#anti sarah j mass

[a-book-covered-in-cobwebs]

omg i hate Sarah's writing so much too like she has completely created a new genre and I hate it so much, i genuinely get angry when I see one of her books or people recommending it because im so sick of her books and how popular they are

why does every single fantasy ya series involve mates. please stop

[pinkwhite]

No lie I have no idea what Feyre expected Tamlin to do when they were at UTM, she's mad at him because he didn't "do anything" for her but like what was he supposed to do? Amarantha is literally one of the most powerful creatures in Prythian (mind you she made Rhysand, Rhysand the all mighty powerful High Lord her whore) So like????

[acourtofthought]

This is how sad certain journalists have become in order to get clicks to their articles and how desperate some fans have become when they think they're winning and it gives them the right to send death threats because of what's written by aforementioned journalist (who has absolutely no clout when it comes to Sarah or Bloomsbury).

Fact check: the ring is far from blue (and I don't think anyone believes the other ring is red). Thinking it suggests Az's Siphons is a reach and a half not to mention the journalist called his siphons his "aura".

@starlightjasminsblog provided the following:

I know everyone's screens are different but you're honestly color blind if you think that ring could represent Az's Siphons. Clearly the journalist did not bother to do any actual research or care about authenticity before regurgitating the lies spread in the fandom.

Then:

Azriel is actually not confirmed to have the longest wingspan. Not only is it clear Feyre was just teasing Rhys in ACOMAF but Sarah actually did an interview after ACOMAF where she would not confirm any of them as having the longest wingspan. Therefore using something that's not even true as proof that the next book being long is because of Az's wings rather than Sarah having a lot of plot to work with is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Once again the journalist and many e/riels refuse to bother with actual research.

I think people should feel embarrassed if they took that article as actual proof of something. Some say they're just having fun but having fun isn't shouting "confirmation" and simultaneously telling the other side that they keep winning while Elucien's / Gwynriels have nothing. Fun isn't sending harassing messages to the other side over that article.

If fake articles from a source completely unrelated to Sarah or Bloomsbury mean we have nothing then I guess yeah, we have nothing and we're glad of that. Because it's not something anyone should be gloating over.

[hussyknee]

Since I'm on a Regency kick and have now read several dozen books of varying quality in the genre, I thought maybe I was too hard on Julia Quinn when I read the first Bridgerton book because I had only been reading Georgette Heyer at the time. Tried re-reading it again. Nope. Still utterly execrable absolute bottom-of-the-barrell USAmericans-writing-Brits shite. Clearly written for idiots who hate the "historical" part of historical romance. If anything I was too generous the first time because I enjoyed the sex scenes. The best thing that can be said for that Netflix atrocity is that it perfectly reflects the source material. Kill it. Kill it with fire.

[a-book-covered-in-cobwebs]

exactly like can we please highlight some good smaller authors instead of these same overrated and overhyped authors and their books, like I've read a lot of their books and there's so much better out there it's crazy

Books/Authors I am SICK of as a bookseller

Sarah J Mass ESPECIALLY the ACOTAR series. we have an entire shelf that is JUST that orange paperback and I hate trying to put them on the shelf and the craze has died down but we KEEP GETTING MORE

Colleen Hoover has 2 full shelves which is a FEAT considering how small those books are. the covers are also kinda lame for someone so popular and what I've read is mid

Diary of A Wimpy Kid....I'm worried about the author, is he good???

Vinland Saga the manga. large books, I have seen maybe 3 people buy them and yet they take up a whole shelf...some have been there for years I'm pretty sure...please leave

any series with different authors for each book because how do i shelve this????? how will anyone find this???? vv confusing

most of the politics section. disgusting, i hate politics, especially when I'm just trying to vibe and do my job

James Patterson owns a bookcase in like 3 sections and it's just...exhausting. impossible to help someone find something

Those bigass Beserk books because they're heavy, threaten to break my shelves or my back

Old covers of YA series like Graceling, the original covers, I hate

Cassandra Clare has giant books that all look alike in the same world but different series and it gets confusing

I'm not calling any of these books/authors bad, I haven't read most of them but as someone who stocks the shelves, I take issue with them for different reasons

[thetwistedbeauty]

