History YMMV / ACourtOfThornsAndRoses

* The only named nonwhite race (the Illyrians) are brutal and sexist warriors who mistreat their women by clipping their wings and regulating them to housewife duties.
* The wording of the mating bond is often seen as insensitive at best and playing into sexist and homophobic norms at worst. Things such as the frequent use of 'male' and 'female' in the context of the couple makes it seem like same sex couples (or couples including a non-cisgendered person) don't exist. [[WomenInTheKitchen It also includes a tradition of the female mate giving food to the male mate as a sign of accepting the bond]].

** The only named nonwhite race (the Illyrians) are brutal and sexist warriors who mistreat their women by clipping their wings and regulating them to housewife duties.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Feyra never suffers the repercussions for having destroyed the Spring Court, facilitating the advance of Hybern's forces through Tamlin's territory and eliminating a potential ally for their efforts after she succeeded in her revenge plan. It is implied that the civil war she sparked may have caused the deaths of thousands of innocents and yet she receives no comeuppance for this. Worse still is that as of ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' she lives a privileged and happy life, unfazed by any sense of guilt or remorse for her actions.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Feyra never suffers the repercussions for having destroyed the Spring Court, facilitated the advance of Hybern's forces through Tamlin's territory and eliminating a potential ally for their efforts after she succeeded in her revenge plan. It is implied that the civil war she sparked may have caused the deaths of thousands of innocents and yet she receives no comeuppance for this. Worse still is that as of ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' she lives a privileged and happy life, unfazed by any sense of guilt or remorse for her actions.]]

%%** There’s a bit of disagreement on whether or not Tamlin was ''always'' controlling of Feyre. Some argue that Tamlin was perfectly willing to let Feyre do as she pleased in the first book and that the events of said book screwed him up mentally. Others say that he was ''always'' controlling, [[UnreliableNarrator we just didn't see it because we were viewing him through Feyre's eyes]], and Under the Mountain just made it worse.

%%*** Likewise, some are resentful of Tamlin’s treatment in the overall LoveTriangle and how we, the reader, can excuse Rhysand’s actions towards Feyre in ''A Court of Thorns and Roses''. Keep in mind, in that book Rhysand took invaded Feyre’s mind, gave her every reason to think he would shatter it, regularly ''drugged, molested, and humiliated'' her while they were Under the Mountain, and grabbed her ''broken arm'' when she initially refused his bargain. However, come ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' onward, Rhys is treated as the paragon of goodness whose previous actions are EasilyForgiven by Feyre. While Tamlin’s are [[NeverLiveItDown never forgotten]] in-universe. These readers do not condone Tamlin’s behavior, but understand what’s happening to him and would like for him to get help. Basically, these readers tend to ask, "if Rhysand gets a redemption, why can’t Tamlin?"
%%** The book's treatment of PTSD has been a little divisive. There are those who find it a good description and commend that Feyre just gets better not "over it". However, there are those to see it as an excuse to provide ShipTease for Feyre and Rhys. Point out that the books never go into Rhys’ sexual trauma too deeply. And when Mor is triggered Rhysand scolds her for making a bit deal about it. ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' and the preview in it only adds more fuel to the fire with Nesta. It’s clear that she’s going through something, however her sisters talk shit about her behind her back and Feyre sends her to a war camp as punishment. [[SarcasmMode Because that couldn’t possibly make it worse]], could it? So apparently, your trauma is only valid if your names are Feyre or Rhysand.
%%** The concept of the mating bond has been criticized as being rather heteronormative. Particularly how the woman... ''female'' accepts it by offering the male food, which has been criticized for sticking to gender norms. And as of now, there’s been nothing about same-sex mates. And then there’s how the man...''male'' reacts until the bond is accepted. Possessive, wild, predatorily. It has a very "boys will be boys" mentality and tends to come off as a bit… rapey.

** Tamlin is the most divisive character in this series. Ever since his actions in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'', fans of the series have been split up into those who hate him with a passion and those who think that the author has gone too far with vilifying him to the extreme. Those who hate him dismiss the idea that he was ''ever'' a good person to begin with and that in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' he showed his true colors and those who sympathize with him bring up the many layers of characterization and his HiddenDepths as justification.

