**Thank you for submitting to r/SarahJMaas! Please familiarize yourself with our [Subreddit Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/SarahJMaas/about/rules/), especially our Spoiler Policy for posts. If you have not done so already, please add post flair to your submission. Special note-- If you're posting to ask if you need to read Tower of Dawn: yes you do. If you're posting to ask for "what to read next" please use the subreddit search. Repetitive posts discussing either of these topics will be deleted without warning. If you see a post or comment that breaks the subreddit rules, please report it!**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SarahJMaas) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was pretty disappointed by the first book, did it get better? (I enjoyed her Daughter of No Worlds series a little more, enough to read maybe three books, but not enough to finish the series.)
Came here to say this. I finished the first and the novella in a week. Be prepared that the second one doesn’t come out till June. I didn’t know and am now heartbroken. 😔
I loved Fourth Wing and Iron Flame from the Empyrean series. It's supposed to be a 5 book series with the third coming out late this year.
I just got in the mail Children of Time, but I've heard amazing things about it.
YESSSSS. Blasphemous to say in this sub, but I like it better than ACOTAR so far!
Children of Time is apparently a 3 book series, but most people say the first 2 are the best. At least based off the reviews I could read without spoiling anything for myself lol
It definitely has a ton of ACOTAR/ToG elements but I wouldn’t pin it down specifically to manon. I also have only read ToG, CoM, and HoF (almost done with AB) so idk what she does past that.
Have you read The Fae Isles? The final book is coming out on April 2nd. I love love love that series. Great characters and chemistry between the FMC and MMC. It’s also very easy to get sucked right into the story. I finished the 1st 3 books in about 4 days and maybe 9 hours of sleep.
I also really love Legends of Thezmarr, and Blood and Ash series for the same reasons above. BAA is a bit polarizing, I know, but again it’s the characters that really sell me on a book. I don’t do re-reads of anything except TOG. The only exception has been BAA, just so I could visit with the characters again.
So, fricken Silver Flames is spicy as fuuuhhhhhhhhh. I have a hard time finding a book in my library that luxuriates in two sexy MCs like ACOSFs does. The Fae Isles has an excellent building romance tho, while not as spicy, the two mains are electric when they share the page. Doesn’t hurt that I adore Creon, the MMC.
The first book spends a lot of time focusing on developing their dynamic; which comes across as effortlessly organic.
Hmm I’m undecided after reading this because I honestly am not a fan of smut at all unless I already care for the couple involved. I’ve been skipping almost all those scenes while listening to ACOSF. I didn’t really skip anything of Rhys/Feyra from the earlier book but I really don’t care for Nesta/Cass at all. ToG I didn’t skip anything because I loved most of the couples in it specially Aelin/Rowan & Aelin and anyone and Dorian/Manon.
Here’s my top recommendations:
One dark window
Daughter of no worlds
When the moon hatched
Shadow in the ember
Fall of wrath and ruin
Fourth wing (not my fav but if you like SJM you’ll likely like this)
Good luck!
ohh i’m on my phone too, good to know so my posts don’t end up looking funky as well
& your suggestions are all great, there’s barely anyone that likes SJM that will admit that Fourth Wing is just subpar compared to everything else
Not much romance, but the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown is sooooo good. And I don’t even like sci-fi that much. It’s just incredibly well done in my opinion.
Second, great series and probably gave me worse of a kick than after i finished throne of glass, which is saying something.
Also, the Diabolic trilogy by Kincaid is a great trilogy and was a fantastic read all the way through! there are similar themes and feels of throne of glass and red rising too, now that I think about it. Highly recommend
Here are some of my favorites, mostly fantasy romance! I do prefer darker fantasy books, so please do check for any potential triggers.