So there’s some double standards we need to talk about, the WHOLE Inner Circle drinks in every scene we get of them, and understandably Nesta shouldn’t have been drinking as a coping mechanism but for Feyre to go ahead and stage an intervention, kick her out of her apartment, lock her away, and force her to train is not okay. It’s not okay for Cassian to sexualize Nesta when she has been starving herself, when she’s beaten and bruised, I don’t care if they were ‘helping’ her but that’s not how you do it no matter what. You don’t take away a person’s options until all they have is you and Nesta could not have gone back to the Human Lands because Feyre and Cassian wouldn’t have let her so I don’t want that excuse. Nesta shouldn’t have used drinking and sleeping around as a coping mechanism but it was a COPING mechanism. Y’all get so mad when Nesta slut shamed Feyre but when Feyre and Amren did it to Nesta it’s okay??? And let me bring up the fact that her mate and the whole Inner Circle have been alive for 500+ years … so let’s think about some things. Nesta shouldn’t have been mean I can agree with that because she said some rude things, should she have helped in the cabin more? Absolutely! But when the Inner Circle turns around and does the same thing is rude and doesn’t help Nesta in the way that she needs where are you all speaking then? Do you guys not see the double standard that you all hold towards the Inner Circle?

[anne-et]

I see the Twitter thread talking about a literary beef involving Sarah J. Maas with a bunch of other authors:

[ifacotarwasgood]

CHAPTER 4 - page 10/?

original word count: 2843

revised word count: 1521

click for ch 4's full comparison document.

original:

he’d brushed away my knife, any hope of escaping lay in somehow sneaking up on him. With his hearing, I doubted I’d get a chance anytime soon, at least until he believed I was docile. If I tried to attack him or fled before then, he would destroy my family for the sheer enjoyment of it. Then he would find me again. I had no choice but to go. And then, later, I might find an opportunity to slit the beast’s throat. Or at least disable him long enough to flee. As long as the faeries couldn’t find me again, they couldn’t hold me to the Treaty. Even if it made me a cursed oath-breaker. But in going with him, I would be breaking the most important promise I’d ever made. Surely it trumped an ancient treaty that I hadn’t even signed. I loosened my grip on the hilt of my remaining dagger and stared into those green eyes for a long, silent while before I said, “When do we go?” Those lupine features remained fierce—vicious. Any lingering hope I had of fighting died as he moved to the door—no, to the quiver I’d left behind it. He pulled out the ash arrow, sniffed, and snarled at it. With two movements, he snapped it in half and chucked it into the fire behind my sisters before turning back to me. I could smell my doom on his breath as he said, “Now.” Now.

revised:

[nothing to see here - the comparison software spaced it this way because my revision has significantly fewer words!]

[acourtofthought]

In the ACOTAR world, some mating bonds are wrong. But not the ones a Fated Mates author has decided to write a book about. That's what makes them getting a story over others interesting. Epic loves are more exciting to read about than common ones.

Just like in contemporary romance, some relationships are wrong but not the romance of the main couple.

That's the point. Of course some relationships don't work. Divorce, being widowed, abusive relationships, etc, there are many reasons two people don't end up together. But that's not what a romance author is going for, their entire genre is based off the premise of a HEA with a love that is exceedingly rare.

There is no Lucien without Elain and there is no Elain without Lucien. The author didn't just tell us that some bonds aren't well matched, she told us that the bond will trail them both forever, that Elain will always feel a tug to Lucien.

Some bonds aren't matched.

But all feel a tug.

Why would she ever write a line like that, make it fairly well known that both Elain and Lucien will be receiving a POV in the future (remember, Lucien already received a pov in ACOWAR) then decide it makes more sense for her to write a book where two of her main characters are mated but aren't well matched yet will always be drawn to one another? That's not very logical. It also doesn't make sense because Elain would have to be fine without her mate, Lucien would have to be fine without his mate and Azriel would have to be fine knowing the mother didn't think he was worthy of a mate. That's a lot for an author to work around while convincing us they're all still gloriously happy.

I don't think it's romantic for Elain to end up with Az while Lucien is a constant in her head in her book. I don't think it's romantic for Lucien to be with Vassa while Elain is a constant in his head in his book.

