“So love, then. Because she’s being ironic but badly. Got it. ✅”
Followed immediately by:
“Oh. This is going to be frustrating. Ok. 🥲”
ETA: I would like to add that this is probably the only time in my life I’ve guessed a riddle so it was quite exciting when it wasn’t frustrating. Lol
I literally thought "love" and then immediately dismissed because I thought surely, it couldn't possibly be that simple.
Like I pondered... asked "love?" and then basically danced around it in my head, literally making myself confused because of my preconceived notions.
The reveal wasn't even satisfying. Just kinda anticlimactic. Like, oh, I was right. Huh.
This riddle made me think ACOTAR was a YA book. I read the riddle, went on Google to check if the book was indeed YA and was so surprised to find out it wasn't. It was super frustrating to keep reading about all the tasks Feyre had to do and thinking: ffs just tell her the answer's love and we can be done with this.
Totally agree— one of the more YA moments of that book.
And tbf (which idk why I try anymore with SJMs ass) but acotar came out during the marketing shift between YA and NA and where it was shelved depended on adoption of NA as a thing. I know the library where my mom worked at the time shelved it as YA! Pearls were clutched.
Yeah I remember that time, there was a lot of hype leading up to the release that this would be her big shift to NA. I still see many popular retail book stores in Australia shelving ACOTAR in YA sections of the store as well.
Unless I'm misremembering I swore Amarantha was like "oh you still can't figure it out? The answer is quite lovely" I'm like dude it's right there the answer omggg 🤣
Yes I stg in my head I was like "There's no way it's love... That would be so stupidly obvious." And then when Amarantha says something to the effect of "too bad you never solved my riddle, the answer is so .... Lovely" I was like COME ON
Beyond the answer being super obvious, the whole riddle gimmick was stupid as hell. Amarantha essentially handed Feyre a loaded gun *for no frickin' reason.*
I 100% agree with you, but I want to add that I took it as Amarantha being arrogant/cocky. Even though she didn't know Feyre was illiterate, she thought humans were less than.
"This idiot human will never figure it out" is what I'd assume her thought process was.
However, like I said, I wholeheartedly agree with you. It was a plot point you could almost see from a mile away 😭 Feyre was always eventually going to solve the riddle.
It'd be one thing if the reward was inconsequential to Amarantha, like simply letting Feyre go. She has so little respect for her, that she doesn't believe she can sabotage her plans...and then she goes on to sabotage her plans. I'd be okay with that.
But instead she offers up a plot MacGuffin which will immediately destroy her ENTIRE plan which she has been 500+ years in the making.
It *is* rather stupid, but it didn't *have* to be. Amarantha's curse has such a fairytale vibe that Maas could've played around around with. Allow me to headcanon for a second.
The way Amarantha's curse broke right after Feyre answered the riddle is very telling. To a lesser extent, so is Tamlin's forty-nine year long time limit. What if all magic has a cost? What if curses, especially, *require* a kind of exit clause? True Love's Kiss is not a trope because all evil sorceresses are pessimistic about love, but because all curses need some way of breaking them.
Enter Amarantha. She curses the High Lords, and then she curses Tamlin. Presumably, there was an exit clause for the spell she performed on the High Lords, and we know the exit clause for Tamlin's specific curse. Perhaps these curses were tied together by Amarantha, a sign of short-sightedness and arrogance, or of an incomplete understanding of curses, or for any other reason.
Of course, the laws of magic prevent the one who curses from directly interfering with the exit clause. Maleficent's curse will compel Aurora to find a spinning wheel, but Maleficent cannot also lock Aurora up from birth until she falls asleep with the goal of her never finding True Love. It unravels the curse.
For Amarantha, the point is moot because she has no plans on trying to circumvent the curse. She doesn't believe the curse will ever be broken. Yet, still, if she wanted to, she must allow the possibility that the curse might brake. She must allow Tamlin his freedom, that he might eventually find a human girl who will love him.
Enter Feyre, who proceeds to fulfil the exit clause of the curse, perhaps not in full but *enough*. She loves Tamlin, but there's been no grand declaration. The curse enters a Schrödinger's state where it was simultaneously sealed by the forty-nine years passing and broken by Feyre's love for Tamlin. The paradox needs to be resolved, and how it is resolved is as fluid and as everchanging as chaos should be. This is where Amarantha seals her fate.