** Rhysand. Critics accuse him of being just as bad as Tamilin, if not worse. His actions towards Feyre while they were Under the Mountain are [[HandWave Hand Waved]] because he has a martyr complex, rough childhood, was Amarantha’s whore, and really, really, ''really'' totes loves Feyre and sees her as his equal. However, his actions Under the Mountain include grabbing Feyre’s broken arm, ''by the protruding bone'' and twisting when she initially refused his bargain. Then regularly ''drugs her, molests her and humiliates her'', while using forceful pressure to make her obey. After Under the Mountain he repeatedly keeps information from Feyre and essentially makes her go through a near-death ordeal to fetch ''her own'' wedding ring just to see if she was worthy to be ''his'' mate. But his actions don’t just include Feyre, Rhys goes as far to bargain with Mor’s [[AbusiveParent father]] and ex-fiancé, takes away her safe haven for said bargain, ignores her protests and chides her for getting triggered. And yet, he’s still supposed to be the better choice by comparison. There’s also the CharacterShilling that reaches obnoxious levels. He’s just so good and compassionate and his true court is just so wonderful and… Some just wanted Maas to stop beating them over the head with how perfect Rhys is and let the character just speak for himself.
** Feyre is not without her controversies. While there are those who love her character, other’s find her to be riddled with CommonMarySueTraits. Even before the story starts properly she’s a BrokenBird then after she’s revived as a High Fae she’s ridiculously overpowered. And is shown several times to be a fool (not listening to Tamlin or Lucien about Calanmai, disregarding the idea that Amarantha wouldn’t set everyone free immediately after the three tasks, starting a civil war in the Spring Court, thus making it easy to bring the wall down) despite being portrayed as clever despite her lack of education. And that’s not even discussing how Feyre was received by fans and critics in ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' where she’s accused of being given the {{Chickification}} treatment and [[StayInTheKitchen stays at home and does the shopping]] while Rhysand does the political work with other courts and then has repeated sex with him. Or how she sends her PTSD-riddled sister to a ''war camp'' when said sister makes ''her'' look bad.
* BrokenBase:
** There’s a bit of disagreement on whether or not Tamlin was ''always'' controlling of Feyre. Some argue that Tamlin was perfectly willing to let Feyre do as she pleased in the first book and that the events of said book screwed him up mentally. Others say that he was ''always'' controlling and Under the Mountain just made it worse.
** On the one hand, there are many readers who are glad that Tamlin has received his comeuppance in ''A Court of Frost and Starlight''. However, there are many others who believe Sarah J. Maas has gone to extreme lengths to punish Tamlin for what he has done, making Rhysand's gloating of his current state come across as unnecessarily cruel.
*** Likewise, some are resentful of Tamlin’s treatment in the overall LoveTriangle and how we, the reader, can excuse Rhysand’s actions towards Feyre in ''A Court of Thorns and Roses''. Keep in mind, in that book Rhysand took invaded Feyre’s mind, gave her every reason to think he would shatter it, regularly ''drugged, molested, and humiliated'' her while they were Under the Mountain, and grabbed her ''broken arm'' when she initially refused his bargain. However, come ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' onward, Rhys is treated as the paragon of goodness whose previous actions are EasilyForgiven by Feyre. While Tamlin’s are [[NeverLiveItDown never forgotten]] in-universe. These readers do not condone Tamlin’s behavior, but understand what’s happening to him and would like for him to get help. Basically, these readers tend to ask, "if Rhysand gets a redemption, why can’t Tamlin?"
** The book's treatment of PTSD has been a little divisive. There are those who find it a good description and commend that Feyre just gets better not "over it". However, there are those to see it as an excuse to provide ShipTease for Feyre and Rhys. Point out that the books never go into Rhys’ sexual trauma too deeply. And when Mor is triggered Rhysand scolds her for making a bit deal about it. ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' and the preview in it only adds more fuel to the fire with Nesta. It’s clear that she’s going through something, however her sisters talk shit about her behind her back and Feyre sends her to a war camp as punishment. [[SarcasmMode Because that couldn’t possibly make it worse]], could it? So apparently, your trauma is only valid if your names are Feyre or Rhysand.
** The concept of the mating bond has been criticized as being rather heteronormative. Particularly how the woman... ''female'' accepts it by offering the male food, which has been criticized for sticking to gender norms. And as of now, there’s been nothing about same-sex mates. And then there’s how the man...''male'' reacts until the bond is accepted. Possessive, wild, predatorily. It has a very "boys will be boys" mentality and tends to come off as a bit… rapey.
** Mor’s sexuality opens ''several'' cans of worms. Particularly when she’s introduced, she seemed perfectly okay sleeping with men and that she would have been paired with Azriel. However come the following book not only is Mor bisexual, she usually prefers the company of women and had a female lover once and most of the men she sleeps with is to get [[DoggedNiceGuy Aziel to take a hint]].
*** There’s a disagreement amongst fans and critics about whether or not Mor is bisexual or lesbian. In the third book, she tells Feyre that she had enjoyed sleeping with men, but overall prefers females, however in the same book when she does sleep with a man she looks miserable the morning after. By that fact alone some would say Mor’s a lesbian, however, others would argue that bisexuality is not 50/50 and it depends on the person’s preference.
*** And then there’s Mor’s coming out to Feyre. There are some who find it a well-done scene and a good incite to Mor’s character. However, it’s also dampened by Feyre’s previous behavior. Until then Feyre was basically [[ShipperOnDeck rooting for Mor/Azriel]] to the point where Rhys flat out tells Feyre that it's none of her business. It’s a little hard not to see Feyre as forcing Mor to come out because Feyre’s ship wasn’t happening.
%%** Even some of the books more loyal fans didn’t like ''A Court of Frost and Starlight.''

