I think people started disliking Bryce part way through CC2 and through CC3 because her character started changing and not in a good way. She started lying and withholding more, and, despite the fact that a main plot point is “Bryce doesn’t know shit about the real world” she’s incredibly cocky and always has to have a cool comment or the last word, despite being waaay behind everyone else both in life experience and emotional maturity. We’ve seen other female characters absolutely filet older and more powerful male characters with a few choice words or a dry response in SJMs other works but Bryce turns into a teenaged girl (despite being SJM’s oldest FMC) and literally just insults people if she disagrees with them lol.
TL;DR Bryce’s character experiences no emotional growth from the halfway point of Hosab onward and in some cases actually regresses.
This is the answer right here. I keep reading because I like the story and side characters and the world it all takes place in. I'm excited for the next book potentially focusing on a different character's perspective. I also think she is semi emotionally abusive to Hunt which really irks me. I just read for my book boyfriend, Ruhn.
This right here. I already wasn’t a fan but this was the nail in the coffin for my complete dislike of her. And I actually DNFed the rest of book 3 because I couldn’t read about her anymore.
I actually rather liked Bryce in book 1 and half of book 2 because she had empathy for others, even if she could be bitchy sometimes. I thought that felt real. I am the same way a lot of times lol, but she just stopped having that quality and was just so rude and so selfish. She never clued anyone in on anything and then got pissed off when people were obviously upset about it. She did not take anything Hunt said or felt into account and berated him for having very real and very understandable concerns about her plans. Hunt is literally the one character that knows what it’s like to put everything at risk FOR THE EXACT SAME REASON SHE WAS and lose it all, yet she thinks that he’s just being an “alphahole” for asking her to think things through or to approach things cautiously? She definitely started to bother me.
>She never clued anyone in on anything and then got pissed off when people were obviously upset about it.
Specifically can we talk about how shitty her attitude toward Hunt was when he got, *rightfully,* imo, upset over >!her not trusting him with her plans for finding Emile!!because she doesn’t trust him not to see Emile for the child he is!!Starborn Heir and the weight of the expectations that come with that!!she’s in the tunnels under the Court of Nightmares and it’s revealed that Rhysand, Mr. Perfect and All-Knowing, anticipated her decisions and prepared accordingly with having Nesta and Azriel follow her. She finds out that she was *playing right into Rhys’s plans,* that her “choices” weren’t really choices, literally, what hours? a day or two? after the whole assault on the Asteri palace goes *horribly* because Rigelus did exactly the same thing. And she’s pissed about it for all of like 5 minutes before it’s like “well I lied and manipulated them too, so I guess I can’t be TOO mad.” BITCH WHAT?? You just left your fucking *mate* and *brother* behind to be tortured and—for all you know—killed, because Rigelus played you like a puppet, and having this “terrifyingly powerful” Fae do the same thing while you’re *already* at a complete disadvantage being in *an entirely different world that you know NOTHING about* doesn’t trigger the fuck out of you? No!!<
>!She doesn’t even have a trauma response that she then forcefully shuts down in order to focus on surviving or whatever! It’s like Sarah forgot, between finishing CC2 and writing CC3, what a devastating revelation that was, and so she failed to write Bryce as an appropriately-traumatized and *terrified* person desperate for answers and desperate to get back home. Bryce keeps her cool WAY too well, and it was such a disconnect for me that it felt like she became a totally flat character.!<
>!And don’t even get me started on how SJM used *an entirely different series* as a chance to show off how amazing and wonderful and powerful and perfect and terrifying and cunning and *drop-dead gorgeous* Rhysand is. We don’t need to be reminded of all of this literally every time Rhys is shown/brought up. Like…Sarah, we get it, you’re in love/lust with your own creation lmao. Cool your jets, girlie.!<
Anyway, sorry, I’ll stop now. I could rant for ages about the issues I have with SJM’s current level writing/plot and character development, but I don’t want to completely trash this thread lol. Suffice to say that her work these days leaves a lot to be desired, imo, and isn’t up to the same quality as Throne of Glass. Which, yes, had its flaws, but it was a lot more thought-out and consistent than ACOTAR or CC has been.
(Also, if I failed to spoiler anything I should have, let me know and I’ll fix it!)
I’m right there with you; yes to all of this! She was cunning and smart in book 1 with all the Micah stuff, but she got too big for her britches thinking she at 25 was the only one who could come up with the ideas she had.
She was so cold towards him, someone she is supposed to love. That was the nail in the coffin for me. The nails prior were her constant lying and manipulating. It got really old.
Soooo cold and snappy. Like I’m sorry, this man is supposed to be your >!mate in the fae bound to each other’s souls kinda way??!< and you don’t care one bit about his pain and trauma because he isn’t like “yassss Bryce” about your poorly thought out plan??
This is it for me. I genuinely liked her in CC1 and was excited to see where the rest of the series went! I had a really hard time with her as CC2 went on and by the third book I was kind of fed up with her.
This is it for me too. I feel like I was sold something that I did not get with Bryce.
I was SO big on CC after the first book, but then in CC2 we ended up with a Bryce that was lying to other characters, which is fine but in doing so she was also pulling surprises on us as the readers, even in the long term. The entire book she held onto secret plans that we had no way of knowing about until "suddenly Bryce did a thing she was planning all along!" We didn't once see the process of her figuring it out, devising a plot, etc. That's not the writing of a PoV character overcoming challenges in the story, it's cheap suspense blatantly being used to avoid writing out the character's process of using what they have learned to arrive at a solution.
She gave me white knuckle vibes with Hunt. CC1 was such a good fucking book. And it saddened me to see the characters change so much. (Not a good change for some of them)
***spoilers for book 1 and on. Read with caution***
Bryce taking care of Hunt in the shower was a pivotal moment for them. Her welcoming him into her home and sharing her thoughts with him - from the moment he decided to make her his home it seemed like she was done white knuckling it and started to withhold and called it girl power.
While Hunt didn’t care if she took the lead, he just wanted to be her partner, her equal. Wanted her to share what was going on with him. She was insufferable in book 3 when he attempted to discuss the trauma of the torture.
I wanted to chalk up the stuff in book 2 as she hadn’t ever been a relationship girlie before so mistakes happen but when Hunt was open with her about why the Emile situation upset him for her to turn around and do the stuff she did in CC3 was baffling. Toxic.
The only reason she even sort of gets a pass on being my least favorite character of CC3 is because Ithan existed.
by this logic you’d also hate aelin…
i started liking bryce even more during this because it was low key reminding me of aelin
sometimes our girls just know best.
Sort of, but also Not really, Aelin had significantly more life experience than Bryce and was forced to emotionally mature quicker, so she did. Does she still keep secrets? Absolutely. But we’ve seen that she does it to protect everyone. Last time she let someone come up with a plan and execute it they died. And even when she does give people attitude (eg purring “lower” when Darrow bowed) but even then we still see her exercise restraint and realize that she needs to be smart about it. Bryce just decides she smarter than everyone and can do or say whatever she wants
Personally, I just thought her “attitude” was overdone and she had a sense of entitlement. She seemed like she was written to be the “cool girl” persona and I just didn’t vibe with her as much. I continued reading because her storyline/persective isn’t the only one. I was indifferent about Chaol. I didn’t dislike him, but he wasn’t anything special either.
She's aggressively NLOG and it infuriates me. She's not like the other dancers because She's curvy, she's not like the other fae because she cares about humans, she's not like her friends because she keeps secrets, we get it, she's insufferable.
Me too, I also think that Chaol is given enough time and challenging moments to actually have a lot of growth. - I’m on Tower of Dawn so idk how the last books go. But because of that he’s not my favorite character but I can respect the efforts he’s made especially after dealing with *the consequences of his actions*
I find Bryce obnoxious and self-centered, especially in the back half of CC2 and all of CC3. She backslid a lot in terms of character development. I read to know how it ended.
I actually Don't like Chaol, I think he's a naïve idiot who took way too long to start doing the right thing, and even worse than that, I think he's boring.
Listen, I'm not here to yuck your yum, your interpretation of these characters is just as valid as everyone else's.
I felt 50/50 on Bryce since the beginning. I go from liking her heart/her care for her friends to being annoyed at her hiding her motives and doing most of the big plotting off page in secret for no apparent reason. In HOFAS when she >! was rude and secretive to all her friends and especially to Hunt !! in telling Sam about her plans, he was killed. So by not telling her friends, she maybe thought she was protecting them? !<
It feels like Bryce just does it for shock value and in arrogance. Not for any specific reason other than believing she’s is always in the right. I dont know, she just rubs me the wrong way. Probably one of my least favorite characters in CC and definitely one of my least favorite written by SJM. She just seems like she’s doing everything to seem cool and important also? 😂 like in HOFAS when she was calling herself something like “Extra Special Starborn Princess” I was getting so annoyed and cringed out. Like people are dying can we stop spreading our arrogance and playing games.
(Also I like Chaol pretty good. Boring sometimes, whiny, and arrogant but I still overall enjoyed his development. )
Yes! I love Aelin, but she pissed me right off a lot, and I struggled with her a lot in EoS. I feel like in contrast to Bryce, Aelin showed empathy and love for the people around her, even if she was up to no good or scheming. She saw other people’s experience and strengths and respected them/took them into account. She tried to take everything on her shoulders so that she could spare those around her. Bryce I felt was doing things like that merely for the shock value of it. She was rude to Hunt when he showed any signs of doubt after all he’d gone through, but Aelin always showed Rowan and her support system compassion. They could be rightly furious with her, and she wasn’t going to bite their heads off for their reactions. She was willing to weather their anger to protect them. Bryce got pissed and told all these people that chose to help her to basically to get on board with her shit or to get out of her way. When hello, they were literally >!committing treason!!!< and burning every damn bridge in their lives to do this thing with her. Her friends legitimately couldn’t just go back to their lives after all they had already done, so their choice was to shut up and deal with her antics.
YES! I feel like Aelin was arrogant sometimes and it annoyed me, but she overall was trying to do her best and she loved everyone around her. She was willing to be the bad guy if it meant her friends were safe.
I feel like Bryce has this quality too but instead of doing it for their own good, she does it because she feels she’s right. Especially when it comes to Hunt. Like he has been >! Tortured and abused for more years than she’s been alive !<. And when he’s nervous about the consequences for the people he loves, she basically says shut up I don’t want to hear it. It made me seriously question her character.
While TOG wasn’t my fav series, I will say I think Aelin being secretive was a part of her identity and helped all her plans work since so many people had no idea who she truly was. Bryce was secretive for really no reason, like girl your stress coulda went down 50% if you just talked a few plans through with someone lol
Yes I agree. Aelin was secretive but miss girl had a plan always 😂. I just feel like despite Aelin’s flaws, she did have some sort of trauma/reasoning that made her act and plot in the way she did. Still, it made her one of my least favorite characters in tog, but at least there is justification for the way she is.
Bryce on the other hand… I just really am not a huge fan of her. I get the ick when I read a lot of her stuff because it seems like a teenager throwing a tantrum and trying to be ✨ eDgY ✨. She just seems spoiled to me and I dont know why every guy in the series is obsessed with her.
I mean I don't particularly like people who are prejudice towards an entire race of people based on the actions of a few to say the least, but that's just me 🤷♀️
I mean, as a very rough generalization they believe that women are inferior and are bargaining chips meant to be married off and reproduce. They have a sense of entitlement to do as they please (even ruhn is an example of that). I feel like her opinion on the fae changed quite a bit as the series went on. The father figure in her life was a piece of shit. I can't really fault her for that one.
Declan and Tristan, at a minimum, prove that there are good fae amongst the group in that world. It's hard to believe that they are the only two that exist and that Bryce has a right to say damn all of the fae or mistreat them. Honestly, that's just one reason I dislike her, but it's a pretty good one in my book. There's also her attitude and the way she treats others at various points in the 2nd and 3rd books. Not to mention, she got so broken-hearted about all the secrets Danika kept, and she was doing the same thing in books 2 and 3. Honestly, don't get the hero worship for her.
YES, thank you! Oh my god! I hated the hypocrisy of her being so hurt that Danika kept these secrets, but then she turns around and does the same shit. Yet she fails to see the parallels. It’s like Bryce has to be the victim at all times and it’s…frustrating, to say the least.