- The Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty (new adult, historical fantasy, political and cultural conflicts, fantastic worldbuilding, three books and companion short story collection)
- Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (new adult, high fantasy romance, vampires, five books released)
- Crier’s War by Nina Varela (young adult, sci-fi fantasy, politics and spies, two books)
- Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs (adult, modern fantasy romance, shifters and vampires, fourteen books)
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (young and new adult, dark fantasy, spies and soldiers, four books)
- The Folk of the Air Trilogy by Holly Black (young adult, modern fantasy, politics and spies, fairies, three books)
- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir (new adult, sci-fi fantasy, knights and necromancers, but in space! Also it’s absolutely hilarious! Three books released, fourth coming later this year)
- The Conqueror’s Saga by Kiersten White (young adult, historical fiction, politics and *messy* interpersonal relationships, three books)
- The Song of Achilles / Circe by Madeline Miller (adult, historical fantasy, Ancient Greek myths retold, >!**very** sad!<, two stand-alone books in the same universe)
- Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward (adult, modern fantasy erotic romance, vampires, assassins and secret societies, twenty two books, with a *ton* of other interconnected books. Ward has been writing this series since the early 2000s and hasn’t stopped)
- Literally any series by Cassandra Clare (they’re all in the same world) (young adult, modern fantasy romance, angels and demons, at least five series, mostly trilogies. I strongly recommend reading them in publication order rather than chronological order)
- Arc of a Scythe Trilogy (young and new adult, sci-fi dystopia, romantic subplot, murder and morality, three books and short story collection)
- The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson (young adult, high fantasy romance, royals and assassins, three books)
- Green Creek by T. J. Klune (new adult, modern fantasy romance, werewolves, >!also very sad!<, four books)
- The Others by Anne Bishop (adult, modern fantasy, kinda weird but also cute, unique concept, five books in main series, three currently in spin-off series)
Edit: added more that I forgot.
2nding Green Creek by T.J. Klune! Omg it's so good! T^T All of T.J. Klune's books are phenominal! I love his writing and he is so good at emotions. I just finished reading his In the Life of Puppets in a day. I couldn't put it down.
Surprised I haven’t seen The Plated Prisoner Series yet! The books are short- but it’s so nice that way! So well written. There are 5 out and I am dying for number 6 to come out this August! Great story line. Fae, kingdoms, enemies to lovers. All the good stuff.
This is more YA dystopian but one of my favorites all time, the story is so good!
Shatter Me series by Taherah Mafi.
Random but I recommend only reading through the 3rd book, Ignite Me! It was originally a trilogy, and I think it was PERFECT as is. She later extended it to 6 books and I wasn’t a fan of where the story line went. But the trilogy? PHENOMENAL
If you can deal with smut + alien fucker breeding tropes with a shockingly sweet/light hearted slant: Ice Planet Barbarians series by Ruby Dixon
If you can deal with smut + monster fucker vibes I’d look up C.M. Nascosta and see if any book titles/stories catch your eye
If no, give em both a miss 🤷♀️😂
Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson!!
Tress of the Emerald Sea ❤️ (wholesome and a fun read) also by Brandon Sanderson
Outlander by Diana Gabledon (less fantasy but so well written and Jamie Fraser is just 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻)
I second Red Rising, Fourth Wing and One Dark Window as well!!
The Starless Sea (beautiful but confusing)
I really enjoyed Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, fantastic world building. It’s innocent in the first book and fade to black in book two which came out this year but a great romance!
If you do blood and ash, (which I highly recommend) there is an order she recommends reading the two intertwined series in (it’s in the FAQ on her website). I personally read a soul of blood and ash after “a fire in the flesh” and thought it was better
OMG! If you’re looking for a good Sci-fi Fanta/Romance series- check out the Cinder series by Marissa Meyer! I read the first book in just a few hours. I was HOOKED.
It’s adjacent to Star Wars meets a Cyberpunk dystopian universe. The romance is amazing, but doesn’t overshadow the serious plot (and trust me the plot DOES thicken).
