BBB_Episode3

The podcast "Books, Blackouts, and Brunch" discusses the book "Crescent City" and its unique setting. The hosts talk about the modern setting with technology like cell phones and clubs, which reminds them of Halloween Town. They also mention a two-week timeline in the book and how it affects character development. They discuss the pros and cons of the rushed timeline and compare it to other books by the author. They suggest that time jumps could be a helpful addition to the story. We are Books, Blackouts, and Brunch, where we talk shit about some books we're reading, we black out in some bookstores, and we may or may not have a mimosa or two in the process. Welcome back to Books, Blackouts, and Brunch. Today we are talking about Crescent City, the first one, and only the first one. So unlike ACOTAR, you do not have to have read all three of them, Meg and I have only read book one. Purposefully. Eileen is over here with all of the knowledge of the SJM universe right now, so she will be silent in parts as we debate things that might be relevant to the future. Trying desperately to cover my face because I don't have a poker face. You just cover yourself with your cardigan sweater. Yeah. Yeah, I think Kaylee and I purposely didn't read the second one yet, because we're like, I'm one of those people that if I read books back to back, like right now I know Kaylee you're reading Ruthless Vows and Divine Rivals, I have not said a peep to you because I don't remember what happened in book one versus book two, so this way we delineate between the two of Crescent City 1, Crescent City 2, and Crescent City 3, and I think that's for the best. Agreed. I don't know that I'd probably spoil something for somebody that I don't even know is a spoiler. I love the spoilies. You love a spoilie and I don't. Kaylee's a spoilie queen. Yes, she really is. I'm also, my husband is here downstairs, and I forced him to wear noise cancelling headphones because he has not read this book yet, and I don't want him to hear a thing. I cannot spoil anything for that man. I don't want to spoil anything. All right, and dare we say, this is the second time we're recording? So we're going to talk about it? Okay, we're going to talk about it. We did a two and a half hour recording session and then our microphones did not work, so we're hoping this one will be a little bit more coherent, like logically following what episode two sounded like and what our first record sounded like, but we'll see what comes out of it. Hopefully you're hearing something. Yeah, I think it's for the best, because you know, sometimes we get a little excited, we just, we get onto a tangent and we fly with it. We fly to the stars, and maybe this time we'll be a little bit more, we did change our notes. So we've now edited, we're going back, it'll be better than ever, dare I say it. Hopefully. I think ourselves, I think ourselves, I need one now. All good. And if you do hear any meows in the background, my cat has been very needy today. So on beyond. Yes. All right, let's kick off with some setting conversation. So obviously Crescent City has a very different setting than Akatar and Throne of Glass did. So I thought it was very interesting. The way that it's modern, there's technology, we have cell phones, which really threw me, but I also, there was this weird, when I first read that there was cell phones, I'm like, ooh. It was giving. It kind of reminded me of Halloween Town. I don't know why, but I was like, it has to be this kind of place. Wait, that's so accurate though. Right? Oh my god. Because it's this magical world, but it's still present day. Yeah. And there's like different aura to it, like a different vibe. And I'm like, that's what it's giving. And these gates are the giant pumpkin. That is the energy that this gave me. I love that. I mean, didn't she defeat the giant pumpkin by dropping in a light? Yeah. And didn't we just light it up to open the gate and close the gate at the end of the game? Oh my god, so true. I think it's a Halloween town. There is for when you'd get to Crescent City 3, one of the bonus chapters features music. The fact that like we can play music from our cell phones. That was, you know, interesting for some of the characters that are in Crescent City 3. And there's just some iconic interactions that happen between said characters as they're like, well, can you play more music off your phone thing? Please? Oh my god. I'm so excited. So I'm very excited for the two of you to get to that because it's hilarious. I can't wait. I'm so excited. Yeah. The like present day stuff. And that there was like clubs. Yeah. The fact that the clubbing. These girlies were hitting the town, painting the town you could say, at the club, dancing a little hard out with like lion men though. Lion. Yes. The lion man. Yeah. Like there's like. That's who, that's who Bryce. That's who Bryce is up with, right? I think so. Yeah. With a half lion man. Or a lion shifter. Yeah. But it's like present day. But again, like magical people. Halloween town. I'm going to stick with that. Not really. No, I think you should. I think you're onto something. I'm going to have to email our girl. I actually am. They're going to be like, this crazy ass bitch emailed you asking if this was related to Halloween town. Well, she said that she like watched a lot of Zootopia when her kid was like born or young. And then this was kind of created from how much she'd watched Zootopia. So it is kind of like Zootopia fanfic. Oh my God. Okay. I didn't realize that that was substantiated in any way. I'm almost 100% positive that that is not just fan theory and that she said in an interview that she was like, I don't know if she directly said, yeah, it's fanfic, but like she was watching it a lot with her kid and it just kind of like kind of bled into her writing. So can neither confirm nor deny that Kaylee is making stuff up. We need someone on fact check. Let us know if I'm lying. Comment below. I don't know where. Messages on Instagram. Yeah. Kaylee's a liar. Or send a link to where SGM said that because I want to see, but also no spoilers when he sends stuff. Send that to Kaylee directly. I'll take it. I'll gladly take spoilers. The timeline. That is the other kind of setting note that we wanted to talk about. And this is where I have a hard time with Crescent City. I know that Meg feels differently. The events of this book take place in two weeks over the course of two weeks. I think my biggest gripe with the Crescent City books is like, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and getting bought into their stories because I felt like a lot of their character development was very rushed. And when I take a step back and realize, well, yeah, this book took place over the course of two weeks, of course, I'm going to have a hard time buying certain aspects of the relationships and certain aspects of the characters development because like two weeks is not a realistic amount of time for what we're asking these characters to like deal with and respond to and cope from, etc. I think that's fair. It makes sense. Like, I think it helps some things, but then it doesn't help other things because you're like, there's no chance somebody would deal with XYZ that