# A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

### A Court of Thorns and Roses

**Sarah J. Maas** · A Court of Thorns and Roses, book 1 (ongoing) · [https://houseofareader.com/books/a-court-of-thorns-and-roses](https://houseofareader.com/books/a-court-of-thorns-and-roses)

A huntress kills a wolf in the woods and is taken across the wall to answer for it, into a fae court where the punishment turns out to be a life she is not prepared to want. The first half is a slow, quiet Beauty and the Beast; the second half is not.

- Spice: 3/5 — Hot. Two explicit scenes late in the book, written at length. Everything before them is tension.
- Romance prominence: 5/5
- Plot: 3/5
- Worldbuilding: 4/5
- Darkness: 3/5
- Writing craft: 3/5
- Burn: slow
- Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-romance, touch-her-and-die, found-family
- Creatures: fae, humans
- Setting: Prythian, a fae realm divided into seasonal courts
- POV: first person
- Ending: happy ever after
- Audience: adult
- Content warnings: violence, torture, captivity, death of a partner
- Best for: Anyone who wants to understand what the entire genre has been arguing about since 2015.
- Last verified: 2026-08-28

## Sources

- https://openlibrary.org/search?q=A+Court+of+Thorns+and+Roses+Sarah+J+Maas

## What to read next

- [Quicksilver](https://houseofareader.com/books/quicksilver) by Callie Hart — spice 5/5. ACOTAR readers who want the same shape with the heat turned up two notches.
- [From Blood and Ash](https://houseofareader.com/books/from-blood-and-ash) by Jennifer L. Armentrout — spice 4/5. Readers who want forbidden romance where the prohibition is enforced by an entire state.
- [The Cruel Prince](https://houseofareader.com/books/the-cruel-prince) by Holly Black — spice 1/5. ACOTAR readers who want the fae court politics without the explicit content.
- [These Hollow Vows](https://houseofareader.com/books/these-hollow-vows) by Lexi Ryan — spice 2/5. ACOTAR readers who want the fae courts at a much lower spice level.

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Ratings are editorial judgements applied against a published scale at
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/spice, not aggregated reader scores. Editorial policy:
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/how-we-choose. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements.