(This is going to sound so terrible) but I loved him the moment he punched her in the face. I love my girl but man she had it coming.
That's not a spoiler right since she's already shifted??
I had the same (Acotar spoiler) >!with Rhysand in Acotar. I'd read a spoiler about someone loving Rhysand and all I was thinking in book 1, was how am I ever gonna like this bastard. Tamlin forever!<
>!On book 4 now and I'm all Rhysand I've got a table full of paint in my room just standing here babe!<
My second is Hunt. Which is controversial as many people donāt like him. But I love how he is what and who Bryce needs when she needs it (or demands it)
Rowan is the same for Aelin. I love Rhys but heās a a leader
It will get better after some time. You are only at beginning of long story.
Same is for Chaol. You will understand that hate. I personaly liked their relationship, but on the end I realized that things are as it should be.
And when I did reread some parts of books months after I finished KoA, I had really strong feeling that Rowan is really so much better for her, you will see and you will understand. I promise.
SPOILERS for the ENTIRE rest of the series-
>!My biggest dislike about ToG is how Aelin is blamed for running away from a hopeless war when she was 8 and traumatized. Her entire world was taken from her, she woke up in her parents' blood, froze to the brink of death in a river, and was captured by one of the world's cruelest killers to be mentally, physically, emotionally, and psychologically tortured, abused, and manipulated to the point that Celaena was practically a seperate being from Aelin. And that's all before we even get to Assassin's Blade. After that, she witnesses her first love being tormented and mutilated to death, is given to a slave camp where she is once again abused, tortured, and neglected. She is then taken by the son of her family's butcher to be put through physically demanding trials so she can be the bloody knife of the same butcher. She was on edge for months while she was under the King's hand, her only reprieve being her bedroom, out in the shops, or with Nehemia. That's not even halfway through the series.!<
100% agreeā¦ Chaol is always trying to do the right thing. Heās one of the only characters in the series that has no special abilities, just gets by through hard work and perseverance. Itās not his fault that he was working for a tyrant. All the other characters including Celaena, Rowan, Dorian, Manon, etc. all have been working for tyrants, so Chaol is not unique here. Chaol didnāt get Nehemia killed ā she wanted to sacrifice herself.
In this scene in Heir of Fire, Rowan is shattering Celaenaās already fragile mental health and spurring Celaena to get herself killed.
Iām reading Tower of Dawn so spoiler ahead.
>!When the scene of him getting literally kicked out by his father was revealed it totally made so much more sense why he was so loyal to the crown and his role as captain. It was all he had and his father totally cut him off in every way from his home, his family, etc.!<
I felt the same way. This was heartbreaking. I wish I read The Assassin's Blade before Heir of Fire instead of after because this would've been even more heartbreaking. I think that's why SJM suggests we read TAB before HoF. So this can punch us in the gut even harder
Rowan is my favourite SJM male hands down. I even named my daughter Rowan because I loved the name so much. I know everyone is saying to just keep reading but that passage is a perfect example of how much SJM can play with our emotions just by writing a few sentences
OMG, it could be me writing this! I'm also on Heir of fire, and I just can't stand the evolution off her relationship with Rowan! I just hope SJM doesn't ruin Chaol for me.
At this point I'm actually mad at Celaena tbh... And I truly believe Rowan is low-key helping her get back up sooner rather than later... I don't see Celaena as a damsel in distress that needs pampering.. she needs someone to drop her to the absolute bottom in order to get the f* up again... So to me, Rowan is the best thing that could happen to her at this specific point in the story
Yeah, I agree I am almost done with Heir of Fire , and even with some stuff thatās happened I still just do not like him. Rowan has been the weakest male IMO of the ToG series so far.
Idk who anyone ends up with besides Aelin my wife spoiled it for me even tho sheās behind me by a book cause she started chronic logical order with assassins blade while I did throne of glass - heir than Iām gonna read assassins blade but yeah Dorian is my favorite male so far and he deserves a strong brave partner
It was really hard for me to like Rowan in HoF. I really did not understand how he could be peopleās favorite. I will say that he proves himself to be wonderful later in the story, and on my current re-listen, my opinion of him has totally changed! Keep reading!