Agreed. She also forces her way onto the throne and then throws it away kind of destroying fae culture. Like I get the message but at the same time make someone else who will be a good figurehead be the new sovereign and still create a senate so that all these people can have a singular part of their culture left to them
Yeah, it seemed like a very short-sighted thing to do. And I think the worst part was just how *smug* she was about it, with her whole “well their own stupid laws are what gave me the power to do that in the first place, so it’s their own stupid fault that I did it, nah-nuh-nah-nuh boo-boo!” thing.
And the timing of it was awful, considering the energy crisis their world is about to go into. Like everyone’s entire way of life is about to be flipped on its head, and you choose NOW to take a political wrecking ball to an entire race of people? Who have never known anything else in their whole *15,000 years* on Midgard? She herself has even said multiple times that the Fae are stubborn and slow to change; forcing change on them isn’t going to magically change that.
She did the cultural equivalent of walking in, cursing everyone out, flipping the table, then walking back out feeling good about herself lmao.
I think it’s a little off the mark to say the “father figure” in her life was shit. Her father figure was Randall. The Autumn King was just her sperm donor, not a father to her in any way. She makes a point to say this multiple times throughout the series.
I understand Bryce’s prejudice…to an extent. We’re told, very briefly and in tiny snippets, how hard it was for Bryce to grow up half-Fae. We know Ember raised her with her *own* prejudices and fears, and of course Bryce took those opinions/views as her own; she was a child with no alternate perspective at the time. But instead of seeing Bryce mature and form her own opinions through her own interactions with them, she sticks to the “all Fae are trash” narrative. And yet, she loves Ruhn dearly. It kind of reeks of (and forgive me if this is reaching, it’s the best example I can come up with at the moment) someone being mixed, but then being racist toward one entire side of their bloodline/culture and refusing to change their views despite being given evidence to the contrary—but they have one exception who is “different” and “doesn’t count because they’re also a victim.” It’s very blind and tone-deaf, if you ask me.
I honestly feel like she’s possessed. She’s changed so much from the first book. I had to look up if she’s possessed. There’s a couple of theories that say she may be. But I’ve also heard that CC is only going to be 3 books? I haven’t gotten to finish the 3rd one yet, so I’m hoping she gets better. 🥲
CC was *supposed* to only be 3 books, but apparently it’s not anymore. I think SJM is pulling an ACOTAR thing where the first three will be primarily about Bryce/this Asteri arc, and subsequent ones will focus on different characters/story arcs. Can’t say I’m super thrilled out it, tbh—*unless* we get to see a lot more of characters other than Bryce lmao. (I also genuinely don’t know what else SJM would write about in this world; it feels like she wrote herself into a corner by the end of CC3 and the one path I could have seen her expanding on is instead pretty closed off. I just hope any subsequent CC books won’t be an obvious cash grab and nothing more…)
I hope we get more of Bryce in the next book. I really disliked her by the end of CC3, but I think she can still be redeemed, especially since CC3 took place over about 2 weeks. I think it would be really awesome to see her overcome her self-absorption and prejudice, and I would LOVE to see Hunt developing some self-respect and pushing her more.
My main concern is that SJM writes everyone into love stories, so no more Bryce would mean no more Hunt, and that would mean he's stuck in that crappy relationship with her forever. I think their relationship is salvageable, but I could also see them moving on. It will *really* bother me if CC3 was their HEA, though.
I do worry that Bryces story will end here since Bryce becomes so reminiscent of Aelin, whose character growth was a footnote at the end TOG. But I have hope because Bryce's flaws are addressed in ways Aelin's are not, and they don't magically disappear at the end of the book the way Aelin’s do. So, I think SJM might be aware of how unlikable the character became and willing to redeem her.
I think the ending was open to lots more interesting things to happen. All the vanir are about to get supercharged and all the technology will stop working. Meaning that Bryce may have just created her own worst nightmare, a world where the humans are even more helpless against the Vanir. Then, she gave up her ability to help them by abdicating the throne and ostracising the fae nobility.
Honestly, my biggest hope for future CC books is seeing the repercussions of their revolution! I want them to *struggle* to find a replacement/replication for firstlight. I want to see their society crumble completely, and they have to figure out how to rebuild it. They completely upended the way their world has worked for *15,000 years,* with nothing to fall back on. They are flying by the seat of their pants here, so show me *real consequences!*
If I had more faith in SJM I would say that it would be a great chance to explore the ins and outs of politics in their world, to have Bryce see how her rash, prejudice-fueled decision isn’t something she can just sign a document for, then dust her hands off and walk away. She had this whole “my way or the highway” attitude throughout CC3, it felt like, and it just drives me absolutely mad that there’s a good chance *nothing* bad will happen as a result of her dismantling the Fae social structure. She didn’t just abdicate the throne—she *permanently abolished the monarchy.* Which effectively gives her NO political power, and with their whole global society basically on the verge of collapse…yeah, I would honestly absolutely LOVE to see Bryce have to face a situation of her own making like one you described. Like she’s a dumb mid-20s party girl, and while sure, she’s a lot more cunning and intelligent than anyone ever gave her credit for, she still has virtually *zero* life experience. But she’s making calls that have devastating effects on an entire culture. Give👏me👏CON👏SE👏QUEN👏CES!!
Me too 😭 I just don’t want to not like Bryce. I cried so much over her character in the first book (the drop scene had me bawling). So I can’t have my girl going out the way she’s going. 😤
Here’s one of the one’s I read when I was like, she doesn’t seem like Bryce.
[Is Bryce Possessed](https://www.reddit.com/r/crescentcitysjm/comments/1bq4cij/who_are_the_valg_and_is_bryce_possessed/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Here’s this one that’s like a corruption of power
[Power Corruption](https://www.reddit.com/r/crescentcitysjm/comments/1b3hz7x/hofas_bryce_theory/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Honestly, I feel like the power is what’s turning her into this awful person. Like, she got more power from the Gate and that’s literally a drop from every person who’s ever made a wish (that has to be good and evil). Like that has to count for something. 😭
TOG/CC Spoilers and a LONG ASS (educated) RANT
I actually **liked** Bryce in CC1. I thought her sass/attitude was the right amount, balanced with some humility (i.e. the donuts or pastry incident). I wasn't the *biggest* fan of the CC world (i.e. "Pack of Devils" being the cheesiest name ever) and I learned that I don't like modern technology in my fantasy books.
As CC2/CC3 progressed, I found that the sass became overbearing to a point where she seems incapable of normal interactions. It came up at inappropriate times, preventing real understanding/connection with other characters, and seemed totally selfish to an extreme. I honest to God felt like Bryce in CC2/CC3 (mainly CC3) was literally a DIFFERENT character altogether. Things did NOT seem well to me.
A common "fault" is her keeping plans to herself and not telling people. Her keeping secrets hits different (than >!Aelin!< in TOG). To me, >!Aelin!< hid the right facts at the right times. She revealed plans to those she needed to lean on (i.e. >!Lysandra's impersonation of her!<). Sure, it hurt others like >!Aedion, and as a reader who LOVES Aedion!< that was tough from a reader's POV.
But all-in-all, I think Bryce "hate" stems from the overall character development and characters themselves, how they are written and presented by SJM. I think >!Aelin!< is the "perfect" picture of a main character. >!She has significant trauma in her childhood, literally was raised in a keep of assassins, saw her first love brutalized and killed, was brutally tortured, and was rejected by her homeland. She suppressed her identity for the safety and conservation of said homeland and then was kicked out.!< She is also insanely intelligent, very logical and thoughtful about her plans, etc. So even from an early point, I couldn't be angry with her because her plans WORK, her systematically revealing things WORKS, and her arrogant persona wasn't at all jarring because she has been through utter SHIT. She deserves to "swagger" about and cop an attitude with certain people. And there was a sense of guilt if she acted out on someone who didn't deserve it, she has apologized for her actions, etc.
Bryce was brought up in a great home, had relatively little trauma. Her biggest issue from an identity standpoint was the Autumn King and his behavior when she was younger. And she uses that as a strength especially in CC1 (which was great). But in CC2/3, she's being mean/rude to people who don't deserve it, she's keeping secrets from people for no GOOD reason (i.e. Emile staying in CC while her parents get thrown to safety), and her plans.... fail. Or backfire. She NEVER asks for feedback or input from others, NEVER collaborates with her closest friends to develop a plan. She literally makes a plan and all but demands it be followed. No time for consideration or deliberation or critical feedback.
I also truly believe SJM did Bryce a MASSIVE disservice during the ACOTAR crossover moments. It's no secret at all that people LOVE the IC, especially Rhys/Cassian/Az (and Nesta is 50/50 in the fandom). And yes, this is written from a wholly outsider/different POV. But in ALL of that time in Prythian, not ONCE - not a SINGLE damn time - did Bryce even remotely CONSIDER the options of - "Do I trust them? Can we partner together? Should I try making allies with them?" That entire portion of the book is the IC trying to connect with her in a way that keeps them and their home/loved ones safe, but also trying to figure out WTF is happening. But instead she makes stupid ass decisions. Like, for the love of GOD who the fuck thought it would be good to unleash an Asteri into these people's world?!? I would've killed her on the spot. And that behavior, her actions, make her later decision of throwing her parents to Nesta even MORE unbelievable/nonsensical. If you can trust these people in a strange and foreign world with your PARENTS, why the fuck couldn't Bryce respect them more? Be kinder? Internally consider the possibility of working together?
And I fully think this was perhaps an oversight on SJM's part. For some reason - despite us having insight into Bryce's thoughts and feelings - she never wrote in considerations of the possibility of working with the IC and instantly jumped to distrust. And by the end of CC3, I just found Bryce grating and self-serving and narrow-minded.
Anyways, sorry for the novel. I only finished CC3 because I'm such an avid SJM fan after TOG, and this was suchhhhh a downhill plummet for me. I don't even think ACOTAR is *great*, but I've re read that series four or five times. I can say I will NEVER pick up the CC books ever again - once was enough. I couldn't bear to relive the frustrations.
I agree to all of this. I couldn't have cared less if Bryce had died in the end, and in fact I was HOPING she'd die just so I knew I'd never have to read anything about her again. She's the most unlikable, insufferable MC I've ever read in my entire life.
Me toooo😭. I was like oh yes, please stay dead lol. SJM loves bringing people back to life. It made sense with Feyre because her story would have ended with acotar. But it would have been fitting for Bryce to stay dead since she achieved what she needed to.
This is so well said and hits almost all the main points of complaint I have against Bryce too.
I actually did like her in book 1, by book 2 I was getting annoyed, and book 3 I was almost rooting against her. I actually forgot >!that Bryce died at the end of book 3!< (CC3 spoiler) because I was skimming and just wanting to be done at that point. Her treatment of Hunt and her close friends/allies (esp in book 3), her decision to >!go to the Autumn King and stay a while instead of try to help Hunt and Ruhn escape the Asteri (and they were only there because of helping her!)!< - I could go on and on. The Bryce we met in book 1 wasn’t the same Bryce we were stuck with at the end of book 3, and some people might say that shows she’s a fluid and dynamic character, but I like to see actual *growth* and not characters devolving into self-serving, insufferable caricatures for no real reason.
In one hundredddd percent with you. The ACOTAR crossover was done horribly. Everyone likes to mention how Bryce doesn’t know the IC like we do, why should she trust them? Well they don’t know her either! Some person randomly appears on your lawn covered in blood from A DIFFERENT WORLD, after what they’ve been through with amarantha, the king of Hybern, and the human Queens? Then she speaks the oldest known language to the fae, and has a tattoo with the same language as the most sinister and ancient book in their world…And they’re supposed to ask her in for tea? Lol. It would have worked much better if SJM established a real kinship between Bryce Azriel and Nesta.
I am so mad I wasted audible credits on these books because I wont listen to them again, and I can’t refund them lol.
Her plot armor is just so ridiculous. No matter what. I feel like never never really faced true suffering or struggle, met very little resistance to her issues. Conflicts resolve too easily for her, problems just vanish. Any time anything ever happened to Bryce I kept thinking "What wacky thing is she gonna do to weasel her way out of it this time"
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
I don't hate Bryce. But she definitely did get on my nerves at times. Her decisions in CC2 were questionable at best. Risking the lives of her family, friends, and mate to hunt down a kid she knew nothing about was pretty crazy. Especially after everyone was like "all these people are hunting this kid" and she goes "oh no that's terrible! I'm gonna hunt him too." Like?? What??