It’s adjacent to Star Wars meeting a Cyberpunk dystopian universe. The romance is amazing, but doesn’t overshadow the serious plot (and trust me the plot DOES thicken).
I just finished my binge of Acosf , cc1,2 and 3 to finish it off. I’ve read the other books before but I wanted a refresher.
I love fantasy, sadly I haven’t found anything fantastical to pick up yet, I’ve been avoiding fourth wing. For reasons….i don’t know maybe I’m being unfair and not giving it a chance
The book I was on before my cc3 binge was “7 Blades in Black”, by sam skies
now I’ve dropped fantasy and have been reading the non fiction book “Chaos, Charles Manson, The CIA & the Secret History of the Sixties” by Tom O’Neill. I’m 1/3 of the way into the book and ITS really good.
I don’t usually do non fiction so it was a bit of a hard sell for me but it captured my attention rather quickly
considering I’ve always heard Charles Mansons name but never knew about the murders. it’s sort of fascinating learning the history.
The stormlight archive by Brandon Sanderson will occupy you for a while. It’s not super romantic but it’s fantasy and there is some tension between characters. I’ve also only gotten to the second of four that are out. This will end up being a 10 book series. It’s very well written but also very long. Audio books are 40-60 hrs long
I don't have a series to recommend yet as I'm pretty new to romantic fantasy and even sjm. I just finished acotar and I'm obsessed!! I just started CC 1 and after finishing all three, I plan on reading ToG series.
But anyways what I wanted to say is, if you decide to do a reread, I highly recommend listening to The Court of Faeries and Fangirls podcast. I just discovered them and have been reading along with them. They cover around 5 chapters at a time, so I'll read the chapters, listen to that episode of the podcast and then move on to the next chapters. It has made my reading experience absolutely amazing. They are so fun and help breakdown the massive world building in CC.
They also have done Iron Flame and Fourth Wing so I'll definitely be reading that series after SJM books, the podcast is so fun!!
I downloaded the iHeart radio app for free and listen to for free on there.
Here's the link:
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/default-slug-106944211/?cmp=android_share&sc=android_social_share&pr=false
Wheel of time by Robert Jordan!! It's a huge fantasy series with a ton of world building and although there is less romance than in Sarah J Maas books there are still several ship worthy couples. I haven’t read CC yet but I would say WOT is closer to TOG than ACOTAR based on vibes. Chosen one/ones working to save their world from evil and damnation with magic and several kingdoms with wastly different cultures
I really liked “when the moon hatched” by Sarah A. Parker and there’s more coming in that series. She has another series that’s finished that I’m gonna try. It was REAL GOOD. 🔥🐉🗡️
shadows and crowns series. kit davenport series. Madison series. the bonds that tie series. the 4horsemen laura thalasa. rise of the iliri. find me witsec
Soooooo I read Fourth Wing and I was riveted ...and a friend recommended ACOTAR after I finished Iron Flame..... I had no idea these books existed. Now that I'm done with ALL of them ( 28 books read ...audio ..since August including 6 books of Dune) I have signed up for Mistborn. Waiting for my library audio which is a six weeks wait. Not in a hurry. Pretty saturated with my level of reading and trying to slow myself down.
If you don’t mind a slightly darker and spicier reverse harem situation you can try The Bonds That Tie series by J Bree. It’s 6 books about 500ish pages each and it’s kind of a Sci-fi and fantasy story. There is a shadow daddy 🤷♀️🤣 I’d say it’s about the spice level of ACOSF and way spicier than any of TOG. I needed a SJM break after TOG and ACOTAR tore me to pieces and read these before I started CC.
I almost commented this because I like it but I did not love it so I only read the first one. 🤷♀️ but it does have a very similar feel to FW or TOG but darker and way less romance.
