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* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Some people have this reaction to the series, citing that the Light side, the supposed good guys of the setting are composed predominantly of mages who are petty, corrupt and hardly seem to care about anything that doesn't directly affect them. The Senior Council itself has virtually no checks on its power and can do just about anything they want, up to and including sentencing Verus to death on trumped-up charges. Verus himself usually gets screwed over some way, mostly by the Light side, and his victories tend to have little impact in the long run.
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* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Some people have this reaction to the series, citing that the Light side, the supposed good guys of the setting are composed predominantly of mages who are petty, corrupt and hardly seem to care about anything that doesn't directly affect them. The Senior Council itself has virtually no checks on its power and can do just about anything they want, up to and including sentencing Verus to death on trumped-up charges. Then there's the treatment of Verus himself himself; he gets put through the ringer in every book and, though he usually gets screwed over some way, mostly by wins in the Light side, and end, his victories tend to have little impact ultimately don't count for much in the long run.big picture. It also doesn't matter how hard he tries to prove himself, the vast majority of the Light side view him at best with suspicion or outright hostility for his previous association with Dark Mages. In fact, many high-ranking Light Mages go out of their way to make life hell for Verus and a number of "friends" that he makes on that side end up turning on him because apparently following the orders of the Council trumps any sense of camaraderie they have with him, even when it's painfully obvious that those orders are the result of personal vendettas with absolutely no reasons behind them. And when he rightly objects, they act like ''he's'' the one being unreasonable.
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* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Some people have this reaction to the series, citing that the Light side, the supposed good guys of the setting are composed predominantly of mages who are petty, corrupt and hardly seem to care about anything that doesn't directly affect them. The Senior Council itself has virtually no checks on its power and can do just about anything they want, up to and including sentencing Verus to death on trumped-up charges. Verus himself usually gets screwed over some way, mostly by the Light side, and his victories tend to have little impact in the long run.
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** Also, TheMonkeysPaw. In a series that uses NothingIsScarier a lot as it is, the way it is described is more than just chilling. And of course there's the fact that, at [[EldritchAbomination the]] [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm end of]] ''[[FateWorseThanDeath Cursed]]'', it inexplicably appears back in Alex' shop.
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** Also, TheMonkeysPaw.Literature/TheMonkeysPaw. In a series that uses NothingIsScarier a lot as it is, the way it is described is more than just chilling. And of course there's the fact that, at [[EldritchAbomination the]] [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm end of]] ''[[FateWorseThanDeath Cursed]]'', it inexplicably appears back in Alex' shop.
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** This is addressed in Ask Luna #64 on the author's website. Luna answers the question like so: "Think about it. Crystal is (was) a Light mage. So what she knew about Alex at the time is what all the other Light mages ‘knew’ about Alex. First, he was the (willing) ex-apprentice of Richard, second, he didn’t want to join the Council, and third, he’d been involved in the suspicious disappearances of not one but two Light mages, Griff and Belthas. Put that together, and what do you get? You get something between 'shady mercenary type' and 'assassin'. That was who Crystal thought she was hiring."
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** This is addressed in Ask Luna #64 on the author's website. Luna answers the question like so: "Think about it. Crystal is (was) a Light mage. So what she knew about Alex at the time is what all the other Light mages ‘knew’ about Alex. First, he was the (willing) ex-apprentice of Richard, second, he didn’t want to join the Council, and third, he’d been involved in the suspicious disappearances of not one but two Light mages, Griff [[spoiler:Griff and Belthas.Belthas]]. Put that together, and what do you get? You get something between 'shady mercenary type' and 'assassin'. That was who Crystal thought she was hiring."
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**This is addressed in Ask Luna #64 on the author's website. Luna answers the question like so: "Think about it. Crystal is (was) a Light mage. So what she knew about Alex at the time is what all the other Light mages ‘knew’ about Alex. First, he was the (willing) ex-apprentice of Richard, second, he didn’t want to join the Council, and third, he’d been involved in the suspicious disappearances of not one but two Light mages, Griff and Belthas. Put that together, and what do you get? You get something between 'shady mercenary type' and 'assassin'. That was who Crystal thought she was hiring."
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*** Made simultaneously better and worse with the events of ''Bound''. Better because we find out that [[spoiler:It's not some sort of EldritchAbomination but simply a higher order bound Jinn who really hates humans.]] Worse because [[spoiler:Anne is now bound to something similar and we all know what happened in ''Cursed'']].
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* OneSceneWonder: [[spoiler: Richard Drakh, Alex's old EvilMentor, makes a brief yet chilling appearance in Hidden.]]