** Rhysand. Critics accuse him of being just as bad as Tamilin, if not worse. His actions towards Feyre while they were Under the Mountain are [[HandWave HandWaved]] because he has a martyr complex, rough childhood, was Amarantha’s whore, and really, really, ''really'' totes loves Feyre and sees her as his equal. However, his actions Under the Mountain include grabbing Feyre’s broken arm, ''by the protruding bone'' and twisting when she initially refused his bargain. Then regularly ''drugs her, molests her and humiliates her'', while using forceful pressure to make her obey. After Under the Mountain he repeatedly keeps information from Feyre and essentially makes her go through a near-death ordeal to fetch ''her own'' wedding ring just to see if she was worthy to be ''his'' mate. But his actions don’t just include Feyre, Rhys goes as far to bargain with Mor’s [[AbusiveParent father]] and ex-fiancé, takes away her safe haven for said bargain, ignores her protests and chides her for getting triggered. And yet, he’s still supposed to be the better choice by comparison. There’s also the CharacterShilling that reaches obnoxious levels. He’s just so good and compassionate and his true court is just so wonderful and… Some just wanted Maas to stop beating them over the head with how perfect Rhys is and let the character just speak for himself.
** Feyre is not without her controversies. While there are those who love her character, other’s find her to be riddled with CommonMarySueTraits. Even before the story starts properly she’s a BrokenBird then after she’s revived as a High Fae she’s ridiculously overpowered. And is shown several times to be a fool (not listening to Tamlin or Lucien about Calanmai, disregarding the idea that Amarantha wouldn’t set everyone free immediately after the three tasks, starting a civil war in the Spring Court, thus making it easy to bring the wall down) despite being portrayed as clever despite her lack of education. And that’s not even discussing how Feyre was received by fans and critics in ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' where she’s accused of being given the {{Chickification}} treatment and [[StayInTheKitchen stays at home and does the shopping]] why Rhysand does the political work with other courts and then has repeated sex with him. Or how she sends her PTSD-riddled sister to a ''war camp'' when said sister makes ''her'' look bad.

** The treatment of PTSD has been a little divisive. There are those who find it a good depiction, even as Feyre gets better, the damage never really leaves her. And there are those who see it as an excuse to provide ShipTease for Feyre and Rhys. ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' and the preview in it only added more fuel to the fire with Nesta being treated like ''her'' PTSD is something she needs to "get over".