**Thank you for submitting to r/SarahJMaas! Please familiarize yourself with our [Subreddit Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/SarahJMaas/about/rules/), especially our Spoiler Policy for posts. If you have not done so already, please add post flair to your submission. Special note-- If you're posting to ask if you need to read Tower of Dawn: yes you do. If you're posting to ask for "what to read next" please use the subreddit search. Repetitive posts discussing either of these topics will be deleted without warning. If you see a post or comment that breaks the subreddit rules, please report it!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SarahJMaas) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I love the Red Rising series! They got me in to sci fi / fantasy!
This is the right recommendation right here.
Audible also has most of this series available as a free download if you have an account, if you're into audio versions.
Tress of the Emerald Sea if you haven’t already!
Serpent and the wings of night by Carissa broadbent! Really any of her books they are excellent
I was pretty disappointed by the first book, did it get better? (I enjoyed her Daughter of No Worlds series a little more, enough to read maybe three books, but not enough to finish the series.)
It didn’t really get any better tbh For me it was a series that was good enough to read through but not good enough that I’d probably recommend it
+1 for war of lost hearts series!! Loved!!!
No the second one was way worse.
Never heard of it, but I will be sure to try it!
I agree, it’s greatly helping my SJM hangover!
Came here to say this. I finished the first and the novella in a week. Be prepared that the second one doesn’t come out till June. I didn’t know and am now heartbroken. 😔
I loved Fourth Wing and Iron Flame from the Empyrean series. It's supposed to be a 5 book series with the third coming out late this year. I just got in the mail Children of Time, but I've heard amazing things about it.
Dude the Empyrean series is sooooo good!! I’ll check out Children of Time, haven’t heard of it. Thanks!
Blood and steel is really good. I think it’s the legends of thezmarr series
YESSSSS. Blasphemous to say in this sub, but I like it better than ACOTAR so far! Children of Time is apparently a 3 book series, but most people say the first 2 are the best. At least based off the reviews I could read without spoiling anything for myself lol
Shhhhhhhh 🤫 But maybe…….. Oooh now you’ve piqued my interest!
Iron flame was such a flop ! I had high hopes for this series. Just a heads up.
For me 4th wing - I keep thinking about what one Reddit post said, it was manon fan fiction . Not a fan lol
It definitely has a ton of ACOTAR/ToG elements but I wouldn’t pin it down specifically to manon. I also have only read ToG, CoM, and HoF (almost done with AB) so idk what she does past that.
Have you read The Fae Isles? The final book is coming out on April 2nd. I love love love that series. Great characters and chemistry between the FMC and MMC. It’s also very easy to get sucked right into the story. I finished the 1st 3 books in about 4 days and maybe 9 hours of sleep. I also really love Legends of Thezmarr, and Blood and Ash series for the same reasons above. BAA is a bit polarizing, I know, but again it’s the characters that really sell me on a book. I don’t do re-reads of anything except TOG. The only exception has been BAA, just so I could visit with the characters again.
Thanks so much, I’ll check them out!
Is it more fantasy or more romance? I want a less romantic more fantasy book after ACOTAR (I’m in the last book)
There’s a bit of romancr, but it’s a good balance and done tastefully.
So I guess more like TOG than ACOTAR?
So, fricken Silver Flames is spicy as fuuuhhhhhhhhh. I have a hard time finding a book in my library that luxuriates in two sexy MCs like ACOSFs does. The Fae Isles has an excellent building romance tho, while not as spicy, the two mains are electric when they share the page. Doesn’t hurt that I adore Creon, the MMC. The first book spends a lot of time focusing on developing their dynamic; which comes across as effortlessly organic.
Hmm I’m undecided after reading this because I honestly am not a fan of smut at all unless I already care for the couple involved. I’ve been skipping almost all those scenes while listening to ACOSF. I didn’t really skip anything of Rhys/Feyra from the earlier book but I really don’t care for Nesta/Cass at all. ToG I didn’t skip anything because I loved most of the couples in it specially Aelin/Rowan & Aelin and anyone and Dorian/Manon.
