVY episode. We’re wrapping up our deep dive into A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and Feyre’s final challenge, Under the Mountain, somehow involves murder, resurrection, seven High Fae, one very suspicious Rhysand moment, and Tamlin finally locating his balls approximately seven seconds too late. If you haven’t read A Court of Thorns and Roses, turn back now because we are absolutely not holding shit 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: Mostly tension, vanilla romance, and an entire podcast panel demanding significantly more payoff Tropes: Deadly trials, sacrifice, resurrection, magical bargains, morally gray fae, mysterious bonds, trauma connections, transformation, forbidden attraction, and one human woman continuing to do everyone else’s damn job   The Confession Welcome back to the feral little sister of Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads. We have officially reached the final chapter of our A Court of Thorns and Roses deep dive, and Feyre’s third challenge is exactly as horrifying as promised. Three hooded figures. Three lives. And underneath the final hood? Tamlin. Feyre has to decide whether she can kill the man she came Under the Mountain to save. But she remembers something important: Tamlin’s heart is made of stone. So she stabs him. And it works. Unfortunately, Amaretto has one last loophole up her evil little sleeve and decides that while Feyre technically fulfilled the bargain, she never promised when everyone would be released. Then she proceeds to absolutely destroy Feyre. And while Tamlin is apparently still tying his fucking shoes, Rhysand is the one repeatedly throwing himself at Amaretto, trying to protect Feyre, even though he knows he cannot win. Feyre dies. Tamlin finally gets up, kills Amaretto, and the seven High Fae give Feyre pieces of themselves to bring her back. Except she doesn’t come back human. Feyre is now High Fae. And just when we think Sarah J. Maas might let everybody go home and process the approximately 47 years of therapy they now require, Feyre follows a mysterious tug to Rhysand. They say goodbye. He looks at her. Something shocks the absolute shit out of him. And then he disappears. Excuse us?   Just the Tip This week, Just the Tip has very little to do with actual spice because apparently Sarah J. Maas has decided we must earn that later. Instead, we’re talking about survival, identity, trauma, and what happens when someone goes through something so massive that they cannot possibly return to the person they were before it happened. Feyre entered the human world. She leaves the High Fae. But the physical transformation is only part of it. She survived psychological torture, made impossible choices, killed to save others, died, and came back carrying pieces of seven powerful beings inside her. The question going forward isn’t whether Feyre has changed. It’s whether the relationships and life she fought so hard to return to still fit the person she has become.   What We Get Into Feyre facing the horrifying third and final trial Tamlin being revealed underneath the final hood Feyre remembering his heart of stone Amaretto finding one final loophole in the bargain Rhysand repeatedly trying to protect Feyre Tamlin finally killing Amaretto Feyre dying and being resurrected as High Fae The seven High Fae giving Feyre pieces of their power Feyre following that mysterious tug back to Rhysand Rhysand’s massive unexplained “oh shit” moment G-Rex predicting trouble ahead for Feyre and Tamlin The official ACOTAR Red Flag Report Our final spice ratings and book reviews   Favorite Chaos Moments G-Rex: “I’m a fae, but you know, I’m not dead.” G-Rex: “Rhysand, he is 12 out of 10 flags because he’s a walking HR violation and, like, suspiciously compelling.” Dirty Skittles: “He was tying his shoes or whatever the fuck he was doing.” Dirty Skittles: “It’s just sweet vanilla lovemaking with a narcissistic liar. Fuck Tamlin.” Nacho: “You are teasing, Skittles. You are teasing and you need to stop. We do not edge Gretchen.” Nacho: “I’m not even putting a rating on this one because as far as I’m concerned, there’s no rating to be put on this.”   Our First Impressions G-Rex finishes A Court of Thorns and Roses with 4 out of 5 stars. The beginning dragged for her, but once Feyre went Under the Mountain, she was locked in. Watching Feyre’s intelligence and survival instincts take over completely changed her experience of the book. She also connects deeply with Feyre’s butch-leaning provider energy while simultaneously watching the story through the eyes of an older lesbian and mental health advocate—which means she spent a significant portion of this book wondering why a traumatized 19-year-old was sacrificing herself while several extremely powerful, emotionally constipated fae men made questionable decisions around her. Dirty Skittles finishes the book deeply invested in where Feyre’s story is going, increasingly suspicious of everything happening between Feyre and Rhysand, and completely over Tamlin’s inability to communicate or act when it matters most. Nacho refuses to give the spice a respectable rating because, in their world, reciprocal payoff matters. They are, however, completely here for Feyre’s evolution and extremely entertained by watching G-Rex unknowingly make predictions about what might happen next. And then there’s the official G-Rex Red Flag Report: Tamlin: 7/10 red flags — protective, secretive, controlling, and increasingly irritating Rhysand: 12/10 red flags — walking HR violation and suspiciously compelling Lucien: 4/10 red flags — mostly sarcasm, trauma, and questionable friendship choices Feyre: 6/10 red flags — will absolutely run directly toward danger after being specifically told not to Basically, everyone needs therapy.   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 find our messy little book club. Visit www.paperbackconfessions.com for episodes, bookish chaos, morally questionable fictional people, and everything else we probably should not be saying into microphones.   Coming Up Next We survived A Court of Thorns and Roses. Barely. But Feyre is no longer human, Tamlin is still sitting comfortably atop G-Rex’s red-flag leaderboard, Rhysand just had one hell of a mysterious reaction to Feyre, and there is still that tiny little matter of one week every month in the Night Court. Next up, we’re diving into A Court of Mist and Fury. G-Rex thinks Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship is about to get worse. She thinks Feyre and Rhysand have more in common than either of them realizes. And somehow, despite having no idea what is actually coming, she has already called Rhysand “suspiciously compelling.” This should go well. The huntress survived Under the Mountain. Now we get to find out who the hell she becomes afterward.   #PaperbackConfessions #ACOTAR #ACourtOfThornsAndRoses #SarahJMaas #FeyreArcheron #Tamlin #Rhysand #Lucien #Amarantha #UnderTheMountain #NightCourt #HighFae #FaeRomance #FantasyRomance #Romantasy #SpicyBooks #BookTok #Bookstagram #BookPodcast #RomancePodcast #MorallyGray   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