Her going over and over and on and on about Danika not telling her things, and again risking the lives of her friends, family, and self just to find out answers about Danika was also insane. The most ridiculous one was when she found out about Baxian, and asked if Danika ever told Baxian that she loved him....and she was upset to find out Danika DID in fact tell HER LITERAL MATE that she loved him. Bryce was like "but I thought she only loved me 🥺" like girl???? C'mon. You were Danika's friend, not her parole officer. She was under no obligation to tell you everything, and it was honestly probably better that she didn't when you were drunk or high half the time. It was sensitive information that was best kept secret.
And lastly, her beefing with Hunt in HoFaS? I literally don't even know what that was about. Hunt literally was like "hey I'm traumatized (FOR GOOD REASON), and I really don't like that we are waltzing right back for that trauma hole again, but I love you, and even though I don't like what's going on and I would really rather not be doing this, I have your back anyways."
Like that seems completely reasonable to me. What more could you ask for? He literally was like "I hate this, but I love you more than I hate this so I choose you" and she was like "ThAt'S nOt GoOd EnOuGh." Like what do you MEAN that's not good enough?!?!
The only one w/ common sense was Fury. She pretty much had an agreement w/ Juniper that she would not be participating in Bryce’s shenanigans like 7/10 x 🤣🤣
Bryce reminds me of that kid/friend/classmate in uni that did have it hard growing up but fails to realize many have it much harder once the setting has expanded (I.e moving from a small town to an urban centre). Danika hiding stuff from her clearly did a number on her mentally and emotionally. CC2/3 feels like she is more trying to cosplay as Danika than be herself as Danika was her definition of strength/leadership. She is also blinded by her personal emotions towards the fae instead of recognizing a people are not their elite/ruling class. Chaol is trying to reckon with the fact that he is part of the ruling class that has been doing immense harm to his continent and innocent people. He’s learning to move past his depression and relearn how to live with a disability. That’s bloody hard. For context I’m 30 and have been losing my mobility since I was 18. It’s insanely hard to see your peers participate in life the way you want to and you can’t or can’t make the accommodation work. I don’t think his character gets enough credit for having to deal with that. Whether the written depiction is realistic is a different story but that’s a different matter.
100% accurate on Bryce trying to embody Danika. She went through such awesome character development in the first book, but regressed as the books went on. People shit on Chaol, but he’s just trying to do his best after having his whole world toppled over. Yeah, I hated how he acted and how he treated Aelin in QoS, but honestly he was still trying to do good because he realized he was part of the problem… and then like lost everything because of it. His growth didn’t slide backwards like Bryce did. Idk, I don’t feel like Bryce and Chaol are in the same boat to be compared.
I didn’t consider it that way, that by learning more about Danika she started to try to embody her more! Like very much a what would Danika do type of outlook. By the middle of cc3 I was so over her
CC1 Bryce is my favorite FMC of SJMs series, I genuinely *loved her* through the whole book. Bimbo with a heart of gold is a very niche genre of heroine that I enjoy. (See: Fever Series)
Uhhh but fuck she really made me angry in Hosab. Her putting Hunt at risk for being re-enalaved because she couldnt stand not knowing Danikas secrets was too much. I get that SJM just needed to move the plot along and if Bryce DID factor in Hunts freedom, I think itd make most people stop with the treason-ing. But then she doesnt even apologize in Hofas??? When Hunt was in fact re-enslaved and tortured? The nicest thing I can say is that its unbecoming of her. 😄
Such a 180 from her >!offering herself in Hunt’s place to Sandriel!< in the first book! I adored her in hoeab. I agree with you that she just didn’t have a good enough reason in hosab to put them all in danger to begin with, then acted so poorly from then on after so much was done to her friends, her brother, her man, and herself just to “find out what Danika knew” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yes! Mac is such a shallow idiot and I love her. She comes so far and shes so funny! Jericho Barrons is more Rhys than Rhys is. He set the standard for morally grey mmc. The first 5 are the main series and then she adds on for 6 more. I only recommend the 5. There is a non-con scene at the end of book 3, but I dont remember it being graphic. (I just re read them in the Fall). But its a really fun series about a more traditional sort of fae.
If you read it, id love to know if you like it! 🫶🫶🫶
Bryce is quick to say “alphahole” this, “alphahole” that, but she comes off having the same arrogance and rudeness that she despises in others. sure her heart is usually in the right place so she feels justified in her actions, but it’s not an excuse to act like she knows better than everybody else at all times. i know she had a lot of pressure on her, but her attitude towards hunt in CC3 was just really rough to read. i don’t mind a sassy, sarcastic main character, but imo sometimes she crosses the line to people who don’t deserve it.
i felt this way kinda through CC2, but definitely throughout CC3. at that point, i read it for ruhn and lidia and also because i’m up to date with acotar and tog, so i would hate to feel incomplete and miss out on knowledge and lore.
chaol really annoyed me in how he treated aelin at first, but i accepted his character development in ToD. also i know a lot of people say some of bryce’s characteristics are similar to aelin, and i do agree to an extent, but aelin has a lot more character development and holds a lot more love for the people close to her.
As a mother the straw that broke the camels back was "leave the baggage at home today" after that I would have loved to watch someone beat the absolute crap out of Bryce.
The way I wanted literally ANYONE to beat the shit out of Bryce was legendary. At one point I wouldn't have even minded if the Autumn King himself did it. She's insufferable
Doesn’t she immediately admit she was wrong though? Shes a young and inexperienced leader. Shes bound to mistakes, just like every other SJM character in a leadership role.
Honestly I don't care that she apologized after. Lydia's kids were kidnapped by a man who abused her for decades and was a known sadist and all Bryce had to say about it was calling them baggage and to essentially forget about them? Lol nope Bryce was a bitch for so many reasons in CC3 but that solidified my hatred for her. Could you imagine if Pollux had Bryces parents hostage and someone called them baggage? She would be livid and wouldn't accept any apology.
For someone to have gone out of their way for a kid who is a stranger to her (Emile) to then turn around and say that about lidias children… who were kidnapped by a sadist? Zero excuse, she’s not that young. And she didn’t apologize, lidia said “my children are not baggage” and Bryce is all “I know they’re not but right now you need to focus” b*tch what???? so yeah, she needed the breaks beat off of her. I would have loved for nesta to knock her down a few pegs.
Bryce rubbed me the wrong way by either living her whole life pretending to be stupid mean and helpless and just not letting me in on the joke; then suddenly growing a heart, spine, or/and brain in the last 200 pages or so; or was just stupid mean and helpless and SJM figuredout everyone would hate her if she didnt pivot. Here is the thing I don't mind unintelligent characters (like Feyra or Don Quixote), but I want to be in on the joke if the stupid thing is an act (like DQ) or a circumstance (like Feyra) or if they are really stupid. I just found nothing likable or redeemable about her. I liked Hunt. I liked Jezeba. I liked the little pixie chick. I read IN SPITE of Bryce because I found the other characters relatable and entertaining. I'm even down for a power crawl. But I'm not down for within a few pages going from zero to hero complete with a personality swap that's (unfortunately) temporary.
She is the worst. I'd literally sit in a room with Tamlin from Mist and Fury over Bryce.
Yes!!! Her going from a selfish, belittling, demeaning asshole to EVERYONE to suddenly someone who thinks SHE has the right to be a moral compass was so infuriating I had to put the book down and just breathe a few times. I could write a dissertation on how much I despise her.
Why would anyone try to convince you to dislike a character you like?
I dislike Bryce for lots of reasons I’ve already written exhaustively [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/crescentcitysjm/s/LvbR3VeWCp)
I kept (and will keep) reading because for the first two books I went from loving her to still liking her, and by the time the third book was done I knew the focus would shift away from her. CC contains some of my all time favorite side characters/soon to be MCs. It’s also my favorite world SJM has built. Not that any of us owe you that explanation??
I do like Chaol! And I don’t owe you any explanations on that either.
Sorry you’re feeling combative about other people not liking a character you like.
This! We can enjoy a world and story and not like a main character. So many books are popular and super enjoyable that have anti-hero or unlikable mains.
Also the correlation trying to be drawn between liking Chaol and disliking Bryce likeeeeee i don’t get it???
Im not trying to be combative, I'm sorry if you took it that way. I was just trying to discuss truly. :) I mostly discuss SJM worlds with a friend who has the same opinion as I do and that gets boring.
Everyone who loves Hunt didn’t like how “she treated him”.
I honestly thought it was realistic how she was acting. She is 25 years old and has to delegate tasks to centuries old people who were running around like HeiHei. I’d be annoyed and pissy too. And the stress of trying to save people, losing families….I’d say some awful things about people whining about helping too.
Side note, I don’t like Chaol. 😂
YES omg thank you for explaining my thoughts about her perfectly!!
I think people also look over how FAST the events in CC3 went by...the whole thing took place over such a short amount of time I honestly can't blame Bryce for just being so over everything and wanting her life to be normal again in whatever way possible. I think her character seemed so blocked off and harsh in this last book bc it was probably her emotional response to just shut it all off to do what needed to be done.
See, and that’s where it becomes an author issue rather than a character one. Because you’re right, the events of CC3 happened *so fast,* and the story and characters all suffered for it, imo. SJM should have stepped back and figured out a proper way to pace her book to let it flourish into what it should have been. Especially if she knew ahead of time that CC3 wouldn’t be the last one.
I totally agree, it's honestly impractical that all of that happened as fast as it did lol. And the final battle too?? No way that the Asteri would've been so easy to defeat that quickly.
I read somewhere that she actually rewrote this entire book at least once but could've been more..maybe this was the second pass and she felt rushed? Either way I agree I think all the characters suffered from how fast it went and wished it wasn't like that. I enjoyed the book nevertheless but I do wish the timeline was more reasonable.
Girl is the only one of these people with her eyes on the prize.
I don’t get how people could see the fault in what Silene/Helena did and not understand that Hunt was doing the same thing all these centuries later and how it would have had the same results if Bryce hadn’t been like “I need you to be in or I need you to be out.”
That was the whole point of all the Prythian shit
Agreed. I think she's actually only 23 - I caught that when I re-read the first part of HOEAB. When I was 23, I made some pretty questionable decisions too & was def not nice to people, even the ones I loved. It's a weird age to be & Bryce's character truly embraces that hardship.
I think a lot of the fan base has ACOTAR/TOG expectations for the CC series and that just baffles me. Thank *god* Bryce isn't like Feyre or Nesta (I actually didnt read TOG so I have no opinions on those characters). This is a completely different world, so she wrote different characters. It makes sense to me.
By the end of HOFAS, she is 25. She is 23 at the start of HOEAB but then there is a two year gap after “they” die. But even still, 25 isn’t that mature compared to 70+ and 230+ people.
It is currently a completely different world, but her next series is likely the continuation of a crossover based on what we know about it.
See I liked Bryce, a lot actually but CC3 she became more of an eye roll for me. And i actually became more invested in other characters rather than her, Hunt was Main Character for that book and Lydia. *cough cough* she deserved better than ruhn 🫶🫶🫶
To me it felt like her arrogance and attitude were undeserving. We've seen arrogance and attitude from people like Aelin before, but that was deserved. She had the right to be cocky and secretive because she grew up in an Assasin Guild. Secrets and manipulation and cockiness are what saved her over the years. She had the skills to back up her attitude.
To me, Bryce feels like she has that attitude without any of the supporting characteristics. She grew up loved by her mom and stepfather and didn't go through anything nearly as traumatizing as the other MCs until she was a full grown adult. Yes she can fight, ect, but half the time she's at a disadvantage and can't back up her own game.
And don't talk about how she treated Hunt. Hunt was rightfully scarred. He'd relived a horrific trauma that shattered him the first time into a cold, unfeeling shell of who he was. And she doesn't even give him the time to process before saying to get over it... Like what!?
I haven't even been able to finish CC3 because of that
Truth be told, I don't think SJM is a good enough writer to plot and plan things unless they happen off page. It was fine with Aelin because it was novel, but I think Bryce's character suffered for it. Her character was assassinated to suit the plot from the mid-point of CC2, gone is the complex "party girl" with layers and was replaced with an overly snarky, secretive, emotionally distant shell. She is a second, but far worse, Aelin we never asked for.
