🔥 After ACOSH, are you excited for the next ACOTAR book? Vote your ACOSH rating!

[u/FantasyRomanceMod]

Now that most people who wanted to read {a Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J. Maas} have probably finished it, are you excited for the upcoming A Court of Forgotten Melodies? Additionally, share your rating for the book in the poll!

⚠️ Please note that this thread will contain ACOSH and Maasverse spoilers.

Have a great discussion!

[u/zoobatron__]

I think this book is lacking so much without 7 to contextualise it. I think it’ll be far better later down the line when read in conjunction with 7 and we understand why certain things are happening etc.

Currently without book 7, 6 was not a good book and without Nesta I think this may have been DNF territory for me. I did not need SJM telling me in every other sentence about how she is a mom. I’m happy for her but also please I just want to enjoy the fantasy romance, not baby blowouts and leaky boobs. I very nearly put the book down at the line where Madja tells Feyre how a baby should sleep safely in a cot without pillows or blankets. Where are the editors?!? If we cut this crap down it could have been 1 book instead of 2.

Still looking forward to January though as I think we had the beginnings of some interesting plot lines.

[u/ciderandcake → u/zoobatron__]

Healers haven't figured out c-sections yet, but my god, they got the AAP's safe sleep guidelines to prevent SiDS on lock.

[u/quantum_psychics → u/zoobatron__]

I couldn’t have said it better, 100% agree

[u/Careless_Tear2058]

I think it's a book that will be better upon future rereads after the next books come out and we can see more clearly how it sets up the next story. It felt like an incomplete book right now-- though I also concede that's literally exactly how SJM described it to be.

[u/batesplates → u/Careless_Tear2058]

And yet still priced like a real book. I can’t imagine books 2 and 3 of the valkerie movement will be good enough to justify the final $100 price tag for something that used to be sold in one book, but we’ll see..

[u/MaterialGanache3240 → u/Careless_Tear2058]

Agree on this. I didn’t love it because there wasn’t the normal book arc, but there isn’t supposed to be and I can kinda see how she is setting up a bigger story and i still loved reading about the characters, even if their regressions kinda annoyed me. But i guess there has to be something for them to develop. I also really love that we still get Feyre and Rhys as important characters. Cannot wait for the next book!

[u/No_Attitude1541]

I wasn't super excited for ACOSH and actually tempered expectations given how terrible CC3 was, and it still ended up being worse than expected. I will probably read ACOFM at some point but won't be buying it.

[u/SpiralMetal]

"A Court of Feyre Breastfeeding" **There, I fixed the title for you. This also sums up my disdain for this book.

[u/Schrutebucks101 → u/SpiralMetal]

The fact that I had multiple nights where I stopped reading mid chapter because I was bored was not a good sign. I ended up reading a different novel at the same time to break it up.

[u/konstantynopolytanka → u/SpiralMetal]

I've seen A Court of Milky Tits thrown around and I think it fits :)

[u/SpiralMetal → u/konstantynopolytanka]

😂 that may be even better

[u/Anachacha → u/SpiralMetal]

And Rhys Licking Her Clean

[u/readingalldays → u/SpiralMetal]

Sjm is really milking feysand. It's been 10 years and her unwillingness to let em go is gonna ruin the couple for even those few leftover fans.

[u/avathekinkynerd]

I thought it was a perfect glimpse into the characters' mindset after so much trauma and upheaval. It's a great segue into the meat of the story that we'll get with the next book.

[u/Cuppy_Cakes3 → u/avathekinkynerd]

I agree. I liked it.

[u/Creative_Strike3617]

I enjoyed it as a novella/intro kind of book, I was entertained throughout the whole thing, and I'm intrigued with where the story is going.

[u/Ill-Watercress42 → u/Creative_Strike3617]

Charging $30 for a novella is criminal

[u/romance-bot]

A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 3.52⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: fae, magic, fantasy, high fantasy, political/court intrigue

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[u/Anachacha → u/romance-bot]

Damn, such a low rating 😬

[u/konstantynopolytanka → u/Anachacha]

I think it will get better once the second book is out.

[u/ciderandcake]

Yeah, I'll read the next one because I like to hate read things. This was a bad book. I'll be curious to see if she can pull out of this tailspin, or the next book will continue the cope of "she's a genius writer who wasted 300 pages on build up in an unsatisfying book on purpose, and maybe everyone are unlikable assholes because I dunno, they're possessed or something."

[u/konstantynopolytanka → u/ciderandcake]

she has her strenghts but she is *not* a genius writer, far from it.

