My definitive ranking of every Sarah J. Maas book

★★☆☆☆
Rating: 2/5

ACOFAS felt too much like a Christmas special, and I don’t enjoy those in TV series, either. At least a TV episode only takes twenty minutes of my life, but this took about two days for me to force myself through. Not much happened, which I know is the point of a palette cleanser, but I just don’t look for or appreciate palette cleansers in my reading.

★★☆☆☆
Rating: 2/5

I read this third in the Throne of Glass series, right after Crown of Midnight, and I was just desperate to get into Heir of Fire. It’s not a bad book, but I really wish I had read this first because I think I would’ve enjoyed it more (although the end had me crying baby tears). However, unlike ACOFAS, it’s such an important book and it can’t be skipped.

★★★☆☆
Rating: 2/5

I started TOG straight after finishing A Court of Silver Flames and I compared everything in TOG to the ACOTAR series, which didn’t help. I just couldn’t get into this book at all, and it took me 6 months of trying and retrying. Normally, I’d DNF a book that I struggled to get into, but SJM had earned my trust after ACOTAR and so I wouldn’t give up!

★★★☆☆
Rating: 2.5/5

I loved the Crescent City series, so this grand finale really disappointed me. I won’t give you any spoilers, but SJM pulled out that trope she loves so much and I’m honestly just exhausted by it. Characters make or break a book for me, and I do feel like the portrayal of some characters (Bryce) I loved in the first two books just made me fall out of love with them. They (Bryce) felt alien to me.

★★★☆☆
Rating: 2.5/5

I know this is a beloved Maasverse book, but I felt lukewarm, tepid, meh, about it. I didn’t like Rowan at all. There were also many chapters on the witches whom I didn’t care about and found really boring. I obviously found out later how important they are to the series, and I grew to love them, but during this book, I skimmed through their chapters. I couldn’t help it!

★★★☆☆
Rating: 3.5/5

It had a slightly slow start, although it was leaps and bounds better than Throne of Glass. Halfway through, I was hooked. I loved Celaena and Chaol together, although I might be biased because I just adored Chaol.

The plot twist was certainly twisty, but I’d already figured it out thanks to TikTok spoilers. However, if I hadn’t already had hints, then I would’ve been shook!

★★★☆☆
Rating: 3.75/5

Now we are getting into the books I genuinely loved. This was a really, really good book, full of twists and turns, brilliant characterisation, development of relationships and the ‘problem’ in the world, and that CLIFFHANGER?!?! I was whisper-screaming and convulsing at 3 am, and my partner thought I’d been possessed by a demon.

★★★☆☆
Rating: 3.75/5

This is quite a low ranking for something I adored! It’s just that I thought other books were better. I’ve seen a lot of Maasverse fans online saying they found ACOTAR slow, but that wasn’t my experience at all. Maybe it’s because I mostly read Lit Fic, where sometimes very little ‘happens’ plot-wise, but still, I loved this book.

Just a great intro to the series and a great reintroduction to fantasy for me.

★★★★☆
Rating: 4/5

It was a great instalment, and after my kinda meh experience with Heir of Fire, this picked the pace back up for me. I started warming up to Rowan here and I loved returning to Adarlan and seeing the old and new characters meet and join forces.

★★★★☆
Rating: 4/5

I might get doxxed for rating it at #7. Before you get out your pitchforks, I’m not saying I didn’t love this! I had a lot of fun, but I do feel it didn’t sparkle as much as ACOMAF. So, going from sparkly ACOMAF to this… I just felt less of the magic. That being said, the plot was incredible, packed with twists and drama.

★★★★★
Rating: 4/5

For me, this is where the TOG series skyrockets. This is where I learned to love Manon and the Thirteen, and I really enjoyed their storyline. Aelin was at her best, I even started to like Rowan, and I just loved Lysandra. Also, that cliffhanger was absolutely outrageous.

★★★★☆
Rating: 4.25/5

I avoided the Crescent City series for a long time because many were complaining about the modern setting. It actually turned out to be an incredibly refreshing take on the high fantasy genre, and I loved how this book blended fantasy, romance, and crime mystery. It also felt much more adult than the other two series. SJM was trying to do something different here, and it worked for sure.

★★★★★
Rating: 4.5/5

I didn’t do the tandem read because I couldn’t be arsed to juggle two books at once, and I’m so glad I read this on its own because I just adored it.

It really expanded the world, and I just adored Chaol and Yrene. Again, like ACOSF, the storyline felt more complex than what we were used to. It felt like an exploration of trauma and healing as much as it did a fantasy about otherworldly parasitic creatures and war.

★★★★★
Rating: 5/5

I won’t accept Nesta or ACOSF slander on my blog. A new perspective was so refreshing after spending 3.5 books with Feyre and Rhys, two seemingly near-perfect characters. Nesta was prickly and downright unlikable externally, but internally, she was fighting so many demons. Her journey of healing trauma, fixing her relationships, finding genuine female friendship, and accepting love was just so beautiful. It also felt incredibly complex compared to the rest of ACOTAR.

★★★★★
Rating: 5/5

The conclusion the characters (and we readers) deserved. SJM writes fantasy war very well, and I felt very satisfied with the ending. The scene with the field of flowers had me crying like a baby. People compare it to GRRM’s Game of Thrones, and while I see it, at least SJM is finishing her series. Is that a little catty? It’s true though.

This book was perfection from start to finish. Again, it felt deeper than ACOTAR with the exploration of Feyre’s trauma and guilt. It made me laugh and cry (I was literally giggling and kicking my feet like a schoolgirl), and I just loved Rhysand and his inner circle. Feyre became so much more alive here, and this book was what 100% sold me on SJM. I finished this over a year ago and still think about it often.

What I wouldn’t give to forget this book so I could read it again for the first time! Pure magic.

★★★★★
Rating: 5/5