THERE WILL BE A WARNING BEFORE ANY *SPOILERS* (look for the *; spoilers are often for the entire series so unless you are caught up in the series I don’t recommend reading it)

In case you don’t already know, Sarah J Maas is my favorite author! She is the author of the Throne of Glass series which currently has 4/6 +novella (along with additional materials) books out and A Court of Thorns and Roses Series which currently has 2/3(?) books out . There are many reasons I love Sarah’s books so much, and I just wanted to talk about 6 reasons her writing and books are so special to me! (PSA this post is going to be a little different than my usual posts because I’ve decided not to include any fun gifs or pictures and it will be rather long. I really wanted the reader and myself to just focus on what I wanted to say without any distractions!)

 

1. Sex positive:

I really appreciate how Sarah doesn’t shy away from intimacy and sex. Often in young adult books it happens, but it’s glossed over and very vague. I think it is important for young adults to see sex portrayed in a positive way in books because it’s the time in most people’s lives when they start experimenting. Instead of all the crazy one night stands portrayed in the media/movies or even worse the fake sex of the porn industry, I think it’s important that teens have access to a portrayal of sex that shows a strong relationship that has built up and formed out of a deep passionate love. I think Sarah explained it really well in a interview she had with PopSugar:

ACOTAR Series *Spoilers*

“But with all the intimacy in there . . . I wanted it to be part of the healing process for both characters, but I also think, you know, when I was teenager and even younger I read up — and I never would have gone to my parents with sex questions or sex ed in school. Books were the one place — especially romantic fantasy — where I could see these adult relationships play out and I got a sense of what a loving adult relationship could be like. I think it’s important to have positive sexual relationships in books, especially where both parties are in love . . . not for the shock value. That whole “sex marathon” in ACOMAF — there’s so much healing and love. I feel really lucky that my editor saw that and saw that we needed positive representations of sex and that it’s OK not to just have sex, but to enjoy it, and for young women [to see that]. I firmly believe that young women can be with as many men as they want, we can have as many boyfriends as we want, we can change our minds, there are no limits to what we can do. I’ve been really grateful that I’ve been able to show a more real [sexual portrayal] of multiple relationships that [Feyre] has and not the whole fade-to-black thing.”

-Sarah J Maas

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2. Girl power: 

I love just how girl power focused Sarah is. I have watched and read a lot of interviews with her and she always talks about how important it is for her to show powerful and badass women. She explains how growing up she didn’t have many places she could find strong women in books, movies, TV shows, ect. This encouraged her to focus on creating women that young girls will look up to (needless to say she succeeded). Also she realized that so often female friendships in stories focus more on jealousy and backstabbing. She really wanted to write about strong women friendships, which I find so refreshing. As a young girl, both of her protagonists, in different ways, have really inspired me and allowed me to open up and accept the stronger more powerful nature of my personality without feeling like I’m being a bitch or bossy (most of the time).

*SPOILERS*

Throne of Glass-

Ok so obviously Aelin is amazing and super badass. I mean she’s an assassin so that was pretty clear from the beginning, but I just love how she is never the victum. That’s why everyone loves Aelin so much, she doesn’t need anyone to save or rescue her because she’s perfectly capable of it herself. I just find so much inspiration in her character because yes, she has her flaws, but she doesn’t let them keep her from being confident and comfortable in her own skin. She doesn’t care what other people think about her and she’s good at leaving her mistakes in the past and moving forward to focus on what needs to be done to create a a better future. Ok I could keep gushing about Aelin FOREVER (I really just love her so much) but I don’t want this to get too incredibly long.

The relationship between Aelin and Lysandra was one of my favorite journeys to write within the Throne of Glass series, because relationships with other girls for me personally have been such a huge part of my life and I’ve had multiple friendships that have been really important to me. Learning to see women as allies and to trust other women and to have other women have each other’s back is so important. There’s no point seeing each other as rivals. . . . They can have each others’ backs and be even more badass as a team. I love writing them together. . . . They terrorize all the poor men around them, raising hell together.

-Sarah J Maas

ACOMAF-

So what’s so great about this book isn’t so much that Feyre is strong and confident like Celaena (because she really isn’t until the end) but more so that Rhysand is such a little feminist! Even more so this is important because of how it contrasts with Tamlin views. While Tamlin views Feyre as delicate and practically forces her into a lifestyle she doesn’t want purely for his benefit, Rhysand lets her make her own choices. The things Rhysand says throughout this book are just adorable. He believes so much in Feyre and just women as a whole. I love how surprised Feyre is to discover that his second and third are women and he just acts like it’s completely normal. He continuously supports her and her decisions throughout the novel and is a great role model for how a man should treat a woman. Furthermore, this allows Feyre to discover her own capabilities and find and tap into her strength.