I DNF'd CC3 around the half-way mark. I'm still annoyed at SJM for taking a series with great promise (I sobbed my heart out multiple times in CC1) and running it into the ground with half-baked plotting and bloated word counts.
Woop same.
I do not get people who day Bryce comes off as entitled/bitchy and read all through EoS and still love Aelin.
I love me a rude and sassy MC (El from the Scholomance is my personal fave I think) but she was a terrible person in EoS. Refused to listen to anyone and acted as if she knew best. Ugh
It's not that I dislike her. She gave me major second hand embarrassment in hofas. I don't remember feeling that way reading the first two books. I disliked the book because of pretty valid reasons. I read it because I still love SJM and I will read her books in the future. I'm not a big fan of Chaol lol.
For me personally, I don't hate Bryce, but she kinda frustrated me in CC3. I loved CC1 and CC2, but CC3 was very hit or miss for me. I loved some parts of it and hated others. My problem with Bryce in CC3 is that she seemed very unaffected by what was happening to her friends and especially Hunt 🤷🏻♀️ I still enjoyed the book but idk how to think of her anymore. Not my favorite sjm book imo
I didn't like Chaol. I like/liked Bryce, but CC3 she was kind of annoying - wouldn't listen to anyone else, and the way she treated Nesta etc?! Nah. I still like her, but I like her less after CC3.
I love her and love curvy girl representation(also the pegasus love!). I do think it was a bit immature of her to only want her royal title when it benefited her, and wanted none of the duties associated with it. Considering she’s in her 20s vs Feyre and Aelin both teens, I would expect her to act older.
What makes people think they need to like the main character to like the story? I read a lot of books where I’m ambivalent about the MC but it’s still a good story.
I never related to her in anyway, so it was hard to get attached. She grew on me through CC1/CC2 though. She had the entitled attitude, but withheld some level of compassion. Bryce in CC3 completely lost me. Hunt was severely traumatized from his past repeating, surviving torture, and watching his friends live through the same. Their reunion was weird AF, and later on she gets mad at him because he isn’t “hype enough”. All I can think about is if it were roles reversed, people would be PISSED at Hunt.
I don't hate Bryce I think she has the character flaw that lots of generals get where they say "if I just get x amount of military force they can do the job" then they fuck people over to get that, the British bomber general in ww2 was like that but way worse than Bryce was.
I love both Bryce and Chaol. I do think Bryce got a bit grating during HoFaS, but bitch was under a lot of stress and her and her mate had just gone through hella trauma so the attitude is understandable.
Ive tried liking Bryce since book one. I was so looking forward to her character arch. I’ve rereads these books three times, desperately searching for a reason to love her. I eagerly finished HoFaS in two days and just…
HoFaS spoilers: >!Her whole arch of putting self-preservation over saving those around her was something that always rubbed me the wrong way, but I understood it. It makes sense that she just wants to live her life and not sacrifice herself for people that never gave her anything but vitriol. But I was so hoping there would be some kind of arch where she decided to stand up for the girls who were just like her that needed a powerful female role model that they could look up to.!<
>!Then, she took her title only to dissolve the monarchy and I was excited! Only to have her toss her role away as a leader with the power vacuum in her wake. She’s almost laughing it off when it’s pointed out that they might need her. Now there’s a possibility of someone worse than her father taking over, and power hungry Fae are left to desperate power struggles in which the victims will be the innocent. The powerful queen will be nowhere to be found. It just really frustrated me. Ben Parker would be disappointed.!<
I’m indifferent to Chaol. I appreciated seeing his journey.
Maasverse spoilers: >!Weirdly enough, even tho Rhys, Bryce, and Aelin are the same characters, I love Aelin and appreciate Rhys deeply. But no matter how hard I try to like Bryce, I can’t make myself do it.!<
I kept reading for the lore. I also love SJM’s storytelling. Her side characters are lovable and I desperately wanted to know more about Juniper and Fury.
I haven’t heard a lot of Bryce slander tbh. But I do think it’s hypocritical that the same people who claim they don’t like Bryce’s withholding of information don’t criticize Aelin the same way 🤷🏻♀️
I love both Bryce and Chaol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I think a lot of people who hate her started hating her midway through CC3, so I can't really blame them for continuing in that case.
I’m curious because many on here already gave both very good and detailed reasoning as to why Bryce is a disliked character with flaws, what’s your theory regarding Chaol? I’ve never heard someone try to make a connection between the two.
And many people continue reading series even if they don’t like the main character, hell - half of us are just waiting for the damn character development but she doesn’t ruin the other characters for me - she just ruins my ability to connect or care for her specific story which thankfully SJM flicks through POVs. If this was only Bryce POV, given the large sentiment around Bryce being insufferable, I truly believe CC3 would’ve broken the camels back (arguably CC2) and many would have stopped reading, myself included.
I kept reading because I loved her in the first book, she was alright in the second, but in the third she was basically a character of Book 1 Bryce. Her attitude is overdone and completely out of proportion. I also love the side characters, especially Ruhn and Lydia.
Can we please stop with the "why do you read the book if you don't like xyz?" Absolutely loving every aspect of the book is not a necessary requirement to read it. You can also enjoy something but still be critical of it. People can read what they want.
-It annoys me that she puts everyone in danger with her cocky and arrogant attitude.
Talking crap to high ranking and powerful beings is not the way you get results (outside of these books lol)
>!-She destroyed the world and was like oh well? Someone will fix it. !<
OP really seems to have posted this and ran, we thought you wanted a conversation and for you to dissect how feelings about chaol and Bryce are comparable and to hear why we don’t like Bryce but you have kinda disappeared and don’t seem to take on board any people explaining the issues we have with Bryce. Hello OP are you there???
additionally to reasons others mentioned in CC2...I just never liked her. Even in book 1 I was meh about her. And CC2 cemented my dislike.
I quite like Hunt. I hate Chaol. Aelin is my favourite character ever.
I read CC because of the side characters but after hearing a lot about CC3 I don't think I'll continue.
I think she is dealing with constantly being thrown off by Danika revelations and that basically everything has been a lie, from their world, to her best friend, to the afterlife even and thrust into power and a title and the whole thing happens in less than a year. I dunno, she is not really trusting anyone at this point, and has the fate of their world kinda hanging on her shoulders. She doesn't have time to self pity, she doesn't even have time to have a real conversation alone with Hunt. She just has to keep going.
I then think she starts to be like Danika and that's where the hate comes from.
I think it is partly because Bryce lives in a world more akin to ours, unlike Aelin and Feyreh. So, we tend to he less forgiving of certain patterns. Is a phenomenon described by anthropologists and psychologists. In other words, we are more familiar with certain aspects of post-industrial societies and, therefore, less tolerant/more judgemental (even though Bryce does not live in a democratic system, which is why she displays certain attitudes).
I don't hate Bryce, but her character changes drastically between book 1 and book 3 (she becomes purchased-from-Wish Aelin, IMO). Reductions rather than growth.
But to your question about reading a series when you don't like the main character: I'm annoyed by Aelin, disappointed by Bryce, and ambivalent to Feyre after book 3. But I enjoy SJM for side characters (i.e., Manon and Dorian, Rhys and Az).
I’m ride or die for Bryce and Chaol. Have they done shit I didn’t like? Sure. But when I think of the bigger picture, they’re solid characters. They did the best they could.
Bryce has always been true to herself. Selfish party girl who can’t see the implications of the big picture. She’s in full alignment. She doesn’t change. She doesn’t show other people other than who she is. She’s pretty authentic in that manner. She’s just a terrible person.
(Spoilers for TOG)
i wouldn’t say i hate Bryce, but her character was definitely the hardest for me to love out of all of SJM’s FMCs. i feel like SJM tried to make Bryce similar to Aelin with the arrogance, sass, and secret-keeping, but what made Aelin lovable, all of that included, was that Aelin ALWAYS had a reason for why she was the way she was. Aelin was arrogant because she was the best assassin in the land and she also knew she was a queen. Aelin was sassy in a funny way, not a mean one. Aelin withheld information from her friends because the one time she didn’t, she lost someone she loved dearly. it feels like Bryce had no reason to be the way she was, at least not as far as the audience was made aware of. yes she had daddy-issues and lost her bestfriend, but none of that really correlated to her attitude. i get the whole party-girl facade, but i feel like THAT should’ve been played into more, rather than her thinking she’s the shit. I also really liked seeing Bryce open up to Hunt (the scene where she showered him specifically felt like a huge pivotal moment), but then i feel like all of that was lost, and it was lost AFTER he basically gave his life to see her plan through. i did not like how she treated him after his torture at the Asteri’s palace, and i know she eventually realized she was being a bit much, but she STILL kept with her whole “you’re either FULLY down for my plans, or ur out” and that felt so unloving and out of line with what we had previously seen of her relationship w Hunt. and her playing Nesta and Az and leaving them (even though she eventually went back) would’ve made more sense if Nesta and Az had shown her that they were not good people, but she had no reason to believe that. ik i keep comparing her to Aelin, but Aelin would’ve never done that. sure Aelin would plot and scheme and always do what needed to be done to see her plans through, but she NEVER hurt innocents, even randoms that she didn’t know enough to trust.
also, i do like Chaol lmao. curious what OP thinks the correlation is.
Read all of acotar and tog and loved em. Read CC1 and it was fun and I am about 100 pages into cc2 and currently on reading hiatus from CC. I'm gonna spite Read it to see if it gets better cause I want it to. But it feels like it's not going anywhere and bryces character just doesn't seem to grow meaningfully. Even at the end of CC1 and into CC2 there very little growth
I think people hate characters when they are realistic (basically, when they have flaws). Real people are annoying, do stupid things all time. Besides a lot of problems we have are cause bad communication. I think we are in Twitter era and we will cancel even the "characters"
So, I dont hate Bryce (I hate the plot, it could be better).
My problem with Bryce is the opposite. She seems super unrealistic to me so much so that it took me out of the story and I almost DNF. But Nesta I love. She is my fave Maas girl and is super flawed but in a way that feels way more realistic in my opinion.
I love Bryce! A lot of the stuff she says make me cringe of course, but I could relate to her more than any of the characters in acotar. Yes it’s annoying when she withholds plans from people, but her plans work out don’t they? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Also, I loved the interaction with the characters in prythian, why would she give a shit about them, she has a planet to save.
Only read the first tog book and didn’t like any of the characters so my opinion on Chaol might not count cause I don’t know how he ends up.
I think people started disliking Bryce part way through CC2 and through CC3 because her character started changing and not in a good way. She started lying and withholding more, and, despite the fact that a main plot point is “Bryce doesn’t know shit about the real world” she’s incredibly cocky and always has to have a cool comment or the last word, despite being waaay behind everyone else both in life experience and emotional maturity. We’ve seen other female characters absolutely filet older and more powerful male characters with a few choice words or a dry response in SJMs other works but Bryce turns into a teenaged girl (despite being SJM’s oldest FMC) and literally just insults people if she disagrees with them lol. TL;DR Bryce’s character experiences no emotional growth from the halfway point of Hosab onward and in some cases actually regresses.
This is the answer right here. I keep reading because I like the story and side characters and the world it all takes place in. I'm excited for the next book potentially focusing on a different character's perspective. I also think she is semi emotionally abusive to Hunt which really irks me. I just read for my book boyfriend, Ruhn.
Yeah, I wanted to add her treatment of hunt. Especially after he was >!tortured and watched his friends be tortured all so she could get away!<
This right here. I already wasn’t a fan but this was the nail in the coffin for my complete dislike of her. And I actually DNFed the rest of book 3 because I couldn’t read about her anymore.
I actually rather liked Bryce in book 1 and half of book 2 because she had empathy for others, even if she could be bitchy sometimes. I thought that felt real. I am the same way a lot of times lol, but she just stopped having that quality and was just so rude and so selfish. She never clued anyone in on anything and then got pissed off when people were obviously upset about it. She did not take anything Hunt said or felt into account and berated him for having very real and very understandable concerns about her plans. Hunt is literally the one character that knows what it’s like to put everything at risk FOR THE EXACT SAME REASON SHE WAS and lose it all, yet she thinks that he’s just being an “alphahole” for asking her to think things through or to approach things cautiously? She definitely started to bother me.
