House of Flame and Shadow

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of oppression, discrimination, and graphic death and violence.

In House of Flame and Shadow, every point-of-view character struggles with the concept of redemption and atonement.

One conflict is about realizing that many people who have done wrong deserve forgiveness. Learning the true history of the Asteri and of her own people, the Starborn Fae, damages Bryce’s ability to look for the good in others—she sees that the leaders of both peoples were power-hungry conquerors bent on domination. Her newfound cynicism lead her to temporarily believing no Fae worthy of redemption—a stance that positions Bryce on the same racist continuum that has kept the humans of Midgard oppressed by the Vanir. However, her time in the Night Court undercuts this way of thinking, as Bryce realizes that she cannot judge an entire people by the actions of their totalitarian ruler: “Nesta hadn’t been anything like Silene or Theia” (281). Remembering that helps Bryce stop judging al the Fae in Midgard by the same standard: Fae allies such as Nesta and Azriel give Bryce hope for the future of the Fae on Midgard.

However, the question of redemption is also directed inward. When Hunt blames himself for endangering Ruhn and Baxian, the regret and shame of his past failures floods Hunt with the many deaths he believes are on his hands.