Who Does Feyre End Up With In A Court Of Thorns And Roses?

It's hard to be even casually interested in fantasy and romance books and stories and not at least recognize the name Sarah J. Maas (affectionately known as SJM to her fans). Thanks to her successful, multi-book fantasy series "Throne of Glass (ToG)," she has established a reputation for writing awesome female protagonists and crafting complex romantic and friendship connections between her characters.

That said, it was SJM's release of "A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR)" that really put her on the map as a leading voice in romantasy fiction. What began as a "Beauty and the Beast" retelling has become a flourishing fiction series complete with multiple POV characters, ongoing intrigue, and involvement in a Maas-dom multiverse crossover that includes ToG and her most recently created universe, an urban fantasy book trilogy called "Crescent City."

"ACOTAR" has remained SJM's most popular series, though, in large part because of Feyre's endgame ship. While Feyre begins the series by falling in love with a Fae high lord named Tamlin, she undergoes a complicated romantic and individual journey as the series' protagonist and ultimately ends up with someone entirely different. SJM draws such an engaging juxtaposition between Feyre's first Fae love affair and her endgame ship that it elevates the entire ACOTAR series and makes "A Court of Mist and Fury," the second book in the series and the highest-ranked ACOTAR book by fans, a must-read for lovers of the romantasy genre, even if someone isn't keen to read SJM's entire body of work.

"A Court of Thorns and Roses" follows a young woman named Feyre Archeron in a fictional land called Prythian. The youngest of three daughters, Feyre is the only person in her human family that has managed to keep them fed and sheltered following her father's financial ruin. Through a strange series of events, she finds herself forced to remain in the Spring Court, a section of Prythian's Fae realm, alongside a grumpy, beastly high lord named Tamlin. "A Court of Thorns and Roses" initially follows the beats of a "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, with Feyre slowly coming to feel safe in the Spring Court while Tamlin falls for her sharp mind and good heart.

On one critical evening, during a Fae holiday celebration known as Calanmai, Feyre meets a stranger (notably the most beautiful person she's ever seen) who rescues her from a few faeries' nefarious intentions. He disappears, only to reappear later in the book and introduce himself as Rhysand, high lord of the Night Court. Throughout ACOTAR, Rhys remains an enigma to Feyre, serving as both tormentor and savior. Calanmai is also the night that Feyre truly comes to understand that her own feelings for Tamlin are growing as well. Predictably, Tamlin and Feyre soon fall in love, consummate their affair amidst the perpetual blooms of the Spring Court, and enjoy a short period of bliss before everything falls apart.

ACOTAR's ending sees Feyre attempt to break a curse set by Amarantha, an evil Fae from the land of Hybern who had taken control of Prythian's Fae realms from her court Under the Mountain and who desires Tamlin as a consort. Feyre defeats Amarantha's curse at the cost of her life and is brought back from death thanks to the magic of Prythian's high lords, but her relationship with Tamlin is forever changed. In the sequel book, "A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAF)," it is quickly revealed that neither Tamlin nor Feyre is coping with their trauma. Tamlin is terrified for Feyre's safety despite her newfound immortality, and Feyre is wracked with sorrow and guilt over the faeries that she was forced to kill in order to defeat Amarantha.

To make matters worse, Rhysand has not forgotten his bargain with Feyre, nor the mental bond it formed between them. His continued presence in her life exacerbates both Tamlin's rage and possessiveness over Feyre as well as Feyre's stress due to her lack of control over her own life. Further exasperating things, the mating bond between Tamlin and Feyre has not yet revealed itself, much to Tamlin's chagrin, but the Spring Court is moving quickly toward an auspicious wedding between its high lord and human-turned-Fae savior regardless. Feyre also discovers, at the end of ACOTAR, that she possesses new, confusing magical abilities due to her Fae resurrection.

Thanks to her new magical abilities, Feyre becomes one of the most powerful characters in the ACOTAR world, but at the beginning of ACOMAF, her relationship with Tamlin makes her feel even more powerless than she was as a destitute human. Tamlin becomes more and more obsessed with keeping Feyre "safe" (aka, trapped) as ACOMAF continues, and eventually locks her inside their palace despite the claustrophobia that Feyre developed Under the Mountain. Rhys, feeling Feyre's distress through their bond, rescues her from the Spring Court. Upon waking, she realizes that she cannot return to Tamlin and his controlling behavior and decides to stay in the Night Court, working with Rhys and his inner circle to prevent an invasion from Hybern.

Rhys brings Feyre to Velaris, the hidden, utopian capital city of his Court, and introduces her to his found family. Feyre, thanks largely to Rhys's painstaking efforts, finds everything she needs there to begin healing from her ordeal at the hands of Amarantha and the sour end of her relationship with Tamlin. Feyre falls for Rhys over the course of ACOMAF, realizing that he is far more compassionate, brave, playful, and good-hearted than she had imagined. She eventually discovers that Rhys is her fated mate and that he has known this since she was reborn Fae. Despite her initial anger that he kept the truth from her, Feyre soon comes to accept her love for Rhys and embraces their mating bond.

Is the ACOTAR series 'spicy'? Yes, and all the evidence required to prove it can be found in Chapter 55 of ACOMAF thanks to a particularly steamy scene between Feyre and Rhys. Chapter 54 of ACOMAF, though, is the one that proves how special their mating bond really is, providing Rhys the opportunity to explain their story to Feyre from his perspective.

"And then— then I learned your name. Hearing you say it... it was like an answer to a question I'd been asking for five hundred years (ACOMAF Ch. 54)," Rhys explains to Feyre, referencing the time she spoke her true name when she was brought prisoner before Amarantha in ACOTAR. He did everything he could to keep Feyre safe while she was Under the Mountain, even knowing that she loved Tamlin and would never be with him. Luckily, mating bonds aren't so easy to ignore, and Feyre isn't so easy to predict, and Feyre and Rhys couldn't avoid being drawn together and falling in love.

Feyre and Rhys may have realized their love for each other in ACOMAF, but they didn't get their happy ending until the end of the next book, "A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOWAR)." Tamlin, upon realizing that Feyre chose to leave both him and the Spring Court, allies with Hybern to trap the inner circle of the Night Court and take Feyre back. He accuses Rhys of falsifying his mating bond with Feyre and has the King of Hybern break the couple's mental connection. The King of Hybern can't actually break a true mating bond, but Feyre pretends that he is successful in his endeavor so that she can return to the Spring Court and take it down from the inside. ACOMAF ends with Feyre and Rhys physically apart but emotionally more united than ever.

In ACOWAR, Feyre eventually returns home to Rhys — but in the midst of a now-active war against an invasion from Hybern. They face numerous battles and close calls with death, including a moment wherein Rhys must be revived by Feyre (who is now high lady of the Night Court) and his fellow high lords, including Tamlin. Thankfully, Rhys and Feyre's relationship has remained solid since ACOWAR, and the two characters have taken a step away from the spotlight, with Feyre giving birth to a little boy named Nyx at the end of the most recent book in the series, "A Court of Silver Flames."