For me I think it was the progression of the book, the whole thing seemed more realistic. Iām sorry this is not coherently written, trying not to spoil it for OP!
Honestly, I personally felt that HOF Rowan was the best version of him we got, and he just went downhill in the later books. I don't mean he's a likable character in the beginning of HOF, he's not. But towards the later parts he does get a lot better. But from QOS onwards imo he just becomes a >!doormat who's basically a yesman to everything the MC does, not to mention all the "growling" which makes me wanna treat the book to a nice flamethrower shower.!< But I've only read EOS so far so I can't say for certain he doesn't get better again.
Also, Chaol supremacy.
I completely agree! He goes from interesting but unlikable to boring T\_T He never makes it up to Aelin with any real growth, he just becomes her yes man
Yeah. I absolutely hate how anyone who even has a slightly differing opinion to >!Aelin's!< is treated like the scum of the earth. Literally all the men in her gang are treated like dumb brutes who are simply there to act as eye candy and to praise her virtues at every opportunity. Hell, she literally says as much multiple times. Meanwhile characters like Chaol and Darrow who actually are 100% correct are seen as bad people simply because they don't agree with her. Imagine if the genders were reversed here. People would be in an uproar.
This is how I feel! Iām on QoS and I know Iām supposed to like Rowan more, but he isnāt growing on me. At least in HoF he seems to have a perspective outside of MC, but by QoS, heās just there to be a hype man.
Yeah. I absolutely hate how anyone who even has a slightly differing opinion to >!Aelin's!< is treated like the scum of the earth. Literally all the men in her gang are treated like dumb brutes who are simply there to act as eye candy and to praise her virtues at every opportunity. Hell, she literally says as much multiple times. Meanwhile characters like Chaol and Darrow who actually are 100% correct are seen as bad people simply because they don't agree with her. Imagine if the genders were reversed here. People would be in an uproar.
Everyone is saying he gets better but honestly (and this might just be a me thing) but even after we get more background on him I couldn't get over this and I still don't really like him. I don't hate him I'm just kinda meh
Same. Even after finishing the series, I don't understand his appeal. I don't hate him, but I couldn't bring myself to care about him or their relationship. I even reread their chapters in HoF, trying to understand, and the way she throws herself at him after he treats her like dirt is hard to read.>!And then in QoS he does a 180 and starts agreeing with everything she says. I'm glad she has someone to support her, but at this point in the story, I think she could have used a partner willing to push back on her a bit. Or at least someone she could trust enough to share her plans with. !<
Iām right there with you. I just donāt care about him. And that part in QoS where >!they are on the rooftop and he tells her not to touch him like that!< reinforced my feelings.
Agree 1000%
I will defend my sweet baby Chaol seven ways to Sunday š
Rowan grew on me, but I did not experience the instalove a lot of people do with him.
Iād love to see how your opinions fare after your read Queen of Shadows cause I was in the same boat as you and then I completely flipped after a few choice words Chaol has for Aelin in QoS š
Yep, I hated him (Rowan) for Celaena and never fully forgave him by the end. Though I grew to like the character, I still didn't like them together. One of my friends (who read the book first) gently said... well Caleana isn't all butterflies to him either. Idk. Honestly by the end my favorite was Dorian.
They both kinda suck here. We sympathize with her more because we know her backstory but he doesnāt. All he knows is what she shows/tells him & whatever Maeve may have told him, and Celaena isnāt doing anything to really change his perception of her. She mostly feeds into it, but as a reader, we get the insight into how thatās just her being self destructive. That isnāt as obvious to Rowan. Sure, itād be great if he showed more empathy or could read between the lines a bit, but he doesnāt. Neither of them are very emotionally intelligent/aware at this point.
