Crescent City House of Earth and Blood - Chapters 1-8
In today's class - "Welcome to Crescent City Community College" we will be covering chapters 1-8.
If you are a visual learner, feel free to watch the class below (clickable) or on Spotify.
For, our audio listeners here is the class on Spotify and Apple.
For those that want a quick summary of chaps and the break down, including Maasverse tie-ins we got you! Class notes are below.
CHAPTER ONE
We meet our FMC, Bryce Quinlan, a red headed, half-fae, half-human sass machine. She’s working at Griffin Antiquities with Lehabah, a spicy little fire sprite who is not thrilled when Bryce’s ride-or-die, Danika Fendyr, full-Vanir wolf shifter and certified menace, bangs on the door like, “Where the hell you been, loca?” Bryce lets her in like the good little spider monkey she is. Lehabah immediately starts melting down about how Jesiba, their terrifying enchantress boss, won’t approve of this surprise guest.
Bryce and Danika are pure chaos besties. Bryce is cranky because her new back tattoo, one she drunkenly got to match Danika, is killing her. Danika, meanwhile, is like, “Cute, babe, but I need a shower because I got… fluids on me. Not the fun kind.” She dumps her stuff in the supply closet like it’s no big deal, and the foreshadowing here is absolutely unhinged.
On a reread, the hints are everywhere. Bryce’s tattoo hurting “like Hel,” Danika healing instantly because she’s full Vanir, Bryce being obliterated when she got inked. The first time through you’re just trying to survive the worldbuilding tsunami, but later it’s so fun catching all the clues.
Danika then drops the bomb that she has to meet with the city heads because Phillip Briggs is being released from prison due to paperwork incompetence. Briggs 101: leader of the human rebellion over in Pangera, across the Halden Sea, arrested for planning to blow up The White Raven, a popular nightclub, to start a war between humans and the magical Vanir and the Asteri. Basically, he wants global chaos. Danika vows she’ll tell the archangels, specifically beautiful, infuriating Micah, to shove Briggs right back in a cell.
Meanwhile there’s an actual war in Pangera where humans are rebelling, and Briggs is over here dreaming of a worldwide bloodbath to topple the Vanir and the Asteri, who rule Midgard from the Eternal City. No biggie.
WORD TO YA MOTHAAAA Segment:
Asteri comes from the Greek word for “star.” Big cosmic energy here.
Vanir comes from Norse mythology, a group of gods tied to fertility, wisdom, and prophecy.
Pangera is basically Pangea vibes.
Valbara is another ancient supercontinent reference. All of this absolutely matters.
Jesiba Spotlight:
Jesiba Roga, Bryce’s boss, is a 400-year-old enchantress, born a witch, who defected to the House of Flame and Shadow and now works for the Under-King. She owns Griffin Antiquities and its extremely illegal library and casually turns annoying people into animals. The name Jesiba connects to “to see or behold,” and Roga means “horn” in Slavic languages. And yes, that might tie into Luna’s Horn. Not a coincidence, babes.
Jesiba also has major Circe energy, the Greek enchantress daughter of Helios who turned enemies into animals. We’re putting a pin in that connection.
Maasters in the Maasverse
ACOTAR Parallels:
We get Helion, Day Court Daddy, whose powers are all golden light, spell-cleaving, air magic, sunfire, telepathy, shapeshifting, the whole shebang. Jesiba’s golden wards echo his magic in a big way. Lucien, whose name means “light,” is Helion’s biological son, and Elaine’s name also ties to light. It’s giving Maasverse crossover energy. Jesiba might be the glue.
CHAPTER TWO
Everyone keeps checking on Danika through Bryce because Briggs getting released is apparently very not cool. Danika, who absolutely would have loved New Moon, is hanging out in wolf form. She heads off to do wolf pack things while Bryce goes to do work things. Her task of the day is to look for Luna’s Horn.
There’s a moment where Danika glances at a showroom camera from behind the decapitated ten-thousand-year-old faun statue. Her tail swishes once as she asks why anyone even wants the Horn. Major foreshadowing. Danika is basically Jim from The Office giving a look to the camera. Her tail is the tell.
The Horn got stolen during a blackout. Supposedly “looters” broke into Luna’s Temple and snatched the relic from the lap of the giant enthroned deity. Sure, looters. We immediately learn Danika’s mom Sabine is a massive bitch. Classic fantasy-name curse. Danika and Bryce have been besties since they met, but Sabine insists Bryce is a half-breed slut.