quickly if it's over the course of two weeks. Right. And it's also like, you kind of forget stuff happens because the book is so long. It's so long and it's all happening so fast, especially compared to A Court of Thorns and Roses and like specifically like Akamath, like some of the later books where the plot is taking place over the course of a longer timeline. And so I felt like that made it easier in a lot of ways for like Feyre's character to develop and like for us to learn about Risen and the rest of the inner circle and get bought into their relationships and then the new relationships that they were forming with Feyre. Whereas with this book, because it was so rushed, like, I just feel like, as I said, like those developments didn't happen as like in as believable a way. And I'm just curious about the choice to make the timeline two weeks. I feel like I have always kind of struggled with SGM's timeline, so like that was my complaint last episode when we were talking about ACOTAR, Nesta and the girlies train for like a month, two months. Yeah. They train for how long? I don't know. But it's not very long. And they're like, we are Valkyrie. We are like this whole like, fighting equivalent of the Illyrian soldiers that have been training their whole entire life, like from birth. And I'm like, that timeline just seems a little wrong. Like, yeah, you can get strong, but I don't think you can, and they're fey, so I guess it's different. But like, that timeline was a little bit rushed to me. And I feel like I just kind of equate tight timelines to SGM at this point. Yeah. I mean, I guess what could have been really nice in Silver Flames is if they had done like a time jump, like a three months later, and you're like, okay, at least it's been three months. Right. I do think in, in Crimson City, I appreciated the time jump of the two years. Yes. Because I do think that showed, to me at least, I saw like some very different character traits in Bryce from that, like the first bit of the book before the time jump, and then after the time jump, just like the overall feeling that she gave off was very different because of what had happened. And I think it was, I think it very accurately portrayed like a, like after two years, like, yes, you're not like a mess, but you're also not like great. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that was like a really nice time jump. And if she could have just maybe, like, maybe she can use more time jumps, you know? Yeah. Just like a couple more. And I get that, like, you can't drag things out because like, you don't want it to move slow. And I'm thinking like, if this stuff was happening to me in a week, I would not be functional. No. Right. Like, I'm like, what are we sleeping? Right. You want to take a rest. Yeah. And I think like what, I keep comparing it to Akamasu because I'm like, they were searching for the Legs of the Cauldron and like the Book of Breathings and all this stuff. But like, it was kind of built into the way that those various phases of searching for those items was carried out in that the letters to the High Lords to convene the meeting of the High Lords and like all this stuff was like, it took them a week or two to respond. And then a week later, we responded. And then we went to the Weaver's Cottage and a few days happened in between the Weaver's Cottage and going to the prison. And like, yeah, all of it was still very high stakes. All of it was paramount to the safety of their world. There was still a sense of urgency behind all of it, but it wasn't all happening in two weeks. Yeah. And I guess that's too where like the modernization kind of like, I think influences that a little bit. Like, we didn't have email or cell phone options in Akita, so like, they had to write letters and rely on like the, I don't even know how to transcribe letters, but like, at least in- Did they have UFPS? Yeah, like what, they didn't have Otters, so I don't know what's happening. But at least in like, in Crescent City, like, there's so much going on, but it's at least being communicated almost immediately. And I think that's like, what's driving such things to happen in a tight timeline. Yeah, I guess that's true. I didn't really think about it that way. And maybe it was, like, maybe it was purposeful to show the difference in the series of like, Akita is not set in this like, modern day society, whereas Crescent City is, and she wanted to show like, the fast paced movement of modern day society, and like, how quickly people want things and like, just how quickly we all move now, or feel that we need to move. So maybe it was purposeful. But who's to say? Like, I'll link to that in my email. To her. I'll ask some questions. You're like, wow, she's really like, diving in. Like, so the modern day- Like, detailed questions. Okay. It starts out with Halloweentown. Maybe I end with that. Maybe we end with that. That way she doesn't completely write me off. I'll ask all my questions big also. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I'll ask all my questions big also. Very quick. Meg's Patreon content is gonna be like, here's my book reading guide for like, book clubs and student groups. And question number one is, how do you think this relates to Halloweentown and fan fiction? There's just gonna be like, the first and second one. And then question number two is, was it, do you think it was intentional, like an intentional play on the rush that we put on society in the modern age to speed up the timeline? That is quite the take on it. One is like, is she okay? The other one's like, hmm. Valid question. The first one, not so much. Oh my god. Let's start getting into some recaps. I want Meg's rendition of the first like 75 pages of this book, please. Let's get into it. All right. Set the scene. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. 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Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. Halloweentown. I think it's really interesting because they're depicted not necessarily as bad guys, but not as good guys. They're kind of this neutral third party, almost, when you meet them, and they're not mean, but they're also like, we have a job to do, and we need to get it done. And I think it's a very interesting character intro, because I feel like usually you're introduced as a good or a bad, and they're kind of introduced as this middle ground. We briefly mentioned the shower scene, and that's one I would love to dive into a little bit more. So this is, when I say the shower scene, this is Hunt is coming back from a mission, and has decided to still go back to Bryce's apartment, and he goes to basically cleanse himself of what he's just done. And Bryce is really worried about him, because he wasn't responding to any of her text messages or phone calls, and so she goes into the bathroom after he is unresponsive, and she basically helps him shower and puts him to bed. And I thought this was a really poignant moment in the book, because it's rare, I think, to see depictions of male vulnerability like this. Hunt's walls were down. It marked a turning point in the relationship between Bryce and Hunt. It was intimate, an act that can be sexual, but the way that it was portrayed was not