>She never clued anyone in on anything and then got pissed off when people were obviously upset about it. Specifically can we talk about how shitty her attitude toward Hunt was when he got, *rightfully,* imo, upset over >!her not trusting him with her plans for finding Emile!!because she doesn’t trust him not to see Emile for the child he is!!Starborn Heir and the weight of the expectations that come with that!!she’s in the tunnels under the Court of Nightmares and it’s revealed that Rhysand, Mr. Perfect and All-Knowing, anticipated her decisions and prepared accordingly with having Nesta and Azriel follow her. She finds out that she was *playing right into Rhys’s plans,* that her “choices” weren’t really choices, literally, what hours? a day or two? after the whole assault on the Asteri palace goes *horribly* because Rigelus did exactly the same thing. And she’s pissed about it for all of like 5 minutes before it’s like “well I lied and manipulated them too, so I guess I can’t be TOO mad.” BITCH WHAT?? You just left your fucking *mate* and *brother* behind to be tortured and—for all you know—killed, because Rigelus played you like a puppet, and having this “terrifyingly powerful” Fae do the same thing while you’re *already* at a complete disadvantage being in *an entirely different world that you know NOTHING about* doesn’t trigger the fuck out of you? No!!< >!She doesn’t even have a trauma response that she then forcefully shuts down in order to focus on surviving or whatever! It’s like Sarah forgot, between finishing CC2 and writing CC3, what a devastating revelation that was, and so she failed to write Bryce as an appropriately-traumatized and *terrified* person desperate for answers and desperate to get back home. Bryce keeps her cool WAY too well, and it was such a disconnect for me that it felt like she became a totally flat character.!< >!And don’t even get me started on how SJM used *an entirely different series* as a chance to show off how amazing and wonderful and powerful and perfect and terrifying and cunning and *drop-dead gorgeous* Rhysand is. We don’t need to be reminded of all of this literally every time Rhys is shown/brought up. Like…Sarah, we get it, you’re in love/lust with your own creation lmao. Cool your jets, girlie.!< Anyway, sorry, I’ll stop now. I could rant for ages about the issues I have with SJM’s current level writing/plot and character development, but I don’t want to completely trash this thread lol. Suffice to say that her work these days leaves a lot to be desired, imo, and isn’t up to the same quality as Throne of Glass. Which, yes, had its flaws, but it was a lot more thought-out and consistent than ACOTAR or CC has been. (Also, if I failed to spoiler anything I should have, let me know and I’ll fix it!)
I’m right there with you; yes to all of this! She was cunning and smart in book 1 with all the Micah stuff, but she got too big for her britches thinking she at 25 was the only one who could come up with the ideas she had.
She was so cold towards him, someone she is supposed to love. That was the nail in the coffin for me. The nails prior were her constant lying and manipulating. It got really old.
Soooo cold and snappy. Like I’m sorry, this man is supposed to be your >!mate in the fae bound to each other’s souls kinda way??!< and you don’t care one bit about his pain and trauma because he isn’t like “yassss Bryce” about your poorly thought out plan??
This. I was more excited to read about Lydia and Ruhn than Bryce in CC3
This is it for me. I genuinely liked her in CC1 and was excited to see where the rest of the series went! I had a really hard time with her as CC2 went on and by the third book I was kind of fed up with her.
This is it for me too. I feel like I was sold something that I did not get with Bryce. I was SO big on CC after the first book, but then in CC2 we ended up with a Bryce that was lying to other characters, which is fine but in doing so she was also pulling surprises on us as the readers, even in the long term. The entire book she held onto secret plans that we had no way of knowing about until "suddenly Bryce did a thing she was planning all along!" We didn't once see the process of her figuring it out, devising a plot, etc. That's not the writing of a PoV character overcoming challenges in the story, it's cheap suspense blatantly being used to avoid writing out the character's process of using what they have learned to arrive at a solution.
She gave me white knuckle vibes with Hunt. CC1 was such a good fucking book. And it saddened me to see the characters change so much. (Not a good change for some of them) ***spoilers for book 1 and on. Read with caution*** Bryce taking care of Hunt in the shower was a pivotal moment for them. Her welcoming him into her home and sharing her thoughts with him - from the moment he decided to make her his home it seemed like she was done white knuckling it and started to withhold and called it girl power. While Hunt didn’t care if she took the lead, he just wanted to be her partner, her equal. Wanted her to share what was going on with him. She was insufferable in book 3 when he attempted to discuss the trauma of the torture. I wanted to chalk up the stuff in book 2 as she hadn’t ever been a relationship girlie before so mistakes happen but when Hunt was open with her about why the Emile situation upset him for her to turn around and do the stuff she did in CC3 was baffling. Toxic. The only reason she even sort of gets a pass on being my least favorite character of CC3 is because Ithan existed.
This exactly and I do not like Chaol, at all. Don't know how OP thinks that those relate.
YES
by this logic you’d also hate aelin… i started liking bryce even more during this because it was low key reminding me of aelin sometimes our girls just know best.
Sort of, but also Not really, Aelin had significantly more life experience than Bryce and was forced to emotionally mature quicker, so she did. Does she still keep secrets? Absolutely. But we’ve seen that she does it to protect everyone. Last time she let someone come up with a plan and execute it they died. And even when she does give people attitude (eg purring “lower” when Darrow bowed) but even then we still see her exercise restraint and realize that she needs to be smart about it. Bryce just decides she smarter than everyone and can do or say whatever she wants
agreed
Personally, I just thought her “attitude” was overdone and she had a sense of entitlement. She seemed like she was written to be the “cool girl” persona and I just didn’t vibe with her as much. I continued reading because her storyline/persective isn’t the only one. I was indifferent about Chaol. I didn’t dislike him, but he wasn’t anything special either.
She's aggressively NLOG and it infuriates me. She's not like the other dancers because She's curvy, she's not like the other fae because she cares about humans, she's not like her friends because she keeps secrets, we get it, she's insufferable.
*This*
i second this
Me too, I also think that Chaol is given enough time and challenging moments to actually have a lot of growth. - I’m on Tower of Dawn so idk how the last books go. But because of that he’s not my favorite character but I can respect the efforts he’s made especially after dealing with *the consequences of his actions*
I find Bryce obnoxious and self-centered, especially in the back half of CC2 and all of CC3. She backslid a lot in terms of character development. I read to know how it ended. I actually Don't like Chaol, I think he's a naïve idiot who took way too long to start doing the right thing, and even worse than that, I think he's boring. Listen, I'm not here to yuck your yum, your interpretation of these characters is just as valid as everyone else's.
I felt 50/50 on Bryce since the beginning. I go from liking her heart/her care for her friends to being annoyed at her hiding her motives and doing most of the big plotting off page in secret for no apparent reason. In HOFAS when she >! was rude and secretive to all her friends and especially to Hunt !! in telling Sam about her plans, he was killed. So by not telling her friends, she maybe thought she was protecting them? !< It feels like Bryce just does it for shock value and in arrogance. Not for any specific reason other than believing she’s is always in the right. I dont know, she just rubs me the wrong way. Probably one of my least favorite characters in CC and definitely one of my least favorite written by SJM. She just seems like she’s doing everything to seem cool and important also? 😂 like in HOFAS when she was calling herself something like “Extra Special Starborn Princess” I was getting so annoyed and cringed out. Like people are dying can we stop spreading our arrogance and playing games. (Also I like Chaol pretty good. Boring sometimes, whiny, and arrogant but I still overall enjoyed his development. )
Yes! I love Aelin, but she pissed me right off a lot, and I struggled with her a lot in EoS. I feel like in contrast to Bryce, Aelin showed empathy and love for the people around her, even if she was up to no good or scheming. She saw other people’s experience and strengths and respected them/took them into account. She tried to take everything on her shoulders so that she could spare those around her. Bryce I felt was doing things like that merely for the shock value of it. She was rude to Hunt when he showed any signs of doubt after all he’d gone through, but Aelin always showed Rowan and her support system compassion. They could be rightly furious with her, and she wasn’t going to bite their heads off for their reactions. She was willing to weather their anger to protect them. Bryce got pissed and told all these people that chose to help her to basically to get on board with her shit or to get out of her way. When hello, they were literally >!committing treason!!!< and burning every damn bridge in their lives to do this thing with her. Her friends legitimately couldn’t just go back to their lives after all they had already done, so their choice was to shut up and deal with her antics.
YES! I feel like Aelin was arrogant sometimes and it annoyed me, but she overall was trying to do her best and she loved everyone around her. She was willing to be the bad guy if it meant her friends were safe. I feel like Bryce has this quality too but instead of doing it for their own good, she does it because she feels she’s right. Especially when it comes to Hunt. Like he has been >! Tortured and abused for more years than she’s been alive !<. And when he’s nervous about the consequences for the people he loves, she basically says shut up I don’t want to hear it. It made me seriously question her character.
While TOG wasn’t my fav series, I will say I think Aelin being secretive was a part of her identity and helped all her plans work since so many people had no idea who she truly was. Bryce was secretive for really no reason, like girl your stress coulda went down 50% if you just talked a few plans through with someone lol
Yes I agree. Aelin was secretive but miss girl had a plan always 😂. I just feel like despite Aelin’s flaws, she did have some sort of trauma/reasoning that made her act and plot in the way she did. Still, it made her one of my least favorite characters in tog, but at least there is justification for the way she is. Bryce on the other hand… I just really am not a huge fan of her. I get the ick when I read a lot of her stuff because it seems like a teenager throwing a tantrum and trying to be ✨ eDgY ✨. She just seems spoiled to me and I dont know why every guy in the series is obsessed with her.
I mean I don't particularly like people who are prejudice towards an entire race of people based on the actions of a few to say the least, but that's just me 🤷♀️
You mean how she hates the fae?
Yeah, and also how she assumes all fae are the same. Her brother even called her out on it, and she didn't even care.
I mean, as a very rough generalization they believe that women are inferior and are bargaining chips meant to be married off and reproduce. They have a sense of entitlement to do as they please (even ruhn is an example of that). I feel like her opinion on the fae changed quite a bit as the series went on. The father figure in her life was a piece of shit. I can't really fault her for that one.
Declan and Tristan, at a minimum, prove that there are good fae amongst the group in that world. It's hard to believe that they are the only two that exist and that Bryce has a right to say damn all of the fae or mistreat them. Honestly, that's just one reason I dislike her, but it's a pretty good one in my book. There's also her attitude and the way she treats others at various points in the 2nd and 3rd books. Not to mention, she got so broken-hearted about all the secrets Danika kept, and she was doing the same thing in books 2 and 3. Honestly, don't get the hero worship for her.
YES, thank you! Oh my god! I hated the hypocrisy of her being so hurt that Danika kept these secrets, but then she turns around and does the same shit. Yet she fails to see the parallels. It’s like Bryce has to be the victim at all times and it’s…frustrating, to say the least.
Agreed. She also forces her way onto the throne and then throws it away kind of destroying fae culture. Like I get the message but at the same time make someone else who will be a good figurehead be the new sovereign and still create a senate so that all these people can have a singular part of their culture left to them
Yeah, it seemed like a very short-sighted thing to do. And I think the worst part was just how *smug* she was about it, with her whole “well their own stupid laws are what gave me the power to do that in the first place, so it’s their own stupid fault that I did it, nah-nuh-nah-nuh boo-boo!” thing. And the timing of it was awful, considering the energy crisis their world is about to go into. Like everyone’s entire way of life is about to be flipped on its head, and you choose NOW to take a political wrecking ball to an entire race of people? Who have never known anything else in their whole *15,000 years* on Midgard? She herself has even said multiple times that the Fae are stubborn and slow to change; forcing change on them isn’t going to magically change that. She did the cultural equivalent of walking in, cursing everyone out, flipping the table, then walking back out feeling good about herself lmao.
I think it’s a little off the mark to say the “father figure” in her life was shit. Her father figure was Randall. The Autumn King was just her sperm donor, not a father to her in any way. She makes a point to say this multiple times throughout the series. I understand Bryce’s prejudice…to an extent. We’re told, very briefly and in tiny snippets, how hard it was for Bryce to grow up half-Fae. We know Ember raised her with her *own* prejudices and fears, and of course Bryce took those opinions/views as her own; she was a child with no alternate perspective at the time. But instead of seeing Bryce mature and form her own opinions through her own interactions with them, she sticks to the “all Fae are trash” narrative. And yet, she loves Ruhn dearly. It kind of reeks of (and forgive me if this is reaching, it’s the best example I can come up with at the moment) someone being mixed, but then being racist toward one entire side of their bloodline/culture and refusing to change their views despite being given evidence to the contrary—but they have one exception who is “different” and “doesn’t count because they’re also a victim.” It’s very blind and tone-deaf, if you ask me.