The fact being they will always feel a tug to one another trumps the fact that some random less fortunate characters who will either never be introduced, never receive their own book or prefer the same sex but share a bond with the opposite sex received a poorly matched bond.

A Fated Mates author will never decide a broken bond for her (straight) FMC and MMC is more romantic than a bond that in this authors own words makes marriage look insignificant.

Nothing in the text suggests Elain will always feel a tug to Az. It is canon she will feel one to Lucien.

[thetwistedbeauty]

We constantly compare Tamlin and Rhysand? Let’s just agree that they BOTH have done wrong, manipulation, causing some degree of physical and mental harm in a situation, now we can all agree that Rhysand did considerably MORE. Personally fuck both of these men and Feyre, Nesta, and Elain need to run as fast as they can. Also I don’t hate Tamlin and I do think that he has done more then enough for redemption but I don’t excuse his actions, now if some Rhysand and Inner Circle stans did the same all would be right in the world.

[elainsgirl]

I’m already seeing gwynriels point the finger at SJM for tricking them into liking gwynriel and it’s just 😭 They have no one to blame but themselves. There hasn’t been a single romantic interaction between gwyn and az while elain and az have dozens throughout four books. They tricked themselves. This is entirely their own doing and they are still somehow making themselves the victims

Hey anon 🫶

LMFAO WHAT? Gwynriels have gaslit themselves into creating such an elaborate, crackship. No one else.

If you came away from acosf liking whatever gwynriel interactions there were, great. That is normal. Till this day, people still like the idea of Lucien and Feyre. Nesta and Eris. Etc. You are not going to like every single ship Sjm creates. It is also not her job to cater to YOUR specific preferences.

Gwynriel was created due to certain people in this fandom not liking elriels vibe/dynamic. That was it. They saw a single woman having innocent interactions with Az and managed to delude themselves that Sarah J mass - the queen who loves foreshadowing and setting crumbs well in advance- would introduce Azriels “mate” so late in the series. Every single gwynriel theory, point and arguement has been disproven countless times over with the canon text. Gwynriels ignored it and still shipped Gwyn and Az.

No where has Sjm shown gwynriel in a romantic light within acosf or the bonus chapter. Gwyn, canonically speaking, is not even Azriel’s love interest. They have no romantic tones - neither have shown romantic feelings or even basic attraction towards each other. Gwynriels “believe” that their development will come later on but that is choosing to ignore Sjm’s style for writing and foreshadowing relationships.

Nobody is going to believe gwynriels are the victims, all you have to do is a few hours of research and its clear that gwynriels were deluding themselves all along and purposely misconstruing Sjm’s very obvious hints towards elriel. Its all on the internet for anyone to search up. It is quite literally no one elses fault except from gwynriel stans. It is definitely not Sjm’s fault either - she couldn’t have made herself clearer in how she planned the spinoffs to go.

This is what happens when you purposely ignore chunks of the text, misconstrue scenes, use the wrong quotes in the wrong contexts, create fanarts romantacising scenes that were not romantic in the slightest between characters, etc. I fully expect Gwynriels and Eluciens to throw tantrums once elriel is announced and become spiteful (already have) and petty on purpose- but one thing they can’t do is feel “betrayed” by Sjm. She has made everything obvious for us. And it is. Also…let’s be honest. If elriel is endgame, antis lose a lot of credibility when it will come to the fandom.

[acourtofthought]

Who the art was originally created by (sayara-s) is not the debate we're having.

Sayara-s did not create the image for the acotar world. They created the image for their own character of Lanais who they paired with Thanatos (who did not have a love interest).

Within the acotar world, we recognize the art as inspiration SJM used for Elucien, not e/riel. Just as she had inspiration pins for Feyre and Rhys, for Mor and Azriel.

Claiming this is supposed to be Az? How? Because Thanatos has black hair? Does the artwork reflect hair color? No. If anyone is trying to claim a direct connection to Thanatos then it would have to be for the CC series since Sarah named a character Thanatos and gave him black hair.

The acotar world recognizes this as an Elucien pin because Sarah tagged it as such, probably because she saw a long haired, scarred face male holding a girl with flowers everywhere.

Within this fandom the artwork has always been Elucien inspiration. It's wild anyone is trying to call that into question how many years after the fact?