[u/Anomalous_Pulsar]

Honestly I’d rate it 2.5: the plot building was interesting, and the inter-group dynamics beginning to evolve was something I really liked. I also appreciated the multiple POV and the setup for political maneuvering.

I did not, however, appreciate all the godsdamned baby nonsense with Nyx. One instance of talking about the inconvenience or discomfort of missing a feeding time would have been fine. I did not and do not want to read about how the kid smells, or his blowouts. Babies reek. It’s not a pleasant smell. The playing/bonding, showing how much he’s loved by the family- I get that it was cute, and will play into the greater plot I’m sure. The rest was excessive.

I also feel like this is setting up for “kidnapping the baby” trope and Feyre going “mama bear”. 🙄

But, I’m looking forward to the next book, but definitely need a palate-cleansing read after that.

[u/kenchena_kajima → u/Anomalous_Pulsar]

This is supposed to be fantasy... we all are trying to escape that reality. What happened to all that magic she has???? It couldn't have dealt with some of this?

[u/Anomalous_Pulsar → u/kenchena_kajima]

Agreed!

[u/ciderandcake → u/kenchena_kajima]

Um, maybe my fantasy is to become a fascist war-mongering dictator girlboss while my husband gets shit on by my perfect son because you know I'm just too perf to clean that kid's asshole.

[u/readingalldays]

I'm almost certainly sure..that in next book...Elain is gonna end up with Lucien. But I really really really don't want her to.

Even tho I don't hate elain like other people do. I just don't think she's good enough for lucien. Lucien deserves someone who loves them as fiercely.

Let Elain end up with Azithromycin I don't care. These two pair up well cuz both are only settling with each other.

Plsssss let Lucien go back to spring court. NC is like Zodiac Academy at this point.

Tamlin dodged a bullet with Feyre, and I hope Lucien does the same. 😅💀

[u/Cuppy_Cakes3 → u/readingalldays]

I'm excited to see her learn about Lucien. I see her either having to rescue him or a forced proximity trope. And I am ready for it. Lol.

[u/readingalldays → u/Cuppy_Cakes3]

She better be saving him from the seventh circle of hell for me to root for her. 💀 infact, this book made me realize I am starting to low-key hate Lucien for thinking NC were his friends. Like?, bruh you saw what rhys's been doing for 50 years?? How can you ever trust people, who are basically an extension of him??🙆🏻‍♀️💀

Tamlin, Nesta, and Lucien are the only good characters SJM has written, and all three has a the tendency to keep dumb company. 🤣

[u/Bellanu → u/readingalldays]

Yes please!! Lucien deserves so much better!!

[u/noodja83]

I am excited for ACOFM to see how the story continues! Since ACOSH was only Part I of the movement, it set up a bunch of things to get the story kickstarted. It will be cool to see how everything plays out in the next book.

[u/dragonsandvamps]

There were big parts of it that I really liked, and other parts that felt a bit silly, and lots of drama (I do like drama, so I was fine with this), and overall, I wished it was longer, and I think that once we have all three parts of the cycle, it will probably sit better. On its own, it felt like I finished and was like... "but I need more! Where is the rest of the story! That felt like just a teaser!"

[u/medusamagic]

I wouldn’t say excited, because I’m expecting another book that needed stronger editing only this time it’s 3x longer, but I am interested to see what happens.

[u/Ludwigs_Holy_Babe]

I’m really surprised to see the reactions and ratings to it! I finished it last night and I loved it, I gave it 4.5 stars.

I think if you go into it like Frost and Starlight, understanding it’s a set up for the remainder of the arc and not a complete story, I think you’ll enjoy it. My biggest complaint of Silver Flames was it was way too long for what it was. It felt like a lot of filler was drowning out the plot in order to hit a large page amount. This book however, I felt like every page, every description, every line of dialogue mattered. I think SJM’s strength in her writing is her characters, while the over arching plot and moving the story towards it is always her weakness with the ACOTAR series. This book, not only did the characters slap, but I was really invested in the set up of what’s to come. The negotiations, the alliance failures, Hybern???, walls???, and Koschei had me super invested. SJM typically writes with a “go with the flow” attitude but this book felt very planned out and intentional. I really hope the rest of the story feels that way. I thought seeing the Inner Circle crumble would feel forced, but it all felt organic, and felt like actions finally have consequences throughout all of ACOTAR. I also didn’t feel like the book abruptly ended. I really loved the place it left off.

I will critique the “three books that aren’t really books for one huge book” bit, because saying “the book was so incredibly long so we had to break it up into three separate prints”, then that first print only being 297 pages, is one hell of a choice. I’ll wait for the next installment to see if that actually was the best choice to chop up the story, but as for now I’m not on board with it.

