ACOTAR - Full Highlights and Notes

 

Idk what anyone says, he's still the hottest high lord and I'd still let him eat me alive.

There's really no point in putting up an ACOMAF highlight notebook without doing the same for ACOTAR, because you cannot look at both independently of each other and hope to understand why 1). Tamlin is deserving of our sympathy and 2). Apparently SJM has selective memory when it comes to her own writing.

In any case, here are my notes on book 1.  Feel free to send them to any Rhys stan who insists Tamlin was always awful or that Rhys was always good.

Notebook Export
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Maas, Sarah J.

Citation (APA): Maas, S. J. (2015). A Court of Thorns and Roses [Kindle iOS version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com

Page 176 · Location 2594

“My father …” His claws gleamed at his knuckles but didn’t go out any farther. I’d definitely asked the wrong question. “My father was as bad as Lucien’s. Worse. My two older brothers were just like him. They kept slaves—all of them. And my brothers … I was young when the Treaty was forged, but I still remember what my brothers used to …” He trailed off. “It left a mark—enough of a mark that when I saw you, your house, I couldn’t—wouldn’t let myself be like them. Wouldn’t bring harm to your family, or you, or subject you to faerie whims.”

Note - Page 176 · Location 2598
Definitely sounds like a guy that gets off on being cruel and doesn't care and is a really bad High Lord. Yup.

Page 176 · Location 2602

Tamlin loosed a breath. “My mother—she loved my father deeply. Too deeply, but they were mated, and … Even if she saw what a tyrant he was, she wouldn’t say an ill word against him. I never expected—never wanted—my father’s title. My brothers would have never let me live to adolescence if they had suspected that I did. So the moment I was old enough, I joined my father’s war-band and trained so that I might someday serve my father, or whichever of my brothers inherited his title.” He flexed his hands, as if imagining the claws beneath. “I’d realized from an early age that fighting and killing were about the only things I was good at.” “I doubt that,” I said. He gave me a wry smile. “Oh, I can play a mean fiddle, but High Lords’ sons don’t become traveling minstrels. So I trained and fought for my father against whomever he told me to fight, and I would have been happy to leave the scheming to my brothers. But my power kept growing, and I couldn’t hide it—not among our kind.” He shook his head. “Fortunately or unfortunately, they were all killed by the High Lord of an enemy court. I was spared for whatever reason or Cauldron-granted luck. My mother, I mourned. The others …” A too-tight shrug. “My brothers would not have tried to save me from a fate like yours.”

Note - Page 177 · Location 2612
So here we have a Tamlin that doesn't seem to value himself beyond his physical strength, or at the very least is sad that that is the only thing others seem to value in him. It seems very clear here that he felt trapped on some level into becoming a warrior and that it was not his first instinct, which says to me that he's not a mindless brute. If you ask me, that's kind of sad, and it lends credence to my theory that Tamlin lashes out not because he's bad, but because he's a depressed individual that has never sought help for his issues. Why makes the IC's propensity for kicking him when he's down (repeatedly throughout the series, and especially bad in ACOFAS) even worse.

Page 177 · Location 2616

“Most High Lords are trained from birth in manners and laws and court warfare. When the title fell to me, it was a … rough transition. Many of my father’s courtiers defected to other courts rather than have a warrior-beast snarling at them.”

Note - Page 177 · Location 2618
Possible abandonment issues and again seems to be receiving reinforcement on the idea that he's nothing more than an animal, which is later reinforced by Rhys.
Chapter 26

Page 239 · Location 3531

“She has the most delicious thoughts about you, Tamlin,” he said. “She’s wondered about the feeling of your fingers on her thighs—between them, too.” He chuckled. Even as he said my most private thoughts, even as I burned with outrage and shame, I trembled at the grip still on my mind. Rhysand turned to the High Lord. “I’m curious: Why did she wonder if it would feel good to have you bite her breast the way you bit her neck?”

Note - Page 239 · Location 3534
So Feysand stans love to point out how the Calanmai scene was rapey and that Feyre objected and yeah, she did object, but also admitted to herself several times that she kinda liked it too.

Page 240 · Location 3539

“Amarantha will enjoy breaking her,” Rhysand observed to Tamlin. “Almost as much as she’ll enjoy watching you as she shatters her bit by bit.”

