Joining the SJM Cult

Yes, you read that correctly.

Fall of 2023 introduced me to a new author. Her name is Sarah J. Maas. All I knew about her was that she wrote a book called A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) and people were crazy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah J. Maas is the prolific, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City series, which have sold more than 38 million copies in English worldwide and are published in thirty-eight languages. Maas is one of the most successful authors of the modern era, generating a far-reaching and ever-growing fanbase of readers, as well as a TikTok phenomenon, with the hashtag for her A Court of Thorns and Roses series having several billion views.

(source: https://sarahjmaas.com/about/)

My Instagram feed was nothing but “Hello, Feyre darling” and Tamlin’s Tears and I was so confused.

I try not to let social hype influence me, but it was hard. So for Christmas I put the book on my wishlist. My girl friend, who had already read the series, told me I wouldn’t regret it.

January 1st, I started on my SJM journey and February 23rd, 16 books later, I finished that journey and officially joined the SJM Cult.

I started with the ACOTAR series and it opened me to this Fae world I knew nothing about. I had a love hate relationship with the characters and with SJM herself. I will say that I did not immediately feel the same hype everyone was talking about. It took me until half way into the second book for me to become truly invested. And I finally understood why everyone hated Tamlin.

I will say I am lucky my fiancé is deployed because he would have been extremely concerned if he saw how much I was crying. He would ask me how the book is going, not realizing I finished that book two books ago.