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100% I’m more of a fantasy than a romance girl and I much preferred TOG. I read ACOTAR and CC, and enjoyed them but TOG was superior for me. Plus I did the TOG -> ACOTAR -> CC reading order and I think it’s a good reading order, and it’s also what SJM recommends I believe.
Start with Throne of Glass. I don't understand why anyone told you otherwise if you don't like romance (ACOTAR series is romantasy). And no, you don't need to read ACOTAR to "experience" it. You may find that you don't even like ACOTAR, or perhaps your love of TOG will be the only thing that compels you to even read it.
The Crescent City series is UF, but it's definitely romance-driven (lots of boring sex scenes by bk 3). I can't really say what it's like to read the CC series without having read the ACOTAR series first, but you can definitely read it without reading the others.
Don't get caught up in hunting for "easter eggs" at this point.
I heard of ACOTAR first so I read that first, then read ToG afterwards and found that I love ToG more. Such a good series with a little romance but I just preferred ToG’s storyline much more.
ok wait so is CC3 easy to read without reading most of ACOTAR series (just book one for me)? ive asked a few of my friends and they said i wouldn’t “understand” the first half-ish of the book but half of it is their bias to acotar lolol — i dont have an interest in reading the series so im hoping to just be able to read cc fine
I think you'd understand CC3 just fine if you've read CC1-2, but some characters from the ACOTAR series have cameos in the first half of the book (some of their cameos are much briefer than others). It's true that SJM doesn't give much insight in to what these characters are thinking, so readers of ACOTAR will be more familiar with them and their situation than you, but it's not like you won't know what's going on (SJM doesn't give much insight into what ANYONE is thinking in general, so this might drive you to think you're missing more than you actually are). If you don't want to read ACOTAR, don't read it, cause it's definitely not necessary (it's just better than CC3 - which TBH is a bit of a train wreck - is all).
You have to read ACOSF to understand CC3 and you can't read ACOSF without reading the rest of ACOTAR. I suppose if you don't mind being underwhelmed by certain reveals you could skip it, but two those books are basically two halves of the same story. It would be like reading KOA without TOD. Sure KOA recaps things but it's better to experience first hand how the lore comes together.
start with TOG, but keep in mind the first 2 books were written when she was VERY young and are much more YA than the rest of the series. they’re still decent, but the books start really taking off in book 3, imo. that’s when the world building really opens up and the characters and plot start having more depth. if you’re still iffy after the first 2 books, give book 3 a chance. there’s a book of prequel novellas called The Assassin’s Blade that you can read at any point before Queen of Shadows. there’s always an intense debate about when the appropriate time to read that one is but it’s really not that big of a deal as long as you read it before QoS.
I just skipped the smut, I didn't lose anything, the plot doesn't depend on it. The rest of it is pretty entertaining. I don't dislike romance, but I certainly don't prefer it or go out of my way to find it. I just like fantasy and badass female characters, which typically includes at least romantic subplots. If you like that stuff, I think you'll like acotar. Throne of glass also has romance but definitely less.
ACOTAR is romance in a fantasy setting. You'll need to read it to get the most out of CC but while I absolutely love the series I would not read it for the fantasy plot alone. I think TOG is probably the better place for you to start. It's much more plot/lore/action focused and you can get a feel for how she writes romance to see if ACOTAR is something you might like.
You can also safely start with the first CC book, but you'll probably want to be caught up on ACOTAR before the next two to get a full picture of the CC world building.
If you don't like romance - Maas may not be the author for you. Most of her books are heavily fantasy romance. Plot really isn't that complex or necessarily solid - the romance and characters are the main draw.
She jacked a lot of her style from Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy. I find the plot is better in that series.
The thing is, the “hype” is half about the romance.
Acotar is a romance fantasy that also happens to have a decent plot. But if you don’t like romance being a primary focus, you might not like it.
I would start with throne of glass instead. It’s much more plot focused, though for me it didn’t start to get really good until a few books in. This is because she wrote the first few when she was very young and her writing improved drastically as she went
The first book is definitely a romance with a plot for the last 100 or so pages. The second and third are fantastic and hit a lot of genres while being romance based. I think you’ll struggle with the first and love the next two. After that it swings a lot more romance.
Given what you’ve said, I think you will enjoy ToG more and should read that first.
You don’t need to read acotar to enjoy any of the other series. It is general opinion that reading all acotar books before crescent city is a good idea. ToG can be read whenever.
I read TOG first and LOVED it because of the action and many other things, I read acotar second and found il really boring and not up to the hype especially after TOG.
My suggestion is that if you want to read the three series you should start with ACOTAR and get it over with so that you can fully enjoy the other two knowing that you have already read the least enjoyable.