Note - Page 240 · Location 3541
So here's the explanation as to why Tamlin does not react and remains stoic in the face of Feyre's trials UTM.

Page 240 · Location 3554

“Are you going to tell Amarantha?” Tamlin said, keeping his face on the floor. Rhysand smirked. “Perhaps I’ll tell her, perhaps I won’t.” In a flash of motion too fast for me to detect, Tamlin was on his feet, fangs dangerously close to Rhysand’s face.

Note - Page 241 · Location 3556
The only time Tamlin reacts in all of this, despite being publicly debased, was when Rhys directly threatens Feyre. It's worth noting that Rhys does something similar on multiple occasions later on in the series, but that's excusable, why? Because they're mated? Because he loves her? Feyre and Tamlin might not be mated, but neither of them know that at this point, and Tamlin obviously cares for her, so why are any of his outbursts that are a direct result of his fears for and love for Feyre a bad thing but acceptable for Rhysand?
Chapter 32

Page 285 · Location 4193

“No. She keeps them and their entire courts Under the Mountain, where she can torment them as she pleases. Others—others, if they swear allegiance, if they grovel and serve her, she allows them a bit more freedom to come and go Under the Mountain as they will. Our court was only allowed to remain here until Tamlin’s curse ran out, but …” Alis shivered.

Note - Page 285 · Location 4196
Oh, like Rhys you mean? It seems obvious that at this point SJM wants us to recall this specifically in reference to Rhys, but I wonder what the point is if it just eventually winds up being explained away as him being undercover or working to undermine her or make the best of a bad situation. Of course, if you take it at face value and out of the context of everything you eventually see in ACOMAF, Rhys is just kissing ass so he can have the benefits that come with it.

Page 287 · Location 4230

This was worse—so much worse than I had thought when I warned Nesta and my family to stay on alert and leave at the slightest sign of trouble. I felt sick to think of what kind of company Tamlin was keeping—sick at the thought of him being so desperate, so stricken by guilt and grief over having to sacrifice his sentries and never being able to tell me … And he’d let me go. Let all their sacrifices, let Andras’s sacrifice, be in vain.

Note - Page 287 · Location 4234
Oh, so Tamlin isn't just sending his sentries out there for funsies? You mean he actually feels guilty for something? And bad for having to do it despite not having a choice? Sounds like another High Lord I know.

Page 288 · Location 4236

I remembered that pathetic effort to flatter me upon my arrival—and then he’d given up on it, on any attempt to win me when I’d seemed so desperate to get away, to never talk to him. But he’d fallen in love with me despite all that—known I’d loved him, and let me go with days to spare. He had put me before his entire court, before all of Prythian.

Note - Page 288 · Location 4239
Yup, there's Tamlin again, being a selfish prick. I ask you, why is Feyre's inner voice not trustworthy and wrong here, when we take her opinion as writ later on? Are we supposed to believe that she's just wrong here? Or is Tamlin, possibly, by some chance, actually doing the right thing? Shocking!
Chapter 35

Page 312 · Location 4606

She must have allowed him more power than the others, then, if he could still inflict such harm while leashed to her. Or else his power before she’d stolen it had been … extraordinary, for this to be considered the basest remnants.

Note - Page 312 · Location 4608
Both true, I think, though if you look at this statement in the context of the rest of the books, it's only because he's the MoSt PoWeRfUl HiGh LoRd iN hIsToRy....not because he's getting special privileges for being Amarantha's crony or anything.
Chapter 37

Page 331 · Location 4873

“I’ll make a trade with you,” he said casually, and gently set my arm down. As it met with the floor, I had to close my eyes to brace against the flow of that poisoned lightning. “I’ll heal your arm in exchange for you. For two weeks every month, two weeks of my choosing, you’ll live with me at the Night Court. Starting after this messy three-trials business.”

Page 332 · Location 4884

“The second option—and the one only a fool would take—would be for you to refuse my offer and place your life, and thus Tamlin’s, in the hands of chance.”

Note - Page 332 · Location 4885
So how does Rhys spin the obvious bit of manipulation of Feyre's feelings for Tamlin to trick her into accepting that bargain and thus spending time with him? Oh, he doesn't....or it's okay, because love.