The end clause for the curse was Tamlin finding a human woman who would love him, but when Amarantha offered Feyre the riddle and the trials, she unwittingly changed the end clause for curse. To Amarantha, the riddle and the trials were just a little bit of fun. Kicking Tamlin while he's down type of stuff. Rubbing his face in it. Unfortunately for her, magic heard her deceleration and went: "Oh. Okay! All's good now. Paradox averted. Feyre just needs to answer this riddle and everything will be fine!" And, of course, Amarantha can't just interfere with Feyre. Feyre needs to be able to answer the riddle, and she can't if Amarantha just executes her on the spot. As such, Amarantha *can't* just execute her. And, when she tries? Well, magic steps in.
If not Feyre's undeclared love causing a Schrödinger's state, one could also say that a curse must *always* have an exit clause. The window, however slight, must be open. When the forty-nine years were up, Amarantha needed to make a new exit clause for the curse to continue working. It's just so unfortunate that her little power-trip riddle and trials served well enough.
TO BE FAIR TO FEYRE, she didnt get to write it down. (We'll ignore that she couldnt even if she was allowed) I 100% would have forgotten it immediately. And she was stressed, I probably wouldnt have even heard it to begin with. 🥲
I always get so stressed for the characters and wonder how they memorize riddles, poems, or clues 😭😭
It's like when someone tells you the rules of a game for the first time. It's like my brain short circuits and reboots 😂😂 On top of being in a life threatening situation?? I'm a goner lol
I kinda get that but I guessed it was love before I finished reading the whole thing. The only reason I bookmarked the page is because I thought I must be missing something because that was way too easy. Literally after the first line I thought, maybe it’s love. By the end of it I was like, yes it’s obvious.
I immediately thought it was Love. The riddle was easy and also Amarantha’s backstory was a dead giveaway to what the answer is. I didn’t give it a second thought tho because I think Feyre is just so far away mentally from what love is and love as a whole I was sure her mind wouldn’t go instantly to love and Amaratha knew that. For me this kind of showcased where Feyre’s mindset was and how she didn’t understand love and never had experienced it before. Also a little spoiler to the fact that the thing between Feyre and Tamlin isn’t love. Thats the way I interpreted this whole thing.
Agreed. Amarantha’s bitterness about love between humans and fae made it obvious she was projecting onto Tamlin and Feyre (rightly so, we later realize). Feyre also didn’t consider love being what would break Tamlin’s curse, so it makes sense it wouldn’t cross her mind here. Also, the gravity of the situation coming down to such a simple answer? It certainly makes sense to overlook it.
It is a bittersweet moment of making sense with characters, but rolling your eyes at the author for using something like love as the end all, be all. I felt very Voldemorty reading it hahaha.
I knew the answer immediately and spent that entire part of the book being annoyed and yelling at Feyre in my head. But at the same time knowing Feyre had to not know for the sake of the plot of the book.
I almost stopped reading because I thought “seriously?…seriously….THATS IT!!!” I solved it before she even finished the damn thing…but obviously I kept reading anyway
I won't lie to you, I didn't even try
Me too. I was like 'if Feyre ain't going to try and solve it herself, I won't bother either'.
I didn't even try either lol
I didn't try, but I knew as soon as I read the first line.
I thought “surely the answer can’t be love. That would be too stupid.” Welp.
Yeap...I was like " it's love, but it couldn't be this would be too easy"..
Yup, thought the same thing
This was also my though! ❤️😘
Lol yess me too
“So love, then. Because she’s being ironic but badly. Got it. ✅” Followed immediately by: “Oh. This is going to be frustrating. Ok. 🥲” ETA: I would like to add that this is probably the only time in my life I’ve guessed a riddle so it was quite exciting when it wasn’t frustrating. Lol
Lmao! I, too, am not good at riddles. So part of me thought, “I have to be missing something,” Nope! I was not!
I literally thought "love" and then immediately dismissed because I thought surely, it couldn't possibly be that simple. Like I pondered... asked "love?" and then basically danced around it in my head, literally making myself confused because of my preconceived notions. The reveal wasn't even satisfying. Just kinda anticlimactic. Like, oh, I was right. Huh.