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** What Zilean and Lightbringer, the Crusaders' black ops men [[ColdBloodedTorture did]] to [[spoiler:Anne]] in ''Bound''.
** The ''dama'', servant constructs Richard keeps at his mansion. They look human. [[UncannyValley Mostly]]. But not only that, it also raises the question of a) how dama are made and b) what happened to Richard's original group of servants, because they're [[NothingIsScarier nowhere to be found]].
* OneSceneWonder: [[spoiler: Richard Drakh, Alex's old EvilMentor, makes a brief yet chilling appearance in Hidden.]]]] Even after he becomes a prominent part of the plot, he rarely appears in the flesh but whenever he does, it still has a huge impact.
** The ''dama'', servant constructs Richard keeps at his mansion. They look human. [[UncannyValley Mostly]]. But not only that, it also raises the question of a) how dama are made and b) what happened to Richard's original group of servants, because they're [[NothingIsScarier nowhere to be found]].
* OneSceneWonder: [[spoiler: Richard Drakh, Alex's old EvilMentor, makes a brief yet chilling appearance in Hidden.
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* TheUntwist: The {{Foreshadowing}} for [[spoiler:Rachel having Harvested Shireen]] was just a bit too obvious in ''Cursed''. Readers who already figured it out were a little bored with the "big reveal" in ''Chosen''.
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* TheUntwist: The {{Foreshadowing}} for [[spoiler:Rachel having Harvested Shireen]] was just a bit too obvious in ''Cursed''. Readers who already figured it out were a little bored with the "big reveal" in ''Chosen''.''Chosen''.
** Also the reveal of Archon's identity in ''Bound''. [[spoiler:It was Richard all along]].
** Also the reveal of Archon's identity in ''Bound''. [[spoiler:It was Richard all along]].
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* HateSink: There is absolutely no redeeming quality to Levistus and he represents just about everything Alex means when he says something negative against the council. In ''Veiled'' we see more of his mindset which [[spoiler: combined with what he did to Leo]] only makes him even more of a disgusting excuse for a human being.
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* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:''Veiled''. Alex is now a full Keeper auxiliary and White Rose is destroyed, but the latter has put Alex irrevocably on Levistus' shit list and helped Richard advance his plan. Also, demand for what White Rose was offering is still there and someone might take up their niche in the future.]]
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** [[EvilSorcerer Vitus Aubuchon]], an [[EvilOldFolks old mage]] and the heir of the Aubuchon family, has survived centuries by using dark magic to [[ImmortalityImmorality harvest the blood of victims to preserve his own life. Vitus has preyed [[WouldHurtAChild primarily on children]], abducting them into his ancestral home and [[SlashedThroat cutting their throats]] to get to their blood before storing their bones like trophies. In the present, Vitus has realized the magic is no longer working for him as it once did, and instead switches to abducting magic apprentices for their blood with one such disappearance prompting the attention of Alex and his friends. When they make their way into Vitus's home, Vitus promptly attempts to slaughter everyone inside.
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** [[EvilSorcerer Vitus Aubuchon]], an [[EvilOldFolks old mage]] and the heir of the Aubuchon family, has survived centuries by using dark magic to [[ImmortalityImmorality harvest the blood of victims to preserve his own life.life]]. Vitus has preyed [[WouldHurtAChild primarily on children]], abducting them into his ancestral home and [[SlashedThroat cutting their throats]] to get to their blood before storing their bones like trophies. In the present, Vitus has realized the magic is no longer working for him as it once did, and instead switches to abducting magic apprentices for their blood with one such disappearance prompting the attention of Alex and his friends. When they make their way into Vitus's home, Vitus promptly attempts to slaughter everyone inside.
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** Vihaela is the true leader of the White Rose organization, a series of mage-run brothels. Vihaela has women and children abducted to serve as prostitutes with many of them having [[MindRape their minds forcibly altered] to make them more docile. Others who resemble celebrities are physically altered and then mentally forced to service any fantasy of the client. Vihaela also runs the brothels on a "points" system, with whoever fails a task or displeases a client obtaining a point. At the end of the month, the one with the most points is sent to Vihaela's laboratory and never returns. Upon being discovered, Vihaela [[DirtyCoward promptly betrays her associates]] and sacrifices an innocent woman made to look like her in order to escape.
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** Vihaela is the true leader of the White Rose organization, a series of mage-run brothels. Vihaela has women and children abducted to serve as prostitutes with many of them having [[MindRape their minds forcibly altered] altered]] to make them more docile. Others who resemble celebrities are physically altered and then mentally forced to service any fantasy of the client. Vihaela also runs the brothels on a "points" system, with whoever fails a task or displeases a client obtaining a point. At the end of the month, the one with the most points is sent to Vihaela's laboratory and never returns. Upon being discovered, Vihaela [[DirtyCoward promptly betrays her associates]] and sacrifices an innocent woman made to look like her in order to escape.