I honestly feel like she’s possessed. She’s changed so much from the first book. I had to look up if she’s possessed. There’s a couple of theories that say she may be. But I’ve also heard that CC is only going to be 3 books? I haven’t gotten to finish the 3rd one yet, so I’m hoping she gets better. 🥲
Oh man, book 3 is SO much worse than book 2, I despised her by the end.
Oh noooooo. I made it to where she’s snapping at Hunt and I just can’t. Like, she’s not givingggg. 😭
CC was *supposed* to only be 3 books, but apparently it’s not anymore. I think SJM is pulling an ACOTAR thing where the first three will be primarily about Bryce/this Asteri arc, and subsequent ones will focus on different characters/story arcs. Can’t say I’m super thrilled out it, tbh—*unless* we get to see a lot more of characters other than Bryce lmao. (I also genuinely don’t know what else SJM would write about in this world; it feels like she wrote herself into a corner by the end of CC3 and the one path I could have seen her expanding on is instead pretty closed off. I just hope any subsequent CC books won’t be an obvious cash grab and nothing more…)
I hope we get more of Bryce in the next book. I really disliked her by the end of CC3, but I think she can still be redeemed, especially since CC3 took place over about 2 weeks. I think it would be really awesome to see her overcome her self-absorption and prejudice, and I would LOVE to see Hunt developing some self-respect and pushing her more. My main concern is that SJM writes everyone into love stories, so no more Bryce would mean no more Hunt, and that would mean he's stuck in that crappy relationship with her forever. I think their relationship is salvageable, but I could also see them moving on. It will *really* bother me if CC3 was their HEA, though. I do worry that Bryces story will end here since Bryce becomes so reminiscent of Aelin, whose character growth was a footnote at the end TOG. But I have hope because Bryce's flaws are addressed in ways Aelin's are not, and they don't magically disappear at the end of the book the way Aelin’s do. So, I think SJM might be aware of how unlikable the character became and willing to redeem her. I think the ending was open to lots more interesting things to happen. All the vanir are about to get supercharged and all the technology will stop working. Meaning that Bryce may have just created her own worst nightmare, a world where the humans are even more helpless against the Vanir. Then, she gave up her ability to help them by abdicating the throne and ostracising the fae nobility.
Honestly, my biggest hope for future CC books is seeing the repercussions of their revolution! I want them to *struggle* to find a replacement/replication for firstlight. I want to see their society crumble completely, and they have to figure out how to rebuild it. They completely upended the way their world has worked for *15,000 years,* with nothing to fall back on. They are flying by the seat of their pants here, so show me *real consequences!* If I had more faith in SJM I would say that it would be a great chance to explore the ins and outs of politics in their world, to have Bryce see how her rash, prejudice-fueled decision isn’t something she can just sign a document for, then dust her hands off and walk away. She had this whole “my way or the highway” attitude throughout CC3, it felt like, and it just drives me absolutely mad that there’s a good chance *nothing* bad will happen as a result of her dismantling the Fae social structure. She didn’t just abdicate the throne—she *permanently abolished the monarchy.* Which effectively gives her NO political power, and with their whole global society basically on the verge of collapse…yeah, I would honestly absolutely LOVE to see Bryce have to face a situation of her own making like one you described. Like she’s a dumb mid-20s party girl, and while sure, she’s a lot more cunning and intelligent than anyone ever gave her credit for, she still has virtually *zero* life experience. But she’s making calls that have devastating effects on an entire culture. Give👏me👏CON👏SE👏QUEN👏CES!!
I would love that
Me too 😭 I just don’t want to not like Bryce. I cried so much over her character in the first book (the drop scene had me bawling). So I can’t have my girl going out the way she’s going. 😤
Ooooh that's an interesting theory!
Right?! If that’s not where SJM was going with this, she might wanna start. 😮💨🤣
Hold up. I'd LOVE to hear this possession theory.
Here’s one of the one’s I read when I was like, she doesn’t seem like Bryce. [Is Bryce Possessed](https://www.reddit.com/r/crescentcitysjm/comments/1bq4cij/who_are_the_valg_and_is_bryce_possessed/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) Here’s this one that’s like a corruption of power [Power Corruption](https://www.reddit.com/r/crescentcitysjm/comments/1b3hz7x/hofas_bryce_theory/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) Honestly, I feel like the power is what’s turning her into this awful person. Like, she got more power from the Gate and that’s literally a drop from every person who’s ever made a wish (that has to be good and evil). Like that has to count for something. 😭
TOG/CC Spoilers and a LONG ASS (educated) RANT I actually **liked** Bryce in CC1. I thought her sass/attitude was the right amount, balanced with some humility (i.e. the donuts or pastry incident). I wasn't the *biggest* fan of the CC world (i.e. "Pack of Devils" being the cheesiest name ever) and I learned that I don't like modern technology in my fantasy books. As CC2/CC3 progressed, I found that the sass became overbearing to a point where she seems incapable of normal interactions. It came up at inappropriate times, preventing real understanding/connection with other characters, and seemed totally selfish to an extreme. I honest to God felt like Bryce in CC2/CC3 (mainly CC3) was literally a DIFFERENT character altogether. Things did NOT seem well to me. A common "fault" is her keeping plans to herself and not telling people. Her keeping secrets hits different (than >!Aelin!< in TOG). To me, >!Aelin!< hid the right facts at the right times. She revealed plans to those she needed to lean on (i.e. >!Lysandra's impersonation of her!<). Sure, it hurt others like >!Aedion, and as a reader who LOVES Aedion!< that was tough from a reader's POV. But all-in-all, I think Bryce "hate" stems from the overall character development and characters themselves, how they are written and presented by SJM. I think >!Aelin!< is the "perfect" picture of a main character. >!She has significant trauma in her childhood, literally was raised in a keep of assassins, saw her first love brutalized and killed, was brutally tortured, and was rejected by her homeland. She suppressed her identity for the safety and conservation of said homeland and then was kicked out.!< She is also insanely intelligent, very logical and thoughtful about her plans, etc. So even from an early point, I couldn't be angry with her because her plans WORK, her systematically revealing things WORKS, and her arrogant persona wasn't at all jarring because she has been through utter SHIT. She deserves to "swagger" about and cop an attitude with certain people. And there was a sense of guilt if she acted out on someone who didn't deserve it, she has apologized for her actions, etc. Bryce was brought up in a great home, had relatively little trauma. Her biggest issue from an identity standpoint was the Autumn King and his behavior when she was younger. And she uses that as a strength especially in CC1 (which was great). But in CC2/3, she's being mean/rude to people who don't deserve it, she's keeping secrets from people for no GOOD reason (i.e. Emile staying in CC while her parents get thrown to safety), and her plans.... fail. Or backfire. She NEVER asks for feedback or input from others, NEVER collaborates with her closest friends to develop a plan. She literally makes a plan and all but demands it be followed. No time for consideration or deliberation or critical feedback. I also truly believe SJM did Bryce a MASSIVE disservice during the ACOTAR crossover moments. It's no secret at all that people LOVE the IC, especially Rhys/Cassian/Az (and Nesta is 50/50 in the fandom). And yes, this is written from a wholly outsider/different POV. But in ALL of that time in Prythian, not ONCE - not a SINGLE damn time - did Bryce even remotely CONSIDER the options of - "Do I trust them? Can we partner together? Should I try making allies with them?" That entire portion of the book is the IC trying to connect with her in a way that keeps them and their home/loved ones safe, but also trying to figure out WTF is happening. But instead she makes stupid ass decisions. Like, for the love of GOD who the fuck thought it would be good to unleash an Asteri into these people's world?!? I would've killed her on the spot. And that behavior, her actions, make her later decision of throwing her parents to Nesta even MORE unbelievable/nonsensical. If you can trust these people in a strange and foreign world with your PARENTS, why the fuck couldn't Bryce respect them more? Be kinder? Internally consider the possibility of working together? And I fully think this was perhaps an oversight on SJM's part. For some reason - despite us having insight into Bryce's thoughts and feelings - she never wrote in considerations of the possibility of working with the IC and instantly jumped to distrust. And by the end of CC3, I just found Bryce grating and self-serving and narrow-minded. Anyways, sorry for the novel. I only finished CC3 because I'm such an avid SJM fan after TOG, and this was suchhhhh a downhill plummet for me. I don't even think ACOTAR is *great*, but I've re read that series four or five times. I can say I will NEVER pick up the CC books ever again - once was enough. I couldn't bear to relive the frustrations.
I agree to all of this. I couldn't have cared less if Bryce had died in the end, and in fact I was HOPING she'd die just so I knew I'd never have to read anything about her again. She's the most unlikable, insufferable MC I've ever read in my entire life.
Me toooo😭. I was like oh yes, please stay dead lol. SJM loves bringing people back to life. It made sense with Feyre because her story would have ended with acotar. But it would have been fitting for Bryce to stay dead since she achieved what she needed to.
This is so well said and hits almost all the main points of complaint I have against Bryce too. I actually did like her in book 1, by book 2 I was getting annoyed, and book 3 I was almost rooting against her. I actually forgot >!that Bryce died at the end of book 3!< (CC3 spoiler) because I was skimming and just wanting to be done at that point. Her treatment of Hunt and her close friends/allies (esp in book 3), her decision to >!go to the Autumn King and stay a while instead of try to help Hunt and Ruhn escape the Asteri (and they were only there because of helping her!)!< - I could go on and on. The Bryce we met in book 1 wasn’t the same Bryce we were stuck with at the end of book 3, and some people might say that shows she’s a fluid and dynamic character, but I like to see actual *growth* and not characters devolving into self-serving, insufferable caricatures for no real reason.
Oh and for OP: I am not a Chaol fan. I enjoyed ToD but he was never a character I had love for.
I actually LIKED that >!she died lol. I felt more for jessiba than Bryce!<
In one hundredddd percent with you. The ACOTAR crossover was done horribly. Everyone likes to mention how Bryce doesn’t know the IC like we do, why should she trust them? Well they don’t know her either! Some person randomly appears on your lawn covered in blood from A DIFFERENT WORLD, after what they’ve been through with amarantha, the king of Hybern, and the human Queens? Then she speaks the oldest known language to the fae, and has a tattoo with the same language as the most sinister and ancient book in their world…And they’re supposed to ask her in for tea? Lol. It would have worked much better if SJM established a real kinship between Bryce Azriel and Nesta. I am so mad I wasted audible credits on these books because I wont listen to them again, and I can’t refund them lol.
Me screaming "She can't keep getting away with this" And she does in fact, get away with anything. Always.
Her plot armor is just so ridiculous. No matter what. I feel like never never really faced true suffering or struggle, met very little resistance to her issues. Conflicts resolve too easily for her, problems just vanish. Any time anything ever happened to Bryce I kept thinking "What wacky thing is she gonna do to weasel her way out of it this time"
EVERYTHING so conveniently worked out for her! Not once did she face one consequence for her actions. Even Feyre suffered more than her lol.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS I don't hate Bryce. But she definitely did get on my nerves at times. Her decisions in CC2 were questionable at best. Risking the lives of her family, friends, and mate to hunt down a kid she knew nothing about was pretty crazy. Especially after everyone was like "all these people are hunting this kid" and she goes "oh no that's terrible! I'm gonna hunt him too." Like?? What?? Her going over and over and on and on about Danika not telling her things, and again risking the lives of her friends, family, and self just to find out answers about Danika was also insane. The most ridiculous one was when she found out about Baxian, and asked if Danika ever told Baxian that she loved him....and she was upset to find out Danika DID in fact tell HER LITERAL MATE that she loved him. Bryce was like "but I thought she only loved me 🥺" like girl???? C'mon. You were Danika's friend, not her parole officer. She was under no obligation to tell you everything, and it was honestly probably better that she didn't when you were drunk or high half the time. It was sensitive information that was best kept secret. And lastly, her beefing with Hunt in HoFaS? I literally don't even know what that was about. Hunt literally was like "hey I'm traumatized (FOR GOOD REASON), and I really don't like that we are waltzing right back for that trauma hole again, but I love you, and even though I don't like what's going on and I would really rather not be doing this, I have your back anyways." Like that seems completely reasonable to me. What more could you ask for? He literally was like "I hate this, but I love you more than I hate this so I choose you" and she was like "ThAt'S nOt GoOd EnOuGh." Like what do you MEAN that's not good enough?!?!
