I finished the ACOTAR series and now I don’t know what to do with myself.
Ok, so this is not really a review post, and I’m not summarizing the story, but this IS a post about how I’m mourning the fact that I have no more of these books to read. I’m not even sure I can accurately and objectively say how good these books are or the writing is because I’m in love with the story. But I don’t care, I love it. I have loved series that were straight up bad (that’s for a different post) and I have no shame about my tastes.
There are spoilers here, so go finish the series and then come back and commiserate with me.
For those who don’t know, “ACOTAR” stands for “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and is written by Sarah J. Maas.
Let me tell you what I loved about this story to help you understand why I’m in mourning.
1. Feyre
She is a survivor through and through. Despite her family being useless at the beginning, she still loved them and learned how to hunt and take care of them. She has vision for a greater world and it’s so clear through her decisions and even her art. And she’s willing to sacrifice so much for that vision! She’s a badass who’s moving through her trauma and building a life for herself, all while making the world a better place. I also appreciate that she wasn’t a virgin before we meet her love interests in this story because I think it’s bizarre and unrealistic when virgins are thrown into these very intimate scenes.
2. Rhysand
Literally the first and only book fan merch I have bought was about this series and specifically Rhys. It’s a coffee mug with Rhysand’s quote, “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.” If you loved these books, when you hear that, don’t you just melt? Especially when he explains the meaning later! He’s hot, he’s mysterious, he’s the reason I’m now obsessed with the enemies to lovers troupe. Even when he was a “bad guy,” didn’t we know there was more to him? Especially because our introduction to him was that he’s the most beautiful person Feyre has ever seen. His timing is perfect throughout the story, and I just loved how he taught Feyre to read (crying face emoji here!!!). He’s got it all: the emotional intelligence, the bod, the basically all-powerful magic, and the deepest love for Feyre, his family, and his court.
3. The World Building
Some of it I wasn’t sure I would be on board with (for example, using the word “Cauldron” throughout, lol—you know what I’m talking about). But even the little things that bothered me initially grew on me. I like the story of how the world came to be and how those life creating/ending powers, magic, and objects were incorporated as plot devices (the quest to find and harness magical objects, the resurrection/creation of Feyre, her sisters, Rhysand, and Amren, etc.). I’m also not usually into battle scenes, but the war in this book was written well and was both exhilarating and heartbreaking. All of this setup and attention to detail made for an immersive reading experience. And I loved all of the magical and immortal beings like the Suriel.
4. The Smut
I mean, don’t get me wrong, you have to WAIT for the smut in this book. I honestly can’t even judge whether or not the sex is written well because at some point I just needed it to happen. There are literally HUNDREDS of pages of will-they-won’t-they before you get to it. But, I swear, SJM must be some kind of smut wizard because those pages made it a lot more satisfying. You don’t think you want to wait 400+ pages (closer to 500) for Feyre and Rhysand to do anything sexual in ACOMAF, but you actually do…that cabin scene though. SJM is a tease in the best way.
Also, Nesta and Cassian…we all needed that after everything ACOFAS was missing.
5. The Entourage and Other Characters
The depth of the other characters is definitely worth mentioning. This is not a series where we only know a lot about the main love interests. SJM invests a lot in the other members of the courts, and that served well to create some interesting morally gray characters, and also to help you fall in love with other members of the Night Court.
This is the most that I’ve loved characters in a series. The sheer length of the series also likely has something to do with that feeling, because I spent a lot of hours with these characters. Regardless, I’m just going to need SJM to keep giving us this content. I haven’t started the Crescent City series yet because I’m in mourning over finishing these books, but I’ll get to it soon. I probably feel about this series how normal people felt when they were done with the Harry Potter books. But I like what I like.
How do you feel about being finished with the series and what did you read next? Drop me a line in the comments, through email, or on Instagram (@lauriekeet) :)