sexual in any way. And it was, I think Meg, you said this, it was Bryce just being there for him and being human. Yeah, showing empathy for him in a position where he might not have wanted the attention, but knew he needed it. For me, it's like a callback to the scene in Akamaf when Racinda's having his nightmares, and Feyre goes to his bedroom and wakes him up, and that was another moment of male vulnerability that I just think is really important to include in fiction and art. I find it really interesting that when she stepped into the shower, the water was so hot that it was burning him, and then he was healing. But the idea that he essentially had so much self-loathing of what he had to do, that he was like, I have to do this to myself to feel okay. Which is also another thing of like, holy shit, we're seeing this man who is known as somebody who's just a killer. The Umbra Mortis. Yeah, the Umbra Mortis, the fabled man that everyone, I think, from what I can tell, they just see him as this killer who doesn't care. And that's just what he does, and that's how he lives his life, and is fine with it. But to see this kind of insider perspective from Bryce's perspective and his, to see that he doesn't want to do this, but he's being forced to do it in order to have a life afterward is very vulnerable, and I think it's a very important point in understanding him as a character. Yeah, I think it moved their relationship along a lot. We talked about the timeline, how everything gets so condensed, and I feel like everything that we had from Bryce and Hunt up to that point was filled with awkwardness of Bryce wanting to hate him and didn't like the situation they were put in, and sexual tension. And then this scene was just kind of them being just so raw and human. I think it's very clear from the beginning when you meet Hunt that he is in slavery, he is enlisted to do things that he doesn't like, and that he's not happy with his personification as the Umbra Mortis, but this makes his character just a little bit more dynamic in that not only how much he hates it, how much it's not who he wants to be despite being this warrior that led a rebellion, and then for Bryce to just put aside literally everything and just treat him as a person in need is just such a humanizing moment for both of them and then for the situation as a whole. All this shit is going on and it's so heavy, you have to take time to help each other and recognize through that. It was kind of nice, because I feel like in a lot of fantasy books, they're all about war and they all have terrible things happening, and I feel like a lot of times we don't actually get the trauma and the time to recoup and the things that negatively impact your ability to function, and in this one we did. They both were not functioning. Yeah. I feel like that's a really good point, and it kind of reminds me of the scene in, I don't remember, I think it's Akawar, where they're like, oh, we made love to the sounds of the wounded around us. I'm like, I just don't know if that's the time or the place, and also how. This is my debate, which we can talk about in our next episode, because I had a callback to that in Divine Rivals, that immediately I was like, what's happening right now? Is this not the time or the place? And I feel like this is a very accurate, this scene with Bryce and Hunt, I feel like it's so much more accurate of what someone would go through, of what Hunt is having to do. It calls back to me Hunger Games, the end of the Hunger Games, when Katniss basically loses her shit and just commits straight-up murder, and everyone's like, oh my god, that's so unrealistic, and I'm like, but it's not. By all means, she should have lost her mind a long time ago. There was so much crazy things happening to her, and I'm sorry, I'm shocked we got this far before she kind of went off the deep end a little bit. I want to read a couple of lines from this scene, just because of how they stand out to me, but after the shower, they go to bed, and Hunt wordlessly asks Bryce to stay with him. We're getting this from Bryce's perspective, but she's describing Hunt as a child laying his head on his mother's lap, a friend looking for any sort of reassuring contact to remind him that he was a living being, a good person, no matter what they made him do. To get that kind of reassurance without the words, but in the action, I think was so powerful. And then, a little bit lower on that same page, it jumps to Hunt's point of view when he wakes up, and the first thing that he thinks is that it smells like paradise and like home. I love those quotes. I got goosebumps. I know. Every time. I feel like that's such a powerful thing, and I feel like it solidified, not even if they were to end up in a relationship, but to end up in a romantic relationship, but to solidify the connection that they have because of what they're going through, and for the comfort that they can find in each other, and especially Hunt finding comfort in Bryce in those moments. I thought it also came at a time when, we talked about the timeline, it's all happening really fast, and this seemed like a moment where we got to slow down for a second and just exist and be. It felt like it was a very stable moment in a very otherwise unstable environment of what's happening outside. Yeah. While we're talking about Hunt, let's flip the script on the sadness. Let's talk about how nosy this man is. A nosy, nosy Nancy. He just goes in her, where it was, the linen closet, basically, and he's like, excuse me, what is this? Is it her unicorns? Her poor unicorns. They were just trying to raft. Also, I'm picturing My Little Ponies. Oh, absolutely. They're My Little Ponies. Yes, for sure. That was our girl SG, I'm not trying to get sued. But you know what? It could have been some good marketing. She should have partnered. Oh my god, a partnership. A great limited edition My Little Pony. Oh, at My Little Pony, if you are listening, or Sarah, or a girl, I think you guys need to do a little collab. Crescent City My Little Ponies, can you imagine? Session would sell out in seconds. I, dare I say, might just buy one. Okay, but also, that needs to be clear, it's like a collector's edition, because I don't think we need small children going towards a Crescent City toy. But they could just be sold on Sarah's website. Yeah. Kind of like how artists sell their little merch. Yeah. Let's do it that way. A Barnes and Noble edition. Write it in the email. Right, so I'll add it to the email. I'll add it to the email, I'll be like, listen, we have a collab idea, don't shoot it down quite yet. Maybe like a t-shirt with some funny sayings, Etsy sellers. I love a t-shirt. With the unicorn on it? Yeah. The podcast is really just a big ploy to get all of the merch about all of the books that we want. It's, yeah, I'm going to need like the Etsy sellers. I have been scouring Etsy for the Crescent City stickers with those little otters on them. They have sweatshirts, they have stickers. I want all of it. Because those little guys, how they describe them, I was like giggling kicking my feet. I was like, they're the cutest little things I've ever seen. And I want one. I want like a, I want a squish mouth. I was about to say that. No, I saw that