#075: This week on A Novel Bunch, we’re diving into Throne of Glass chapters 43 through 55, and BUNCHIES—we’ve got Kaltain on our LAST nerve, portals opening, MORE Wyrdmarks, and Celaena officially becoming the King’s Champion.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

But first—Wyrdmarks in ACOTAR?!

Feyre describes the faded markings around her family’s human cottage as whorls, swirls, and runes carved around the doors and windows for protection against faeries.

Now that we’ve seen Wyrdmarks used for protection, portals, and crossing between realms in Throne of Glass... could those cottage markings actually be Wyrdmarks—or some forgotten version of the same ancient language?

WE HAVE QUESTIONS.

Back in Erilea, Celaena finally reveals her true identity to Nehemia, who gives her the name Elentiya, Spirit That Could Not Be Broken.

Then it’s time for the final duel.

Celaena takes down Grave in under two minutes, but before she faces Cain, Kaltain poisons her wine with bloodbane. As Celaena becomes weaker and more disoriented, Cain begins taunting her with horrifying details about the night her parents died.

HOW DOES HE KNOW THAT?!

And somehow things get even worse.

Creatures begin surrounding Celaena during the fight, creatures no one else can see. Elena appears through a portal, drives them away, removes the poison from Celaena’s body, and gives her the chance to fight back.

Celaena defeats Cain, a Wyrdmark glows across her forehead, and when Cain tries to attack her from behind, Chaol kills him—his first kill ever.

CUZ HE’S IN LOVE. I SAID WHAT I SAID.

Nehemia then reveals she knew WAY more than we realized: she drew the protective Wyrdmarks beneath Celaena’s bed, could see the creatures during the duel, and opened the portal that allowed Elena to save her.

Meanwhile, the King and Duke Perrington basically confirm our worst suspicions, the King knew what Cain was doing, and Perrington is using some mysterious “power” on Kaltain.

And then...DORIAN HEARTBREAK.

After the books, flirting, dancing, Fleetfoot, and KISSING, Celaena tells Dorian they can’t be together, even after he says he would tell his parents about them.

Finally, Celaena thanks Elena for saving her, only for Elena to respond:

“Blood ties can’t be broken.”

UMMMM... WHAT BLOOD TIES?!

Celaena signs her contract and officially becomes the King’s Champion for four years before earning her freedom.

But with portals opening, the King experimenting with mysterious powers, and Celaena’s past getting more suspicious by the chapter...

Something tells us becoming Champion was only the beginning.

Let’s get into it, Bunchies!

#074: This week on A Novel Bunch, we’re diving into Throne of Glass chapters 29 through 42, and BUNCHIES—the romance is ROMANCING.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The competition continues, another Champion is brutally murdered, and the mysterious Wyrdmarks scattered throughout the castle are becoming harder to ignore.

Celaena begins suspecting Nehemia may know more than she’s letting on, especially after finding Wyrdmarks hidden beneath her bed and discovering Nehemia has been studying them herself.

Meanwhile, Dorian and Celaena are getting CLOSER. He saves the puppy Celaena begged him not to delete, gifts her Fleetfoot (SWOON), dances with her at the Yulemas ball—and then follows her back to her rooms where THEY KISS.

But romance isn’t the only thing heating up.

Dorian recognizes Celaena’s mysterious amulet as the Eye of Elena, Duke Perrington reveals Celaena’s true identity to Kaltain, and a plan is set in motion to drug her before the final duel.

Then the castle mystery finally starts coming together.

Celaena discovers the murdered Champions are being sacrificed to summon a terrifying creature called a Ridderak, allowing its summoner to steal their strength—and she catches Cain in the act.

After surviving the Ridderak with King Gavin’s sword, Damaris, Nehemia finds Celaena and bathes her... only to reveal glowing turquoise Wyrdmarks covering her body.

WE HAVE QUESTIONS.

Let’s get into it, Bunchies!

#073: This week on A Novel Bunch, we’re covering chapters 15 through 28 of Throne of Glass, and BUNCHIES… the competition is officially underway, the Champions are being hunted, and the clues are starting to point toward something much bigger beneath the glass castle.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Before we dive into the chapters, we found an old video of Sarah J. Maas sorting her characters into Hogwarts houses, and obviously, we need to discuss. From Ravenclaw Dorian and Hufflepuff Chaol to Celaena’s Slytherin-Gryffindor mix, we’re breaking down whether we agree or not!

Then it’s back to the competition as Celaena deliberately hides the full extent of her abilities, survives increasingly brutal trials, and risks everything to save Nox after Grave pushes him from the castle wall.

Meanwhile, Dorian and Celaena continue growing closer through books, music, and one very flirtatious game of billiards, while Chaol sends Dorian away from her rooms, only to give Celaena his amethyst ring moments later. The love-triangle energy is officially here, Bunchies.

But romance may be the least of Celaena’s problems.

Nehemia reveals that the mysterious symbols around the clock tower are ancient Wyrdmarks, and Celaena discovers they can be used to open Wyrdgates into other realms. After finding secret passages behind the tapestry in her room, she is led beneath the castle to the tomb of King Gavin and Queen Elena.

There, Elena warns her that the eight gargoyles guard a portal between worlds, and that something evil is already inside the castle.

We’re connecting the Wyrdmarks, Elena’s protective amulet, and The Walking Dead to major Crescent City moments, questioning whether “Ah! Time’s Rift!” could connect to the Northern Rift, and asking just how early Sarah J. Maas began planting the seeds for a much larger crossover.

And just when the mystery could not get any bigger… Cain reveals that he knows Celaena’s true identity.

Let’s get into it, Bunchies!