** Rhysand. There are those who find him just as bad as Tamlin, if not worse. His action’s towards Feyre while they were Under the Mountain are [[HandWave Hand Waved]] because he has a martyr complex. However he’s shown repeatedly to make threats of violence to get what he wants, repeatedly manipulates Feyre and withholds information and has Mor face her abusive father in order to get an item to show the Mortal Queens. On a less angry side of things, ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' has made him so ungodly perfect and good that it reached obnoxious levels. Some readers basically wanted Maas to stop beating them over the head with the CharacterShilling and let them decide for themselves.
** Feyre is not without her controversies. While there are those who love her character, other’s find her to be riddled with CommonMarySueTraits. Even before the story starts properly she’s a BrokenBird then after she’s revived as a High Fae she’s ridiculously overpowered. And is shown several times to be a fool (not listening to Tamlin or Lucien about Calanmai, disregarding the idea that Amarantha wouldn’t set everyone free immediately after the three tasks, starting a civil war in the Spring Court, thus making it easy to bring the wall down) despite being portrayed as clever despite her lack of education. And that’s not even discussing how Feyre was received by fans and critics in ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' where she’s accused of being given the {{Chickification}} treatment and [[StayInTheKitchen stays at home and does the shopping]] why Rhysand does the political work with other courts and then has repeated sex with him.

** Turns out starting a civil war in the Court closest to the very wall the enemy wants to bring down is a bad idea.

** The concept of the mating bond has been criticized as being rather heteronormative. Particularly how the woman... ''female'' accepts it by offering the male food, which has been criticized for sticking to gender norms. And as of now, there’s been nothing about same-sex mates. And then there’s how the man...''male'' reacts until the bond is accepted. Possessive, while, predatorily. It has a very "boys will be boys" mentality and tends to come off as a bit… rapey.

* {{Sequelitis}} Probably the best way to describe the reception to ''A Court of Frost and Starlight''. Many fans found it to be a very pointless installment for something that was meant to "bridge" the two series together. Characters felt very out of character, Feyre [[StayInTheKitchen stays at home]] while Rhysand does all the political work (which was a ''major issue'' with Tamlin). Even those who didn't sympathize with Tamlin saw Rhysands mocking of him as low hanging fruit and a weak attempt at conflict. And most of the novella was just smut. The reception for this novella got so bad that some of the more hardcore fans confessed to being ''tired'' for Feyre and Rhysand.

* {{Sequelitis}} Probably the best way to describe the reception to ''A Court of Frost and Starlight''. Many fans found it to be a very pointless installment. And many were more than put off by Feyre being a StayInTheKitchen wife when one of the reasons it didn’t work out with Tamiln was ''because'' she was told to StayInTheKitchen.

** Feyre is not without controversies. Is she a good leading character and voice or a one dimensional YA heroine. Is she a clever woman who can read subtle hints or an idiot who needs to have it spelled out for her as an excuse for the audience to understand? Some have pointed out that she has the exact same problems as [[Literature/ThroneOfGlass Celaena]] in terms of being so ridiculously overpowered. This has not helped at all with the release of ''A Court of Frost and Starlight'' with many feeling like Feyre has been downgraded and made to StayInTheKitchen while Rhysand does all the work.

** Rhysand. There are those who find him just as bad as Tamlin, if not worse. His action’s towards Feyre while they were Under the Mountain are [[HandWave Hand Waved]] because he has a martyr complex. However he’s shown repeatedly to make threats of violence to get what he wants, repeatedly manipulates Feyre and withholds information and has Mor face her abusive father in order to get an item to show the Mortal Queens. On a less angry side of things, ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' has made him so ungodly perfect and good that it reached obnoxious levels. Some readers basically wanted Maas to stop beating them over the head with the CharacterShilling and let them decide for themselves. Some have even argued that if Rhysand, and utter bastard Under the Mountain, gets a redemption arc, then why not Tamlin?

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Tamlin is the most divisive character in this series. Ever since his actions in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'', fans of the series have been split up into those who hate him with a passion and those who think that the author has gone too far with vilifying him to the extreme. Those who hate him dismiss the idea that he was ''ever'' a good person to begin with and that in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' he showed his true colors and those who sympathize with him bring up the many layers of characterization and his HiddenDepths as justification.