they have like, they're obviously not branded, but like they have them somewhere. I saw somebody was going to get them. Those little otters from Crescent City. I'm going to need them. It was on Instagram. I don't know if I'll ever be able to find it again. Oh my god. I feel like they were like Costco maybe. Where might I find this? I'm like, what was I doing? Kaylee is on the hunt. Oh my god. No pun intended. I, they were like. I just think they're hilarious. And I also love that he was snooping. Yeah. And he's like, well, I thought it was something else. I'm like, keep it to yourself. You're looking for stuff. You want to be nosy, do it in peace. Let the girl around. Also like cover up your tracks a little better. Right? That's the thing with men though. They act like they're not nosy. And then when they try to be nosy, they're really bad at it. That's so true. They don't know how to cover those tracks. All right. Let's move towards the end for all of the, the action is, um, you know, in a classic SJM move, the last 200 pages are just pure total chaos. Um, the whole entire scene where they are, the crew is watching from afar via live stream camera feed. I love that they were watching it just on TV. Yeah. As it played out. It's like a fun added dynamic because you're like in one, you're invested with Bryce. You're like, oh my gosh. And that is the vibe that you've read in every other book. And then you turn the page and you're like, oh right. The whole crew is sitting here, just jaws dropped. What is happening? And you can like feel a little bit of the like panic of like, or what are we going to do to get there? And I'm just picturing Flynn just sitting there like calm, cool, collected, like our Penelope Garcia. He is the Garcia. He is like manning this Twitch stream. Yes. It's like, he is like the gaming Twitch live stream of everything that's happening to Bryce and then downtown. Like, especially when she like leaves the building and is like running through town and he's just pulling up camera feed. And no one's even questioning it. Like, I don't even think maybe it makes mentions like Rune is like, where is he getting that? You know, like Rune on top of his shit. But like this man is just cutting the seed, following her around. And like, it has a nice little fun element. It does have other questions though. Because like whenever like the pack died and they were like, or when all these people, obviously, were getting attacked throughout the book. And they were like, well, we don't have a camera feed of that part of the town. We only caught like the foot. But all of a sudden, we can just follow Bryce everywhere. That's so true. There are the cameras. My only like rebuttal or like logic rebuttal to that is that Micah was the one kind of summoning the demons. So like, he knew exactly where his camera feeds were and he probably could use some level of magic to kind of like block it out and make it worse. And perhaps Bryce very purposely stayed where the cameras were. Like, she was probably just like running through like Main Street. Yeah, she didn't know that she was being broadcast until she was on the phone. Oh, so true. Yeah. Well, she like, I know like she like called at the beginning of what was happening in the library. But maybe she thought that might be or might not be. But the like running through town and stuff and like fighting shit with that. Yeah, I think that was all like, she didn't know that was happening. That's so true. I guess I take it back of like her not purposely going there. But maybe you're right about Micah. I wonder if Micah just like very selectively put them in places that they weren't seen. But amazing how many cameras they have all the time. Shocking to me. And I think it's hilarious. Yeah, that was like the fun like, oh my gosh, you're sobbing and then you turn the page and he's just like, oh, let me change the camera angle and you're like, oh, this is kind of funny. Also, I'm curious why he didn't, if he's such a tech whiz, let's do a little split screen action. He doesn't have like six feeds up. He probably did. But I want to know, I need to see a visual. I think I'm picturing like six or seven like or eight like little cameras on his screen, but he's like only projecting up the one he wants. But I want all of them up. You want to see everything. I want to see everything. If I knew that man was watching six different streams and was only sharing one with me, I'd be like, let me see that. I'd be sitting, I'd be breathing over his shoulder and like, let me look. Well, to be fair, it's like the beginning of the live stream where she's like in the library at Jessabuzz. That was only, we probably only had like one camera. He was just trying to pull audio and stuff through it. Yeah. But like that scene, oh my God, like you knew shit was getting bad when they like went to like the summit meeting. But then like you switched to Bryce and you're like, oh, this is the official start of the downhill of the end of an SJM book. And it was like, how do you, how do we continue to function? As this girl is like, yeah. One V one-ing with an archangel. An archangel. And Micah of all people. With her kernel, with her little nugget, her little nugget of power. Her little nugget. Poor Lehaba was like, oh my God. And then there's that fucking knock in the tank. In the tank that I said it before and I'll say it again. He looks in my head like old Greg. I'm just saying. He has the same creepy aura. He's giving off that weird vibe. He's, he's waving with his thingies from the tank. He's trying to lure people in, but he's not doing a very good job. Meanwhile, I mean, what was your image? It was from that nice movie. Oh no. From this tape of water. Yeah. We have very different mental images of that and C-Rect. The extremes that we both get. I am like YouTube 2006 old Greg and you're like, the shape of water. And then Searing. I'm picturing like a big dog, but a lion. Like I'd say like a 50 pound dog, but with a lion's mane. I pictured a Pomeranian with a lion's mane. But like more vicious. And I'm out here picturing a Komodo dragon. But we did do, we did do some Googling. Yeah, the fan art. Man, you guys are talented. Cute. I want to sticker that one. Definitely not a Komodo dragon. Definitely not. But maybe, maybe somebody could make one. I don't know. Maybe she'll add it in. I don't know why that's what I was picturing in my head, but I was really. I just have a thought of Searing apparently had like the ability to just like disappear and reappear in different locations. Did the dog not just get himself out of that water tank? Could he not just be like, I want to be over there? I forgot about that. You know, I wonder if the tank is like. I wonder if Sarah forgot about that. If it has that like a, what's the word? If it's like anti-magic. Yeah. I don't know. But like a spell of sorts because of the knock. Like, well, they, the knock can't leave the water else it'll die. Right. So I wonder if just in case it was like. I just had that thought. I like don't remember. I don't, we don't really learn how it works. And I guess Bryce wasn't super aware of it happening. But like, you know, he's like appeared on a rooftop, bit hot in the ass and then went back home. So like. I love, I love him