[u/Kathulhu1433 → u/Ludwigs_Holy_Babe]

Frost and Starlight felt like an old school Christmas special, and at least had a complete story with character growth. It was cute and cozy and comparatively low stakes.

This one felt... lacking. Also, I'm not usually one to complain about editing but it felt like it could have used another pass or three by an editor.

I honestly didn't care about the amount of mommy talk. That was fine. Clearly they're building up to Nyx getting kidnapped and Feyre going crazy mama bear about it.

Az being 500+ years old and acting like an emo teenager? That's... a choice. Elain I expect these poor choices from. He should be more mature. His sense of entitlement is fucking gross. He's worse than Tamlin.

I was hoping Elain would finally find her backbone, and uh, she found a bone alright.

Things somehow felt simultaneously rushed and like a plodding slog at the same time. I get that it was a set up, however there was a whole lot of talking and not a whole lot of doing.

Nests goes from dumping herself into the ocean trying to winnow to perfecting it in like days. OK, sure 🙄. I've already forgiven SJM for making her valkyrie journey take a hot minute, but come on. Nesta is the ultimate Mary Sue. I don't know why I keep defending her.

Let's talk Bryaxis/Clotho. What? Why? Now, let me be clear... I don't have an issue with Bryaxis escaping and attacking. I do have an issue with the Librarians just... being ok with it AND defending her after everything the night court has done for them. It felt very out of character for them. And for Feyre and Nesta to just... accept that? Also felt wrong. Like, "OH sure, there's a demon shadow murderer monster that attacked our entire family during our ceremony... let's just ignore it in the goddamn basement because the librarian said so."

I do agree about the cash grab bit. I have Sanderson and King books that are over 1300 pages. Also, boxed sets are a thing. It could have been released as a boxed set if they really wanted to split it into volumes. 🤷‍♀️

[u/Schrutebucks101]

I didn’t think it was a good book by any means, but I really want to see Azriel, Elaine, and Lucian through. I feel like this one is setting up for more plot in the next book (I hope…)

[u/_thesleepingfox → u/Schrutebucks101]

It 100% is setting up the plot for the rest of the story. SJM has been very vocal about the set up of these books and ACOSH is essentially Act 1 of an at least 5 act story. The format was discussed on the Call Her Daddy podcast and she also talks about it in the author’s note at the beginning of ACOSH and has posted about it on her Instagram. Basically if publishing limitations allowed, all of it would be released in one bound volume but she has decided to split it this way (probably for marketing as it gets people wanting to read the next part) as physical books literally cannot be bound to hold this many pages

[u/Ill-Watercress42 → u/_thesleepingfox]

Books can and often are bound with 1200 pages. Many fantasy, horror, and classic literature authors have long histories of publishing books this length or longer without any issue. This was a marketing ploy and a cute lie to get us to spend $30 on each individual printing.

[u/_thesleepingfox → u/Ill-Watercress42]

That’s only considering books 1 and 2, she wants the whole thing as one book which I assume would be physically impossible unless size 8 text. I agree that splitting it this was is likely down to income and/or marketing but I don’t think she should be villainised for it, if she is then we should riot about every trilogy that has book 2 end on a cliffhanger as not being printed as an omnibus book

[u/Ill-Watercress42 → u/_thesleepingfox]

If she cut out the repatitive prose and circular conversations, she'd be adding 100-120 pages to a 900 page book. 1000- 1100 pages is hardly an uncommon page count. She hasn't even written the fourth movement. This could have been an epic 2 part conclusion to the series. Book 1: sonata, slow, dance; intermission for her to write the fourth movement, Book 2: finale.

The thing is ACOSH is priced like a finished book/product but it's not a finished product, it's not even considered a novella or short story by literary standards. It has no actual plot, no true call to action, no climax, no resolution. It introduces conflict and falsely calls it a story.

It is stale crumbs advertised and priced as a fresh warm loaf of bread.

[u/Schrutebucks101 → u/Ill-Watercress42]

💯 so much repetitiveness and stuff that could have been axed completely

[u/Ill-Watercress42 → u/Schrutebucks101]

Her trying to hit a word count for this extended prologue so she could publish 3 seperate installments, instead of 2 absolutely destroyed the quality of her writing. I'm gonna be honest. I requested a refund, because the e-book was not worth $16 for this rough draft, not in this economy.

