Books Like ACOTAR: 8 Fae Romantasy Picks Before ACOTAR 6

The best books like ACOTAR are Quicksilver, for fae bonds and heat, and The Cruel Prince, for faerie court politics at a lower heat. The Serpent and the Wings of Night covers dark courts and enemies to lovers. All eight picks below come with a sourced spice note and series status. You have until October 27, 2026, when A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth ACOTAR book, comes out.

TL;DR: ACOTAR runs from 3/5 spice in book 1 to 5/5 in A Court of Silver Flames, per Common Sense Media's notes. For the same heat with fae, read Quicksilver (5/5). For a gentler court, The Cruel Prince (1/5, finished trilogy). For a vampire court and a death tournament, The Serpent and the Wings of Night. ACOTAR 6 arrives October 27, 2026 and ACOTAR 7 on January 12, 2027.

Books like ACOTAR (quick answer)

Spice uses the FaeShelf spice scale. "Not rated" means we found no review describing the sex content clearly enough to place it.

Key Takeaways

• ACOTAR 6 and 7 are dated: October 27, 2026 and January 12, 2027, per Sarah J. Maas's site.
• ACOTAR's heat rises by book: Common Sense Media rates book 1 16+ and books 2 and 5 17+.
• Closest overall match: Quicksilver, a fae bond story Common Sense Media rates 18+.
• Lowest heat: The Cruel Prince and Throne of Glass, both "a little" for sex content in book one.

Overview: how spicy ACOTAR is, book by book

Before picking a book like ACOTAR, it helps to know which ACOTAR you mean, because the heat changes a lot across the series. Common Sense Media's reviews show the climb.

Image: FaeShelf table built from Common Sense Media and Goodreads, checked October 9, 2026

For book 1, it says "though the heated descriptions are usually more titillating than graphic, sex is a big part of the story", and rates it 16+. We place that at 3 out of 5. For A Court of Mist and Fury it counts "several vivid, prolonged, explicit sex scenes" (17+), a 4. For A Court of Silver Flames it describes "many lengthy, detailed, hot sex scenes" (17+), a 5.

So a reader who loved book 1 and a reader who loved Silver Flames want different things. The picks below say which group they suit.

The series is not done. Sarah J. Maas's site lists A Court of Splintered Harmony "out oct 27th 2026" and A Court of Forgotten Melody "out jan 12th 2027". On Goodreads, ACOTAR had a 4.14 average from about 4.6 million ratings on October 9, 2026, and A Court of Mist and Fury had 4.63 from about 3.5 million.

Analysis: books like ACOTAR with fae and bonds

1. Quicksilver by Callie Hart (Fae & Alchemy #1, 2024). The heroine ends up "bonded to a handsome fae named Kingfisher", per Common Sense Media, which rates the book 18+. It says "explicit sex scenes include lengthy descriptions" and "adults talk and think about sex frequently". That is a 5 out of 5, the same band as A Court of Silver Flames. Brimstone, book 2, came out in 2025 and gets the same 18+ rating; book 3 is expected in 2027. Goodreads average: 4.3 from about 1 million ratings.

2. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (The Folk of the Air #1, 2018). A YA pick for readers who loved the faerie court scheming more than the romance scenes. Common Sense Media says it uses "elements of celtic folklore and mythology as inspiration for a tale of courtly intrigue", rates it 14+, and notes only that "jude shares passionate embraces with two supporting characters". Spice: 1 out of 5. Series status: the main story is three books, ending with The Queen of Nothing in 2019. Goodreads average: 4.0 from about 1.9 million ratings.

Cover image: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, via Open Library

3. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Blood and Ash #1, 2020). Publishers use it as a benchmark: Bramble pitches The Serpent and the Wings of Night as "perfect for fans of from blood and ash". We found no published review describing its sex content, so it is not rated here. Series status: Goodreads lists seven primary works, the latest main book being The Primal of Blood and Bone in 2025. Goodreads average: 4.21 from about 911,000 ratings.

GODEEPER: Liked the dragons and war college side of romantasy too? These picks are split the same way. Books Like Fourth Wing, Sorted by What You Loved →

Books like ACOTAR with darker courts

4. The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent (Crowns of Nyaxia #1, 2022). Publishers Weekly describes "a divinely sponsored tournament to the death" that "doubles as an addictive enemies-to-lovers romance", with a heroine "raised and trained by the king of the nightborn vampires". PW files it under "romance/erotica" without describing the scenes, so it is unrated here. It is "book 1 of the nightborn duet" inside the wider series, per Bramble's hardcover page. Goodreads average: 4.25 from about 825,000 ratings.

5. When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker (Moonfall #1, 2024). Dragons rather than fae, but a slow burn in the ACOTAR mold. Common Sense Media rates it 17+ and says "this slow burn romance grows quite graphic", with the scenes starting "in the second half of the book". Spice: 4 out of 5, about where A Court of Mist and Fury sits. Goodreads average: 4.01 from about 376,000 ratings.

6. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco (Kingdom of the Wicked #1, 2020). A witch hunting her twin's killer meets "wrath, one of the wicked-princes of hell", per the publisher's blurb. Publishers Weekly reviewed it as a YA title. We found no review describing its sex content, so it is not rated here. Series status: three primary works, ending with Kingdom of the Feared in 2022. Goodreads average: 3.86 from about 374,000 ratings.

Cover image: Jimmy Patterson Books, via Open Library

More books like ACOTAR from Sarah J. Maas

Maas has two other series, and her reading guide says "you can start with the first book in any of the three series".

7. Throne of Glass (2012). Maas's first series, eight books ending with Kingdom of Ash. Common Sense Media rates book 1 14+ and says that "aside from a couple of hot, long-awaited kisses", there is little action. Spice: 1 out of 5 for book 1. The heroine is an assassin in "a hunger games-like" contest. Goodreads average: 4.18 from about 2.7 million ratings.

8. Crescent City (2020). Maas calls it "an immersive urban fantasy that follows half-human, half-fae bryce quinlan". Three books so far, ending with House of Flame and Shadow. We found no published review of its sex content to cite. House of Earth and Blood had a Goodreads average of 4.45 from about 1.35 million ratings.

For ACOTAR readers, the case for Crescent City is the crossover. In an August 2026 r/acotar thread about what to read before Splintered Harmony, this was one of the most direct answers:

The comment reads: "CC is priority, proven crossover with important events that will almost certainly affect the events of the new books". Another reader in the same thread put it more simply: "If you don't think you have enough time to read all those, I would prioritize CC." Those are reader views, not publisher guidance.

GODEEPER: Every big romantasy series with its reading order, release dates and status in one place. Romantasy Series Reading Order Guide 2026 →

Our take

This take uses only the reviews, listings and author pages cited above. If you are reading to fill the gap before October 27, Quicksilver is the closest match to later ACOTAR, both in the fae bond and in the heat Common Sense Media describes. If what you loved was Prythian's politics, The Cruel Prince does that with far less heat and a finished trilogy. If you want to be ready for Splintered Harmony itself, Crescent City is the practical choice, and readers in r/acotar push it hard.

Four of the eight picks have no spice number. That reflects the sources, not the books: romance.io's steam ratings did not load for us on October 9, 2026, and the reviews we could read do not describe those books' scenes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I read after ACOTAR? For the closest match on fae bonds and heat, read Quicksilver by Callie Hart, which Common Sense Media rates 18+. For a lower-heat faerie court, read The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. For a vampire court and an enemies-to-lovers tournament, read The Serpent and the Wings of Night.

When does ACOTAR 6 come out? A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth ACOTAR book, comes out October 27, 2026, and A Court of Forgotten Melody, the seventh, follows on January 12, 2027, according to Sarah J. Maas's website. Her site's news post says the dates were revealed on the Call Her Daddy podcast.

Is there a less spicy book like ACOTAR? The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is the clearest pick. Common Sense Media rates it 14+ with only "a little" sexual content, and its main trilogy is complete. Throne of Glass, Maas's first series, also starts at "a little" in book one, with a couple of long-awaited kisses.

What is a spicier book like ACOTAR? Quicksilver by Callie Hart. Common Sense Media rates it 18+ and says its explicit scenes include lengthy descriptions, close to how it describes A Court of Silver Flames. Its heroine is bonded to a fae named Kingfisher, and the second book, Brimstone, came out in 2025.

Should I read Crescent City before ACOTAR 6? Many readers say yes. In an August 2026 r/acotar thread, one reader called Crescent City the priority because of a "proven crossover" with ACOTAR. Sarah J. Maas's own reading guide says only that you can start with any of her three series, so it is optional.

Related Reading

• Romantasy books like guide: every FaeShelf "books like" list, grouped by the book you loved.
• Romantasy tropes guide: fated mates, enemies to lovers and the other tropes behind ACOTAR.
• Best romantasy books of 2026: this year's releases, including what is coming before ACOTAR 6.

References

• Sarah J. Maas: homepage with ACOTAR 6 and 7 dates
• Sarah J. Maas: ACOTAR 6 and 7 news post
• Sarah J. Maas: reading guide
• Common Sense Media: A Court of Thorns and Roses
• Common Sense Media: A Court of Mist and Fury
• Common Sense Media: A Court of Silver Flames
• Common Sense Media: Quicksilver
• Common Sense Media: The Cruel Prince
• Common Sense Media: Throne of Glass
• Macmillan (Bramble): The Serpent & the Wings of Night
• Publishers Weekly: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
• Publishers Weekly: Kingdom of the Wicked
• Goodreads: A Court of Thorns and Roses (ratings checked October 9, 2026)
• Goodreads: Blood and Ash series
• r/acotar: reading Crescent City before the new books