Book · 2015
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
A huntress kills a wolf in the woods and is dragged into the faerie court that owned it, where the real hunt begins.
What does Reddit think of A Court of Thorns and Roses?
750 mentions split almost evenly between r/Fantasy (373) and r/suggestmeabook (367), with r/printSF barely noticing it at 9. r/Fantasy is where the real argument lives, and it's about the genre ACOTAR helped create as much as the book itself. One heavily upvoted comment (↑1378) tells non-fans flatly that they're 'not the target audience,' pointing to a whole subgenre of romantasy marketed mostly to twenty- and thirty-something women. Others (↑677, ↑560) argue over whether that makes it YA with sex scenes or its own 'new adult' category, usually via comparison to Fourth Wing. The harshest verdict in the sample: 'ACOTAR is trash. Enjoyable trash, like watching reality TV' (↑229). Nobody disputes the prose complaints; they dispute whether prose is the point. 2023 was the peak year at 184 mentions, the same window Fourth Wing blew up as its comparison title. Volume has cooled since, but the genre argument hasn't.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · romantasy versus YA versus new adult
- · fae courts and forbidden romance
- · the Fourth Wing comparison
- · prose quality as a live debate
- · found family and trauma healing
Common praise
- + Fans defend it as the gateway that got them into fantasy romance at all (↑677).
- + Even critics admit they'll keep reading just to keep complaining about it with friends (↑229).
- + It gets credited as the template other romantasy books get measured against, Fourth Wing included (↑309).
Common criticism
- − Detractors call the prose immature and say the sex scenes are doing most of the work (↑677).
- − One reader says Fourth Wing stole its plot points from books like this one, implying the formula's gotten stale either way (↑257).
- − Non-fans get told upfront they're 'not the target audience' rather than actually argued with (↑1378).
Who it's for
Go in expecting romance-forward fantasy with a fae court bolted on, not the reverse. If Fourth Wing worked for you, this is the book people cite as its ancestor. Anyone allergic to genre acronyms should know the fandom talks in shorthand, ACOTAR, ASOIAF, KKC, often in the same breath (↑242). Longtime epic-fantasy readers expecting Tolkien-adjacent worldbuilding are the ones most likely to bounce, exactly the way the 'not the target audience' comment predicts (↑1378).
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for A Court of Thorns and Roses?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“You're not the target audience. As a Serious Fantasy Reader\^tm I didn't really understand this until my girlfriend explained it to me, but there is an entire genre of "adult young adult books" that is basically marketed exclusive through viral marketing amongst twenty and thirty-something straight …
“I am a proud member of fantasy romance community but what I've learnt is I adore fantasy WITH romance but 90% of Romantasy is, as you said, immature prose with sex in it. I won't say YA prose because a lot of YA is CONSIDERABLY more mature than a lot of Romantasy is. I now use ACOTAR and Fourth Win…
“Yeah Fourth Wing and ACOTAR are new adult, which is just young adult tropes and styles but with sex scenes.
“Throne of Glass isn’t the book series people equate to smut and nothing more, as Throne of Glass was originally marketed as YA. The one that’s very smut heavy is the ACOTAR series.
“I think it's important to recognize that *Fourth Wing* isn't trying to go up against books like *Babel*, it's trying to go up against books like ACOTAR. Even if it's one of the best romantasy books of the year, if you don't generally read a lot of romantasy, I wouldn't expect it to click for you. I…
“I don't think I would have hated it so much if Yarros hadn't stolen every one of her plot points from other books. The whole dragon bond thing (complete with smexy times) was a direct rip off of Anne McCaffrey. Violet's mother was obviously the commandant from An Ember in the Ashes. Xaden is just Rh…
“I can get on board with this. Yes please. And please stop using acronyms unless it is very obvious... ACOTAR, ASOIAF, GOT, LOTR, KKC, SLA, DCC... Half the time I'm like what???
“ACOTAR is trash. Enjoyable trash, like watching reality TV or a CW drama. Fourth Wing is...not good. I'll probably continue to read the series simply for the community that comes with complaining about it with my other coworkers who are also reading it. I described the second one as "I think there…
Convinced? Pick up A Court of Thorns and Roses
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with A Court of Thorns and Roses — counted from the comments, not curated.
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The Way of Kings
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Project Hail Mary
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Hyperion
Dan Simmons
Seven pilgrims journey toward a monster that grants one wish and kills everyone else, and each tells the story of why they came.
Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card
A six-year-old is drafted into a war academy that trains him to command a fleet, and he doesn't find out what he actually did until it's over.
The Lord of the Rings
J. R. R. Tolkien
A gardener, a burglar's heir, and seven others walk a piece of jewelry to a volcano because destroying it is the only way to stop a war.
A Court of Thorns and Roses — frequently asked
Is A Court of Thorns and Roses considered YA or adult fantasy on Reddit?+
Neither cleanly. r/Fantasy debates it as 'new adult,' YA tropes with sex scenes added, usually via direct comparison to Fourth Wing (↑560). The 373 r/Fantasy mentions mostly argue about the label rather than settle it.
What does r/Fantasy actually think of A Court of Thorns and Roses?+
It's contested but not dismissed. The top comment (↑1378) tells skeptics they're 'not the target audience' rather than trying to win them over, while a separate comment calls the series 'trash' but 'enjoyable trash' worth continuing anyway (↑229).
Is A Court of Thorns and Roses just Fourth Wing before Fourth Wing existed?+
Sort of, in reverse. Fourth Wing came later and gets accused of lifting plot points from ACOTAR and books like it (↑257), while another comment treats ACOTAR as the reference point Fourth Wing is measured against, not the other way around (↑309).
Should I read A Court of Thorns and Roses if I don't read romance?+
Probably skip it. The Reddit case for the series is explicitly about romantasy as its own genre with its own audience (↑1378), not about worldbuilding or plot craft, so readers who want epic fantasy first and romance second are likely to bounce off it.