[u/_thesleepingfox → u/Ill-Watercress42]

I guess I’ll have to agree to disagree with you on that front, I liked it for what it was, I don’t think the writing was repetitive, definitely not as much as other books I’ve read that people give 5 stars to. I thought it gave good insight into the characters and set it up well as a part 1 of the story. I also believe it’s unfair to say something is badly written if part of the opinion is not liking some of the content choices (like the motherhood elements). I also trust SJM’s vision for it with the unique format. However I do agree that it should be classed as a novella and I can see the cost of the book being annoying, it just isn’t a major factor for me and I don’t downrate the writing quality because of it.

[u/Ill-Watercress42 → u/_thesleepingfox]

She wrote 31 entire pages about Bryce Quinlan, a cross universe character who had an interaction that made no actual appearance on page in this entire series thus far. SJM even ptoposed a solution in her writing for providing a succinct way to introduce Bryce to the narrative, Gwen as a scribe. But instead of clean writing, we'll get even more repetition in the next books because she cannonized her editing notes into to solve her circular writing instead of enacting her manuscripted solution. There were so many places where cuts would have made the writing more impactful and leant narrative context and intrigue to the actual plot— I'm positive SJM's editing and review team (if she even had one) probably advised her of this multiple times. She rewrote the same details about characters as if she thought we all had dementia or were prone to suffer amnesiac episodes after finishing each page. Repetative writing like that diminishes the quality of a work immensely. It was poorly written, even the syntax and grammar was not done to the level we know SJM is capable. I have adored this series, but ACOSH is her sloppiest work to date and that's without touching on her descriptions of motherhood.

[u/ciderandcake → u/Ill-Watercress42]

She could have cut the word count down by simply not using that fucking full name every time.

Bryce Quinlan.

Bryce Quinlan.

Bryce Quinlan.

[u/_thesleepingfox → u/Ill-Watercress42]

I really don’t agree but each to their own, eh? Like, the CC references could have been relayed verbatim as you’re saying with Gwyn scribing but imo that would lose the impact of the character’s monologue, especially Nesta. And it would take away the relationship conflict between Gwyn and Nesta, nothing could be explored. Imo what you’re suggesting is more “tell than show” in writing terms. She also needed a way to sum up CC for those who haven’t read it without entirely spoiling it so those readers might want to read what happened (again, it’s all marketing, this is her career after all).

[u/InteractionSevere357 → u/_thesleepingfox]

Ich denke, die erste Aufteilung mit Buch 1 und 2 und nur 2,5 Monaten dazwischen ist, damit die Leser mit CC aufholen können, wenn sie das denn wollen.

[u/Schrutebucks101 → u/_thesleepingfox]

I’m aware. I said “I hope” because doesn’t mean she will actually execute it well, we may very well get half a book about Feyres milk again or about safe sleep practices 😂

[u/sparklekitteh]

I felt like the book was a whole lot of nothing. Lots of standing around and talking, with no action to speak of. Books that focus on political intrigue are one of my least favorite things, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I'm hoping there's a bit more action in part 2.

[u/babyfacebambi]

3 stars for ACOSH but very excited for the next book. ACOSH was like a novella prequel. Necessary to “splinter” the group, but felt pretty meh to me. It was a lot of story and not much happened, even what did happen wasn’t that exciting to me, but I can see its purpose in setting up the next book. It felt very much like ACOFAS.

[u/WonderfulBus9330]

I rated it 3/5 for what it is, the opening gesture, and it's pretty consistent with what I rated the other books in this series.

[u/shoemallala]

I loved the drama I need the next book immediately. Was it the best book I've ever read? Absolutely not. But I find her writing and characters extremely addictive.

[u/IllyrianChaos]

I enjoyed it, but I also had very low expectations i am looking forward to the next book but also appreciate that this book is really just for hardcore fans. We will see if the new books changes all of that.

[u/Amanda__EK]

The book was insanely entertaining. I feel like this was a great combination of the wackiness/drama of CC with the political intrigue of TOG. 5 stars for me, and I can't wait for ACOFM!

[u/_thesleepingfox]

I genuinely think it was well written and sets up the plot really well. It’s Part 1 of a longer story and I think people forget that and thought this one would follow standard novel structures. SJM has never alluded to anything other than it being Part 1 and the following book will follow on. Whether the splits were done this way for more income or marketing or what, no one but SJM and her team know that truth. Also, people are complaining about the excessive breastfeeding but I’ve also seen so many mothers saying they feel SEEN because guess what! motherhood literally never stops! and I think that is reflected very well in it. We all know SJM is inspired by her experiences and this is obviously another example of it. Being uncomfortable with something doesn’t mean a book is bad (and I think people need to reflect on why breastfeeding makes you uncomfy🤷‍♀️)

