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Two years and the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers later, Sarah J. Maas fans have been liberated from countless theories surrounding the unknown. After months of anticipation and stress, SJM fans have secured access to the highly anticipated book, “House of Flame and Shadow.”
Sarah J. Maas, dubbed “BookTok’s reigning romantasy queen” has built three separate worlds spanning three different series and 16 books. Her first book, “Throne of Glass” was published in 2012 when Maas was just 26. Now, 12 years later, Maas has created an empire and amassed a loyal following. With over 38 million copies of her books sold, she continues to thrill “romantasy” fans around the world.
While official book sales have not been released, it’s clear that copious amounts of copies have been sold. According to Goodreads, just one day following the release of HOFAS, there were 41,700 people reading it. Two days later, that number jumped to 106,000 people.
During the first half of 2023, Sarah J. Maas’ sales increased by 79%, resulting in the “Harry Potter effect” for Bloomsbury Publishing, according to Time.
“Booktok,” a community on TikTok, has accumulated over 220 billion viewers. Booktok hosts a variety of book related content, including book recommendations — whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, fantasy or thriller — fan art, reviews and rankings, theories, etc. Maas-related content can be found under a wide range of hashtags, including #SJM, #TOG, and #ACOTAR — which has 8.5 billion views.
In anticipation of Maas’ newest release, fans had taken preparation measures to the extreme. As seen on Booktok, TikTokers have been posting re-reading schedules. Some of the TikTokers provided synopsis of each book, others showed the “correct” reading order, while others created reading schedules that ranged from monthly re-reads to day-to-day.
TikTocker acourtofthornsandrosie posted a calendar, called Sarah J(anuary) Maas, showing a rigorous reading schedule. It allowed ambitious readers to re-read all 16 of Maas’ books from “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series, “Throne of Glass,” and “Crescent City.” The reading palooza was set to begin on Jan. 1 and end on Jan. 29. In theory, the reader would have their SJM knowledge refreshed and be prepared to read HOFAS starting on Jan. 30.
Some fans joked about taking off work, with one TikToker even drafting an email to her boss through ChatGPT. Others made jokes a reality and took a day off, according to an attendee who spoke to Vulture at the midnight release at the Union Square Barnes and Noble.
Maas and Bloomsbury Publishing first began teasing fans in late August, posting a video of people at Waterstones reciting the first line of the book. On Jan. 10, Maas released another line. Finally, on Jan. 25, Maas shared the ultimate teaser, releasing the prologue and first chapter on her website. This, along with a timer counting down on her website, sent fans reeling.
At the stroke of midnight on Jan. 30, 2024, fans held “Midnight Maas” and attended book release parties. Despite frigid temperatures, people waited outside for the chance to celebrate at various locations. At one such location, the Book Club Bar in New York, Maas made a surprise appearance, thrilling her fans.
After a fun night of drinking, trivia and bonding, readers got down to business. Despite HOFAS having 102 chapters, 839 pages, and an audiobook length of 29 hours and 42 minutes, fans were not deterred from devouring the book in a short amount of time. Merely hours after the release, fans were already posting reviews on various platforms, including Goodreads and TikTok.
I’ve officially reached the long-awaited moment I’ve been preparing myself for. It’s time for me to settle in and grab my Kindle, a box of tissues and a pint of ice cream. “House of Flame and Shadow”… it’s been a long time coming.
To purches your copy of HOFAS, click here.