ACOTAR Books in Order

ACOTAR — A Court of Thorns and Roses — is Sarah J. Maas' Beauty and the Beast retelling that became the defining series of the romantasy era. Feyre Archeron, a huntress who kills the wrong wolf, is taken to Prythian's fae lands in payment, and over five novels the retelling opens into a full fae epic: courts and wars, bargains and mates, and the second book, A Court of Mist and Fury, which sold the genre to an entire generation and remains the most reread thing Maas has published. In October 2026 the series returns after five years with its sixth book, and a seventh follows in January 2027 (2015–present).

Where to start

A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015), the titular first. It is the lightest and smallest of the five — a close-quarters fairy-tale retelling — and the one book in the series you cannot skip, because every bargain, riddle and sister in it detonates later. Readers bored by book one are advised honestly: push through to A Court of Mist and Fury, which is the reason the series is a phenomenon and a total tonal escalation. Do not start with A Court of Silver Flames, the Nesta-led fifth: it follows a different sister and assumes four books of context.

Does the reading order matter?

Publication order, strictly — the official numbering runs straight through, counting the novella: Thorns and Roses (1), Mist and Fury (2), Wings and Ruin (3), Frost and Starlight (4, a short bridge novella — optional but pleasant, set after the war), Silver Flames (5, Nesta's book), then Splintered Harmony (6, October 2026) and Forgotten Melody (7, January 2027). Nothing shuffles: the war arc spans 1-3, Silver Flames runs parallel to its aftermath, and the new books build on both sisters' stories. The series is complete at seven when Forgotten Melody lands.

Which one is the best?

A Court of Mist and Fury is the answer to every form of the question — the consensus masterpiece of the series and of modern romantasy generally. Wings and Ruin delivers the war payoff, Silver Flames is the divisive-but-devoted-fanbase favorite (slower, meaner, more adult), and among the new books expectations run highest for Splintered Harmony, which returns to the original couple's storyline after five years.

Covered in depth here

An 8-question quiz, reading time, club questions and verified quotes for A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Sarah J. Maas books in order, Throne of Glass books in order, Fourth Wing books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.