for that. I think it's so funny. Like, I just thought that he's a he he he and like cause a little drama, but like nothing crazy. Yeah. But like, it really, it pulled my heartstrings when he got put into that tank. I was really worried because I just kept picturing like my parents' dogs. I was like, oh no. That was like the most like a visual scene for me though. It was like, Bryce is like injured and broken and I'm just picturing her like on her butt, like crawling backwards up a staircase, like dragging her body and like strength is like with her. And then you have La Haba, like, I will hold the line for you. And then you just have this like power emanating out of a closed bathroom door basically. And like just beating on the tank. And like, as she's like pulling herself up, I'm like sobbing because La Haba who, mind you, I didn't dislike her. She was a cute little like fun little add on. But I was not attached. I was not attached. We didn't get a lot of La Haba, so yeah. Yeah. And then all of a sudden she's just like, my friends are behind, like my friends are behind me and I will protect them. I will not be afraid. The I'm not afraid. First of all, um, Throne of Glass girlies will know that that is single most, the most heartbreaking thing that she could have said. It's just still even hearing Kaylee say it by like breast catches. So and she just kept saying it. And even when you weren't reading her saying it in my head, I was just like, it's just on repeat. It's just like mantra over and over as Bryce is like pulling herself up the stairs. And like, how do you like the power that she had to just like mentally keep going and let her do that? And then she just turns around and like, she's like, all right, let's flip the switch. We can't be sad. I got to go put this gun together. Right? Yeah. It's like the switch in that. Cause like on it's page 703 where it says it four different times on one page where she says, my friends are with me and I'm not afraid. Well, it starts with my friends are behind me and I will protect them. And then it goes into that. My friends are with me and I'm not afraid. And just like the over and over and over again. And her like pounding her little body into the crack on the cake. Like to make it like, I was at work and I was texting Eileen while I was reading this and I was like, I have to see a patient in seven minutes. And LaHaba just like sacrificed herself. What am I supposed to do? And I think like part of what that's like so sad is that like, I feel like her and Bryce finally got to like a really, really good place because I feel like for a while in the book, it was just like LaHaba was just like annoying little sprite who was like watching her sit at a little TV shows on her like iPad. In her cute little chair. And like I thought she was adorable, but I know Bryce and her had some like ups and downs and like they kind of thought as though they were like siblings or like something of that sort. Like they were so close and spent so much time together that they kind of felt like that. But for them to and for Bryce to tell her right before that, that like she had been freed because she bought her and I have I have that tabbed as well because she said I bought you and now I set you free LaHaba. And she said LaHaba's smile didn't fault her. I know. She said I peeked in your drawer, which I thought was just like so I'm like and for her to do that, even though she's free and to like not leave the library. Yeah, she was like, let it be known like my first act as a free, free creature. It's to protect my friends. Oh my God. And then she's and I will love you always BB. Would you love BB? I can't handle it. She's so cute. I love her back. The emotional rollercoaster of going from that to loading up the shotgun to the vacuum. Yeah, you get Bryce is like you're epically losing this battle. Like you're like, man, how are we going to recover from this? She gets upstairs. All of a sudden, this girl is like a trained sniper and she's putting together this like magical gun from like Jessica's like personal office. She reaches in a safe. She first of all, she takes the like synth like antidote and pop back over to the other screen for a second. They're all like, what's happening? What was that? I'm just picturing Hypaxia sitting there with like her little fingers like people together. She's like, yes, my girl. You get that. You take that. You're gonna be fine. Like she's like calm, cool, collected. You go back to Bryce. She's got that magical bullet thing that's in the safe. She got one chance and she just takes him out. That was iconic. Like I love that it ended like I'm pretty sure that like scene ended with and she shot that bullet right through Micah's fucking head. I said I was all note for everybody. I was on a plane reading this entire part of the book and I was unwell, but luckily I was by myself in a little three seater row, but still mentally unwell and I was disassociating just a touch or else I would have been sobbing. You get La Hava sacrifice and then you get her being a badass and shooting Micah in the head and you're like, OK, we have recovered from this. That was impressive. And then she just goes to the supply closet. I got it. You ready? Are you ready? No one, not even Sandriel, spoke a word as Bryce took out the vacuum from the supply closet and erased the last trace of Micah from the world. I love it. Which I like that Kaylee pointed out the other day. He's not technically erased from the world. He is in the vacuum. Somebody's going to have to empty that out. Hate to say it. You're probably going to breathe some of it in. You know how those dust particles are just so iconic. Not even Sandriel spoke. Can you imagine being Sandriel? You were this like powerful, badass archangel. You're more powerful than Micah. And you're like, this has to stay big. She's like, God damn it. And then just imagine, not that I in any way feel any sympathy for Sandriel as a character, but the astray are above her. It kind of falls on her that this has now happened. Just imagine her pure and utter panic and despair at an archangel dying. It kind of revolving, like falling back on you. And she's like the girlfriend of the slave you just bought or just got traded. What? And then you get all of that. I don't know what in what order things happen. But the next thing that I think goes with that emotional rollercoaster is that Hypaxi is in that room with them. And she looks over at Hunt. And she's like, did you mean what you said when you said you were going to kill this man? Or that you were going to kill this person? And he's like, yeah, I did. Yeah, I did. And she's like, pop off, queen. And she just takes the whole halo off. And they're like sidebarring this, like no one's paying any attention to them. They're just like whispering during class. They're like, hey, did you mean that? Yeah. OK, perfect. And she's just like, free them. Yeah. Also, is she super, super powered? Or could any of the witches at any time just been like, you're free. Don't worry about it. I feel like they probably could have. But she was so new that I feel like she was in a position to do something differently. Yeah, I mean, she's obviously in a very good position for it. But is that her power as queen? Or