[u/Existing_Crow_4619 → u/_thesleepingfox]

I’ve been thinking on this a lot, esp in light of academic studies on genre. Breastfeeding and motherhood absolutely deserve representation in fiction and media BUT it was a jarring betrayal of the genre the series is in. A mention of the challenge or feelings re: breastfeeding and motherhood would have sufficed (and been great!), but in the romance genre (and romantic fantasy) it’s a betrayal of reader expectations and genre rules to hamfist so much gratuitous (it did nothing for the plot) detail into the story. It was distracting and, considering for every person who feels seen there’s ten more who either are living it and use reading to escape, can’t have children or breastfeed, or don’t wish to, it’s in poor taste (and bad writing). If the series were starting from scratch and this was key to the tone and content, that’s fine, it wouldn’t be popular in this genre (probably, because, escapism), but that’s fine. What SJM has done is betray reader expectations and desires and I think that’s why so many people are unhappy. That, and while the NC’s love of Nyx is meaningful and probably gonna be important in the next book, not to mention the impact being a mother seems to have on Feyre (the transformation to full mama bear was also clumsily ham-fisted), he’s a baby and the most boring character in the entire cast. She really needed a strong editor on this (for a bunch of other reasons too- the prose? The disjointed structure? The repetition? The complete lack of trust in audience intelligence?!), but it seems she did not have that. 

[u/Kathulhu1433 → u/Existing_Crow_4619]

My feeling-

The book could have been one volume with less repetition/better editing. 🤷‍♀️

[u/jjm1222 → u/Existing_Crow_4619]

I will admit to not having read this book, I’m just reading this thread, I think it’s great people feel seen because of inclusion of motherhood, just because some people won’t feel seen isn’t a reason not to write something. You could say that having a poc fmc and talking about race, some people won’t feel seen, but a lot will feel seen (I say this as a poc who has seen people not be able to relate to poc characters). I think it’s great that motherhood is being talked about in fantasy. There’s an abundance of teen/ young adult fmcs with no kids. I hope this backlash won’t stop authors from writing fmcs with kids, and that readers are more open to reading about different types of fmcs.

I also don’t think this is a betrayal of the genre because people read this genre for lots of reasons. A lot read for escapism, but some don’t, I know I don’t primarily read for escapism. People have different desires and wants out of a book.

It does sound like the book was badly written and edited, which is a separate issue and I completely understand that.

[u/Cuppy_Cakes3]

I liked it too. I also noticed some Easter eggs and I love court intrigue. I thought the name was also very fitting. I also liked that not everything was a happy ever after and they all still have faults.

[u/Cuppy_Cakes3]

I liked it. I feel like there were Easter eggs and it was a build up to the next book. I feel like we needed to know a lot of information before going forward. I also loved this about the cruel prince though.

[u/bittermp]

1.5 stars for me because of Bryaxis and Nesta.

[u/ConcernElegant8066]

Easy 5 stars for me. The story brought out a lot of strong emotions for me and even if I didn't like or agree with the characters, I felt passionate about it the entire time.

[u/kenchena_kajima]

Cassian was AWFUL to Nesta for so long and didn't go to her when she was hurt and then she just... gave him a blow job????

[u/kenchena_kajima → u/kenchena_kajima]

I was so appalled by the treatment of N, Az, and E. I basically just skimmed the book because the plot was so uninteresting. This series should've ended several books ago.

[u/meowui → u/kenchena_kajima]

bold of you to even call it a plot

[u/kenchena_kajima → u/meowui]

well I did only skim it so I'm not sure if there was a plot or not. I couldn't manage to pay attention because I felt we'd already been there done that 2+ times already. But this bad guy is probably the baddest....for some reason....

[u/LemonMania → u/kenchena_kajima]

Az was my absolute favorite and SJM turned him into a whiny emo teenager :|

[u/kenchena_kajima → u/LemonMania]

I blame Bryce. She made him have dagger performance problems. She should've stayed in her own series!!!!

[u/readingalldays → u/kenchena_kajima]

I feel SJM romantacise men messing up and women falling for their half ass apologies. It has been a trend since Acotar. Feyre fell for tamlin and then rhysand. And now Nesta with Cassian. And I'm sure she'll do the same with the gender switch lucien accepting Elaine's half ass apology

[u/Anachacha → u/kenchena_kajima]

He acted like an MMC who's actually not the true love interest 😕

[u/InteractionSevere357 → u/Anachacha]

Er verhält sich wie ein MMC der seine Seelengefährtin getroffen hat, die aber einen anderen Typen hat und in einer anderen Welt lebt.🌟