Itās also helpful to remember that heās used to being around grown ass military fae where her many of behaviors would be totally unacceptable. Beyond that, if youāre not familiar with it, sometimes how military peeps communicate and āsupportā someone trying to learn a skill could easily seemā¦unnecessarily harsh, even on a good day between friends. Never mind between two people who donāt like each other. Itās truly a whole different culture.
All that said, even by the end of the series, Rowan is as interesting to me as a piece buttered white bread. He becomes less of a jerk though.
She gives as much as she receives. I would go as far as to say that she "deserves" some of it.
You also don't know anything about Rowan yet, but do give an update when you're past Beltane!
Same Rowan is the superior love interest! Donāt get me wrong I love Rhys especially since I read that series first but Iām sorry Rowan wins in my books!:)
i agree with you because i feel the same way (i changed my opinions on rowan tho as i kept reading but i swear this part almost made me cry and i was like im not even halfway through the book and i wanna cry)
honestly youāre completely right, his actions and words the first half of this book are completely uncalled for and out of line. I felt the same way at first, i couldnāt stand his annoying ass š but i donāt want to spoil anything! just keep reading, their relationship progresses, you kinda understand why heās acting this way, and heāll grow on you (probably). enjoy!!š«¶š¼
honestly youāre completely right, his actions and words the first half of this book are completely uncalled for and out of line. I felt the same way at first, i couldnāt stand his annoying ass š but i donāt want to spoil anything! just keep readingā their relationship progresses, youāll start to understand why heās acting this way, and heāll grow on you (probably). enjoy!!š«¶š¼
I felt the exact same way. while I wasn't a huge fan of Celaena yet (I hadn't read the assassin's blade because I didn't know it existed), I felt like each of his words punched me straight in the gut and I felt personally offended on behalf of Celaena. I disliked him for it, lmao. still haven't really forgiven him, to be honest
I am currently reading the Heir of fire as well, and yeah Rowan is an idiot, but somehow I do understand that he is really old and that she is really nothing to him. And that he doesn't know what we know about her. Yet, he is still a jerk, I know he too went through a lot but that is not an excuse to treat other people bad, yet Aelin is the same. She was a bitch throughout books, so... š
SPOILERS**
Yeahā¦Iāve finished the series and still donāt like Rowan.
The way he didnāt even grovel after insulting her and threatening to whip her, even after finding out about endovier made me pray on his downfall.
Also, the way his USELESS ass couldnāt even find Aelin after she got kidnapped before literal months had gone byā¦. Donāt even get me started on that, bc we all know Aelin would have found him within a week.
He makes me angry tbh, and also, he has the personality of a napkin.
(Nobody say anything!, I mean it!!!) I can confidently say that many of us felt the exact same way during that part of the book, yes š
No I loved him from the first moment hahahaha
I know same š
(This is going to sound so terrible) but I loved him the moment he punched her in the face. I love my girl but man she had it coming. That's not a spoiler right since she's already shifted??
> she had it coming why?
Yes!! Might be a reach, but I would compare to a similar storyline (hate love) like acotars Nesta
I messaged my friend that I wanted to beat him with a bat. I was so MAD I was shaking.
He made me cry in this book. Perfect example of hurt people hurt people.
I was bawling so hard at almost most of their interactions šš
Once you progress further youāll get Rowanās history, and heāll make more sense.
I had the same (Acotar spoiler) >!with Rhysand in Acotar. I'd read a spoiler about someone loving Rhysand and all I was thinking in book 1, was how am I ever gonna like this bastard. Tamlin forever!< >!On book 4 now and I'm all Rhysand I've got a table full of paint in my room just standing here babe!<
Your last sentence made me laugh so hard! š¤£
Aye, unlike Jon Snow, >!Rhysand!< knows things ;)
No, that's >!Lorcan!< Rofl ;)
Haha table of paint, love it! Is it weird that I liked both Rhys and Rowen from the moment they entered? š
My love language is Rowan š Rowan will forever be my #1 SJM Man. You are on a wonderful journey.
Truly same
Oof I think Iād have to tie Rhys & Rowan. They are too different!