Page 333 · Location 4902

Swift as lightning, he lashed out, grabbing the shard of bone in my arm and twisting. A scream shattered out of me, ravaging my aching throat. The world flashed black and white and red. I thrashed and writhed, but he kept his grip, twisting the bone a final time before releasing my arm.

Note - Page 333 · Location 4904
And what was the point of him physically hurting her here? What's the explanation for that? Tamlin, for all his moodswings, never, EVER intentionally laid a hand on her with the express purpose of hurting her, like Rhys does here. Did SJM forget to go back and remove this in her edits or something?  I've heard some people (stans) say that this was Rhys setting her arm so it could heal properly, and while that definitely seems like a Rhys-ie enough explanation for hurting her like this, why wasn't it explained away later in his epic chapter long explanation of every (literally every) bad thing he ever did?  Frankly, I've never understood the point in him continuing his allegedly evil facade with Feyre UTM - it didn't serve the story logically for any other reason than to shock the reader when he's eventually revealed as the good guy.

Page 336 · Location 4942

“You didn’t tell me this would happen.” “You didn’t ask. So how am I to blame?” He walked to the door but lingered, even as pure night wafted off his shoulders. “Unless this lack of gratitude and appreciation is because you fear a certain High Lord’s reaction.” Tamlin. I could already see his face going pale, his lips becoming thin as the claws came out. I could almost hear the growl he’d emit when he asked me what I had been thinking. “I think I’ll wait to tell him until the moment’s right, though,” Rhysand said. The gleam in his eyes told me enough. Rhysand hadn’t done any of this to save me, but rather to hurt Tamlin. And I’d fallen into his trap—fallen into it worse than the worm had fallen into mine.

Note - Page 336 · Location 4948
So Rhys practically admits here to using the tattoo as a means of getting under Tamlin's skin, though in ACOMAF he says that wasn't his only motivation (it was a symbol of "hope", perhaps one of his bigger BS statements). I do feel like it's necessary to point out that Feyre sounds almost fearful of Tamlin's reaction to eventually seeing the tattoo. If, however, Rhys is aware that this would happen and already loves Feyre enough to want to protect her from something like that, why would he put her at risk from Tamlin's awful temper? You can definitely interpret Feyre's thoughts as fear either of being hurt, or just as they are - being afraid of his temper, which is a scary thing no matter who the rage is directed at.
Chapter 39

Page 348 · Location 5103

“The dress itself won’t mar it, and neither will your movements,” he said, his face close to mine. His teeth were far too near to my throat. “And I’ll remember precisely where my hands have been. But if anyone else touches you—let’s say a certain High Lord who enjoys springtime—I’ll know.” He flicked my nose. “And, Feyre,” he added, his voice a caressing murmur, “I don’t like my belongings tampered with.”

Note - Page 348 · Location 5107
Like what was the point of him doing this to Feyre outside of taunting Tamlin? I find it curious that he had her dressed continuously in light colors, Spring colors, which I'm almost positive was intentional. I'm just saying if Rhys is so beneveloent underneath it all, surely there would have been an ulterior motive behind this. Because if there wasn't, he publicly humiliates Feyre and sexually assaults her purely to get under Tamlin's skin.

Page 348 · Location 5117

Rhysand didn’t touch me, but he walked close enough for it to be obvious that I was with him—that I belonged to him. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d attached a collar and leash around my neck. Maybe he would at some point, now that I was bound to him, the bargain marked on my flesh.

Note - Page 349 · Location 5119
He's treating her like a possession (all part of the act, as he says later) and even Feyre recognizes that her tattoo is a brand.

Page 349 · Location 5122

Rhysand had said that he wanted to tell him at the right moment, that he’d wanted to hurt Tamlin by revealing the bargain I’d made.

Page 349 · Location 5126

Tamlin’s face was like stone—like stone, save for the white-knuckled grip on the arms of his throne. No claws. He was able to keep that sign of his temper at bay, at least.

Note - Page 349 · Location 5128
So he is able to keep his temper at bay.  But I thought he flew off the handle every chance he got? But his TeMpEr.