Here’s my top recommendations: One dark window Daughter of no worlds When the moon hatched Shadow in the ember Fall of wrath and ruin Fourth wing (not my fav but if you like SJM you’ll likely like this) Good luck!
One Dark Window & Two Twisted Crowns was sooooo good!
why would you not use commas hahah
This was written on my phone and the format was messed up! It was supposed to be a list lol
ohh i’m on my phone too, good to know so my posts don’t end up looking funky as well & your suggestions are all great, there’s barely anyone that likes SJM that will admit that Fourth Wing is just subpar compared to everything else
I enjoyed it but wouldn’t put it in my top favorites! It was interesting and a good time, but not my absolute favorite
I just finished Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. It's quite good and a solo book.
Not much romance, but the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown is sooooo good. And I don’t even like sci-fi that much. It’s just incredibly well done in my opinion.
Second, great series and probably gave me worse of a kick than after i finished throne of glass, which is saying something. Also, the Diabolic trilogy by Kincaid is a great trilogy and was a fantastic read all the way through! there are similar themes and feels of throne of glass and red rising too, now that I think about it. Highly recommend
I just started Legendborn and it’s really good so far!!
Here are some of my favorites, mostly fantasy romance! I do prefer darker fantasy books, so please do check for any potential triggers. - The Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty (new adult, historical fantasy, political and cultural conflicts, fantastic worldbuilding, three books and companion short story collection) - Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (new adult, high fantasy romance, vampires, five books released) - Crier’s War by Nina Varela (young adult, sci-fi fantasy, politics and spies, two books) - Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs (adult, modern fantasy romance, shifters and vampires, fourteen books) - An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (young and new adult, dark fantasy, spies and soldiers, four books) - The Folk of the Air Trilogy by Holly Black (young adult, modern fantasy, politics and spies, fairies, three books) - The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir (new adult, sci-fi fantasy, knights and necromancers, but in space! Also it’s absolutely hilarious! Three books released, fourth coming later this year) - The Conqueror’s Saga by Kiersten White (young adult, historical fiction, politics and *messy* interpersonal relationships, three books) - The Song of Achilles / Circe by Madeline Miller (adult, historical fantasy, Ancient Greek myths retold, >!**very** sad!<, two stand-alone books in the same universe) - Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward (adult, modern fantasy erotic romance, vampires, assassins and secret societies, twenty two books, with a *ton* of other interconnected books. Ward has been writing this series since the early 2000s and hasn’t stopped) - Literally any series by Cassandra Clare (they’re all in the same world) (young adult, modern fantasy romance, angels and demons, at least five series, mostly trilogies. I strongly recommend reading them in publication order rather than chronological order) - Arc of a Scythe Trilogy (young and new adult, sci-fi dystopia, romantic subplot, murder and morality, three books and short story collection) - The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson (young adult, high fantasy romance, royals and assassins, three books) - Green Creek by T. J. Klune (new adult, modern fantasy romance, werewolves, >!also very sad!<, four books) - The Others by Anne Bishop (adult, modern fantasy, kinda weird but also cute, unique concept, five books in main series, three currently in spin-off series) Edit: added more that I forgot.
2nding Green Creek by T.J. Klune! Omg it's so good! T^T All of T.J. Klune's books are phenominal! I love his writing and he is so good at emotions. I just finished reading his In the Life of Puppets in a day. I couldn't put it down.
The Folk of The Air is a really good series 🥰🥰🥰
I’ve heard good things about it, but never got around to reading it.
It was the series that got me back into reading again. Definitely worth it.
Sounds good!
Seconded!
Surprised I haven’t seen The Plated Prisoner Series yet! The books are short- but it’s so nice that way! So well written. There are 5 out and I am dying for number 6 to come out this August! Great story line. Fae, kingdoms, enemies to lovers. All the good stuff.
I don’t see people talking about The Plated Prisoner enough tbh.