It's fine if somebody wants to create e/riel artwork using the original work as their inspiration but let's not tell lies by saying Sarah ever intended it to be e/riel and let's not pretend you are unaware that it was what the author used for Elucien inspiration.

Since some E/riels have zero media literacy let me tell you where the problem is. We never claimed that this art is of Elain and Lucien. What we know for sure is that very same art was saved by SJM in her old Pinterest board. And I know for sure that she didn't save it for E/riel.

Just to add that this pinterest picture can be used as evidence for Elucien since the couple in the art looks like Elain and Lucien. There were also pictures saved by Sarah for Gwynriel but none for E/riel.

I'll also add that Elucien already had a version of this picture on Instagram by leofoxart. So the artist did copy Elucien. I know that if Gwynriels or Eluciens do something like that there will be a war.

[acourtofquietdreamers]

Reminder that this was said in canon:

"A mating bond can be rejected,"

“There is choice. And sometimes, yes— the bond picks poorly. Sometimes, the bond is nothing more than some ... preordained guesswork at who will provide the strongest offspring. At its basest level, it's perhaps only that. Some natural function, not an indication of true, paired souls." A smile at me—at the rareness, perhaps, of what we had.”

And this:

“Many mated pairs will try to make it work, believing the Cauldron selected them for a reason. Only years later will they realize that perhaps the pairing was not ideal in spirit."

Just being mates is not enough. It doesn’t guarantee compatibility. It doesn’t mean they are soulmates. It doesn’t equal true love. What Feysand has is rare and not all mated pairs have what they have.

Sarah J. Mass created this narrative and it is logical for the reader to question mated pairs, especially a pair like E/ucien that caused this conversation in ACOWAR to come up. Antis may want to go read another “fated mates author” if they can’t accept the fact that mates do not equal endgame in the ACOTAR universe.

[thousandfireworks]

Authors whose books you have to avoid because they are problematic.

Abigail Hing Wen.

Alex Aster.

Alice Hoffman.

Alice Oseman.

Alison Win Scotch. ‘Terrorism is never acceptable. Not in Israel.��

Allie Sarah.

Amber Kelly.

Amy Harmon.

Annabelle Monaghan.

Anna Akana.

Aurora Parker.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

Brandon Sanderson. Islamophobic.

Carissa Broadbent. Said that hamas is doing violence against innocence.

Chloe Walsh. Siding with Israel in the name of humanity.

Christina Lauren. Believe that Israel is the victim. A racist, also Islamophobic.

Colleen Hoover.

Cora Reilly. Travel to Israel despite criticism.

Danielle Bernstein. Islamophobic.

Danielle Lori.

Deke Moulton. Said hamas is terrorist.

Dian Purnomo.

Eliza Chan.

Elle Kennedy.

Elyssa Friedland.

Emily Henry.

Emily Mclntire.

Emily St. J. Mandel. Admiring Israel.

Gabrielle Zevin. Wrote a book about anti-Palestine. Mentioned Israel multiple times without context on his book.

Gregory Carlos. Israeli author. A zionist.

Hannah Whitten.

Hazel Hayes. Reposted a post about October 7th.

Heidi Shertok.

Jamie McGuire.

Jay Shetty. ‘Violence is happening in Israel.’

Jean Meltzer.

Jeffery Archer. Wrote a book with a mc Israel operative (mossad) in a positive and anti terrorist light.

Jennifer Hartman. Liked a post about pro-Israel.

Jen Calonita.

Jessa Hastings.

Jill Santopolo. Said that Israel has right to exist and fight back.

John Green.

Jojo Moyes.

J. Elle.

J. K. Rowling. Support genocide. Racist. Islamophobic.

Kate Canterbery.

Kate Stewart.

Katherine Howe.

Katherine Locke.

Kristin Hannah. Support Israel. Shared a donation link.

Laini Taylor.

Laura Thalassa. Islamophobic.

Lauren Wise. Cussed that Palestinian supporters would be raped in front of children.

Lea Geller. Thanked people who supports Israel.

Leigh Dragoon. Islamaphobic and anti Asian racist rants on Twitter and threads

Leigh Stein.

Lilian Harris. A racist. Blocking people who educates about colonialism in Palestine and call them disgusting.

