Not all Mormons can write fiction.

Zuzanna Woźniak 

A Court of Thorns and Roses was born a fantasy romance, and a fantasy romance it will stay. There's objectively nothing wrong with that. Every library has multiple sections for a reason. If one overlooks the horrible plot lines and unhealthy relationships, it can even be quite the page turner at times. However, as time goes on, Sarah J. Mass keeps leaving undeniable fingerprints on her series' quality and moral compass. 

Some of the most influential names in fiction come from a Mormon background. One of them is Brandon Sanderson, a master world builder whose plots and characters are consistent, and morality is actually explored with nuance. Even Stephanie Meyer, with all her flaws, at least commits to the logic of her own universe and her characters behave in line with the (bizarre) rules she establishes.  

The issue isn’t that Sarah J. Maas might be biased by her religious ideology; it’s that she does so without the structure, consistency or self-awareness of other authors. Her world is one of contradictions and an illusion of complexity, with her moral compass shifting with the fandom’s approval. At the end of the day, it's not her background that makes the narrative weaker – it's the poor execution of her ideas. 

It's a pain to see the character you've been silently hoping to have actual depth get brought down to a relationship agitator (a horrible one at that). When with every next book the writing’s quality diminishes, it prompts the question of how bad it can get. Is this truly the author's books I have all marked up with highlighters and notes? 

It would be easier to stomach if the moral message wasn’t so muddled. One moment, we're told to value found family, healing, and autonomy, and the next, we're bombarded with possessive love interests, power hierarchies masquerading as romance, and forgiveness arcs that require no real apology. It’s like the books want to wear the costume of emotional depth without doing the emotional labour. 

What makes all of this especially unfortunate is that there was real potential in her work. At one point, her world building felt exciting or even refreshing. Maas began with a spark, flawed but ambitious storytelling, and a protagonist with something to prove. The world she built hinted at deeper mythologies waiting to be uncovered. But as the series went on, all of that ambition has been traded for convenience.  

Each new instalment feels more like an echo of a previous one. It's louder and flashier but at the same time emptier and more focused on serving the reader entertainment. The pacing got sluggish and the characters, once complex, are trapped in a cycle of melodrama and repetitive arcs. The magic system seems to be held together by prayers, the politics are incoherent, and book by book the characters are ruined. It’s painful to watch a series that once tried to go against the narrative now rely so heavily on fan loyalty and surface-level spectacles to stay relevant. The decline isn’t just disappointing; it’s infuriating.