On their walk Danika mentions Bryce’s half brother, who Bryce still holds a grudge against. They talk about the Horn and Bryce wonders if the power outage was connected. Danika’s tail twitches again because Bryce is getting too close to the truth. Bryce talks about her career and Danika’s eyes flick to the very fancy, very necessary Archesian amulet Bryce wears because neither of them has made the Drop yet.
Bryce’s mom calls. Danika snatches her phone because Bryce’s mom is cooler than her own. She lies that they’re out having fun and gets Bryce out of a parental visit because Lunathion is a little too dangerous right now for humans.
Even though Bryce is only half Fae she’s immediately shown as a badass. She still practices at the gun range even though she hates guns. She’s an excellent shot because her dad is legendary and started training her young. Foreshadowing.
Danika being ten steps ahead gives major Aelin energy. No wonder we like her too much too fast.
The two reach Old Square where tons of tourists wait to take pictures with the Gates. There are seven Gates in total, each carved from huge quartz blocks from the Laconian Mountains. Old Square’s is called the Heart Gate. Each gate has a gem that takes one drop of your magic forever.
Emerald with a rose for Five Roses
Opal with wings for CBD
Ruby with a heart for Old Square
Sapphire with an oak for Moonwood
Amethyst with a man’s hand for Asphodel Meadows
Tiger’s eye with a serpent for the Meat Market
Onyx with skull and crossbones for the Bone Quarter
The history teacher once said the Gates were originally communication devices. The line “the power shall always belong to those who give their lives to the city” is giving Sword of Gryffindor energy.
Danika absolutely uses her clout to cut the line. She and Bryce make their little wishes even though Bryce barely has magic to spare. Danika was expected to have a ton, even more than the Autumn King. There’s a test to predict power levels and she and Bryce planned to do it together at twenty-seven. Totally vanity reasons.
We get the basics of the Drop. After the Drop, aging slows massively. Fae can live a thousand years, shifters and witches about five hundred, angels somewhere between. Humans can’t make the Drop at all. The Vanir heal faster, live longer, and are very hard to kill. Fury once dragged them for waiting to do the Drop for vanity. Fury didn’t choose her own Drop age. It just happened or was forced. She was only at CCU as cover for missions and spent her time doing horrific things for a lot of money in Pangera. No one knows who she works for. You simply do not mess with Fury.
Bryce and Danika make their wishes and go their separate ways.
We get a throwaway line that is not actually a throwaway about a poster showing the six enthroned Asteri and an empty throne for their fallen sister. Finding out who that sister is a case we want to solve.
WORD TO YO MOTHA Segment
Adelaide means noble or of noble kind
MAASTERS IN THE MAASVERSE
The Archesian amulet is a tiny pendant of three entwined circles with major protection against magical influence. And in the MAASVERSE this symbol pops up everywhere. The Bone Carver draws it when talking about his siblings. ACOWAR mentions “three stones for the faces of the Mother.” In Throne of Glass Elena’s amulet has the same three-faced-goddess vibe. Manon calls it the Eye of the Goddess and ties it to the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Maybe it’s three worlds overlapping or rips that open gates. Maybe it’s tied to the Archeron sisters. The point is, this symbol matters, and we’ll learn more about the amulet later.
CHAPTER THREE
Bryce gets home to her humble little apartment and immediately sees that the Pack of Devils has taken over like they pay rent. She asks about the Sunball game. They won, of course, and Connor’s brother Ithan scored the winning goal. Bryce absolutely did not flirt even a tiny bit with Connor before heading into the kitchen to check on Danika after her big meeting.
Briggs is being released and Danika is pissed, but Bryce’s best friend telekinesis picks up that something else is eating her. Turns out that during the power outage last week, two CCU students were murdered in Danika’s section. They were basically in ribbons and clearly used as a partial dinner by something. Not great.
We’re only in Chapter Three and there’s already so much shadowing to the fore. Danika’s pack has basically made watchful loyalty, protectiveness, and chaotic sibling energy into an art form. They’ve claimed Bryce as one of their own even though she doesn’t have the pack sigil tattoo down her neck. And the Prime knows this. File that away.