Page 349 · Location 5129

“We made a bargain,” Rhysand said. I flinched as he brushed a stray lock of my hair from my face. He ran his fingers down my cheek—a gentle caress. The throne room was all too quiet as he spoke his next words to Tamlin. “One week with me at the Night Court every month in exchange for my healing services after her first task.” He raised my left arm to reveal the tattoo, whose ink didn’t shine as much as the paint on my body. “For the rest of her life,” he added casually, but his eyes were now upon Amarantha.

Page 350 · Location 5146

He smiled, and extended the goblet again. “Drink. You’ll need it.” Drink, my mind echoed, and my fingers stirred, moving toward the goblet. No. No, Alis said not to drink the wine here—wine that was different from that joyous, freeing solstice wine. “No,” I said, and some faeries who were watching us from a safe distance chuckled. “Drink,” he said, and my traitorous fingers latched onto the goblet.

Note - Page 350 · Location 5150
Is this Rhys actually forcing her to drink?? Also, has Rhys not already been inside her mind? Why could he not tell her telepathically that he was drugging her to make her forget and that he was sorry, etc.

Page 351 · Location 5159

“What happened?” I got out, even though I wasn’t sure I truly wanted the answer. My memory was a dark blur of wild music. Lucien drew back. “I don’t think you want to know.” I studied the few smudges on my waist, marks that looked like hands had held me. “Who did that to me?” I asked quietly, my eyes tracing the arc of the spoiled paint. “Who do you think?” My heart clenched and I looked at the floor. “Did—did Tamlin see it?” Lucien nodded. “Rhys was only doing it to get a rise out of him.” “Did it work?” I still couldn’t look Lucien in the face. I knew, at least, that I hadn’t been violated beyond touching my sides. The paint told me that much. “No,” Lucien said, and I smiled grimly.

Page 351 · Location 5166

“What—what was I doing the whole time?” So much for Alis’s warning. Lucien let out a sharp breath, running a hand through his red hair. “He had you dance for him for most of the night. And when you weren’t dancing, you were sitting in his lap.” “What kind of dancing?” I pushed. “Not the kind you were doing with Tamlin on Solstice,” Lucien said, and my face heated. From the murkiness of my memories of last night, I recalled the closeness of a certain pair of violet eyes—eyes that sparkled with mischief as they beheld me. “In front of everyone?” “Yes,” Lucien replied—more gently than I’d heard him speak to me before.

Note - Page 352 · Location 5172
So Rhys makes her dance suggestively, in a public forum, while she's practically naked, and enjoys it. Wooooow, he's such a good actor that even Feyre was convinced he was doing it for enjoyment.

Page 353 · Location 5197

“Wait,” I said. “Is—is Tamlin all right? I mean … I mean that spell Amarantha has him under to make him so silent …” “There’s no spell. Hasn’t it occurred to you that Tamlin is keeping quiet to avoid telling Amarantha which form of your torment affects him most?” No, it hadn’t. “He’s playing a dangerous game, though,” Lucien said, slipping out the door. “We all are.”

Note - Page 353 · Location 5201
Refer back to Rhys's prior statement that Amarantha will enjoy seeing which form of torture Tamlin "likes" best.  

Page 354 · Location 5203

Night after night, I was dressed in the same way and made to accompany Rhysand to the throne room. Thus I became Rhysand’s plaything, the harlot of Amarantha’s whore. I woke with vague shards of memories—of dancing between Rhysand’s legs as he sat in a chair and laughed; of his hands, stained blue from the places they touched on my waist, my arms, but somehow, never more than that. He had me dance until I was sick, and once I was done retching, told me to begin dancing again.

Page 355 · Location 5220

Rhysand shrugged, then flashed a grin as he pushed off the door and stepped toward me. “I wonder if you were this prickly with Tamlin when you were his captive.” “He never treated me like a captive—or a slave.” “No—and how could he? Not with the shame of his father and brothers’ brutality always weighing on him, the poor, noble beast. But perhaps if he’d bothered to learn a thing or two about cruelty, about what it means to be a true High Lord, it would have kept the Spring Court from falling.”

