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ACOTAR Books in Order: The Complete Court of Thorns and Roses Reading Guide
Trying to nail down the ACOTAR books in order is trickier than it looks, mostly because of one slim novella that trips people up every time. Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series is one of the most-read romantasy series on BookTok for a reason — but read the novella at the wrong moment and you'll either spoil a huge reveal or feel completely lost.
Here's the correct ACOTAR reading order, where the novella actually goes, and everything confirmed so far about the newly announced Books 6, 7, and 8.
The ACOTAR Books in Order
Good news first: publication order and story order are the same for ACOTAR. You never have to reorder anything — just read them in the order they came out.
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015)
Feyre Archeron, a 19-year-old huntress keeping her family alive after her father loses everything, kills a wolf in the woods and is dragged to a magical land as payment for the act — where the wolf turns out to have been a Fae in disguise. What starts as a Beauty and the Beast retelling turns into something much darker by the end, as Feyre is forced Under the Mountain to face the villain Amarantha.
2. A Court of Mist and Fury (2016)
Widely considered the book that turned ACOTAR into a phenomenon. Feyre, now Fae and forever changed by what happened Under the Mountain, is pulled into a bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court — and the series pivots hard away from where book one seemed to be headed. This is the one everyone tells you to push through to.
3. A Court of Wings and Ruin (2017)
The war Maas has been building toward finally arrives. Feyre goes undercover in the Spring Court while the other High Lords are pulled — reluctantly — into a fight against Hybern that threatens all of Prythian. It closes out Feyre's core arc.
4. A Court of Frost and Starlight (2018) — novella
This is the one that causes confusion. A Court of Frost and Starlight is a shorter, quieter novella set the winter after A Court of Wings and Ruin, following the Night Court as they process the war's aftermath and prepare for Winter Solstice. It's light on plot, but it does one important job: it plants the seeds for Nesta's arc, which becomes the entire subject of the next full novel. Read it after ACOWAR and before A Court of Silver Flames — skipping it won't ruin anything major, but you'll miss set-up that pays off immediately in book five.
5. A Court of Silver Flames (2021)
The series hands the spotlight to Nesta Archeron, Feyre's sharp-edged older sister, and pairs her with Cassian in a book that leans harder into found-family healing and slower-burn romance than anything before it. As of 2026, it's the last full-length ACOTAR novel currently available to read.
What's Next: Books 6, 7, and 8
In March 2026, Maas announced on the Call Her Daddy podcast that the next chapter of the series had grown too big for one book — so it's being split across three:
- Book 6 — arrives October 27, 2026. Title and cover not yet announced as of this writing.
- Book 7 — arrives January 12, 2027, continuing directly from Book 6.
- Book 8 — confirmed as part of the same three-part arc, but undated.
One more thing worth knowing if you want the full picture going in: Maas has said there's crossover with her Crescent City series in these upcoming books, so reading Crescent City first (while not required) will mean fewer surprises about who shows up.
Quick Spoiler-Safe Path
If you just want the cheat sheet: ACOTAR → ACOMAF → ACOWAR → ACOFAS (novella) → ACOSF. That's it — no detours, no skipping. The only real decision left is whether to read Crescent City before Book 6 lands this October.
More Romantasy and Fantasy Reading Lists
Waiting on Book 6 the way the rest of us are? These guides will help fill the gap:
Which court is your favorite — and are you Team Rhysand or still not over Tamlin's redemption arc that never quite came?
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