Bryce suddenly remembers she has a date with her rich boyfriend. Connor is not thrilled. Bryce gives the bare minimum to get ready, takes a few shots, throws on a slutty dress, and tries to head out. But Connor intercepts and actually tries to ask her out. She turns him down gently, then continues on to the fancy restaurant.
She and said rich boyfriend have had sex twice in two months. Brutal. Especially when it was just “okay” both times. Their whole dynamic is funny though. They’re so unfiltered with each other it feels like real friends talking about dumb relationship stuff.
We get the iconic exchange.
Danika says, light it up, bitch.
Bryce answers, light it up, asshole.
A few things to highlight from this chapter:
- Redner Industries is a human owned magi-tech company. Michael Domitus has dumped serious money into their cutting edge experiments. This will matter later.
- Family history moment. Bryce’s mom Ember fell for the Autumn King until he became extremely possessive and aggressive. She peaced out before he even realized she was pregnant. The name Ember is symbolic. A dying fire, lingering heat, the last glow before a spark returns. It represents resilience and potential for revival, which fits Ember perfectly.
- Connor moment. Please cue Taylor Swift’s “the 1.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Bryce shows up to her fancy dinner date with no date in sight. That prick strolls in forty-five minutes late like he’s doing her a favor. Even with people making gross comments about her, she still gets herself some very fancy wine because priorities. While she waits, she gets the sweetest messages from Connor:
You know I’m shit with talking. But what I wanted to say, before you tried to pick a fight with me, by the way, was that I think it’s worth it. You and me. Giving us a shot. I’m crazy about you. I don’t want anyone else. I haven’t for a long while. One date. If it doesn’t work, we’ll deal with it. But just give me a chance. Please.
We all feel the trauma incoming. It hurts already.
Reid’s excuse for being late is a long call about some Pangeran conflict. He gets condescending and tells Bryce she wouldn’t get it because it’s complicated. The war’s been going on for forty years. Humans would rather die than keep living under the Asteri. They hate being slaves. Pangera is a full disaster zone. Fury’s been over there doing who knows what for who knows who.
Dinner is going terribly. Reid is boring. He’s on his phone. Connor is whispering sweet nothings in her messages. So she dumps Reid right there. She takes the bottle of wine, talks shit to another Fae for the vibes, then texts Fury to go out.
Cue Destiny’s Child Jumpin Jumpin. Ladies leave your man at home, the club has ballers and their pockets are grown. Juniper joins. The girls hit the White Raven. I imagine it like Friday night at the Cabaret at Tulalip in 2011. Bryant-level chaos.
Outside Bryce buys some fun drugs. A dealer tries pushing harder stuff but she is way too poor for that. She starts flirting with Connor through texts and finally agrees to a date. She updates Danika, obviously, and tells her to enjoy pack night. Danika being Danika is off doing wolf alpha loyalty activities.
The White Raven is a temple. The building was built around ancient ruins so the dance floor is literally the old stones of some forgotten god’s pleasure temple. Satyrs, fauns, dancing, drinking, sex carvings everywhere. Love that for them.
Danika has spent hours researching shifter history. Lions rule in Helene. Tigers in Korinth. Falcons in Oia. So much foreshadowing it hurts.
Fury calls Bryce out on her half ass vanity attempt and says Reid should have known he was about to be dumped. Fury also has more drugs. Bryce asks if it’s the expensive stuff she can’t afford. Fury tells her no and to stay far away from it. Bryce reminds her she works tomorrow so nothing hallucinogenic.
Synth will make you feel like a god. File that away. All the way away.
World Building Lore
A long time ago the Vanir erupted through that northern Rift and overtook Midgard. The ones who arrived were far more advanced than the humans and regular animals already living there. Their whole calendar reflects it. HE is Human Era. VE is Vanir Era. Basically the Bible but instead of Jesus you get immortal assholes.
The Vanir have reigned for fifteen thousand years. Only in the past few centuries have humans gained more rights thanks to the Imperial Senate with Asteri approval. One wrong move and they go right back to slavery. Slaves are mostly in Pangera but Crescent City has its share, including warrior angels in the 33rd, Micah’s personal legion. SPQM tattoos mark them.
