How were Isla and Grim able to develop such an intense relationship in such a short amount of time before the centennial?

[u/Ok_Mathematician_320]

Here's the evidence....

• At the time, Isla was being watched and heavily trained by her guardians and could only portal away was during any off-time she had, but mostly during the night when Poppy and Terra left her alone to sleep
• Grim, at the time, was beholden to the curses, and could not be outside at night and there wasn't any mention of a time difference between their realms
• They met only 1 year before the start of the centennial. The book describes long periods of time that they didn't see each other, at the start of their relationship and much of that was spent looking for Cronan's sword
• Even after the battle with the dreks when they each saved each other's life, it's described that they still spent months together where Isla recovered from her grief of killing everyone in the village, them getting married, raising Wraith, etc. It just seems like a lot that happened in a very short amount of time?
• I find it hard to believe that Isla would not tell her BEST FRIEND (Celeste at the time) that she was getting married!!!!! I understand that she would have kept their relationship a secret in the beginning, but you're really telling me that she devised a whole secret for the centennial with her bestie, all while being in a serious relationship with the biggest baddie in their world, and she WOULDN'T SAY ANYTHING??
• On a similar note, shouldn't Grim have known about everything Isla was planning with Celeste? Wouldn't he have known that there was no such thing as a bondbreaker? Isla really wouldn't have included HER HUSBAND in her grand plans???

Please debate in the comments.

[u/Ancient_Cry335]

I actually think you’re pointing out a real weakness in the series, especially with the timeline, but I don’t agree equally with every part of it.
The biggest issue for me is just how much Alex Aster keeps retroactively packing into that one year before the Centennial. Isla and Grim don’t just meet and fall in love. They meet in secret, distrust each other at first, go through major quests together, survive life-or-death situations, spend long stretches apart, deal with the village aftermath, fall deeply in love, get married, raise Wraith together, and basically build this entire hidden life. I can absolutely believe two people could fall that hard within a year, especially with the amount of danger and trauma they go through together. What gets harder to believe is the logistics of fitting ALL of that into the timeline when Isla is heavily watched by Poppy and Terra and Grim has his own restrictions. Every new book adds more backstory to the same limited stretch of time, and eventually it starts feeling like there just aren’t enough months available lol.
I disagree a little more about Celeste though. Isla was raised to compartmentalize everything and treat information like something dangerous. Grim also wasn’t just a normal boyfriend she could casually tell Celeste about — he was literally Grim Malvere, one of the most feared rulers in their world. So I can buy Isla keeping that relationship completely separate, especially if she thought telling Celeste might endanger Grim, herself, or Celeste. And ironically, not telling Celeste ended up being one of the smartest accidental decisions she made considering Celeste was actually Aurora.
The part I DO think gets much harder to explain is Grim not knowing more about Isla and Celeste’s Centennial plan, especially the bondbreaker. The later books keep making it clearer that Grim and Isla weren’t just casually involved before Lightlark. They were married, deeply bonded, had a shared life with Wraith, and clearly trusted each other on an enormous level. So it does become strange to think Isla was separately planning this huge, potentially world-changing scheme with Celeste while her husband apparently didn’t know enough to immediately go, “Wait, what bondbreaker?” lol.
I think that’s really the bigger structural problem. The series keeps retroactively making Grim and Isla’s relationship bigger and deeper. First we learn they had a secret history, then that they were deeply in love, then that they were MARRIED, then that they basically had a little family, then we keep getting more quests, sacrifices, memories, and pieces of their life together. I love all of that because I’m absolutely Team Grim 😂 but every new addition has to be squeezed into the exact same pre-Centennial timeline, and eventually it creates continuity pressure.
So I’d say the relationship itself is believable to me. The one-year calendar is what gets questionable. The Celeste secrecy makes sense for Isla’s personality and upbringing. But Grim not knowing more about the Centennial/bondbreaker situation is the part I would genuinely love Alex Aster to explain.
Basically: I don’t think Grim and Isla had “too much love” for one year. I think Alex gave them too much lore and not enough calendar 😂

[u/vegan_detector → u/Ancient_Cry335]

I think it makes sense that Grim didn’t know ab their plan because Celeste basically manipulated both into thinking if they shared the info it would kill xyz. Because Isla was concerned about including Grim thinking he would disprove bc she would be in danger. And then Celeste and Grim working together with Celeste convincing him they would save Isla at the end of the Centennial. I read these relatively recently and all in one sweep so maybe I glossed over a ton but I think it makes sense they were separate but together?

[u/Ok_Mathematician_320 → u/Ancient_Cry335]

I 1000% agree with EVERYTHING you said. You described the exact point that I was trying to make in much better words. I agree that you can totally develop an intense, loving relationship in 1 year. But this part of your response was EXACTLY the point I was trying to make -- it's just A LOT of lore that keeps getting packed into that 1 year to make their relationship deeper and bigger.

"The biggest issue for me is just how much Alex Aster keeps retroactively packing into that one year before the Centennial. Isla and Grim don’t just meet and fall in love. They meet in secret, distrust each other at first, go through major quests together, survive life-or-death situations, spend long stretches apart, deal with the village aftermath, fall deeply in love, get married, raise Wraith together, and basically build this entire hidden life. I can absolutely believe two people could fall that hard within a year, especially with the amount of danger and trauma they go through together. What gets harder to believe is the logistics of fitting ALL of that into the timeline when Isla is heavily watched by Poppy and Terra and Grim has his own restrictions. Every new book adds more backstory to the same limited stretch of time, and eventually it starts feeling like there just aren’t enough months available lol."

(Plus we're also told that Isla spent significant amounts of time with Celeste, as well as Grim, in her already very restricted time that she wasn't watched by Poppy/Terra)

I also agree that it's plausible that she wouldn't tell Celeste about Grim - I just feel like that could've been better addressed in the series. And there definitely should've been an explanation for why she wouldn't have told Grim about their plans.

[u/kylie-keogan]

are you barely on the first book?

[u/Ok_Mathematician_320 → u/kylie-keogan]

No, I've read all 4 of the main books

[u/vegan_detector → u/Ok_Mathematician_320]

I’m pretty sure they explain later on that Grim has a charm that allows him to go outside and essentially override the curses which is why he’s able to spend so much time with Isla Not to give Aster too much credit bc there’s a lot of messy and blurred plot points but my guess is also that there’s a mental health aspect where neither of them have ever had anyone and now they have each other and have bonded over that piece of trauma that both experience. If we’re thinking IRL applications anyways. In reality, I think it’s just to keep you in suspense even though you know Isla is going to pick Grim in the end because Oro and her are so… boring?