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* CompleteMonster:
** [[EvilSorcerer Vitus Aubuchon]], an [[EvilOldFolks old mage]] and the heir of the Aubuchon family, has survived centuries by using dark magic to [[ImmortalityImmorality harvest the blood of victims to preserve his own life. Vitus has preyed [[WouldHurtAChild primarily on children]], abducting them into his ancestral home and [[SlashedThroat cutting their throats]] to get to their blood before storing their bones like trophies. In the present, Vitus has realized the magic is no longer working for him as it once did, and instead switches to abducting magic apprentices for their blood with one such disappearance prompting the attention of Alex and his friends. When they make their way into Vitus's home, Vitus promptly attempts to slaughter everyone inside.
** Vihaela is the true leader of the White Rose organization, a series of mage-run brothels. Vihaela has women and children abducted to serve as prostitutes with many of them having [[MindRape their minds forcibly altered] to make them more docile. Others who resemble celebrities are physically altered and then mentally forced to service any fantasy of the client. Vihaela also runs the brothels on a "points" system, with whoever fails a task or displeases a client obtaining a point. At the end of the month, the one with the most points is sent to Vihaela's laboratory and never returns. Upon being discovered, Vihaela [[DirtyCoward promptly betrays her associates]] and sacrifices an innocent woman made to look like her in order to escape.
** [[EvilSorcerer Vitus Aubuchon]], an [[EvilOldFolks old mage]] and the heir of the Aubuchon family, has survived centuries by using dark magic to [[ImmortalityImmorality harvest the blood of victims to preserve his own life. Vitus has preyed [[WouldHurtAChild primarily on children]], abducting them into his ancestral home and [[SlashedThroat cutting their throats]] to get to their blood before storing their bones like trophies. In the present, Vitus has realized the magic is no longer working for him as it once did, and instead switches to abducting magic apprentices for their blood with one such disappearance prompting the attention of Alex and his friends. When they make their way into Vitus's home, Vitus promptly attempts to slaughter everyone inside.
** Vihaela is the true leader of the White Rose organization, a series of mage-run brothels. Vihaela has women and children abducted to serve as prostitutes with many of them having [[MindRape their minds forcibly altered] to make them more docile. Others who resemble celebrities are physically altered and then mentally forced to service any fantasy of the client. Vihaela also runs the brothels on a "points" system, with whoever fails a task or displeases a client obtaining a point. At the end of the month, the one with the most points is sent to Vihaela's laboratory and never returns. Upon being discovered, Vihaela [[DirtyCoward promptly betrays her associates]] and sacrifices an innocent woman made to look like her in order to escape.
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* CompleteMonster: Vihaela. A MadScientist Mage who ran the slave brothel White Rose, a place that used mind-raped women and little children as forced whores. According to the few who managed to escape that awful place she ran it on a points system, each slave would earn a point every time they displeased a client, and at the end of every month the slave with the most points would be called into Vihaela's lab. They never came back...
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potential misuse.
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* EnsembleDarkhorse: Cinder. While he is definitely ruthless, he's still more sympathetic than most of the council, [[NobleDemon plays nice with Alex, whether they're fighting together or not]] and [[AvertedTrope averts]] the DumbMuscle cliche he seems to be. He also gives a very fitting HannibalLecture/pep talk to Alex right before the climax of ''Cursed''.
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* EnsembleDarkhorse: Cinder. While he is definitely ruthless, he's still more sympathetic than most of the council, [[NobleDemon plays nice with Alex, whether they're fighting together or not]] and [[AvertedTrope averts]] the DumbMuscle cliche he seems to be. He also gives a very fitting HannibalLecture/pep pep talk to Alex right before the climax of ''Cursed''.
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* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:''Veiled''. Alex is now a full Keeper auxiliary and White Rose is destroyed, but the latter has put Alex irrevocably on Levistus' shit list and helped Richard advance his plan. Also, demand for what White Rose was offering is still there and someone might take up their niche in the future.]]
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**** [[spoiler:Alternatively, the little girl was just in the middle of being re-programmed into someone's personal slave and answering yes to her question would have made her their slave.]] Pick your poison as to which one is worse.
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* CompleteMonster: Vihaela. A MadScientist Mage who ran the slave brothel White Rose, a place that used mind-raped women and little children as forced whores. According to the few who managed to escape that awful place she ran it on a points system, each slave would earn a point every time they displeased a client, and at the end of every month the slave with the most points would be called into Vihaela's lab. They never came back...