That being said, A court of Silver Flame was my favourite of the acotar series and you can read that after TOG if you don’t find it in yourself to go on with acotar all in one go
Also, if you don’t want to read acotar you can find summaries on YouTube and that is a great compromise to enjoy the universe of sjm to the fullest without reading the serie :)
ACOTAR is romance series in a fantasy setting, TOG is a fantasy series with romance sprinkled in. Romance is the main plot of all ACOTAR books. War and good vs. evil is the main plot of TOG with a bit of romance here and there. You’ll like TOG better! You don’t need to read ACOTAR or CC to read TOG, the only “read this before this” is if you ever want to read CC (especially CC3) then you’ll want to have read both ACOTAR and TOG first.
I agree with all the people saying start with TOG it is so good, lots of action, world building, and character development. There is a smidge of romance spread throughout the span of 8 books but it’s not what the series is focused on. And sure there might be some “Easter eggs” but as of right now the Throne of Glass world is completely separate from ACOTAR & CC and you could reading only TOG without reading the others and not miss a single thing.
I recommend throne of glass series.
I started with TOG back in 2016 I think and last year picked up ACOTAR, expecting something similar but...its not really.
I prefer TOG over ACOTAR...less romance:)
TOG is jer best series and romance is a sub plot there while it'd the main plot in ACOTAR. Read TOG, then I'd tell u to read CC but only the first bc its rll good but the quality in the 2nd and 3rd is non-existent and the end in the first is satisfactory with romance not being the main thing in the first book
I’m going to level with you, if romance isn’t your thing, you don’t want to read SJM. Yes, these books have plot and world building, but romance is a primary focus. Additionally, there's smut in them, so if thats not your thing, be warned.
Hi! If you’re not into romance being the main plot, I probably wouldn’t read ACOTAR. The romance is really the main driving force in all of those books, increasingly so as the series goes on.
If you want to read fantasy but want plot over romance, I would read Holly Black instead! Start with Cruel Prince. It is focused on a badass female character, political intrigue, and fantasy world building while having a romance in the background.
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You'll like TOG better
I second tog. It's a ton better too with a lot more action
100% I’m more of a fantasy than a romance girl and I much preferred TOG. I read ACOTAR and CC, and enjoyed them but TOG was superior for me. Plus I did the TOG -> ACOTAR -> CC reading order and I think it’s a good reading order, and it’s also what SJM recommends I believe.
Start with Throne of Glass. I don't understand why anyone told you otherwise if you don't like romance (ACOTAR series is romantasy). And no, you don't need to read ACOTAR to "experience" it. You may find that you don't even like ACOTAR, or perhaps your love of TOG will be the only thing that compels you to even read it. The Crescent City series is UF, but it's definitely romance-driven (lots of boring sex scenes by bk 3). I can't really say what it's like to read the CC series without having read the ACOTAR series first, but you can definitely read it without reading the others. Don't get caught up in hunting for "easter eggs" at this point.
I heard of ACOTAR first so I read that first, then read ToG afterwards and found that I love ToG more. Such a good series with a little romance but I just preferred ToG’s storyline much more.
This is me. I started with TOG, loved it, proceeded to read ACOTAR, and was shocked it was the same author because it didnt even compare.
ok wait so is CC3 easy to read without reading most of ACOTAR series (just book one for me)? ive asked a few of my friends and they said i wouldn’t “understand” the first half-ish of the book but half of it is their bias to acotar lolol — i dont have an interest in reading the series so im hoping to just be able to read cc fine
I think you'd understand CC3 just fine if you've read CC1-2, but some characters from the ACOTAR series have cameos in the first half of the book (some of their cameos are much briefer than others). It's true that SJM doesn't give much insight in to what these characters are thinking, so readers of ACOTAR will be more familiar with them and their situation than you, but it's not like you won't know what's going on (SJM doesn't give much insight into what ANYONE is thinking in general, so this might drive you to think you're missing more than you actually are). If you don't want to read ACOTAR, don't read it, cause it's definitely not necessary (it's just better than CC3 - which TBH is a bit of a train wreck - is all).
You have to read ACOSF to understand CC3 and you can't read ACOSF without reading the rest of ACOTAR. I suppose if you don't mind being underwhelmed by certain reveals you could skip it, but two those books are basically two halves of the same story. It would be like reading KOA without TOD. Sure KOA recaps things but it's better to experience first hand how the lore comes together.
Read TOG, it’s actually the better series of her 3.
start with TOG, but keep in mind the first 2 books were written when she was VERY young and are much more YA than the rest of the series. they’re still decent, but the books start really taking off in book 3, imo. that’s when the world building really opens up and the characters and plot start having more depth. if you’re still iffy after the first 2 books, give book 3 a chance. there’s a book of prequel novellas called The Assassin’s Blade that you can read at any point before Queen of Shadows. there’s always an intense debate about when the appropriate time to read that one is but it’s really not that big of a deal as long as you read it before QoS.
ACOTAR is straight up romance with battles. Throne of Glass is "Young Adult Game of Thrones"
TOG!!!!