Bryce was born of two Houses since she’s half Fae and half human. But she was forced to yield allegiance to the House of Sky and Breath in exchange for the civitas rank her father arranged for her. Full citizenship at a cost. Her dad would only petition for her if she claimed his House. She resented him for it but even her mom admitted the benefits outweighed the insult. Humans barely have protections and he knew it
Class Notes:
Fury’s description: long onyx ponytail, sharp face, deep-set chestnut eyes, light brown skin. No one knows what kind of Vanir she is. She’s a full civitas citizen with preternatural speed, grace, and reflexes, but she never reveals another form or any special magic. SJM gives us crumbs. Delicious, frustrating crumbs.
CHAPTER 5
Bryce decides she is going to absolutely live it up at the White Raven before her date with Connor in three days. Fury brings a mountain of drugs. They partake. Bryce becomes a full dancing queen, living her best messy life.
She eventually stumbles down her street and apparently browns out the journey because she genuinely has no clue how she got there. She remembers the code to her building, climbs the gross stairwell that smells exactly as disgusting as you’re imagining, and makes it to her door. She focuses just long enough to realize it’s open. And there’s blood everywhere.
She walks inside and finds the Pack of Devils in pieces. Actual piles of her friends. Everywhere. It is horrific. Heart-shredding. You feel it in your stomach.
A thunk sounds from the hallway. Whatever did this must have been hiding in the trash chute. Bryce bolts. In the alley she spots what looks like a demon. Smooth, almost translucent gray skin, crawling on four creepy limbs, feasting on an angel. Definitely nightmare fuel.
She grabs a table leg and smacks the demon in the head. It only pauses for a second, then lunges back for the angel. She tries again, but the thing rips open her thigh and runs. She tries to stop the angel’s bleeding, asks for his phone, calls for help, and begs them to track him through it. They say they’re coming.
And meanwhile we all sit here gutted because Bryce was finally going to go on that date with Connor. After literal years of slow burn. She knew it was going to be something real. And he’s just gone. Her future, gone. Her best friend, gone. Her found family, gone. All in one night. It’s devastating.
Juniper Andromeda Spotlight.
Juniper’s name symbolizes purification, protection, longevity, vitality, and spiritual growth. And Andromeda is a whole galaxy. There’s a concept of Andromeda Starseeds, souls from that galaxy incarnating to help raise consciousness and guide evolution. Bryce describes Juniper as sweet and mild but luminous. It is very fun to view her through the "andromeda Starseed" lens as the series goes on.
MAASTERS IN THE MAASVERSE
Then we get the line about “dancing at the sacred ancient heart of the Raven.” I want to investigate the temple of the forgotten god too. What kind of god had a pleasure temple under a nightclub? It is giving the SOuthern Continent from TOG for me.
CHAPTER SIX
Bryce goes from screaming grief to terrifying calm. Isaiah, Micah’s top dog but still a slave, takes charge of the case. He’s assisted by Hunt Athalar, also known as the Umbra Mortis. Hunt immediately wants to toss Bryce into a less pleasant interrogation room, which tells you everything about his vibes at first. Sounds like a dick. Is acting like a dick. Very consistent.
HUNT LORE
His nickname, the Umbra Mortis, literally translates from Latin to Shadow of Death. Even Isaiah’s instincts call him predator, killer, monster. Hunt exists in a ripple of stillness, that quiet moment before a thunderclap, the whole world holding its breath around him.
Isaiah gives Hunt the basic rundown on Bryce.
Bryce Quinlan. Twenty-three. Half Fae, half human. Blood test from ten years ago confirmed she’ll have an immortal lifespan. Nearly zero power. Hasn’t made the Drop. Full civitas citizen. Found in an alley with one of their own, trying to keep his heart from falling out with her bare hands.
It flashes back to the alley. Bryce was adrenaline-scorched and heartbroken. Hunt judged her as a spoiled party girl. He stapled her thigh wound battlefield style. Present-day Hunt then learns Danika is dead. You can feel the shift.
Hunt is not in the Triarii, but not not in the Triarii. He is an assassin, a demon hunter, basically Demi Lovato ghost hunting but with a lightning halo and blood on the floor.
Side note: glad you caught your typo because semon hunter is a wildly different job description.
Hunt tracks down demons that slip through the northern Rift or get illegally summoned.
In Chapter 18, the southern Rift is mentioned. It appears once per book. Very convenient. Potential future witch-gate. Noted for later.