“She’s mine. And if any of you lay a hand on her, you lose that hand. And then lose your head. And once Feyre is done killing you, then I’ll grind your bones to dust.”

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3. Abuse:

A common issue in Sarah’s books are her characters struggling with abuse. This is something that I think is important to be discussed in YA literature because I think it’s important for teens to learn what is acceptable and whats not in a relationship between two people. Whether it be a mentor relationship or a romantic relationship, Sarah portrays really well the suffering, confusion and conflict an abused person experiences. This is especially seen through the characters Celaena, Feyre, and Rhysand. (I know there are others but these are the most obvious, powerful and developed)

Throne of Glass *SPOILERS*

Celaena- The person who abuses Celaena the most is her mentor Arobynn. This one is pretty obvious in the way he is abusing her both physically and emotionally. I think it was really powerful the way Sarah explored the way Celaena felt with this abuse. Celaena’s conflict over her feelings for Arobynn were really eye opening for someone who has never experienced abuse. Though he hurt her many times and in many ways, he is the person who raised her and essentially saved her life. He buys her expensive things, gives her attention and constantly apologizes, promising to change. Even after everything he’s put her through, even when she decides that she needs to remove him from her life, she continues to care for him and it’s a struggle for her not to get trapped back under his control.

ACOMAF *SPOILERS*

Rhysand- Rhysand suffers from sexual abuse from Amarantha for 50 years. With his character Sarah really explores the PTSD a person experiences from this kind of abuse. Luckily for Rhysand it didn’t damage him so much that he had trouble with sex, which people with sexual trauma often experience, however it still haunts him daily. He also has to deal with the backlash from others who don’t understand why he did what he did, and only view him as a power hungry monster. Though it’s not an exact comparison this seems like it’s similar to the victim blaming so often seen towards rape victims.

Feyre- This was really the major theme of A Court of Mist and Fury through the way Feyre discovers that her relationship with Tamlin has evolved into an abusive one. What I think is interesting it that way Sarah starts their relationship like a typical young adult fantasy. They dislike each other, they become friends, then there’s something more, they fall in love and then Feyre goes to the ends of the earth to save him. However, for all of ACOTAR Sarah was building slowly up to Feyre’s big realization in ACOMAF. That being said, Tamlin’s behavior during ACOTAR was never particularly abusive, but the groundwork was laid. Then during ACOMAF, the reaction of the characters to the events in the end of ACOTAR were realistic for their personalities and the circumstances. I didn’t feel like anything was forced as Tamlin started to focus only on himself and what he though was best for Feyre. This, as you know, eventually escalated to the point that his behavior became abusive. What I liked about this was how she contrasted the way that Rhysand treaded her with the way Tamlin did. This made Tamlin’s abusive behavior more obvious to both Feyre and the reader. Also, the way that the relationships downfall was a progression that, in hindsight seemed obvious, but in the moment, both the reader (most of them) and Feyre were team Tamlin up until he locked her up. I think this is really reflective of the way most abusive relationships are, the way that people are blinded by love, excuses and confusion until someone finally helps them realize that what’s happening isn’t ok and that they aren’t going to change. Then, the guilt Feyre feels for leaving Tamlin, because for so long she had been fed by Tamlin and Lucien that what was happening was ok, took her a while to fully come to terms and move past. It was only through the love and support of her new family that she was able to move past this failed relationship into one of mutual respect and acceptance.

“And I realized—I realized how badly I’d been treated before, if my standards had become so low. If the freedom I’d been granted felt like a privilege and not an inherent right.”

“I heard every word between you. I knew you could take care of yourself, and yet … ” He went back to his pie, swallowing a bite before continuing. “And yet I found myself deciding that if you took his hand, I would find a way to live with it. It would be your choice.”

“You can be a pawn, be someone’s reward, and spend the rest of your immortal life bowing and scraping and pretending you’re less than him, than Ianthe, than any of us. If you want to pick that road, then fine. A shame, but it’s your choice.”

“But Rhys … Rhys would never have not seen what was happening to me; would never have been so misguided and arrogant and self-absorbed. He’d known what Ianthe was from the moment he met her. And he’d understood what it was like to be a prisoner, and helpless, and to struggle—every day—with the horrors of both.””

-A Court of Mist and Fury

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4. Realistic relationships:

I love how the characters in both her books go through multiple relationships. In most young adult books characters fall deeply in love with the first guy they meet and then they get married and live happily ever after. But that’s SO unrealistic. In real life people go through multiple relationships, they grow and change and sometimes, they even change so much that they aren’t compatible anymore.