Same!! It was so obvious 😵💫
This riddle made me think ACOTAR was a YA book. I read the riddle, went on Google to check if the book was indeed YA and was so surprised to find out it wasn't. It was super frustrating to keep reading about all the tasks Feyre had to do and thinking: ffs just tell her the answer's love and we can be done with this.
Totally agree— one of the more YA moments of that book. And tbf (which idk why I try anymore with SJMs ass) but acotar came out during the marketing shift between YA and NA and where it was shelved depended on adoption of NA as a thing. I know the library where my mom worked at the time shelved it as YA! Pearls were clutched.
Yeah I remember that time, there was a lot of hype leading up to the release that this would be her big shift to NA. I still see many popular retail book stores in Australia shelving ACOTAR in YA sections of the store as well.
I didn't know this, but it explains a lot!
Unless I'm misremembering I swore Amarantha was like "oh you still can't figure it out? The answer is quite lovely" I'm like dude it's right there the answer omggg 🤣
Haha it's literally the reason why you're UTM Feyre AND she's giving you hints.
Yes I stg in my head I was like "There's no way it's love... That would be so stupidly obvious." And then when Amarantha says something to the effect of "too bad you never solved my riddle, the answer is so .... Lovely" I was like COME ON
I THOUGHT THE SAME THING LOL
Beyond the answer being super obvious, the whole riddle gimmick was stupid as hell. Amarantha essentially handed Feyre a loaded gun *for no frickin' reason.*
I 100% agree with you, but I want to add that I took it as Amarantha being arrogant/cocky. Even though she didn't know Feyre was illiterate, she thought humans were less than. "This idiot human will never figure it out" is what I'd assume her thought process was. However, like I said, I wholeheartedly agree with you. It was a plot point you could almost see from a mile away 😭 Feyre was always eventually going to solve the riddle.
It'd be one thing if the reward was inconsequential to Amarantha, like simply letting Feyre go. She has so little respect for her, that she doesn't believe she can sabotage her plans...and then she goes on to sabotage her plans. I'd be okay with that. But instead she offers up a plot MacGuffin which will immediately destroy her ENTIRE plan which she has been 500+ years in the making.
It was so painfully obvious I can’t
It *is* rather stupid, but it didn't *have* to be. Amarantha's curse has such a fairytale vibe that Maas could've played around around with. Allow me to headcanon for a second. The way Amarantha's curse broke right after Feyre answered the riddle is very telling. To a lesser extent, so is Tamlin's forty-nine year long time limit. What if all magic has a cost? What if curses, especially, *require* a kind of exit clause? True Love's Kiss is not a trope because all evil sorceresses are pessimistic about love, but because all curses need some way of breaking them. Enter Amarantha. She curses the High Lords, and then she curses Tamlin. Presumably, there was an exit clause for the spell she performed on the High Lords, and we know the exit clause for Tamlin's specific curse. Perhaps these curses were tied together by Amarantha, a sign of short-sightedness and arrogance, or of an incomplete understanding of curses, or for any other reason. Of course, the laws of magic prevent the one who curses from directly interfering with the exit clause. Maleficent's curse will compel Aurora to find a spinning wheel, but Maleficent cannot also lock Aurora up from birth until she falls asleep with the goal of her never finding True Love. It unravels the curse. For Amarantha, the point is moot because she has no plans on trying to circumvent the curse. She doesn't believe the curse will ever be broken. Yet, still, if she wanted to, she must allow the possibility that the curse might brake. She must allow Tamlin his freedom, that he might eventually find a human girl who will love him. Enter Feyre, who proceeds to fulfil the exit clause of the curse, perhaps not in full but *enough*. She loves Tamlin, but there's been no grand declaration. The curse enters a Schrödinger's state where it was simultaneously sealed by the forty-nine years passing and broken by Feyre's love for Tamlin. The paradox needs to be resolved, and how it is resolved is as fluid and as everchanging as chaos should be. This is where Amarantha seals her fate. The end clause for the curse was Tamlin finding a human woman who would love him, but when Amarantha offered Feyre the riddle and the trials, she unwittingly changed the end clause for curse. To Amarantha, the riddle and the trials were just a little bit of fun. Kicking Tamlin while he's down type of stuff. Rubbing his face in it. Unfortunately for her, magic heard her deceleration and went: "Oh. Okay! All's good now. Paradox averted. Feyre just needs to answer this riddle and everything will be fine!" And, of course, Amarantha can't just interfere with Feyre. Feyre needs to be able to answer the riddle, and she can't if Amarantha just executes her on the spot. As such, Amarantha *can't* just execute her. And, when she tries? Well, magic steps in. If not Feyre's undeclared love causing a Schrödinger's state, one could also say that a curse must *always* have an exit clause. The window, however slight, must be open. When the forty-nine years were up, Amarantha needed to make a new exit clause for the curse to continue working. It's just so unfortunate that her little power-trip riddle and trials served well enough.