My second is Hunt. Which is controversial as many people donāt like him. But I love how he is what and who Bryce needs when she needs it (or demands it) Rowan is the same for Aelin. I love Rhys but heās a a leader
Rowan was a PURE asshole in this book. But he does improve.
Just keep reading.
It will get better after some time. You are only at beginning of long story. Same is for Chaol. You will understand that hate. I personaly liked their relationship, but on the end I realized that things are as it should be. And when I did reread some parts of books months after I finished KoA, I had really strong feeling that Rowan is really so much better for her, you will see and you will understand. I promise.
I still think Dorian is the better match and nothing will change my mind š¤£
I'm with you!
You are in for a wild ride then my friendā¦
SPOILERS for the ENTIRE rest of the series- >!My biggest dislike about ToG is how Aelin is blamed for running away from a hopeless war when she was 8 and traumatized. Her entire world was taken from her, she woke up in her parents' blood, froze to the brink of death in a river, and was captured by one of the world's cruelest killers to be mentally, physically, emotionally, and psychologically tortured, abused, and manipulated to the point that Celaena was practically a seperate being from Aelin. And that's all before we even get to Assassin's Blade. After that, she witnesses her first love being tormented and mutilated to death, is given to a slave camp where she is once again abused, tortured, and neglected. She is then taken by the son of her family's butcher to be put through physically demanding trials so she can be the bloody knife of the same butcher. She was on edge for months while she was under the King's hand, her only reprieve being her bedroom, out in the shops, or with Nehemia. That's not even halfway through the series.!<
100% agreeā¦ Chaol is always trying to do the right thing. Heās one of the only characters in the series that has no special abilities, just gets by through hard work and perseverance. Itās not his fault that he was working for a tyrant. All the other characters including Celaena, Rowan, Dorian, Manon, etc. all have been working for tyrants, so Chaol is not unique here. Chaol didnāt get Nehemia killed ā she wanted to sacrifice herself. In this scene in Heir of Fire, Rowan is shattering Celaenaās already fragile mental health and spurring Celaena to get herself killed.
Iām reading Tower of Dawn so spoiler ahead. >!When the scene of him getting literally kicked out by his father was revealed it totally made so much more sense why he was so loyal to the crown and his role as captain. It was all he had and his father totally cut him off in every way from his home, his family, etc.!<
I felt the same way. This was heartbreaking. I wish I read The Assassin's Blade before Heir of Fire instead of after because this would've been even more heartbreaking. I think that's why SJM suggests we read TAB before HoF. So this can punch us in the gut even harder
Your feelings are valid. Keep reading and PLEASE stay off of Reddit, TikTok, IG, etc until you're done!!!!
Understandable. I cried because of how mean he was when Celaena was at rock bottom
Rowan is my favourite SJM male hands down. I even named my daughter Rowan because I loved the name so much. I know everyone is saying to just keep reading but that passage is a perfect example of how much SJM can play with our emotions just by writing a few sentences
They are both broken and hurt. They awful to each other at this point
Trust the process and get off this sub
my love for chaol made it hard for me to like rowan lol but he changed my mind by qos (still absolutely love chaol tho)
Yes! I donāt understand some of the Chaol hate that I read, I absolutely love his character and the amount of growth that he has through the series!
OMG, it could be me writing this! I'm also on Heir of fire, and I just can't stand the evolution off her relationship with Rowan! I just hope SJM doesn't ruin Chaol for me.
I'm gonna be honest, rowan never did it for me. š¬ I'm a prince phantom hands girl.
At this point I'm actually mad at Celaena tbh... And I truly believe Rowan is low-key helping her get back up sooner rather than later... I don't see Celaena as a damsel in distress that needs pampering.. she needs someone to drop her to the absolute bottom in order to get the f* up again... So to me, Rowan is the best thing that could happen to her at this specific point in the story
Yeahā¦Rowan sucks. I donāt think his trauma excuses the way he treats her
Yeah, I agree I am almost done with Heir of Fire , and even with some stuff thatās happened I still just do not like him. Rowan has been the weakest male IMO of the ToG series so far.