Isaiah is also a slave. Both he and Hunt have halos branded across their brows. Pangeran witches used spell-forged ink that binds most of their power. These halos are a mockery of the divine auras early humans once painted angels with. Angels were created by the Asteri to be perfect soldiers and loyal servants. Hunt and Isaiah wear these halos because they were part of the rebellion two hundred years ago led by Archangel Shahar, Hunt’s commander and lover. The rebellion failed. They also have SPQM tattoos on their wrists. Even regrown limbs carry the brand.
Timeline check.
Fae rebellion: two hundred years ago.
Human rebellion: forty years ago.
Asteri: still the worst.
Naturally, everyone immediately blames Briggs, who was just freed that day. Danika had been stressed about it for a reason. Right then Sabine storms in and goes full Sabine. So pissed at Bryce simply for being alive.
Viktoria (Vik), also bearing a halo, shows up to interrogate Bryce. Vik is a Wraith. Interesting to compare with the water wraiths in ACOTAR. She lists every drug Bryce took, plays the audio of Danika dying, and interrogates her aggressively. Total bitch move. Isaiah realizes Bryce is in shock and will not be speaking.
Hunt asks about Bryce’s other friends: Juniper and Fury.
One of Bryce’s texts to Danika said she hooked up with someone in the bathroom and not to tell Connor. Hot take: Bryce was not wrong for that. She was not dating Connor yet. She was grieving, messy, drugged, traumatized, and twenty-three. Let her live.
We get more Fury intrigue.
They have crossed paths with the mercenary enough to know they do not want smoke. Micah even ordered Hunt to kill her. Twice. Hunt refused because he was not suicidal. What could Fury possibly be that scares literal angelic killing machines? Why does Micah want her dead? We will be circling this for the rest of the series.
Bryce finally cracks. She wants to go home. Hunt is surprisingly gentle with her in this moment. Then Isaiah gets a call telling them to release her. Confusion grows when Ruhn Danaan, Crown Prince of the Valbaran Fae, walks in demanding to see Bryce. They ask what she is to him. He says she is his cousin. Hunt and Ruhn immediately start swinging their supernatural dicks around before Ruhn leaves.
As soon as Ruhn leaves, Isaiah and Hunt discuss the tracker they put in Bryce’s water. Absolute government conspiracy energy. I too wonder what kind of research Sarah Janet did to create this level of surveillance state.
Ruhn Lore.
Son of the Autumn King. Wielder of the Starsword, ancient blade proving his Chosen One status. His blue eyes shimmer like blue flame even though he has zero fire magic. Fae fire is common in Valbara, but Ruhn’s power is like the kin who rule Avallen across the sea. They summon shadows and mist that can veil the world and the mind. Telepathy-level stuff.
Starsword Lore.
Sword made from iridium mined from a meteorite forged in another world before the Fae arrived through the northern Rift. This should set off every ACOTAR and TOG alarm bell.
Fae Isle of Avallen.
Across the sea. Home to shadow magic. Mind magic. Veils reality. Telepathy. This will be important later in CC and ACOTAR connections.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Flash forward six days after the murder.
Bryce takes a trip to the Bone Quarter because she has things she needs to say. Ithan is there being an absolute dick, telling her she isn’t welcome at the pack’s sailing. Danika’s will be at dawn and Bryce’s would follow. Even if they had invited her, she knows she couldn’t have stood there watching whether Danika’s soul would be judged worthy or unworthy. The pain would have shattered her.
There is silence. Nothing but silence and mist. Bryce kneels before the gate. The temperature drops. The mist tightens. Something ancient and terrible approaches. Still she bows her head. She came here to say goodbye and give Danika one last thing. The creature emerges and even the river trembles.
Let’s pause for the Bone Quarter aesthetic.
Foggy shores. Sketchy boat ride down the Istros.Obsidian steps.Darkness.Silence.Mist.
And the bone gates themselves carved from the ribs of a long dead leviathan who once ruled the northern deep.
It’s giving the Prison in ACOTAR. Feyre’s first visit, staring up at the grassy slope with mist drifting and dread rolling in. Sarah planted this seed on purpose. A breadcrumb for the larger Maasverse. A whisper of connection perhaps?
Leviathan Lore
Biblically, a massive sea serpent.