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* HateSink: There is absolutely no redeeming quality to Levistus and he represents just about everything Alex means when he says something negative against the council.
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* HateSink: There is absolutely no redeeming quality to Levistus and he represents just about everything Alex means when he says something negative against the council. In ''Veiled'' we see more of his mindset which [[spoiler: combined with what he did to Leo]] only makes him even more of a disgusting excuse for a human being.
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** Every. Single. Thing about White Rose. [[spoiler: Caldera describes it as a brothel for mages who want things they can't get anywhere else. Some of it is what you'd expect, children and such which is horrible enough, but what is arguably even more horrific is what only they can offer; if a client wants a particular woman, i.e a pop star that they are attracted to, the "Fleshcrafters" at White Rose will use magic to alter a slave into a physical copy of the woman in question, and then the Mind Mages will break her mind and reshape it until she believes that she IS that woman and as a bonus they'll make her completely into that client's particular fetishes.]]
*** When Alex and Slate [[spoiler: enter one room inside White Rose while looking for Vihaela they find themselves in what looks like a little girl's room; pink, filled with stuffed animals and toys, and a nine year old girl in a nightgown with completely dead eyes who asks "Are you my daddy?" Alex notes that her futures are as solid as a construct's; she has had her free will abused out of her and is incapable of doing anything but reacting to what they tell her to do.]] Slate himself, a battle-hardened Death Mage and Keeper, is so horrified that Alex has to snap him out of staring mutely.
*** When Alex and Slate [[spoiler: enter one room inside White Rose while looking for Vihaela they find themselves in what looks like a little girl's room; pink, filled with stuffed animals and toys, and a nine year old girl in a nightgown with completely dead eyes who asks "Are you my daddy?" Alex notes that her futures are as solid as a construct's; she has had her free will abused out of her and is incapable of doing anything but reacting to what they tell her to do.]] Slate himself, a battle-hardened Death Mage and Keeper, is so horrified that Alex has to snap him out of staring mutely.
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* FridgeLogic: It is never actually explained why Crystal approached Alex for help with security in the beginning of ''Taken''. [[spoiler:Given that she's the one kidnapping the apprentices, having the renowned secret-solver who wants to keep adepts and apprentices safe working security would have been very much detrimental to her plan.]]
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* EnsembleDarkhorse: Cinder. While he is definitely ruthless, he's still more sympathetic than most of the council, [[NobleDemon plays nice with Alex, whether they're fighting together or not]] and {{averts}} the DumbMuscle cliche he seems to be. He also gives a very fitting HannibalLecture/pep talk to Alex right before the climax of ''Cursed''.
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* EnsembleDarkhorse: Cinder. While he is definitely ruthless, he's still more sympathetic than most of the council, [[NobleDemon plays nice with Alex, whether they're fighting together or not]] and {{averts}} [[AvertedTrope averts]] the DumbMuscle cliche he seems to be. He also gives a very fitting HannibalLecture/pep talk to Alex right before the climax of ''Cursed''.
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* EnsembleDarkhorse: Cinder. While he is definitely ruthless, he's still more sympathetic than most of the council, [[NobleDemon plays nice with Alex, whether they're fighting together or not]] and {{averts}} the DumbMuscle cliche he seems to be. He also gives a very fitting HannibalLecture/pep talk to Alex right before the climax of ''Cursed''.
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* FridgeBrilliance: Rachel's mage name is Deleo, which can be considered as Latin for "I delete", referring either to her disintegration spells or to the fact that she wants to erase her past and all the bad things she's done.
* HateSink: There is absolutely no redeeming quality to Levistus and he represents just about everything Alex means when he says something negative against the council.
* HateSink: There is absolutely no redeeming quality to Levistus and he represents just about everything Alex means when he says something negative against the council.
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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Will Traviss. While his motivation is perfectly [[YouKilledMyFather justified]] and his ''stated'' goal is very likable, his one-track-mind, [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]], SoreLoser-attitude and absolute unwillingness to acknowledge the fact that [[spoiler:leading his friends to their death for his own revenge]] was his own fault make it very hard to feel sorry for him when [[spoiler:Alex kills him]].
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** Also, TheMonkeysPaw. In a series that uses NothingIsScarier a lot as it is, the way it is described is more than just chilling. And of course there's the fact that, at [[EldritchAbomination the]] [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm end of]] ''[[FateWorseThanDeath Cursed]]'', it inexplicably appears back in Alex' shop.
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* ParanoiaFuel: [[spoiler:Whatever Richard found in the dimension he went to, it allows him to access and leave Shadow Realms at will, which should ''not'' be possible. Meaning, he can appear anywhere he pleases, anytime.]]