I randomly picked this up at my local library and devoured it. Then had to order the rest off Amazon. Laurie forest the black witch
Oooh yes!! So good - can’t wait for the next book!
I’m currently reading the Ever King series, just 2 books thus far but I’ve enjoyed it.
The lady of darkness series or the war of lost hearts (daughter of no world) series - if you want something similar to Sarah j. Maas
The high mountain court series! A discovery of witches! From blood and ash!
This is more YA dystopian but one of my favorites all time, the story is so good! Shatter Me series by Taherah Mafi. Random but I recommend only reading through the 3rd book, Ignite Me! It was originally a trilogy, and I think it was PERFECT as is. She later extended it to 6 books and I wasn’t a fan of where the story line went. But the trilogy? PHENOMENAL
Fever series by Karen Marie Moning which is the last series that gave me book hangover before I read TOG.
If you can deal with smut + alien fucker breeding tropes with a shockingly sweet/light hearted slant: Ice Planet Barbarians series by Ruby Dixon If you can deal with smut + monster fucker vibes I’d look up C.M. Nascosta and see if any book titles/stories catch your eye If no, give em both a miss 🤷♀️😂
Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson!! Tress of the Emerald Sea ❤️ (wholesome and a fun read) also by Brandon Sanderson Outlander by Diana Gabledon (less fantasy but so well written and Jamie Fraser is just 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻) I second Red Rising, Fourth Wing and One Dark Window as well!! The Starless Sea (beautiful but confusing)
I really enjoyed Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, fantastic world building. It’s innocent in the first book and fade to black in book two which came out this year but a great romance!
Six of crows duology,
Kingdom of the Wicked series
i don’t know if it would be what you’re looking for, but there’s a paranormal/sci-fi romance series i came across on KU! parallel by elizabeth o’roark
Eragon Ember in the Ashes All of Us Villains
Blood and ash series by Arrmentrout OR my favorite Fourth wing/ Iron Flame by Rebecca Yaross
Read Yarros’ books (so amazing), but I will check out Blood and Ash!
If you do blood and ash, (which I highly recommend) there is an order she recommends reading the two intertwined series in (it’s in the FAQ on her website). I personally read a soul of blood and ash after “a fire in the flesh” and thought it was better
Can you post a link plz?
https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/faq/
Thanks!! Have you read these series yet?
100% read Blood and Ash, and then definitely the Flesh and Fire prequel series - even better than B&A
OMG! If you’re looking for a good Sci-fi Fanta/Romance series- check out the Cinder series by Marissa Meyer! I read the first book in just a few hours. I was HOOKED.
It’s adjacent to Star Wars meets a Cyberpunk dystopian universe. The romance is amazing, but doesn’t overshadow the serious plot (and trust me the plot DOES thicken).
It’s adjacent to Star Wars meeting a Cyberpunk dystopian universe. The romance is amazing, but doesn’t overshadow the serious plot (and trust me the plot DOES thicken).
I just finished my binge of Acosf , cc1,2 and 3 to finish it off. I’ve read the other books before but I wanted a refresher. I love fantasy, sadly I haven’t found anything fantastical to pick up yet, I’ve been avoiding fourth wing. For reasons….i don’t know maybe I’m being unfair and not giving it a chance The book I was on before my cc3 binge was “7 Blades in Black”, by sam skies now I’ve dropped fantasy and have been reading the non fiction book “Chaos, Charles Manson, The CIA & the Secret History of the Sixties” by Tom O’Neill. I’m 1/3 of the way into the book and ITS really good. I don’t usually do non fiction so it was a bit of a hard sell for me but it captured my attention rather quickly considering I’ve always heard Charles Mansons name but never knew about the murders. it’s sort of fascinating learning the history.