Christianity sometimes frames it as a demon of pride, even associated with Satan or the Beast of Revelation.
So the Bone Quarter being built from a leviathan’s ribs is a massive lore drop, and we will absolutely dive deeper into this ancient being in Book Two, especially with the Maasverse implications.
Then we get the line:
A light had gone out inside her. A light had been extinguished.
This is one of those deceptively simple SJM gut punches. Light it up becomes something entirely different after this.
And then there is Ithan Holstrom. Ithan sucks. Forever the littlest of bitches. He truly outshines Chaol in bitchery, which is impressive because Chaol has held the crown for years.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Two years after the murders we jump straight into Bryce hooking up at the White Raven. Queen is back to coping the only way she knows how. Her hookup is so overwhelmed by how business-coded her outfit is that he literally assumes she is a prostitute. Bryce assures him it is on the house and carries on like the icon she is.
MAASTERS IN THE MAASVERSE
Riso once said the White Raven sits on the ruins of a temple of pleasure. Which is very interesting when you start triangulating the Maasverse and thinking about ancient god-worshipping cultures. The city that best maps onto Lunathion based on geography, climate, and architectural ruins is the Southern Continent in Throne of Glass, near Antica. Hot. Coastal. Broad religious diversity. Old temples. And we know SJM loves her cyclical civilizations.
We are not spiraling into a full theory here but you are absolutely cooking something correct.
Bryce heads to the VIP section to meet her client Maximus Tertian.
Two hundred year old vampyr.
Unwed and unmated.
Son of the richest and creepiest Pangeran vamp.
Rumored to bathe in tubs full of maiden blood like he is running a Groupon special at Dracula’s Day Spa.
Naturally Bryce wants nothing to do with him beyond this sale. He flirts. She icks. He is so cringe-coded you can smell the entitlement.
Then we get the perfect snapshot of Bryce’s underrated brilliance.
She has tracked down ownership papers for a five-thousand-year-old onyx bust of a vampyr lord.
She has played vamp politics like a fiddle.
She has stroked egos.
She has dangled exclusivity.
She has manipulated rivalries.
She has a business brain sharper than the Starsword.
This girl is not just pretty and petty. She is cunning. Strategic. Socially brilliant in a way Tamlin could never even conceptualize let alone execute.
Then the drop party downstairs distracts her for two seconds but she snaps back.
Maximus gets handsy.
He thinks the money he paid her boss means perks come with the deal.
He puts a bruising grip on her wrist.
And suddenly everything goes quiet in the club.
Enter Ruhn Danaan in his emo prince glory.
Max lets go because Ruhn has that don’t fuck with my cousin body language.
Before we get into him let’s cover the Drop because this is where your readers’ brains should be fully wrapped around the terror of it.
The Drop in short:
You channel your firstlight in a government facility.
You fall into your power.
Your mortal body dies at the bottom.
You have six minutes before your brain shuts down for good.
You run across the psychic runway hoping to generate enough power and will to launch back into life.
If you fail you fall into eternal nothingness.
Someone acts as your Anchor to yank you up.
Making the Drop alone is certain death.
It is terrifying. It is spiritual. It is existential. It is also not a metaphor. It is literal.
Ruhn shows up because he told Riso to notify him anytime Bryce came by. He says the Autumn King wants her to lie low before the Summit. Loose cannons and all that. Bryce is profoundly unimpressed. Ruhn offers to walk her home. She says no. He follows anyway. Bryce flips on the lights to signal you can leave now please and thank you.
Let’s talk Summits.
Once every ten years per Republic territory.
Rotating worldwide so there is always one happening somewhere each year.
Leaders meet to perform whatever policy theater the Asteri demand.
Basically government Comic-Con for political puppets.
We learn Bryce quit drinking. We learn her nice apartment came from Danika’s savings. We get two years worth of grief woven into a single moment when she thinks about her alcohol sweater and lies through her teeth.
Bryce is so strong here. It takes a certain kind of resilience to let people believe the worst about you while quietly doing the hard work of healing alone.
And then there is Ruhn.
He is snarky.
He is intense.
He absolutely gives protective cousin energy.
He pretends he’s chill but is not.
But he cares.
You can see it as early as here.
This chapter marks the moment Bryce the traumatized party girl starts shifting into Bryce the quietly resurrecting heroine. It is subtle. But this is the turning point.