Lisa Barr. A daughter of Holocaust survivor. Support Israel.

Lisa Kennedy Montgomery.

Lisa Steinke.

Liz Fenton.

Lynn Painter. Afraid of getting cancelled as a pro-Palestine and posted a template afterwards.

L. J. Shen. Her husband joins idf (Israel army).

Mariana Zapata.

Marie Lu.

Marissa Meyer.

Melissa de la Cruz.

Michelle Cohen Corasanti.

Michelle Hodkin. Spread false rumors about arab-hamas. Islamophobic.

Mitch Albom. ‘We shouldn't blame Israel for surviving attacks or defending against them.’

Monica Murphy. Siding with Israel.

Naomi Klein.

Navah Wolfe.

Neil Gaiman. Suggested Palestinians unite with Israel and become citizens.

Nicholas Sparks.

Nic Stone. Talked nonsense that children in Palestinian refugee camp are training to be martyrs for Allah because they felt it was their call in life.

Nyla K.

Olivia Wildenstein. Blocking people who disagree with Israel wrongdoing.

Pamela Becker.

Penelope Douglas.

Pierce Brown.

Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Rebecca G. Martinez.

Rebecca Yarros. ‘I despise violence’ her opinion about what's happening in Gaza. Blocking people who calls her a zionist.

Rena Rossner.

Renee Ahdieh.

Rick Riordan.

Rina Kent.

Rivka (noctem.novelle).

Rochelle Weinstein.

Romina Garber. ‘These terrorist attacks do nothing to improve the lives of Palestinians people.’

Roshani Chokshi. Encourage people to donate to Israel.

Samantha Greene Woodruff.

Sarah J. Mass. Her book contained ideology of zionism.

Stephanie Garber. Promoting books by zionist author (Sarah J. Mass)

Skye Warren.

Sonali Dev.

Talia Carner.

Tarryn Fisher. Said ‘there was terrorist attack in Israel.’

Taylor Jenkins Reid. Posted a video about genocide.

Tere Liye. Rumoured to have ghoswriters to write his books and never give credit to them.

Tillie Cole.

Tracy Deon.

Trinity Traveler (Ade Perucha Hutagaol). Rumour to wrote book about handsome Israelis.

T. J. Klune.

Uri Kurlianchik.

Veronica Roth.

Victoria Aveyard. ‘Israel has the right to exist.’ quote from her about the issue.

V. E. Schwab. Shared a donation link and video about Israel.

Yuval Noah. ‘Israel has the right to do anything to defend themselves.’

Zibby Owens.

[darklinaforever]

“Sarah J Mass continues the trend where abusive relationships are portrayed as completely acceptable.”

Um... Feysand is abusive ? Is Elriel abusive ? Nessian is abusive ? Rowaelin is abusive ? Manorian is abusive ? I... WTF ?!

Apparently, from what I know, people are saying that Feysand is abusive starting in book 4, when... no ? Yes, it sucks that Rhysand hid the pregnancy problem from Feyre, but you know what stress can do to an already stressed pregnant woman ? A miscarriage. And clearly, even if Rhysand wasn't perfect on this one, the risk and fear it provoked in him made sense. Making a mistake in a healthy relationship isn't the end of the world, especially with such a complicated situation, essentially dead end. The purpose of this plot specifically being Nesta's rescue for her relationship with Feyre. Maybe SJM didn't handle the scenario very well, but that's okay in itself. Especially since Rhysand planned to talk to Feyre about it at one point or another. He wasn't planning on hiding it from her until the birth or never telling her ! What would have really been toxic is... oh I don't know, absolutely wanting to risk having your son at the risk of Feyre's life and the baby no matter what by hiding it from her ?! (And let me have a doubt, but Rhysand's life was just as threatened as Feyre... If one dies, so does the other. No ?!) Also, it's a fantasy universe... I mean, a mistake in a couple of two immortal Fae essentially caused by the fear of the death of your partner and your baby... Uh, I think we can forgive, right ? This is nothing compared to the whole relationship Feyre had with Tamlin !