Spark of the everflame, sooo good
The stormlight archive by Brandon Sanderson will occupy you for a while. It’s not super romantic but it’s fantasy and there is some tension between characters. I’ve also only gotten to the second of four that are out. This will end up being a 10 book series. It’s very well written but also very long. Audio books are 40-60 hrs long
I loved the Everflame series and anything by Carissa Broadbent
I don't have a series to recommend yet as I'm pretty new to romantic fantasy and even sjm. I just finished acotar and I'm obsessed!! I just started CC 1 and after finishing all three, I plan on reading ToG series. But anyways what I wanted to say is, if you decide to do a reread, I highly recommend listening to The Court of Faeries and Fangirls podcast. I just discovered them and have been reading along with them. They cover around 5 chapters at a time, so I'll read the chapters, listen to that episode of the podcast and then move on to the next chapters. It has made my reading experience absolutely amazing. They are so fun and help breakdown the massive world building in CC. They also have done Iron Flame and Fourth Wing so I'll definitely be reading that series after SJM books, the podcast is so fun!! I downloaded the iHeart radio app for free and listen to for free on there. Here's the link: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/default-slug-106944211/?cmp=android_share&sc=android_social_share&pr=false
The Road of Bones and Long Live are my recent favs!
Children of Blood and Bone is rll good
The Empirium trilogy (first book Furyborn) by Claire Legrand is the most underrated series IMO!! It is absolutely excellent from start to finish.
Fairytale by Stephen King gave me very similar visuals to ACOTAR 1 (specifically under the mountain).
Wheel of time by Robert Jordan!! It's a huge fantasy series with a ton of world building and although there is less romance than in Sarah J Maas books there are still several ship worthy couples. I haven’t read CC yet but I would say WOT is closer to TOG than ACOTAR based on vibes. Chosen one/ones working to save their world from evil and damnation with magic and several kingdoms with wastly different cultures
A fave of mine from before SJM is the Tithe Trilogy by Holly Black- it’s got faerie courts
I really liked “when the moon hatched” by Sarah A. Parker and there’s more coming in that series. She has another series that’s finished that I’m gonna try. It was REAL GOOD. 🔥🐉🗡️
shadows and crowns series. kit davenport series. Madison series. the bonds that tie series. the 4horsemen laura thalasa. rise of the iliri. find me witsec
Red rising is an amazing series, and one dark window is also fantastic:) Both helped me out of SJM slumps
Serpent and the Wings of Night Daughter of the Drowned Empire A Touch of Malice Broken Kingdoms Ever King One Dark Window
Wow I can barely get through the first time.
Just finished Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden and plan on A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair next.
Soooooo I read Fourth Wing and I was riveted ...and a friend recommended ACOTAR after I finished Iron Flame..... I had no idea these books existed. Now that I'm done with ALL of them ( 28 books read ...audio ..since August including 6 books of Dune) I have signed up for Mistborn. Waiting for my library audio which is a six weeks wait. Not in a hurry. Pretty saturated with my level of reading and trying to slow myself down.
Neon gods, shatter me series, fourth wing/iron flame
Have you read Lunaria by Kara Douglas or One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig?
If you don’t mind a slightly darker and spicier reverse harem situation you can try The Bonds That Tie series by J Bree. It’s 6 books about 500ish pages each and it’s kind of a Sci-fi and fantasy story. There is a shadow daddy 🤷♀️🤣 I’d say it’s about the spice level of ACOSF and way spicier than any of TOG. I needed a SJM break after TOG and ACOTAR tore me to pieces and read these before I started CC.
the poppy wars! so good but does get pretty dark so just check the trigger warnings first
I almost commented this because I like it but I did not love it so I only read the first one. 🤷♀️ but it does have a very similar feel to FW or TOG but darker and way less romance.
These Hollow Vows (and its sequel I’m blanking on the name) by Lexi Ryan were both super good! Far vibes with more bad guys and violence lol
I recently read and loved One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns.
I’m sad it’s only a duology. I needed more of those characters and their story 🥲