Note - Page 355 · Location 5225
Foreshadowing? I think some Rhys stans would have you believe that this passage is exactly that. And it's interesting, because Tamlin definitely does treat Feyre as a captive later, so yeah, in that sense it's foreshadowing. But even Rhys admits here that Tamlin was shamed by his family's brutality and wasn't a "true High Lord" in the sense that he wasn't willing to dole out the same brutality in an effort to protect his Court.  

Page 356 · Location 5234

I knew I was on dangerous ground, but I didn’t care. “What do you want with me? Beyond taunting Tamlin.” “Taunting him is my greatest pleasure,” he said with a mock bow. “And as for your question, why does any male need a reason to enjoy the presence of a female?” “You saved my life.” “And through your life, I saved Tamlin’s.” “Why?” He winked, smoothing his blue-black hair. “That, Feyre, is the real question, isn’t it?”

Note - Page 356 · Location 5239
This feels like a passage that was added after SJM decided Rhys was going to be the hero, and was already plotting out chapter 54 of ACOMAF in her head. He's being truthful about taunting him, he reiterates that later on, that he was jealous and petty, so a rare bit of self-awareness for ol' Rhysie. However, the question of why he saved Tamlin's life by extension is never answered. We knew he did it for Feyre because he already loves her at this point, but Tamlin? Who knows? The fact that SJM even mentions it seems to indicate that there's some significance to the statement, but it's like never brought up again other than to say that Rhys was ultimately being altruistic because Feyre loved Tamlin, so keeping him alive basically kept her happy, not because it was the right thing to do or anything.
Chapter 40

Page 361 · Location 5301

If Tamlin was playing indifferent to keep us both safe, so would I. But I dared a glance at my High Lord, and found his eyes hard upon me. If I could just hold him, feel his skin for just a moment—smell him, hear him say my name … A slight hiss echoed across the room, dragging my gaze away. Amarantha was frowning up at Tamlin from her seat. I hadn’t realized we’d been staring at each other, the cavern wholly silent.

Page 378 · Location 5553

“Shameful,” Rhysand purred, and we whirled to find him faintly illuminated by the light that broke in through the doorway. But he stood behind us—farther into the passage, rather than toward the door. He hadn’t come in through the throne room. With that ability of his, he had probably walked through the walls. “Just shameful.” He stalked toward us. Tamlin remained holding me. “Look at what you’ve done to my pet.” Panting, neither of us said anything. But the air became a cold kiss upon my skin—upon my exposed breasts. “Amarantha would be greatly aggrieved if she knew her little warrior was dallying with the human help,” Rhysand went on, crossing his arms. “I wonder how she’d punish you. Or perhaps she’d stay true to habit and punish Lucien. He still has one eye to lose, after all. Maybe she’ll put it in a ring, too.” Ever so slowly, Tamlin removed my hands from his body and stepped out of my embrace. “I’m glad to see you’re being reasonable,” Rhysand said, and Tamlin bristled. “Now, be a clever High Lord and buckle your belt and fix your clothes before you go out there.” Tamlin looked at me, and, to my horror, did as Rhysand instructed. My High Lord never took his eyes off my face as he straightened his tunic and hair, then retrieved and fastened his belt again. The paint on his hands and clothes—paint from me—vanished.

Note - Page 379 · Location 5565
I am choosing to interpret Tamlin's holding of eye contact as a silent apology of sorts to Feyre - he couldn't very well say so explicitly at this point. However, Rhys would have you believe it's because he just didn't care enough to say anything.  Also, this is another passage used by stans as evidence that Tamlin could only think of getting in Feyre's pants when he could have helped her escape.  Two things there - first, Feyre reciprocates, second, what about that time Feyre and Rhys decide to fuck in their tent in the middle of a war, in earshot of people dying outside?

Page 380 · Location 5583

The door was flung wide, and Amarantha’s curved figure filled its space. Tamlin—Tamlin was beside her, his eyes slightly wide, shoulders tight as Rhys’s lips still crushed mine. Amarantha laughed, and a mask of stone slammed down on Tamlin’s face, void of feeling, void of anything vaguely like the Tamlin I’d been tangled up with moments before.