is that just a general witch's power? Well, I think she's obviously a healer. So I wonder if all of the witches have different specialties almost. And hers is healing. And that's technically something that can be healed is the tattoo. And so maybe people just don't really do it because of the archangels and not one of them. Right, right. Because removing that from Hunt would basically be inciting war with the archangels. Yeah. It'd be like treason or something. But something else that we didn't talk about last time when we had this conversation, and then I don't think it gets mentioned again in this book. I'm sure it gets brought up later. Maybe. I don't know. The crown was muting Hunt's powers. That's true. He was said to be exceptionally powerful. And the halo was limiting what amount of power he could tap into. And he was still tapping into an exorbitant amount. Yeah. So what is he tapping into in book two and three? Yeah, I want to know. And if we're not getting extra Hunt powers in two and three, actually, I might have beef because why did we even have the halo on? Don't look at me. I'm walking around the stage with my hand. Do not look at me. I think we even have a curtain that Eileen can pull. Like, when we say stuff that she's like, don't look at me, and she can just, like, pull it and be like, now you literally don't have a choice. I'm picturing, like, those, like, drama masks where you, like, put them up. Oh, should we get you, like, a masquerade mask? Yes! And you just have to hold it up. I love it. And it's a clown because I know every time Megan and I go on a tangent, we're clowning. Or it could be, like, one of those, like, those spray tan pop-up tents. It's like, Eileen's in it and we get around myself. The outdoor shower tent for camping. She just has a curtain in it and she just closes it, but she's always in it, just in case. Just in case you say something. When I'm ready. You're always ready to not have us look at you if we are asking questions that you can't hide the answer to. Oh my god. Yeah, I loved, like, the scene once they realized, so after all of that happened, obviously, they were like, oh, we don't think that Micah's, like, plan worked. And then they realized that it did. And for them to kind of realize, like, the shit show that was occurring. And that Bryce was just in it. Well, yeah, let's use that to transition into talking about some characters. Because Kaylee brought up the point of, like, how do we feel about Danica? Just, like, tattooing the horn onto Bryce's back and putting her in this position. I have such mixed feelings about this. Like, I want to love Danica. I, like, really enjoyed what we had of her. And I knew going into this that Danica died. So I was, like, scared to love her. But I, like, really enjoyed her character. And then the more that we find out, A, I feel like we are also sorting through, like, what is true and what is, like, what they've been led to believe by Micah for, like, plotting things. So you never actually know. But, like, I do think that it's bitchy to have not told Bryce anything. But to have relied on Bryce's powers to, like, protect her from this decision. And to, like, have the power of this horn. She didn't just, like... I feel like putting the horn in the ink and tattooing it on your friend, it's like roofie-ing somebody. Like, you did not consent to what was happening. And she's the one that can use it. It's not even, like, you just hid this magical artifact in her skin that someone would have to kill her to use. But, like, you made it functional on her. And in no way are you protecting your friend at that point. So why would you not tell her? Yeah. And also the creatures, I can't remember their names, that Micah was summoning to look for the horn. As soon as... I mean, Danica was just basing it off the fact that she would stay safe because she had that necklace. Yeah. As soon as that necklace came off, she got attacked. And, like, what if, like, saying, like... Like, girl, what if I just forget to put it on? Right. Like, I forget shit all the time. Or it was, like, on, like, a thin chain, like... Yeah, what if the chain broke? Like, those happen all the time. Danica was basing it off of a lot of assumptions, I think. Also, how did she get the horn into the ink? Because I just don't know if that's sanitary. So, like, what? Crush it up, mortar and pestle, take it, and be like, I brought this. Did the tattoo artists know that that was in the ink? Like, I don't think that's allowed. As someone who has been tattooed, I would be concerned if they let me bring my own ink. But also, like, imagine that, like, the horn doesn't work if you don't have all of it, and you just, like, left some little horn dust in the bottom of the mortar and pestle and didn't take quite as much ink to finish your tattoo as you normally would. It's also just a quote. How big is this horn? Is it smaller than we think? I'm picturing, like... I am picturing Susan's horn from Narnia, which is probably, like, not an accurate, like, depiction. And I think Eileen and I had mentioned in a conversation off the pod that we think it's like a conch shell from, like, the ocean that you can, like, hold up to your ear. Picturing SpongeBob SquarePants. Yeah, like, I'm getting, like, the conch phone that you would pick up, hear the ocean through. You're like, ooh, nice. And I, like, picture that kind of... I picture it big. Yeah, like, full shoulders, like, upper body, upper back. Oh, like, big, big. Big. Like, like, ox horn big. Like a big, like a big shell is what you're saying? Yeah. Yeah, I picture a big shell, but now that I'm thinking about it, if she needs the whole thing, that tattoo's just, like, seven words. So how big was this thing? Is it like a little shell? Like a hermit crab shell? Sarah? Sarah, how big is this? Add it to the question. Add it to the email. Yeah, I think Danica... I feel like I have to... We have to get more out of what her plan was. Like, at some level, I feel like she was a good enough friend that there had to have been a master plan there. And she had so much information as, like, the alpha and, like, what she was working with. Eileen is actively hiding her face from us right now. That, like, there had to have been a better plan going on than what we can see from book one. But as it stands, I'm like, you were kind of a shit friend. Yeah, like, I wonder... That's, like, my big question is, like, was she actually a good friend or was this all for, like, selfish reasons that she just really didn't think through? I don't think... But, like, the thing is, I don't know that they were selfish. But at the same time, it's, like, I can get wanting to protect your friends, especially if, like... But, like, she knows Bryce is so powerful. But, like, keeping information when you have made it non-optional for her to be involved is a terrible way to... That's, like, my least favorite trope. It's, like, withholding information. Well, and it's also that she knew that Bryce didn't want anyone to know that she had that power. So for her to just... Rely on that same secret. Yeah. To protect her, yeah. I just don't know. I think it was selfish in the way that she didn't tell her and for what? Like, why couldn't she just tell Bryce these