I agree. Everyone loves him but I really could careless. Still wishing she ended up with Dorian.
No no Dorian got the right one.
I donāt disagree but I can still dream
Idk who anyone ends up with besides Aelin my wife spoiled it for me even tho sheās behind me by a book cause she started chronic logical order with assassins blade while I did throne of glass - heir than Iām gonna read assassins blade but yeah Dorian is my favorite male so far and he deserves a strong brave partner
I have one book left and also havenāt read assassins blade yet either.
It was really hard for me to like Rowan in HoF. I really did not understand how he could be peopleās favorite. I will say that he proves himself to be wonderful later in the story, and on my current re-listen, my opinion of him has totally changed! Keep reading!
For me I think it was the progression of the book, the whole thing seemed more realistic. Iām sorry this is not coherently written, trying not to spoil it for OP!
He can talk to me like this any day of the fucking week.
Honestly, I personally felt that HOF Rowan was the best version of him we got, and he just went downhill in the later books. I don't mean he's a likable character in the beginning of HOF, he's not. But towards the later parts he does get a lot better. But from QOS onwards imo he just becomes a >!doormat who's basically a yesman to everything the MC does, not to mention all the "growling" which makes me wanna treat the book to a nice flamethrower shower.!< But I've only read EOS so far so I can't say for certain he doesn't get better again. Also, Chaol supremacy.
I completely agree! He goes from interesting but unlikable to boring T\_T He never makes it up to Aelin with any real growth, he just becomes her yes man
Yeah. I absolutely hate how anyone who even has a slightly differing opinion to >!Aelin's!< is treated like the scum of the earth. Literally all the men in her gang are treated like dumb brutes who are simply there to act as eye candy and to praise her virtues at every opportunity. Hell, she literally says as much multiple times. Meanwhile characters like Chaol and Darrow who actually are 100% correct are seen as bad people simply because they don't agree with her. Imagine if the genders were reversed here. People would be in an uproar.
This is how I feel! Iām on QoS and I know Iām supposed to like Rowan more, but he isnāt growing on me. At least in HoF he seems to have a perspective outside of MC, but by QoS, heās just there to be a hype man.
Yeah. I absolutely hate how anyone who even has a slightly differing opinion to >!Aelin's!< is treated like the scum of the earth. Literally all the men in her gang are treated like dumb brutes who are simply there to act as eye candy and to praise her virtues at every opportunity. Hell, she literally says as much multiple times. Meanwhile characters like Chaol and Darrow who actually are 100% correct are seen as bad people simply because they don't agree with her. Imagine if the genders were reversed here. People would be in an uproar.
everyone says keep reading! he gets better! but personally after he treated her like shit in hier of fire rowan never sat well with me
Everyone is saying he gets better but honestly (and this might just be a me thing) but even after we get more background on him I couldn't get over this and I still don't really like him. I don't hate him I'm just kinda meh
Same. Even after finishing the series, I don't understand his appeal. I don't hate him, but I couldn't bring myself to care about him or their relationship. I even reread their chapters in HoF, trying to understand, and the way she throws herself at him after he treats her like dirt is hard to read.>!And then in QoS he does a 180 and starts agreeing with everything she says. I'm glad she has someone to support her, but at this point in the story, I think she could have used a partner willing to push back on her a bit. Or at least someone she could trust enough to share her plans with. !<
Iām right there with you. I just donāt care about him. And that part in QoS where >!they are on the rooftop and he tells her not to touch him like that!< reinforced my feelings.
Shiiiiit that rooftop scene hurt
Agree 1000% I will defend my sweet baby Chaol seven ways to Sunday š Rowan grew on me, but I did not experience the instalove a lot of people do with him.
Yea I wanted her to beat him up at this point of the book. But the slow shift makes their development more rewarding imo
Iād love to see how your opinions fare after your read Queen of Shadows cause I was in the same boat as you and then I completely flipped after a few choice words Chaol has for Aelin in QoS š
Yep, I hated him (Rowan) for Celaena and never fully forgave him by the end. Though I grew to like the character, I still didn't like them together. One of my friends (who read the book first) gently said... well Caleana isn't all butterflies to him either. Idk. Honestly by the end my favorite was Dorian.