Note - Page 380 · Location 5586
What are the odds that she's controlling his actions here? Or is he just keeping his temper at bay so Amarantha doesn't kill them all. Either way, I'm shocked that Rhys literally making out with her doesn't send him flying off the handle here, if his temper is sooooo out of control. I'm being sarcastic btw, because the psycho Tamlin that Rhys wants you to believe exists would totally fly off the handle at something like this.

Page 382 · Location 5623

He laughed. “True, but I’m also a pragmatist. Working Tamlin into a senseless fury is the best weapon we have against her. Seeing you enter into a fool’s bargain with Amarantha was one thing, but when Tamlin saw my tattoo on your arm … Oh, you should have been born with my abilities, if only to have felt the rage that seeped from him.”

Note - Page 383 · Location 5626
Why is using Tamlin's rage to get rid of Amarantha the best weapon they have? ACOMAF Rhys says he can't use his mind breaking powers on Amarantha because she wards against it, but I guess she doesn't have physical wards that would protect her from physical harm inflicted by Tamlin? That sounds like poor planning. But interesting that Rhys is willing to use Tamlin's rage when it suits him.

Page 383 · Location 5627

“Perhaps he’ll try—but I have a feeling he’ll kill Amarantha first. That’s what it all boils down to, anyway: even your servitude to me can be blamed on her. So he’ll kill her tomorrow, and I’ll be free before he can start a fight with me that will reduce our once-sacred mountain to rubble.” He picked at his nails. “And I have a few other cards to play.”

Page 383 · Location 5630

“Feyre, for Cauldron’s sake. I drug you, but you don’t wonder why I never touch you beyond your waist or arms?” Until tonight—until that damned kiss. I gritted my teeth, but even as my anger rose, a picture cleared. “It’s the only claim I have to innocence,” he said, “the only thing that will make Tamlin think twice before entering into a battle with me that would cause a catastrophic loss of innocent life. It’s the only way I can convince him I was on your side. Believe me, I would have liked nothing more than to enjoy you—but there are bigger things at stake than taking a human woman to my bed.”

Page 383 · Location 5639

“Why did Amarantha target you?” I dared ask. “Why make you her whore?” “Beyond the obvious?” He gestured to his perfect face. When I didn’t smile, he loosed a breath. “My father killed Tamlin’s father—and his brothers.” I started. Tamlin had never said—never told me the Night Court was responsible for that. “It’s a long story, and I don’t feel like getting into it, but let’s just say that when she stole our lands out from under us, Amarantha decided that she especially wanted to punish the son of her friend’s murderer—decided that she hated me enough for my father’s deeds that I was to suffer.”

Note - Page 384 · Location 5644
If Tamlin is such a bad guy, why wouldn't he tell Feyre this? Later on after Tamlin is Chapter 54'ed Rhys makes it seems like he's trying to hide the part he played in the killing of Rhys's family. Rhys is actually telling the truth that there is more to the story, but we only ever get his side of it, and yet are still supposed to believe that's the only side we need, thus Tamlin bad.  Also, gotta LOL that he admits he's drugging her, but never touching her beyond her waist in the same breath....as if it makes both okay.

Page 385 · Location 5658

“When you healed my arm … You didn’t need to bargain with me. You could have demanded every single week of the year.”

Note - Page 385 · Location 5659
Or nothing at all, if he really was the selfless wonderboy he wants us to believe he is. However, this almost seems like an afterthought made to allude to his secret-selflessness. So Rhys stans will say, seeeeeeee, he didn't take a whole month only a week, he's sooo niiiiiiice, as opposed to realizing that it's actually fucked up to take any time at all.
Chapter 44

Page 401 · Location 5886

A path cleared through my red-and-black vision. I found Tamlin’s eyes—wide as he crawled toward Amarantha, watching me die, and unable to save me while his wound slowly healed, while she still gripped his power.

Note - Page 401 · Location 5887
So, unlike Feyre says in ACOMAF, Rhys was not the only one trying to help Feyre. And unlike Rhys also says, he wasn't just sitting there on his hands while Feyre was getting tortured. He was trying, and he couldn't. Never mind that two sentences later Tamlin literally begs Amarantha to stop.