things? Because, like, obviously they were best friends. They trusted each other. I'm sure Bryce would have kept the secret. Yeah, and it wasn't like she never wanted her to know. I'm sorry. Why are we putting flash drives with life-or-death important information sewn into the lining of a jacket? In a hidden, like, party planning folder? I just don't know. Also, I would have never found it. I would have never found it, like... And I would have just died with me. I'd be like, so sorry. You think I'm way more clever than I am. I'm not finding a flash drive. If I saw it, I'd be like, oh, party planning. I might... I would find it only because I'm nosy. Yeah. I wouldn't, like, solve the riddle just as I didn't solve the riddle in ACOTAR. Because it just didn't seem that easy. I was like, it can't be that simple. But I would only find a flash drive if I was being super nosy. I wouldn't have found it because, oh my god, it's in the lining that says the quote and, like, cut open... I wouldn't want to cut open the jacket. No, that's not me. She, like, immediately would, like, rip it off. I would rip it open. I said, oh my god, you wear that every day. Like... If somebody said there was a secret flash drive hidden in my dad's ski jacket that I wear, I'd be like, great, it's gonna live there forever now. Mm-hmm. I'm not cutting that shit open. Right. Gotta keep it nice. I wear that thing every day. Happy to let you know you'll get some of these answers in book two, which is my favorite of the three books. Ooh. I'm so excited. I'm glad that Kaylee and I get to experience it together. Yeah. We stuck to our guns and didn't read it until we recorded this. Because I think it's, like, more fun to be like, we have no clue. We're just speculating. I, as someone who loves spoilers, I have spoiled significant portions of book two, but some of these finer details that are just purely character world-building but not plot-driven... I mean, they are semi-plot-driven, but they're not big essential plot points. I have not spoiled for myself, and I do enjoy some good SJM intertwined, questionable plot wrappings. So... There's a particular plot reveal at the end of the book that I'm eager to get Kaylee's reaction to in lifetime, because I think the only thing you'll be thinking of is Throne of Glass, so... See, this makes me feel like I need to read Throne of Glass before it. I'm like, that's just such a big... No, don't. Okay, good. Okay. Don't. I won't. Say no more. I won't. Okay, so do we want to talk more about... I feel like a lot happened that was kind of important in terms of relationships during the fight with all of the demons. Yes, with Ethan? Eithan? I'm sorry. Why are we spelling Ethan with an I? I'm calling him Eithan. I don't care. Because he wanted to be different. I just... He's Eithan. Hate to break it to everybody. Yeah. I feel like the connection to Ethan... I'm going to call him Ethan. Sorry. I think Ethan kind of putting aside the feelings that he may have had for Bryce in order to come help was very moving. And also Bryce's goodbyes to people really took me out. Very particularly her mom and dad. And the one for... She had one for Rune. Yeah, I was going to say, the one for Rune, I remember it being... Yeah, tell Rune I forgive him. What page are you on? 734 and 735. Oh, and she's like, tell it. Like, tell Fury I'm sorry I lied that I would have told her the truth eventually. Oh, tell Juniper. Not that one. I will not be reading that one out loud. And then the one for her dad. And that's just... Like, they're just so good. If I read them, I will cry. So we'll just... The page is 735. The one for her dad has kind of a burn against her actual birth dad, right? I'm going to frame it like that. Yeah, it's kind of fun because she's kind of like, you're more than I could ever want. And like, meanwhile, her birth father's sitting there. And the one for her mom, because she said, I need you to call my mom. She said quietly, I need you to tell her that I love her and that everything I am is because of her, which is kind of a little jab at the Autumn King. Her strength and her courage and her love, and I'm sorry for all the bullshit I put her through. And then tell my dad, she whispered, the Autumn King stiffened, looked back toward Hunt, tell Randall, she said, that I'm so proud I got to call him my father, that he was the only one that ever mattered. That? Oof. That he was the only one that ever mattered? Yeah. The hitch in my breath. Well, and that makes me think, we haven't talked about this either because I feel like it's such a minor thing that we gloss over when you read it. But the story of Bryce and her mom getting to Randall and Randall getting them away, and that trauma for Bryce as a kid, that it's kind of implied that she used her powers in some capacity to get them out. I think, I feel like it is implied a little bit because her mom was like, we knew, but we didn't want anyone else to know. Right. Which I find, I mean, good for her mom for being like, we're keeping you a secret. Yeah. I think that's also, Bryce has a lot of hatred for her face out of her bloodline, and we get a lot of the Fae stuff through that. But I think that it's kind of important to buffer Bryce's opinion toward the Fae bloodline with the fact that part of the reason Bryce, I think, doesn't like her Fae lineage is because she has to keep it secret right now because it's the power that it holds. I know there's the discrimination element where she's like, because she's only half Fae, she's not seen as really one or the other. There are a lot of social equity implications from it. But I think a lot of her hatred comes from that. She has this massive power that she doesn't want, especially after Rune finds his power. And so then she's kind of like, he wants it. I don't want to take that from him. Now it's like a double secret. Not only does she have the power, but she doesn't want Rune to feel bad that she has it and not him. Yeah. Which I feel like is a very interesting sibling dynamic too for her, because I know in a lot of ways, siblings can be so competitive. She could have very easily been like, well, too bad, so sad. I have way more power than you do. But because, I think it's really sweet because she saw how much it meant to him. Well, her goodbye to him. Yes. Tell Rune I forgive him. I forgave him a long time ago. I just didn't know how to tell him. Tell him I'm sorry I hid the truth and that I only did it because I love him and didn't want to take anything away from him. He'll always be the better one of us. I think that's such a wholesome sibling moment that shows just how much they love each other. And I think it's so sweet. Especially when you spend so much of this book in particular with reading about the animosity between them and them not getting along, not having spoken for so long to get to this at the end of the book. Yeah. And I think to come full circle from when you meet him and she's like, ugh, he's just my annoying older brother. Yeah. I want to clarify, I wanted to hate Rune. Before I opened this book, Rune's character was semi-soiled for me because Rune Danon of the Balbarian Fae and the TikToks and the fan art. And I was just like, man, what a fuckboy. I don't want to like Rune. And then Rune was the only