I've literally seen people say that if Feyre had died at the end of the book, it would have confirmed that Rhysand was toxic / abusif, but in what way ? I remind you that Feyre knew about it at that time and that no matter if she would have known from the start, there was no solution for Feyre's case ! It was literally a no-win situation ! Rhysand would have been abusive of what ? For getting her pregnant ? Knowing that Feyre wanted this baby and was the one who decided to have one ? Also, these people were even talking about the fact that Rhysand would probably have blamed himself for Feyre's death but believed that he had done the moral and right thing... Like WTF ? Did these people even forget that Rhysand would have died with Feyre if she was fucking dead ?! They don't even make the effort to pretend they know what they're talking about ! Seriously, the reasoning of the antis is slammed to the ground.

Rhysand essentially wanted to avoid any risk of unnecessary stress to Feyre (because once again it's fucking dangerous) in the sense that he hoped to find a solution to save her before telling her about the problem. And then, even if he didn't tell her right away after understanding that no, there was no solution, I would like to see you there telling the love of your life that she is inevitably going to die during delivery with the baby, when she was so happy and impatient to have this child and start this new chapter of your life together ?!

Oh, and apparently the protective shield was toxic... You know, that same shield, brought in with the new threat emanating from the mortal queens, Beron's schemes and fucking Koshei... (Knowing that Rhys literally said in book 2 that he would be terrified to see his soulmate pregnant while they were surrounded by enemies, and the idea of ​​what he would be capable of doing if Feyre was expecting a child and that she was threatened or harmed. Well I don't even see how this shield thing would shock the reader or be out of character for Rhysand...) This same protective shield that Feyre accepted despite gently making fun of it with Cassian, and that Rhysand then lowered so that she could be in contact with their family members whenever they wanted and / or whenever the moment presented itself once they were able to fully master it. So basically she could still touch her family / people she wanted... (Especially since Feyre may have a shield on her, but she is not kept locked up. She is free to go out and do what she wants. At one point, Feyre even says that she should accompany Nesta, Casian and Azriel into danger, after Rhysand says the same thing, then Rhysand corrects it by saying that they should accompany them both. Not that she shouldn't go. He's not fucking controlling her !) The real toxicity would have been keeping the shield on under all circumstances despite the conversation Feyre and Cassian had about it the first time he was addressed.

[acourtofthought]

The argument of choice when it comes to this series is such a silly one.

What anti's are saying is that Feyre chose to be drawn to the guy who forced her to drink wine and dance seductively against her will while UTM.

Of course we all eventually learned Rhys wasn't the bad guy he was pretending to be but Feyre wanted him even then because of the mating bond she didn't yet know about. She didn't pick Rhys without influence, she picked Rhys because she was being led by an unknown force that later revealed itself as their bond. That's not to say she didn't also fall in love with him (as SJM said, "or is is it both?") but I guarantee neither Rhys or Feyre would have ever thought twice about the other had Fate not linked them. He would have never gone searching for her had he not suspected what she was, had he not dreamed of her and she would have never wanted the guy who did what he did to her UTM while engaged to a guy she was in love with if the bond wasn't weaving it's unknown hold over her.

When it comes to Nesta and Cassian:

There was no valid reason for Nesta to want the guy who was a different species (a species she hated considering she didn't even want her own newly turned fae sister in their home) and who insulted her upon their first meeting.

Did Nesta choose Cassian for herself? Did she choose to want him in those first moments? Or was it some greater force at work?

Just because Nesta and Feyre didn't have a name to put to what they were feeling doesn't change that they never stood a chance. The bond drove the emotions for Cassian and Rhys right from the start, when Cassian and Rhys's initial actions towards them were not anything a normal character looking for love would want for themselves.

They fell in love because they realized what good, decent people Rhys and Cassian were but they wanted them early on (even despite their attempts to deny it) because of the bond. They never had a choice because the bond was always going to force their hand, driving their curiosity until they finally saw why the guys were worth loving.

The setup for Elain and Lucien is no different except for their individual circumstances. She was in love with and engaged to a human and extremely attached to her humanity so letting go of all that is going to take her longer than it did Feyre and Nesta who only ever loved a fae (as neither Feyre or Nesta loved Issac or Tomas). And Elain may have experienced a more intense influx of the emotions caused by the mating bond since hers immediately snapped (whereas her sisters was more of simmer until theirs was accepted), something that may have caused her to feel even more confusion while in love with Graysen, but it doesn't change that she is drawn to someone she didn't choose to be drawn too. Just like Feyre and Nesta didn't choose to be drawn to Rhys and Cassian, just as Rhys and Cassian didn't choose to be drawn to two humans who it appeared wanted nothing to do with them.