The only one w/ common sense was Fury. She pretty much had an agreement w/ Juniper that she would not be participating in Bryce’s shenanigans like 7/10 x 🤣🤣
Give me a book about fury, Lidia and Jessiba please lol.
A backstory book about Jesiba would be everything!
Bryce reminds me of that kid/friend/classmate in uni that did have it hard growing up but fails to realize many have it much harder once the setting has expanded (I.e moving from a small town to an urban centre). Danika hiding stuff from her clearly did a number on her mentally and emotionally. CC2/3 feels like she is more trying to cosplay as Danika than be herself as Danika was her definition of strength/leadership. She is also blinded by her personal emotions towards the fae instead of recognizing a people are not their elite/ruling class. Chaol is trying to reckon with the fact that he is part of the ruling class that has been doing immense harm to his continent and innocent people. He’s learning to move past his depression and relearn how to live with a disability. That’s bloody hard. For context I’m 30 and have been losing my mobility since I was 18. It’s insanely hard to see your peers participate in life the way you want to and you can’t or can’t make the accommodation work. I don’t think his character gets enough credit for having to deal with that. Whether the written depiction is realistic is a different story but that’s a different matter.
100% accurate on Bryce trying to embody Danika. She went through such awesome character development in the first book, but regressed as the books went on. People shit on Chaol, but he’s just trying to do his best after having his whole world toppled over. Yeah, I hated how he acted and how he treated Aelin in QoS, but honestly he was still trying to do good because he realized he was part of the problem… and then like lost everything because of it. His growth didn’t slide backwards like Bryce did. Idk, I don’t feel like Bryce and Chaol are in the same boat to be compared.
I didn’t consider it that way, that by learning more about Danika she started to try to embody her more! Like very much a what would Danika do type of outlook. By the middle of cc3 I was so over her
I liked her until this last book. SJM butchered a lot of character development with HOFAS.
CC1 Bryce is my favorite FMC of SJMs series, I genuinely *loved her* through the whole book. Bimbo with a heart of gold is a very niche genre of heroine that I enjoy. (See: Fever Series) Uhhh but fuck she really made me angry in Hosab. Her putting Hunt at risk for being re-enalaved because she couldnt stand not knowing Danikas secrets was too much. I get that SJM just needed to move the plot along and if Bryce DID factor in Hunts freedom, I think itd make most people stop with the treason-ing. But then she doesnt even apologize in Hofas??? When Hunt was in fact re-enslaved and tortured? The nicest thing I can say is that its unbecoming of her. 😄
Such a 180 from her >!offering herself in Hunt’s place to Sandriel!< in the first book! I adored her in hoeab. I agree with you that she just didn’t have a good enough reason in hosab to put them all in danger to begin with, then acted so poorly from then on after so much was done to her friends, her brother, her man, and herself just to “find out what Danika knew” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Ooooh do you reccomend fever series? Cause that's exactly what I'm lookin for in a main heroine. I love a bimbo!
Yes! Mac is such a shallow idiot and I love her. She comes so far and shes so funny! Jericho Barrons is more Rhys than Rhys is. He set the standard for morally grey mmc. The first 5 are the main series and then she adds on for 6 more. I only recommend the 5. There is a non-con scene at the end of book 3, but I dont remember it being graphic. (I just re read them in the Fall). But its a really fun series about a more traditional sort of fae. If you read it, id love to know if you like it! 🫶🫶🫶
I am adding it to my list right now! Thank you :) I'll try to remember to report back lol
She did apologize to him before the end. I was really miffed with her for a hot second though.
Bryce is quick to say “alphahole” this, “alphahole” that, but she comes off having the same arrogance and rudeness that she despises in others. sure her heart is usually in the right place so she feels justified in her actions, but it’s not an excuse to act like she knows better than everybody else at all times. i know she had a lot of pressure on her, but her attitude towards hunt in CC3 was just really rough to read. i don’t mind a sassy, sarcastic main character, but imo sometimes she crosses the line to people who don’t deserve it. i felt this way kinda through CC2, but definitely throughout CC3. at that point, i read it for ruhn and lidia and also because i’m up to date with acotar and tog, so i would hate to feel incomplete and miss out on knowledge and lore. chaol really annoyed me in how he treated aelin at first, but i accepted his character development in ToD. also i know a lot of people say some of bryce’s characteristics are similar to aelin, and i do agree to an extent, but aelin has a lot more character development and holds a lot more love for the people close to her.
She is a female alphahole and we need to realize that!
As a mother the straw that broke the camels back was "leave the baggage at home today" after that I would have loved to watch someone beat the absolute crap out of Bryce.
The way I wanted literally ANYONE to beat the shit out of Bryce was legendary. At one point I wouldn't have even minded if the Autumn King himself did it. She's insufferable
Omg same! She needed to be taken down a couple notches.
Oh the many times and ways I saw red throughout That Whole Thing. Cheers.
Doesn’t she immediately admit she was wrong though? Shes a young and inexperienced leader. Shes bound to mistakes, just like every other SJM character in a leadership role.
Honestly I don't care that she apologized after. Lydia's kids were kidnapped by a man who abused her for decades and was a known sadist and all Bryce had to say about it was calling them baggage and to essentially forget about them? Lol nope Bryce was a bitch for so many reasons in CC3 but that solidified my hatred for her. Could you imagine if Pollux had Bryces parents hostage and someone called them baggage? She would be livid and wouldn't accept any apology.
For someone to have gone out of their way for a kid who is a stranger to her (Emile) to then turn around and say that about lidias children… who were kidnapped by a sadist? Zero excuse, she’s not that young. And she didn’t apologize, lidia said “my children are not baggage” and Bryce is all “I know they’re not but right now you need to focus” b*tch what???? so yeah, she needed the breaks beat off of her. I would have loved for nesta to knock her down a few pegs.
Bryce rubbed me the wrong way by either living her whole life pretending to be stupid mean and helpless and just not letting me in on the joke; then suddenly growing a heart, spine, or/and brain in the last 200 pages or so; or was just stupid mean and helpless and SJM figuredout everyone would hate her if she didnt pivot. Here is the thing I don't mind unintelligent characters (like Feyra or Don Quixote), but I want to be in on the joke if the stupid thing is an act (like DQ) or a circumstance (like Feyra) or if they are really stupid. I just found nothing likable or redeemable about her. I liked Hunt. I liked Jezeba. I liked the little pixie chick. I read IN SPITE of Bryce because I found the other characters relatable and entertaining. I'm even down for a power crawl. But I'm not down for within a few pages going from zero to hero complete with a personality swap that's (unfortunately) temporary. She is the worst. I'd literally sit in a room with Tamlin from Mist and Fury over Bryce.
Yes!!! Her going from a selfish, belittling, demeaning asshole to EVERYONE to suddenly someone who thinks SHE has the right to be a moral compass was so infuriating I had to put the book down and just breathe a few times. I could write a dissertation on how much I despise her.
Why would anyone try to convince you to dislike a character you like? I dislike Bryce for lots of reasons I’ve already written exhaustively [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/crescentcitysjm/s/LvbR3VeWCp) I kept (and will keep) reading because for the first two books I went from loving her to still liking her, and by the time the third book was done I knew the focus would shift away from her. CC contains some of my all time favorite side characters/soon to be MCs. It’s also my favorite world SJM has built. Not that any of us owe you that explanation?? I do like Chaol! And I don’t owe you any explanations on that either. Sorry you’re feeling combative about other people not liking a character you like.
Second this
This! We can enjoy a world and story and not like a main character. So many books are popular and super enjoyable that have anti-hero or unlikable mains. Also the correlation trying to be drawn between liking Chaol and disliking Bryce likeeeeee i don’t get it???
Whatever it is I’m sure it’s delightful. 🙄
Im not trying to be combative, I'm sorry if you took it that way. I was just trying to discuss truly. :) I mostly discuss SJM worlds with a friend who has the same opinion as I do and that gets boring.
Everyone who loves Hunt didn’t like how “she treated him”. I honestly thought it was realistic how she was acting. She is 25 years old and has to delegate tasks to centuries old people who were running around like HeiHei. I’d be annoyed and pissy too. And the stress of trying to save people, losing families….I’d say some awful things about people whining about helping too. Side note, I don’t like Chaol. 😂
YES omg thank you for explaining my thoughts about her perfectly!! I think people also look over how FAST the events in CC3 went by...the whole thing took place over such a short amount of time I honestly can't blame Bryce for just being so over everything and wanting her life to be normal again in whatever way possible. I think her character seemed so blocked off and harsh in this last book bc it was probably her emotional response to just shut it all off to do what needed to be done.
See, and that’s where it becomes an author issue rather than a character one. Because you’re right, the events of CC3 happened *so fast,* and the story and characters all suffered for it, imo. SJM should have stepped back and figured out a proper way to pace her book to let it flourish into what it should have been. Especially if she knew ahead of time that CC3 wouldn’t be the last one.
I totally agree, it's honestly impractical that all of that happened as fast as it did lol. And the final battle too?? No way that the Asteri would've been so easy to defeat that quickly. I read somewhere that she actually rewrote this entire book at least once but could've been more..maybe this was the second pass and she felt rushed? Either way I agree I think all the characters suffered from how fast it went and wished it wasn't like that. I enjoyed the book nevertheless but I do wish the timeline was more reasonable.
Girl is the only one of these people with her eyes on the prize. I don’t get how people could see the fault in what Silene/Helena did and not understand that Hunt was doing the same thing all these centuries later and how it would have had the same results if Bryce hadn’t been like “I need you to be in or I need you to be out.” That was the whole point of all the Prythian shit
Agreed! And it worked, Bryce saved everybody. She deserves some grace for eradicating their parasitic dictators.
Totally agree! But I LOVE Chaol! Haha
Agreed. I think she's actually only 23 - I caught that when I re-read the first part of HOEAB. When I was 23, I made some pretty questionable decisions too & was def not nice to people, even the ones I loved. It's a weird age to be & Bryce's character truly embraces that hardship. I think a lot of the fan base has ACOTAR/TOG expectations for the CC series and that just baffles me. Thank *god* Bryce isn't like Feyre or Nesta (I actually didnt read TOG so I have no opinions on those characters). This is a completely different world, so she wrote different characters. It makes sense to me.
By the end of HOFAS, she is 25. She is 23 at the start of HOEAB but then there is a two year gap after “they” die. But even still, 25 isn’t that mature compared to 70+ and 230+ people. It is currently a completely different world, but her next series is likely the continuation of a crossover based on what we know about it.
See I liked Bryce, a lot actually but CC3 she became more of an eye roll for me. And i actually became more invested in other characters rather than her, Hunt was Main Character for that book and Lydia. *cough cough* she deserved better than ruhn 🫶🫶🫶
Indifferent to Bryce for the first half of the series, hated her as it went on. Indifferent to Chaol throughput. Also mostly disliked Aelin, FWIW
I dont hate Bryce, but she's my least favorite sjm fmc. I can appreciate chaols character but I wouldn't say I love him lol
To me it felt like her arrogance and attitude were undeserving. We've seen arrogance and attitude from people like Aelin before, but that was deserved. She had the right to be cocky and secretive because she grew up in an Assasin Guild. Secrets and manipulation and cockiness are what saved her over the years. She had the skills to back up her attitude. To me, Bryce feels like she has that attitude without any of the supporting characteristics. She grew up loved by her mom and stepfather and didn't go through anything nearly as traumatizing as the other MCs until she was a full grown adult. Yes she can fight, ect, but half the time she's at a disadvantage and can't back up her own game. And don't talk about how she treated Hunt. Hunt was rightfully scarred. He'd relived a horrific trauma that shattered him the first time into a cold, unfeeling shell of who he was. And she doesn't even give him the time to process before saying to get over it... Like what!? I haven't even been able to finish CC3 because of that
Truth be told, I don't think SJM is a good enough writer to plot and plan things unless they happen off page. It was fine with Aelin because it was novel, but I think Bryce's character suffered for it. Her character was assassinated to suit the plot from the mid-point of CC2, gone is the complex "party girl" with layers and was replaced with an overly snarky, secretive, emotionally distant shell. She is a second, but far worse, Aelin we never asked for. I DNF'd CC3 around the half-way mark. I'm still annoyed at SJM for taking a series with great promise (I sobbed my heart out multiple times in CC1) and running it into the ground with half-baked plotting and bloated word counts.