Page 402 · Location 5899

For though each of my strikes lands a powerful blow, When I kill, I do it slow … That’s what these three months had been—a slow, horrible death. What I felt for Tamlin was the cause of this. There was no cure—not pain, or absence, or happiness. But scorned, I become a difficult beast to defeat. She could torture me all she liked, but it would never destroy what I felt for him. It would never make Tamlin want her—never ease the sting of his rejection.

Note - Page 402 · Location 5904
Interesting to think about the riddle in light of Tamlin's reaction after being scorned by Feyre in book 2. Tamlin is apparently supposed to just stop loving Feyre because she left....basically what I'm pointing out here is that even Feyre recognizes the hold love can have on someone.


Page 405 · Location 5931

It wasn’t until I was again staring down at my own broken body that I realized whose eyes I’d been seeing through. But Rhysand didn’t come any closer to my corpse, not as rushing paws—then a flash of light, then footsteps—filled the air. The beast was already gone.

Note - Page 405 · Location 5933
So Rhys didn't go running to her any faster than anyone else did, at least in version #1.

Page 406 · Location 5948

Rhysand stepped forward, bringing my shred of soul with him, and I found Tamlin staring at me—at us. “For what she gave,” Rhysand said, extending a hand, “we’ll bestow what our predecessors have granted to few before.” He paused. “This makes us even,” he added, and I felt the twinkle of his humor as he opened his hand and let the seed of light fall on me.

Note - Page 406 · Location 5951
Even for what? That implies that Tamlin did some sort of favor for Rhys that needed repayment, but what? Again something that is left up in the air and utterly ignored in light of his eventual retcon.


Page 408 · Location 5979

What I had done to get to this moment, to be standing here … I shoved against the thought again. In a minute, in an hour, in a day, I would think about that, force myself to face it.

Note - Page 409 · Location 5980
Ironic, because she never really does face it.

Page 410 · Location 6011

Tamlin held my face in his hands, leaning close, but then released me and grasped my left arm—my tattooed arm. His brows narrowed as he studied the markings. “Feyre—” “I don’t want to talk about it,” I mumbled. The bargain I had with Rhysand—another small concern compared to the stain on my soul, the pit inside it. But I didn’t doubt I’d see Rhys again soon. Tamlin’s fingers traced the marks of my tattoo. “We’ll find a way out of this,” he murmured, and his hand traveled up my arm to rest on my shoulder. He opened his mouth, and I knew what he would say—the subject he would try to broach.

Note - Page 411 · Location 6016
The Tamlin of ACOMAF would have fucking flipped his shit over this immediately, but he doesn't. He actually gently caresses the tattoo. Curious.  But one book later (for us, maybe only weeks for them) he's an absolute ragemonster that flies off the handle at the drop of a hat.

Page 415 · Location 6077

“Well, good-bye for now,” he said, rolling his neck as if we hadn’t been talking about anything important at all. He bowed at the waist, those wings vanishing entirely, and had begun to fade into the nearest shadow when he went rigid. His eyes locked on mine, wide and wild, and his nostrils flared. Shock—pure shock flashed across his features at whatever he saw on my face, and he stumbled back a step. Actually stumbled. “What is—” I began. He disappeared—simply disappeared, not a shadow in sight—into the crisp air.

Note - Page 415 · Location 6082
Obviously when Rhys realizes Feyre is his mate - I wonder if this was something added after the fact, or after SJM realized she wanted Rhys to be the main LI and was too lazy to go back and rewrite Tamlin as an asshole here....that's what it feels like, in any case, given all her previous evidence.  And I know that SJM allegedly plotted out this bait and switch beforehand, but that doesn't really work in her favor in the sense that it only highlights even more how shoddily she laid the groundwork because there's so much, IN HER OWN WORDS, that can't be explained away.  Like, I'm not denying at all that she may have intended for Rhys to be the good guy, and for Tamlin to go to the dark side, I'm just saying that she did a really bad job at it.

Page 416 · Location 6102

I stepped out of Tamlin’s arms and kissed him softly. Tomorrow—there would be tomorrow, and an eternity, to face what I had done, to face what I shredded into pieces inside myself while Under the Mountain. But for now … for today … “Let’s go home,” I said, and took his hand.

Note - Page 416 · Location 6104
And again, she never ever deals with it.