The bond has always been the thing to force the proximity of these characters, to place them in one another's paths and after a time they fall in love. They don't fall in love because of the bond, they get to know one another because of the bond. Maybe the bond does take away their choice to some extent but it did for every single sister and doesn't biology in general?

There are many guys I should have wanted to be with in my life because they would have probably ended up treating me better than those I chose to date but I can't help who I was drawn to. I didn't consciously decide "I want to be attracted to him", I simply was and a large part of that is due to biology. The bond is the Mothers version of biology, "I want you to pay attention to this person because of reasons XYZ." The Mother ended up being right with the best male for these sisters so far so why would Elain, being so beloved by the Cauldron, be any different? Hell, even Rhys's parents resulted in Rhys so shouldn't we be glad they followed through with their bond despite Rhys's father having gone about his marriage in all the wrong way? Even if their union was only meant to produce Rhys, isn't the fact that he ended up being the one who saved their entire word from crumbling in on itself by sacrificing himself during the war worth more than a single couple having a picture perfect marriage?

In Sarah's books, Fated Mates are about romance but they're also about something bigger, achieving a greater destiny because of the union of two characters.

Because of their bond, Rowan was able to help Aelin become who she was destined to be.

Because of their bond, Rhys was able to help Feyre become who she was destined to be.

Because of their bond, Cassian was able to help Nesta become who she was destined to be.

(are we noticing a trend?)

Because of their bond it will be Lucien who helps Elain became who she is destined to be.

It's fine if people dislike Fated Mates as a trope but to say Nesta and Feyre had more choice is a joke since they never truly had a choice, fate was always pulling the strings. They may have had the illusion of choice until their illusion bubble popped and the reason they were always drawn to their mate was revealed but that's not actually true choice.

When Elain and Lucien eventually choose one another in their book, they will be the first couple we've seen accept their bond without being confused as to why they both wanted the other from the start. They will have had the time and space to sort through everything they're feeling and make a fully informed decision rather than being blindsided the way Feyre was, where it wasn't until after she developed feelings for Rhys that she said "so this is why I wanted you even then." Elain and Lucien's feelings will develop just as organically as the sisters but they'll also understand that Fate was a guiding hand the entire time whereas her sisters remained in the dark, tricking them into the thinking they had more agency than they actually did.

Again, the illusion of choice is not actually true choice so Elain is in a better position than Nesta and Feyre were.

I don't care about choice. I care about an epic story being driven by the all knowing Mother who felt Lucien MF-ing Spell Cleaver (a favorite of the author) would be the right one for Elain rather than what a random reader thinks a traumatized 24 year old girl thinks she wants for herself before her book even starts 🤷

Something I've been mulling over recently is the idea of the mating bond removing Elain’s agency. People are always saying, "Elain should get a choice, too." Which, as a blanket statement, sure. Setting aside that she's a character, of course, for this premise.

But when is falling in love the "normal way" or without a mating bond ever really a choice, either?

When has romance ever been that the character chooses who they fall in love with? Sure, their choice is to be with them via the author, but how is that somehow less objectionable?

Neither falling in love nor being gifted a mating bond is a choice, and treating them like they're mutually exclusive is just a false dichotomy. Have we all forgotten the iconic Amy March line of "Love isn't something that just happens to a person." ? Because she ended up with Laurie, someone she'd loved her whole life and didn't stay with the person she "chose" despite believing that people have "some say in the matter" about who they love. She was wrong. Love is something that just happens to a person.

So, what choice should Elain be getting that is somehow robbed of her? Sure, Elain should be able to "choose who she wants to be with" but how is love different from the mating bond in regards to something that just happens to a character without their input? Love is not a choice, either. Would Nesta and Feyre then also be robbed of that "choice" twice over because they both have mates and fell in love with them?

No, right? Falling in love is not a choice but part of a character's journey. So why is it so objectionable when people want Elain and Lucien together when neither falling in love nor having a mating bond is something any character in this universe has a "choice" in?