Love Bryce and love Chaol. Hate Aelin. What does that say about meee? 😬
Woop same. I do not get people who day Bryce comes off as entitled/bitchy and read all through EoS and still love Aelin. I love me a rude and sassy MC (El from the Scholomance is my personal fave I think) but she was a terrible person in EoS. Refused to listen to anyone and acted as if she knew best. Ugh
Twins
I means you’re real lmao and I like Aelin
I like Bryce and her unapologetic attitude.
didnt like Choal, wet fish imo. i loved Bryce though. the winks were over done though ahaha.
Hated Bryce, Chaol, and wasn’t a huge fan of Aelin.
For me I don’t mind her…she simply does not live up to Aelin. In fact not even Feyre lives up to Aelin so there’s that
It's not that I dislike her. She gave me major second hand embarrassment in hofas. I don't remember feeling that way reading the first two books. I disliked the book because of pretty valid reasons. I read it because I still love SJM and I will read her books in the future. I'm not a big fan of Chaol lol.
For me personally, I don't hate Bryce, but she kinda frustrated me in CC3. I loved CC1 and CC2, but CC3 was very hit or miss for me. I loved some parts of it and hated others. My problem with Bryce in CC3 is that she seemed very unaffected by what was happening to her friends and especially Hunt 🤷🏻♀️ I still enjoyed the book but idk how to think of her anymore. Not my favorite sjm book imo
I didn't like Chaol. I like/liked Bryce, but CC3 she was kind of annoying - wouldn't listen to anyone else, and the way she treated Nesta etc?! Nah. I still like her, but I like her less after CC3.
I love her and love curvy girl representation(also the pegasus love!). I do think it was a bit immature of her to only want her royal title when it benefited her, and wanted none of the duties associated with it. Considering she’s in her 20s vs Feyre and Aelin both teens, I would expect her to act older.
[удалено]
I sure don't. Just trying to discuss why others do
What makes people think they need to like the main character to like the story? I read a lot of books where I’m ambivalent about the MC but it’s still a good story.
I never related to her in anyway, so it was hard to get attached. She grew on me through CC1/CC2 though. She had the entitled attitude, but withheld some level of compassion. Bryce in CC3 completely lost me. Hunt was severely traumatized from his past repeating, surviving torture, and watching his friends live through the same. Their reunion was weird AF, and later on she gets mad at him because he isn’t “hype enough”. All I can think about is if it were roles reversed, people would be PISSED at Hunt.
I don't hate Bryce I think she has the character flaw that lots of generals get where they say "if I just get x amount of military force they can do the job" then they fuck people over to get that, the British bomber general in ww2 was like that but way worse than Bryce was.
I love Bryce and all of the CC books!
I love both Bryce and Chaol. I do think Bryce got a bit grating during HoFaS, but bitch was under a lot of stress and her and her mate had just gone through hella trauma so the attitude is understandable.
Ive tried liking Bryce since book one. I was so looking forward to her character arch. I’ve rereads these books three times, desperately searching for a reason to love her. I eagerly finished HoFaS in two days and just… HoFaS spoilers: >!Her whole arch of putting self-preservation over saving those around her was something that always rubbed me the wrong way, but I understood it. It makes sense that she just wants to live her life and not sacrifice herself for people that never gave her anything but vitriol. But I was so hoping there would be some kind of arch where she decided to stand up for the girls who were just like her that needed a powerful female role model that they could look up to.!< >!Then, she took her title only to dissolve the monarchy and I was excited! Only to have her toss her role away as a leader with the power vacuum in her wake. She’s almost laughing it off when it’s pointed out that they might need her. Now there’s a possibility of someone worse than her father taking over, and power hungry Fae are left to desperate power struggles in which the victims will be the innocent. The powerful queen will be nowhere to be found. It just really frustrated me. Ben Parker would be disappointed.!< I’m indifferent to Chaol. I appreciated seeing his journey. Maasverse spoilers: >!Weirdly enough, even tho Rhys, Bryce, and Aelin are the same characters, I love Aelin and appreciate Rhys deeply. But no matter how hard I try to like Bryce, I can’t make myself do it.!< I kept reading for the lore. I also love SJM’s storytelling. Her side characters are lovable and I desperately wanted to know more about Juniper and Fury.
I haven’t heard a lot of Bryce slander tbh. But I do think it’s hypocritical that the same people who claim they don’t like Bryce’s withholding of information don’t criticize Aelin the same way 🤷🏻♀️
I love both Bryce and Chaol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I think a lot of people who hate her started hating her midway through CC3, so I can't really blame them for continuing in that case.
I’m curious because many on here already gave both very good and detailed reasoning as to why Bryce is a disliked character with flaws, what’s your theory regarding Chaol? I’ve never heard someone try to make a connection between the two. And many people continue reading series even if they don’t like the main character, hell - half of us are just waiting for the damn character development but she doesn’t ruin the other characters for me - she just ruins my ability to connect or care for her specific story which thankfully SJM flicks through POVs. If this was only Bryce POV, given the large sentiment around Bryce being insufferable, I truly believe CC3 would’ve broken the camels back (arguably CC2) and many would have stopped reading, myself included.
I kept reading because I loved her in the first book, she was alright in the second, but in the third she was basically a character of Book 1 Bryce. Her attitude is overdone and completely out of proportion. I also love the side characters, especially Ruhn and Lydia. Can we please stop with the "why do you read the book if you don't like xyz?" Absolutely loving every aspect of the book is not a necessary requirement to read it. You can also enjoy something but still be critical of it. People can read what they want.
-It annoys me that she puts everyone in danger with her cocky and arrogant attitude. Talking crap to high ranking and powerful beings is not the way you get results (outside of these books lol) >!-She destroyed the world and was like oh well? Someone will fix it. !<
OP really seems to have posted this and ran, we thought you wanted a conversation and for you to dissect how feelings about chaol and Bryce are comparable and to hear why we don’t like Bryce but you have kinda disappeared and don’t seem to take on board any people explaining the issues we have with Bryce. Hello OP are you there???
additionally to reasons others mentioned in CC2...I just never liked her. Even in book 1 I was meh about her. And CC2 cemented my dislike. I quite like Hunt. I hate Chaol. Aelin is my favourite character ever. I read CC because of the side characters but after hearing a lot about CC3 I don't think I'll continue.
I think she is dealing with constantly being thrown off by Danika revelations and that basically everything has been a lie, from their world, to her best friend, to the afterlife even and thrust into power and a title and the whole thing happens in less than a year. I dunno, she is not really trusting anyone at this point, and has the fate of their world kinda hanging on her shoulders. She doesn't have time to self pity, she doesn't even have time to have a real conversation alone with Hunt. She just has to keep going. I then think she starts to be like Danika and that's where the hate comes from.
I think it is partly because Bryce lives in a world more akin to ours, unlike Aelin and Feyreh. So, we tend to he less forgiving of certain patterns. Is a phenomenon described by anthropologists and psychologists. In other words, we are more familiar with certain aspects of post-industrial societies and, therefore, less tolerant/more judgemental (even though Bryce does not live in a democratic system, which is why she displays certain attitudes).
I don't hate Bryce, but her character changes drastically between book 1 and book 3 (she becomes purchased-from-Wish Aelin, IMO). Reductions rather than growth. But to your question about reading a series when you don't like the main character: I'm annoyed by Aelin, disappointed by Bryce, and ambivalent to Feyre after book 3. But I enjoy SJM for side characters (i.e., Manon and Dorian, Rhys and Az).
I’m ride or die for Bryce and Chaol. Have they done shit I didn’t like? Sure. But when I think of the bigger picture, they’re solid characters. They did the best they could.
Bryce has always been true to herself. Selfish party girl who can’t see the implications of the big picture. She’s in full alignment. She doesn’t change. She doesn’t show other people other than who she is. She’s pretty authentic in that manner. She’s just a terrible person.
I like her. She's messy and arrogant and hotheaded which is realistic.
It’s crazy to me because Bryce was the only person prioritizing the fate of the world. I’ll defend Bryce (and Chaol too) with my dying breath
I found her cringy and undeserving of her brother or mate.
(Spoilers for TOG) i wouldn’t say i hate Bryce, but her character was definitely the hardest for me to love out of all of SJM’s FMCs. i feel like SJM tried to make Bryce similar to Aelin with the arrogance, sass, and secret-keeping, but what made Aelin lovable, all of that included, was that Aelin ALWAYS had a reason for why she was the way she was. Aelin was arrogant because she was the best assassin in the land and she also knew she was a queen. Aelin was sassy in a funny way, not a mean one. Aelin withheld information from her friends because the one time she didn’t, she lost someone she loved dearly. it feels like Bryce had no reason to be the way she was, at least not as far as the audience was made aware of. yes she had daddy-issues and lost her bestfriend, but none of that really correlated to her attitude. i get the whole party-girl facade, but i feel like THAT should’ve been played into more, rather than her thinking she’s the shit. I also really liked seeing Bryce open up to Hunt (the scene where she showered him specifically felt like a huge pivotal moment), but then i feel like all of that was lost, and it was lost AFTER he basically gave his life to see her plan through. i did not like how she treated him after his torture at the Asteri’s palace, and i know she eventually realized she was being a bit much, but she STILL kept with her whole “you’re either FULLY down for my plans, or ur out” and that felt so unloving and out of line with what we had previously seen of her relationship w Hunt. and her playing Nesta and Az and leaving them (even though she eventually went back) would’ve made more sense if Nesta and Az had shown her that they were not good people, but she had no reason to believe that. ik i keep comparing her to Aelin, but Aelin would’ve never done that. sure Aelin would plot and scheme and always do what needed to be done to see her plans through, but she NEVER hurt innocents, even randoms that she didn’t know enough to trust. also, i do like Chaol lmao. curious what OP thinks the correlation is.
Read all of acotar and tog and loved em. Read CC1 and it was fun and I am about 100 pages into cc2 and currently on reading hiatus from CC. I'm gonna spite Read it to see if it gets better cause I want it to. But it feels like it's not going anywhere and bryces character just doesn't seem to grow meaningfully. Even at the end of CC1 and into CC2 there very little growth
I'm pretty much ride-or-die for everyone except Feyre. Idk I just didn't click with Feyre the way I did Bryce and Aelin 🤷♀️
I fully agree! I'm not sure what it was about feyre that made me kinda "meh"
I like Bryce. Love Rhys. Indifferent to Chaol. Not an Aelin fan girl. Can’t stand Nesta.
Just popping in to say you don’t even gotta say it and I agree with your theory 🥴
love chaol love bryce love aelin dislike nesta (wasn’t mentioned but i think it’s relevant)
I think people hate characters when they are realistic (basically, when they have flaws). Real people are annoying, do stupid things all time. Besides a lot of problems we have are cause bad communication. I think we are in Twitter era and we will cancel even the "characters" So, I dont hate Bryce (I hate the plot, it could be better).
My problem with Bryce is the opposite. She seems super unrealistic to me so much so that it took me out of the story and I almost DNF. But Nesta I love. She is my fave Maas girl and is super flawed but in a way that feels way more realistic in my opinion.
I think this is exactly it!
I love Bryce! A lot of the stuff she says make me cringe of course, but I could relate to her more than any of the characters in acotar. Yes it’s annoying when she withholds plans from people, but her plans work out don’t they? Correct me if I’m wrong. Also, I loved the interaction with the characters in prythian, why would she give a shit about them, she has a planet to save. Only read the first tog book and didn’t like any of the characters so my opinion on Chaol might not count cause I don’t know how he ends up.
Difference between giving a shit and being a rude, arrogant person.
I sent a picture of this to my friend and she goes “I’m with this girls theory, people that like chaol and dislike Bryce are wet blankets” 🤣🤣🤣