ACOTAR *SPOILERS*

In A Court of Thorns and Roses, Feyre begins the book in a friends with benefits relationship. I can’t think of any other young adult book that has had a relationship like that in it! Now while I don’t condone it, it’s realistic, lots of people do it!

ACOMAF *SPOILERS*

Then Feyre goes onto fall in love so deeply with a character that she breaks herself apart for him. Her love with him while it helps her grow as a person and breaks her out of the stale life she had been living, eventually does become abusive. Once she finally realizes this she is able to move on and find an even deeper love with Rhysand, built on mutual respect. Feyre’s love story is beloved by so many because it is relatable. She has gone through many experiences in her relationships that readers can relate to and it gives them hope that they too will one day find their Rhysand (here’s hoping lol).

Throne of Glass *SPOILERS*

Aelin of all the characters I’ve read about has probably gone through the most relationships. While I’m sure some people have problems with how many relationships she goes through somewhat quickly, I think that Sarah does it well. She accompanies it with character growth and builds the relationships on first and foremost emotional love. Celaena’s first love, Sam, was a wonderful first relationship and is well beloved by readers. After Sam’s death the fandom was left heartbroken but still hopeful that she will be able to find love again. Then during TOG, she has a low key relationship with both Choal and Dorian, which she later solidifies to a relationship with Choal during COM. This however all goes to hell when Choal basically betrays her by “choosing the king” (how Celaena views it) over her thus causing Nehimias death 😥 . Their relationship then abruptly ends and Celaena enters a very dark place full of hurt and betrayal. Then in HOF, her friendship with Rowan rebuilds her emotional strength by helping her heal from everything she had gone through with Choal and Nehemiah. Their relationship then grows to something more in QOS as the realize their true feeling for one another. While Choal was so beloved by many readers, his inability to put Celaena first and accept her for her she truly was kept them from a long term relationship. Rowan really accepts Aelin for all of her and everything she has gone through, which is essential to the strength of their relationship. So basically, 3 1/2 relationships later, Aelin has finally found end game. But it took a couple tries to find her perfect match just like for most people.

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5. Mental Illness:

I really appreciate the way that Sarah addresses mental illness in her novels. While a lot of her character struggle with some form of mental illness, I want to touch on the most powerful struggle, Feyre’s (though Celaena’s is an important and powerful journey as well)

ACOTAR *SPOILERS*

At the end of ACOTAR Feyre goes through a horrific experience that really changes and affects her. She is forced to make some terrible choices that come down to what is the lesser of the two evils and those choices and experiences give her both PTSD and depression. Reading ACOMAF, it’s clear that Feyre is struggling with coping with what she’s gone through. Especially the beginning of the book, when she’s not getting the support she needs, she is not dealing with it well and almost kills herself from grief. Then, Sarah takes her on a long journey towards healing, that I never one though was sugar coated. Her emotions are raw throughout the novel and I though it was a powerful look at mental illness and was well represented. I think the emotions and struggles Feyre goes through are relatable to many readers in some way, probably not the the same extreme, but everyone can relate to some of the things she struggled with throughout the second book. Her healing by the end of the book was very rewarding and it left the reader hopeful for her future.

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6. Flawed characters:

I find that a lot of complains people have about YA characters are that they seem to have no spine, are simple minded or just are boring, as least at the beginning of a series. This is often done so that the character can grow and change throughout the story and develop into a well rounded person. However sometimes this can go overboard and the person becomes too “perfect”, too unreliable. Sarah ,however, does a great job with her character growth, especially in Throne of Glass.

Throne of Glass *SPOILERS*

Celaena, instead of starting out as the stereotypical weak heroine, starts from page one as badass, calculating and intelligent. Throughout the series instead of hardening, her character is actually softened some, but thankfully not to the point of her seeming like a completely different person. The flaws she deals with at the beginning of Throne of Glass, though she does have a lot of positive personal growth, are still something she’s dealing with in Queen of Shadows.

“I love Aelin’s flaws so much. It sounds weird, but I love her rage; I love that she feels things and reacts so strongly to stuff. It’s empowering because she feels things so deeply, I can explore such a broad range with her. I feel like we don’t often get to see young women make those bad choices and react to things in [that way]. I love that I get to go in that direction with her and I get to show those moments [of rage, despair, fury].”

-Sarah J Maas

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For more reading here some Sarah J Maas interviews (some of these I took quotes from):

http://www.popsugar.com/love/Sarah-J-Maas-Interview-41262845

https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/550/a-writers-toolkit/interviews-with-authors/

https://www.bookish.com/articles/sarah-j-maas-interview-a-court-of-mist-and-fury/

Thank you so much for reading this post I hope that if you haven’t read all/any of Sarah’s books this will inspire you to do so! Please follow my blog for updates on when I make new posts.