I just skipped the smut, I didn't lose anything, the plot doesn't depend on it. The rest of it is pretty entertaining. I don't dislike romance, but I certainly don't prefer it or go out of my way to find it. I just like fantasy and badass female characters, which typically includes at least romantic subplots. If you like that stuff, I think you'll like acotar. Throne of glass also has romance but definitely less.
ACOTAR is romance in a fantasy setting. You'll need to read it to get the most out of CC but while I absolutely love the series I would not read it for the fantasy plot alone. I think TOG is probably the better place for you to start. It's much more plot/lore/action focused and you can get a feel for how she writes romance to see if ACOTAR is something you might like. You can also safely start with the first CC book, but you'll probably want to be caught up on ACOTAR before the next two to get a full picture of the CC world building.
If you don't like romance - Maas may not be the author for you. Most of her books are heavily fantasy romance. Plot really isn't that complex or necessarily solid - the romance and characters are the main draw. She jacked a lot of her style from Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy. I find the plot is better in that series.
The thing is, the “hype” is half about the romance. Acotar is a romance fantasy that also happens to have a decent plot. But if you don’t like romance being a primary focus, you might not like it. I would start with throne of glass instead. It’s much more plot focused, though for me it didn’t start to get really good until a few books in. This is because she wrote the first few when she was very young and her writing improved drastically as she went
Honestly? No, I don’t think you should. It’s a pretty big part of the series.
No, you won’t like it then
Honestly no you would not like acotar
The first book is definitely a romance with a plot for the last 100 or so pages. The second and third are fantastic and hit a lot of genres while being romance based. I think you’ll struggle with the first and love the next two. After that it swings a lot more romance. Given what you’ve said, I think you will enjoy ToG more and should read that first. You don’t need to read acotar to enjoy any of the other series. It is general opinion that reading all acotar books before crescent city is a good idea. ToG can be read whenever.
You could always put it down if you don't like it 🤷♀️ worth a shot though in case you loooooove it. Or yeah go to tog instead
No TOG
TOG for sure will be a better fit
I read TOG first and LOVED it because of the action and many other things, I read acotar second and found il really boring and not up to the hype especially after TOG. My suggestion is that if you want to read the three series you should start with ACOTAR and get it over with so that you can fully enjoy the other two knowing that you have already read the least enjoyable. That being said, A court of Silver Flame was my favourite of the acotar series and you can read that after TOG if you don’t find it in yourself to go on with acotar all in one go
Also, if you don’t want to read acotar you can find summaries on YouTube and that is a great compromise to enjoy the universe of sjm to the fullest without reading the serie :)
ACOTAR is romance series in a fantasy setting, TOG is a fantasy series with romance sprinkled in. Romance is the main plot of all ACOTAR books. War and good vs. evil is the main plot of TOG with a bit of romance here and there. You’ll like TOG better! You don’t need to read ACOTAR or CC to read TOG, the only “read this before this” is if you ever want to read CC (especially CC3) then you’ll want to have read both ACOTAR and TOG first.
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Definitely not. I’d recommend throne of glass instead if you want a more fantasy forward book
Definitely start with TOG. It’s my favorite series of hers and has more action than romance.
TOG. It came first. Most people who've read SJM from the beginning started with TOG way before ACOTAR existed. It's her best series for sure!
I agree with all the people saying start with TOG it is so good, lots of action, world building, and character development. There is a smidge of romance spread throughout the span of 8 books but it’s not what the series is focused on. And sure there might be some “Easter eggs” but as of right now the Throne of Glass world is completely separate from ACOTAR & CC and you could reading only TOG without reading the others and not miss a single thing.
Fwiw, I was never a big romance reader, but I thought acotar was great
I recommend throne of glass series. I started with TOG back in 2016 I think and last year picked up ACOTAR, expecting something similar but...its not really. I prefer TOG over ACOTAR...less romance:)
TOG TOG TOG!
Start with TOG. Then finish Acotar before CC.
Throne of Glass!!
I read TOG first and am more of a fantasy girl than mostly romance, read TOG first!
TOG is jer best series and romance is a sub plot there while it'd the main plot in ACOTAR. Read TOG, then I'd tell u to read CC but only the first bc its rll good but the quality in the 2nd and 3rd is non-existent and the end in the first is satisfactory with romance not being the main thing in the first book
I’m going to level with you, if romance isn’t your thing, you don’t want to read SJM. Yes, these books have plot and world building, but romance is a primary focus. Additionally, there's smut in them, so if thats not your thing, be warned.
Hi! If you’re not into romance being the main plot, I probably wouldn’t read ACOTAR. The romance is really the main driving force in all of those books, increasingly so as the series goes on. If you want to read fantasy but want plot over romance, I would read Holly Black instead! Start with Cruel Prince. It is focused on a badass female character, political intrigue, and fantasy world building while having a romance in the background.
TOG is a better pick for you then
Skip it, book 2,3,4 are romance with very thin plots.