* {{Sequelitis}} Probably the best way to describe the reception to ''A Court of Frost and Starlight''. Many fans found it to be a very pointless installment. And many were more than put off by Feyre being a StayInTheKitchen wife when one of the reasons it didn’t work out with Tamiln was ''because'' she was told to StayInTheKitchen. Which is nothing to say about how Nesta’s PTSD is treated as something she needs to "get over".

* {{Sequelitis}} Probably the best way to describe the reception to ''A Court of Frost and Starlight''. Many fans noticed a slip in quality and mentioned that the story really didn’t need to be told. Some have even confessed to being ''tired'' of Feyre and Rhys at this point.

** The term "vulgar gesture" is used often in the books. It’s never once described what gesture looks like and why it‘s so vulgar. The most anyone can figure is that it’s simply FlippingTheBird. Which begs the question of why it’s never described as such from a book that throws around [[AnachronismStew "pissy"]] just as often.
** The constant uses of "male" and "female" to refer to the gender of a character has been mocked, alongside the sheer number of times "mate" appears in ''A Court of Wings and Ruin'' on.

** The term "vulgar gesture" used often in the books. It’s never once described what gesture looks like and why it‘s so vulgar. The most anyone can figure that it’s FlippingTheBird. Which begs the question of why it’s never described as such from a book that throws around [[AnachronismStew "pissy"]] just as often.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Tamlin is the most divisive character in this series. Ever since his actions in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'', fans of the series have been split up into those who hate him with a passion and those who think that the author has gone to far with vilifying him to the extreme. Those who hate him dismiss the idea that he was ''ever'' a good person to begin with and that in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' he showed his true colors and those who sympathize with him bring up the many layers of characterization and his HiddenDepths as justification.

* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Tamlin is the most divisive character in this series. Ever since his actions in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'', fans of the series have been split up into those who hate him with a passion and those who think that the author has gone to far with vilifying him to the extreme. Those who hate him dismiss the idea that he was ''ever'' a good person to begin with and that in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' he showed his true colors and those who sympathize with him bring up the many layers of characterization and his HiddenDepths as justification.

* NeverLiveItDown: Many readers believe that Tamlin's lowest moments i.e. [[spoiler: locking her up in his manor and his allying with Hybern]], define him as a character and previous characterization present in ''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' was just a facade.

** Tamlin is the most divisive character in this series. Ever since his actions in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'', fans of the series have been split up into those who hate him with a passion and those who think that the author has went to far with vilifying him to the extreme. Those who hate him dismiss the idea that he was ''ever'' a good person to begin with and that in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' he showed his true colors and those who sympathize with him bring up the many layers of characterization and his HiddenDepths as justification.

** The constant uses of "male" and "female" to refer to the gender of a character has been mocked, alongside the sheer number of times "mate" appears in ''A Court of Wings and Ruin''.

** Tamlin. Ever since his actions in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'', fans of the series have been split up into those who hate him with a passion and those who think that the author has went to far with vilifying him to the extreme. Those who hate him dismiss the idea that he was ''ever'' a good person to begin with and that in ''A Court of Mist and Fury'' he showed his true colors and those who sympathize with him bring up the many layers of characterization and his HiddenDepths as justification.

* StrangledByTheRedString: The romance between Elain and Lucien is established by him announcing to her that she is "his mate".

* UnfortunateImplications:
** All women in authority that were not given it by a man, such as Amarantha or the Mortal Queens, serve villainous roles.
** The Kingdom of Hybern is based on Ireland, whereas its Faes, such as Dagdan, Brannagh and the King are all portrayed as evil, power hungry and soulless.
** Then there is the {{Mandatory Motherhood}} trope - initially Feyre had stated that she doesn't want children until later on in life, yet in ''The Court of Frost and Starlight'', after she has been immortal for only two years, she suddenly wants to be a parent.

* AssPull: [[spoiler:Amren coming BackFromTheDead, memories completely intact, at the end of ''A Court of Wings and ruin''. Not only does it directly go against what she'd repeatedly stated--that if she regained her true form, her memories would be gone forever--there's absolutely no foreshadowing, and the explanation that "a piece of her was stuck in the Cauldron" is pretty unconvincing.]]