character that I really wanted to read about for the first half of the book. And then Rune and Hypaxia are my two like, oh, these are fun people. I do enjoy this side bit. And I love Rune. Not even in the he's a sexy male, I'm obsessed with Rune. I love Rune's characterization as a brother and a friend and a leader of his task force and trying to toe the line between being the prince to the kingdom and dealing with his father and still being a good person. And just the fun elements of Rune. I enjoy his character so much. And I think part of that is just because the first 75, the first 50% of this book, maybe, Rune and Hunt existed literally just to piss each other off. There was so much picking back and forth that I was just like, I'm obsessed. They are the comedic relief right now. They're so funny. And it was like being back in Throne of Glass and like Lorcan and Rowan going at each other all the time. So I find it funny that you think it's them too. Because for me, I think Rowan and Adian, especially Queen of Midnight, Rowan and Adian. Rowan and Adian going at each other. I think, I said Queen of Midnight, Queen of Shadows. I think it's like that they, see to me, I guess in my head, they're like, kind of on a closer line of like, but I guess they're not. In my head, I'm like, they're kind of equivalent to each other, which puts them more Rowan, Lorcan. Because Rowan just has so much like years on Adian. But in reality, it is Rowan and Adian because Hunt is like way older, was in the rebellion for so long. And it's just like living out his life. And then Rune's over here like poking the bear. He's like, let's stir some shit up. Let's like piss this man off. I just, I love it. Stir the pond a little bit. What a fun little alpha, like fight, pissing match to like get you through some of the slow parts. Yeah. What did you picture Rune looking like? Well, so I had seen the fan art before I read the book. So I did not get a fun little like mental image for Rune because I did get the fan art image of Rune. Okay, but there was one. But there was another one very recently that you're like, huh, that's Rune. Oh, I saw. So I can't even credit this. I can't take the credit for this. Some brilliant mind. And I don't know who it was. I can't credit anybody on like Reddit and then Instagram or TikTok and then Instagram. I don't even know. Said that Rune gave the same vibes as Spirit, the scion of the Cimarron. And it could not be more perfect. That's all I can see now, his hair flowing in the wind. Yeah, I think the hair, like just like the way that the smolder, the way that horse has so much like attitude and just like, it's so perfect. Oh, I'm obsessed with that. Whoever did that, if we can- Let's collab, let's talk. If somebody finds it, if somebody knows it, if you're the one that made it, please send it our way. We will make sure to add a little credit to our next episode. Please send it to us. Unless we see it again, then we'll just like make sure to add a little something in the next episode. While we're on funny bits, I did have a quote that I giggled out loud at. It's at the end. Oh, no. And it's about her, it's her and her mom, Bryce and her mom are on the phone. And she is talking about her power and that her mom's like, oh my God, like he like knows you more power than him. And she's like, what are you going to do with it? And she just says, open a chain of beach themed restaurants, which took me out. Because I'm like, this could be such a serious conversation, which her mom then goes, it was too much to hope that achieving that much power would give you a sense of dignity. It's like, girl, let her open those beach themed restaurants. I hope that's in book two. I want to see a beach themed restaurant in book two. The first time that gets on a fan fiction website is for her to read someone's fan fiction about Bryce actually opening the beach themed restaurant. Honestly, I would. If we end up doing Patreon, I will find a fanfic of her owning a beach themed restaurant and I'll read it live. Just write your own. Just write it how you want it. Oh my God, I so could. I don't know if I can do it justice though. I'm not a writer. I'm a reader and I'll read it. If somebody writes it, send it my way. If you guys have stumbled across any of those, DM us, Meg needs to rap. I need to read it, if it exists. But yeah, I really enjoyed that a little bit. I thought it was hilarious. I feel like there's always so much more to talk about and we leave out so many fun scenes and fun characters and fun quotes that we really liked. But I think we could talk for actual days and still not talk about it all. Yeah, the good news is you have two more books to read. I know. I'm so excited. I'm excited to see if book two wrecks me as much as book one. I'm sure it will. I know the last two lines and Kaylee was shocked that I didn't know what they were. Of course I don't. I don't want to know. I don't know how Meg has existed in the SJM Universe space. She gets avatar TikToks and Instagram things and has just somehow managed to avoid the big news. The news is the big thing about book two. I still think you're gonna get to them and you're gonna be like, oh this. But it'll still- Yeah, but I don't- If it says it's about Crescent City 2, I won't read it. I don't look at anything. Shockingly enough, I have not- I don't know how I've existed this long. I have not gotten a single spoiler for Throne of Glass, which I'm very impressed with myself of. Crescent City, didn't see a single spoiler. Didn't even know what they're about. I'll be honest. I didn't read the description. I'm not reading the description for book two either. I'm just gonna go. I did not know the major, like what it was about. I knew the names of the characters. I knew it was SJM. I knew it was Zootopia fan fiction. Or Halloween Town. Or Halloween Town. Cast your vote. Cast your vote now. We might get a poll. That's a poll. That's a poll on the Instagram story. Vote now. But yeah, I think we can talk about this for years and years. So we'll have to kind of- It's just so good. Wait till next time to get through book two. Stick around. Come back. We hope you enjoyed listening. Hang out with us. We will talk soon about Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows from Rebecca Ross. So if you haven't read it, get on it so that you can come to the book club. It'll be spoiler filled, as always. Hate to say, this is always going to be a spoiler filled podcast. And I hope everyone's ready. I mean, if you have read it, no spoilers there. It'll just be stuff maybe you don't remember happened. Like how we don't remember some characters in ACOTAR. Yeah, don't come to us for the plot recap. That's not- we're not reliable characters for that. We did decide we weren't the people. We weren't the gals for that job. But we will, like we said, talk shit about some books we're reading. And that could be good or bad. We never know. We'd love to say a special thank you to the creators of our intro and outro music. Valerie Drive of At Essence Presets Underscore. And Christian Hines of At The Dream Anthology. Feel free to go give them a follow on Instagram. Be sure to follow at booksblackoutsandbrunchpod on Instagram and share with your friends. And subscribe to the pod. Bye!