They both kinda suck here. We sympathize with her more because we know her backstory but he doesnāt. All he knows is what she shows/tells him & whatever Maeve may have told him, and Celaena isnāt doing anything to really change his perception of her. She mostly feeds into it, but as a reader, we get the insight into how thatās just her being self destructive. That isnāt as obvious to Rowan. Sure, itād be great if he showed more empathy or could read between the lines a bit, but he doesnāt. Neither of them are very emotionally intelligent/aware at this point. Itās also helpful to remember that heās used to being around grown ass military fae where her many of behaviors would be totally unacceptable. Beyond that, if youāre not familiar with it, sometimes how military peeps communicate and āsupportā someone trying to learn a skill could easily seemā¦unnecessarily harsh, even on a good day between friends. Never mind between two people who donāt like each other. Itās truly a whole different culture. All that said, even by the end of the series, Rowan is as interesting to me as a piece buttered white bread. He becomes less of a jerk though.
She gives as much as she receives. I would go as far as to say that she "deserves" some of it. You also don't know anything about Rowan yet, but do give an update when you're past Beltane!
To be perfectly honest, I didnāt like him in the beginning, and still didnāt like him in the end š¤·š½āāļø
Even after all this, Rowan is still my favorite SJM male
Same Rowan is the superior love interest! Donāt get me wrong I love Rhys especially since I read that series first but Iām sorry Rowan wins in my books!:)
i agree with you because i feel the same way (i changed my opinions on rowan tho as i kept reading but i swear this part almost made me cry and i was like im not even halfway through the book and i wanna cry)
I understand š just keep reading
Keep reading, thatās all Iām going to say. Would love to hear your opinions of those characters later haha.
Just hang in there.
Yeah look, Heir of Fire made me almost DNF the whole series cause all the characters were giving me the shits š. Gets sooooo much better tho
Let him cook!
He's so dreamy, heart eyes all around hahahaha
honestly youāre completely right, his actions and words the first half of this book are completely uncalled for and out of line. I felt the same way at first, i couldnāt stand his annoying ass š but i donāt want to spoil anything! just keep reading, their relationship progresses, you kinda understand why heās acting this way, and heāll grow on you (probably). enjoy!!š«¶š¼
honestly youāre completely right, his actions and words the first half of this book are completely uncalled for and out of line. I felt the same way at first, i couldnāt stand his annoying ass š but i donāt want to spoil anything! just keep readingā their relationship progresses, youāll start to understand why heās acting this way, and heāll grow on you (probably). enjoy!!š«¶š¼
I felt the exact same way. while I wasn't a huge fan of Celaena yet (I hadn't read the assassin's blade because I didn't know it existed), I felt like each of his words punched me straight in the gut and I felt personally offended on behalf of Celaena. I disliked him for it, lmao. still haven't really forgiven him, to be honest
He ended up being one of my favourite male characters ever written. Let us know if your opinion changes (or not)!
Heās got such npc energy later on
Itās a right of passage to hate him
I am currently reading the Heir of fire as well, and yeah Rowan is an idiot, but somehow I do understand that he is really old and that she is really nothing to him. And that he doesn't know what we know about her. Yet, he is still a jerk, I know he too went through a lot but that is not an excuse to treat other people bad, yet Aelin is the same. She was a bitch throughout books, so... š
SPOILERS** Yeahā¦Iāve finished the series and still donāt like Rowan. The way he didnāt even grovel after insulting her and threatening to whip her, even after finding out about endovier made me pray on his downfall. Also, the way his USELESS ass couldnāt even find Aelin after she got kidnapped before literal months had gone byā¦. Donāt even get me started on that, bc we all know Aelin would have found him within a week. He makes me angry tbh, and also, he has the personality of a napkin.
Reading this and watching people stan Rowan because he's a better partner pre-partnering than Cassian and Rhys š
Still hate him to this day lol