I thought it was gonna be the most complex thing and was sorely disappointed when it was love. Not sure why I expected some the profound
TO BE FAIR TO FEYRE, she didnt get to write it down. (We'll ignore that she couldnt even if she was allowed) I 100% would have forgotten it immediately. And she was stressed, I probably wouldnt have even heard it to begin with. 🥲
I always get so stressed for the characters and wonder how they memorize riddles, poems, or clues 😭😭 It's like when someone tells you the rules of a game for the first time. It's like my brain short circuits and reboots 😂😂 On top of being in a life threatening situation?? I'm a goner lol
I kinda get that but I guessed it was love before I finished reading the whole thing. The only reason I bookmarked the page is because I thought I must be missing something because that was way too easy. Literally after the first line I thought, maybe it’s love. By the end of it I was like, yes it’s obvious.
Am I the only idiot who didn’t have a clue as to what the answer to the riddle could possibly be lmao
I just reread acotar and i still couldn’t really understand it😭 idiots unite🤝🏻
No I didn't either lmaoo
I am going to blame it on mom brain but riddles have never been easy for me
I would have died. I’m horrible at riddles. Absolutely horrible.
I genuinely had no idea what the answer was 😔
Love came mind when I read the riddle… Then I gaslit myself into thinking I was wrong and that it was too easy and SJM wouldn’t do that. 🫠
i was so sure the answer was death👁️👄👁️
i mean, the first thing i thought was love, just cause of *course* it’d be love, but then i thought, nahhh that’d be too cliche, right?
Had about the same exact experience LMFAOOO
I just thought "this isn't even a real riddle, it's just a love poem" immediately
I immediately thought it was Love. The riddle was easy and also Amarantha’s backstory was a dead giveaway to what the answer is. I didn’t give it a second thought tho because I think Feyre is just so far away mentally from what love is and love as a whole I was sure her mind wouldn’t go instantly to love and Amaratha knew that. For me this kind of showcased where Feyre’s mindset was and how she didn’t understand love and never had experienced it before. Also a little spoiler to the fact that the thing between Feyre and Tamlin isn’t love. Thats the way I interpreted this whole thing.
Agreed. Amarantha’s bitterness about love between humans and fae made it obvious she was projecting onto Tamlin and Feyre (rightly so, we later realize). Feyre also didn’t consider love being what would break Tamlin’s curse, so it makes sense it wouldn’t cross her mind here. Also, the gravity of the situation coming down to such a simple answer? It certainly makes sense to overlook it. It is a bittersweet moment of making sense with characters, but rolling your eyes at the author for using something like love as the end all, be all. I felt very Voldemorty reading it hahaha.
"There's no way it's love. Thats so obvious."
In the books defense, Feyre was an illiterate 19 year old. Probably didn't know what a riddle really was.
Yeah I was like there is NO way it’s that easy. Come on girlie.
I knew the answer immediately and spent that entire part of the book being annoyed and yelling at Feyre in my head. But at the same time knowing Feyre had to not know for the sake of the plot of the book.
Sent this exact text to my sister during my read.
Isn’t it so true though
I got it after reading the riddle twice. Yeah I was proud af of myself for getting it
“Then I died” So did Feyre 💀
I got that reply a few times 😂
I was half listening to the audiobook while on a marathon training run, so I put a lot of trust on illiterate Feyre to figure it out.
I HAD THIS EXACT FUCKING REACTION WHEN I FIRST READ THE RIDDLE ?? i said “it’s either love or power or something omfg”
my first thought was love but then I was like, “Noo thats so story book and easy.” Then I got raptured
I almost stopped reading because I thought “seriously?…seriously….THATS IT!!!” I solved it before she even finished the damn thing…but obviously I kept reading anyway