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* TookALevelInJerkass: Anne and Sonder starting with the Aftermath of ''Chosen''. Anne's reaction is {{justified}} because [[spoiler: it unpleasantly reminded her of her own DarkAndTroubledPast]]. Sonder's reaction... not so much. Especially when Alex points out the [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]] of it by pointing out that Sonder apparently was fine with Alex killing people when it was Sonder's own life on the line.
** To a lesser extent, Alex himself, starting with the middle of ''Chosen'' and apparently ending with [[spoiler: the end of ''Hidden'']]. His interactions with people who stood by his side for the last three books seems very abrasive. He got better, though.
** To a lesser extent, Alex himself, starting with the middle of ''Chosen'' and apparently ending with [[spoiler: the end of ''Hidden'']]. His interactions with people who stood by his side for the last three books seems very abrasive. He got better, though.
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* TookALevelInJerkass: Anne and Sonder starting with the Aftermath of ''Chosen''. Anne's reaction is {{justified}} because OneSceneWonder: [[spoiler: it unpleasantly reminded her of her own DarkAndTroubledPast]]. Sonder's reaction... not so much. Especially when Alex points out the [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]] of it by pointing out that Sonder apparently was fine with Alex killing people when it was Sonder's own life on the line.
** ToRichard Drakh, Alex's old EvilMentor, makes a lesser extent, Alex himself, starting with the middle of ''Chosen'' and apparently ending with [[spoiler: the end of ''Hidden'']]. His interactions with people who stood by his side for the last three books seems very abrasive. He got better, though.brief yet chilling appearance in Hidden.]]
** To
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* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: While pathwalking through Morden's mansion, Alex finds a way to ''overrun the landscape with mutated beavers''. This is never elaborated on in any way or even mentioned again afterwards.
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* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: While pathwalking through Morden's mansion, Alex finds a way to ''overrun the landscape with mutated beavers''.giant intelligent badgers''. This is never elaborated on in any way or even mentioned again afterwards.
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* CrackIsCheaper: When the Audiobook for Fated came out, the CD-Version cost 80 Euros.
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* CrackIsCheaper: When BigLippedAlligatorMoment: While pathwalking through Morden's mansion, Alex finds a way to ''overrun the Audiobook for Fated came out, the CD-Version cost 80 Euros.landscape with mutated beavers''. This is never elaborated on in any way or even mentioned again afterwards.
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* CrackIsCheaper: When the Audiobook for Fated came out, the CD-Version cost 80 Euros.
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* NightmareFuel: The entirety of Elsewhere. Almost every time Alex goes there, he finds himself in some kind of horrible danger. The fact that Alex specifically mentions that [[NothingIsScarier nobody is sure what exactly it is and how it works]] makes it even scarier, though no less fascinating for that.
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** To a lesser extent, Alex himself, starting with the middle of ''Chosen'' and apparently ending with [[spoiler: the end of ''Hidden'']]. His interactions with people who stood by his side for the last three books seems very abrasive. HeGotBetter, though.
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** To a lesser extent, Alex himself, starting with the middle of ''Chosen'' and apparently ending with [[spoiler: the end of ''Hidden'']]. His interactions with people who stood by his side for the last three books seems very abrasive. HeGotBetter, He got better, though.
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* TookALevelInJerkass: Anne and Sonder starting with the Aftermath of ''Chosen''. Anne's reaction is {{justified}} because [[spoiler: it unpleasantly reminded her of her own DarkAndTroubledPast]]. Sonder's reaction... not so much. Especially when Alex points out the [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]] of it by pointing out that Sonder apparently was fine with Alex killing people when it was Sonder's own life on the line.
** To a lesser extent, Alex himself, starting with the middle of ''Chosen'' and apparently ending with [[spoiler: the end of ''Hidden'']]. His interactions with people who stood by his side for the last three books seems very abrasive. HeGotBetter, though.
* TheUntwist: The {{Foreshadowing}} for [[spoiler:Rachel having Harvested Shireen]] was just a bit too obvious in ''Cursed''. Readers who already figured it out were a little bored with the "big reveal" in ''Chosen''.
** To a lesser extent, Alex himself, starting with the middle of ''Chosen'' and apparently ending with [[spoiler: the end of ''Hidden'']]. His interactions with people who stood by his side for the last three books seems very abrasive. HeGotBetter, though.
* TheUntwist: The {{Foreshadowing}} for [[spoiler:Rachel having Harvested Shireen]] was just a bit too obvious in ''Cursed''. Readers who already figured it out were a little bored with the "big reveal" in ''Chosen''.
