I enjoy reading books that aren’t my typical taste to see why so many other people love them so much. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas is one of these. What can writers learn about genre and plot beats.
There are major spoilers ahead.
It is worth noting at the top that the ACOTAR series is incredibly popular. One of the things that drew me to reading this is that suddenly I am having book chats with people who wouldn’t normally consider themselves a reader! Maas is good at what she does and clearly serves the masses what they want.
ACOTAR the book follows a fairly standard structure. There are some reveals and twists, but none that deviate it from it’s path too far.
1. Feyre is kidnapped by a fairy, Tamlin, who she falls in love with before he sends her back to her village to protect her from a curse and being killed
2. Feyre’s call to action comes when she realises that evil Amarantha has burned down an innocent family’s home. Feyre must act to save Tamlin, her family and the very fabric of society. She crosses the wall, a literal boundary, into the fairy world alone.
3. When Feyre is met with the downfall of Tamlin’s court, she ventures to a cave to save them all, she is trapped, she is given a riddle and three challenges. At her lowest moment, she must submit herself to Amarantha’s side-kick’s desires to save herself from death so that she might have a chance of saving Tamlin.
4. She defeats the challenges and answers the riddle. The fae are free.
5. We have a happily-ever-after, as is demanded by the romance element of the romantasy genre.
That sounds gripping, right? And this is without a few twists and turns at plot point four. So, what’s the problem?
Plot point 1 is pretty well established within the first 10% of the book. Plot point 2 happens when we are 45% of the way through. Of course, things happen in the first 45%. We have the developing romance between Tamlin and Feyre which does have plot beats of its own. For a straight fantasy novel, my criticism would very easily be that the romance plot beats need to be better paced alongside the fantasy plot beats. For me, there wasn’t enough to sink my teeth into for that first 45%. It felt like reading a novella that had a lengthy prologue tacked on the beginning.
So why does it work? Maas has wide appeal capturing fantasy readers, readers of other genres and, most impressively, people who don’t consider themselves readers. Perhaps, it is the low stakes, gentle beginning that made it so accessible. Maas eases readers of all ilks into her world. That being said, I’ve been universally assured that the second book is way better. I’m excited to see what better means!
So what can you learn about plot? The purpose of your story and the audience you’re writing for are going to inform how you craft your plot far more than any prescriptive rules. Break them, and you just might become an international sensation.
My one true criticism of ACOTAR that I will bring to this review is the low contrast cover that is nearly unreadable on my black and white Kobo. So big thanks to Wendy for sending me a photo of her copy.