Happily Ever After...for now (an ACOTAR re-read)

Some day your prince(ss) will come, Tam.

 

So I finally made it to the end.  There are a couple of big points that I wanted to note (thank the Cauldron for Audible's bookmark feature.  FYI the OCD part of me is probably going to go back and mark everything in my Kindle that I missed first go around, because I'm insane):

1. I think it's fairly obvious that Tamlin was kind of out of it UTM.  Or maybe I should say that he wasn't quite out of it, but basically his reaction to (very) stressful situations is kind of to shut down.  I know a lot fans hold it again him that his first idea, when he's finally able to get Feyre alone, is to try and have sex with her, but I think that's an insanely unfair assessment.  Everyone has pretty much given up at that point, and if you couldn't escape in fifty years, that having thirty seconds to sneak off to some secret room doesn't necessarily mean you can make a run for it, especially when Amarantha is insane and lord knows what she'll do if she catches you...aka, why risk it?
2. I'm totally convinced that SJM knew all along that Rhys was going to be the real romantic hero of this saga - I never realized it the first time, but you can tell he knows about the mating bond right before he leaves UTM at the end of the book.  Even though Feysand (I really really really  hate that term) was endgame, why the crazy character assassination of Tamlin later on when you spend an entire book showing what a nice guy he is?  I'm hoping it's because he'll eventually be coming back around to the light side of the force, but that remains to be seen.
3. Given how we ultimately know how Tamlin and Feyre end up, it's really interesting to look at the riddle (obviously love, duh Feyre), particularly the part about how awful it is to be the recipient of scorned love.  Food for thought.
4. Beron is an awful awful person, but how is he the first one to give his magic fairy light to Feyre?  Does not compute.
5. If Amarantha wants to stick it to Jurian by showing him all this awful stuff she's doing, wouldn't it have been easier to wear his eyeball as a necklace instead of a ring?  Don't have to keep waving your hand around that way.
6. Feyre mentions several times right before book's end about how she'll deal with all the horrors she faced another day, but right now she just wants to be happy.  Again a bit of foreshadowing because she obviously never gets around to dealing with it.
7. I find it extremely interesting that Rhys, mister super powerful high lord, actually admits that they're just waiting for the curse to be broken so they can unleash crazy beast Tamlin to kill Amarantha.  Why wouldn't he just shatter her mind or use his own super powerfullness to do it?  Why give Tamlin the pleasure?  I cannot answer this question, but I feel like there has to be a reason for it because it was a very pointed statement.

So there you have it.  This book has done nothing to convince me, even in hindsight, that Tamlin was always terrible, if only you look.  I'm pretty sure that's a crutch used by fans to make Rhys and Feyre seem even more fated than they already are.  I don't think the evidence was there, and picking out all of the obvious hints SJM left that Rhys was really the hero makes me think it was really just a red herring to make the big Rhys reveal in book two that much more shocking.  So instead of Tamlin the Tool I think people should just start calling him Tamlin the Red Herring.

I think it remains to be seen whether or not a re-read changes my opinion of Tamlin's decline being justified or being lazy story telling (so as to get him out of the picture quickly and get Rhys in there).  I can't imagine it's lazy story telling because there were intentional hints here that there was more to Rhys and his eventual place in Feyre's life.  And I can't imagine that SJM is that much of a sadist that she enjoys bringing Tamlin down so thoroughly just because that's how she gets her kicks - I feel like there's a purpose to it because she's just so obvious about kicking him when he's down.  Not to mention, none of this makes sense given the effort she put into showing how Tamlin wasn't like other fairies, wasn't like his admittedly awful father and brothers, only to just turn around in book 2 and be like "psych!" he's just as shitty as them! and not have any explanation for it.