A Court of Splintered Harmony: A New Era [Review]

A long-awaited return filled with romance and unexpected twists

Elise Plocher4 hours ago

70 5 minutes read

Created by Elise Plocher Photographer: Elise Plocher

The highly anticipated sixth book of Sarah J. Maas’s New York Times bestselling series, A Court of Thorns and Roses was released October 27th 2026. A Court of Splintered Harmony garnered such anxious expectation, numerous book stores across the country had midnight release parties in celebration of the novel. I myself had the pleasure of attending one, at the beloved local bookstore, Buffalo Books and Coffee. The night was serene and wholesome, filled with giggles amongst Romantasy readers. Receiving the newest novel at midnight sparked the beginning of this new era for the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) universe.

QUICK DISCLAIMER – This review includes major spoilers. So if you wish to maintain your blissful ignorance until you read it yourself, please click off. You have been warned.

Azriel

A Court of Splintered Harmony (ACOSH) was the first book to bring us Azriel’s perspective. Azriel is the quiet heart throb of the Maas universe. Experiencing his charm first hand, was the greatest anticipation of the new novel. So I hate to say, readers got their hopes up FAR too high. Reading Azriel’s perspective was painful to say the absolute least. The most mainstream ship for our dear Shadowsinger was Elain, Feyre’s soft as a petal older sister. We have seen only small snippets of Azriel and Elain in the last five books. I personally was just interested to see what Maas would do with that development– If it would develop at all.

It did. In the worst way possible.

In a quick disclaimer in the beginning of ACOSH, Maas gave us the recommendation to read the bonus scene of Azriel and Elain post-Winter Solstice. The bonus scene was spicy and aggressively abrupt. Maas went from the two never speaking, to Azriel practically drooling over Elain. It was sweet enough to not spoil my perspective of the Shadowsinger, but he certainly didn’t waste his time.

What to know

In comparison to Maas’s other works, this story felt very incomplete. Which I have come to learn is on purpose. Maas’s next release for ACOTAR is on January 12 2027 (A Court of Forgotten Melody). She has shared that the next book was supposed to be conjoined with ACOSH. The separation was due to how extensive the edition would have been and no publisher could bind a book that large. Which explains the abrupt ending. So I believe that rating this book on its own is unfair, given that it is not meant to be a stand alone.

Elise Plocher

By chapter six I was appalled with Azriel. His behavior was nothing like what I expected from him. His blind lust for Elain and complete disregard of her mating bond with Lucien left a sour taste in my mouth. The Shadowsinger had readers writhing with anticipation to get a taste of his character, just for Azriel to be a hot mess and in desperate need of character development. Which makes perfect sense, considering Maas has never given his perspective in a novel, until now. As the pages turned, Maas laid out just how rotten Azriel’s perspective of himself is. His self loathing and soiled perspective on life is what drives his terrible decision making in book six. His blatant disrespect for Lucien was extremely immature behavior for a “grown male”. Rhys being disappointed in Azriel was well deserved. What pushed me over the edge, was Azriel blaming all of his wrong doings on his Shadows. Instead of facing his own consequences for endangering their alliance with Lucien, he points his finger at his shadows; accusing them of not alerting him when Lucien was coming down the hallway. Instead of the grown male readers expected, we received a broken child in need of a therapist. By the end of the novel, the Shadowsinger was a mess of broken pieces and dragging wings. Considering Maas’s impressive ability to redeem a sour character, I hope to see Azriel face his trauma and fix what he’s broken.

Elain

Despite my unwavering faith in Maas’s characters, Elain drives me up a wall. The sickly sweet young woman has been given very few moments throughout the series. Usually being disgusted with Fae kind (even though she is Fae…?), crying, needing to be saved, gardening, or baking. All within the span of roughly one million words across the whole series so far, Elain is nothing but a prissy, blubbering, mess. I was hoping and praying Maas would do SOMETHING with Elain. Give the girl some kind of substance! I was beginning to hate her more than Tamlin, especially after her pathetic performance when Lucien caught her and Azriel. Then even more so when Nesta finally called her out on her disrespectful and childish behavior, and all Elain could muster up was taking offense to her sisters not blindly forgiving her.

In the final chapter of the novel, after she throws a tantrum about Nesta’s lecture, she rushes to Mor, who was getting ready to return to Vallahan. This was the only moment in the book that genuinely shocked me. I could not be more overjoyed at the fact that Elain finally has a purpose in the plot. I was beginning to think that Elain’s plot armor was solely to kill her off later to affect another character. Which is harsh, but true. While Elain’s character has been nothing but ragebait across six books, I am actually excited to see how she grows. I doubt she will become a Valkeyrie like Nesta, or wise and powerful like Feyre, but maybe she will become something of her own.

Nesta

Nesta’s character development is one for the books. The majority of Nesta’s plot was based on what happened with Bryce Quinlan (FMC of Maas’s trilogy Crescent City). Along with her disagreement with her mate, Cassian. I really loved seeing her and Cassian make up. I think it’s important for readers to remember that neither of them have actually been in a relationship. They are learning how to communicate and navigate each other as new mates. Yes, at moments Cassian and Nesta’s avoidant behavior drove me crazy, but I knew it’s simply because they are still new to each other. That small learning curve was endearing and only made a softer spot on my heart for them.

Nesta searching for her purpose, not only in the Night Court, but also in her own life, made my heart sing. I am so happy to be seeing her learn to love and be okay with being vulnerable. During the sixth book, Nesta has specific goals unmet by the last chapter. Maas has made it clear that there is more to come. I believe Nesta is working toward a second rebirth in ACOTAR. I think finding her purpose in this new-found home is going to be the final piece of her story. I hope Maas stretches out the conclusion of Nesta’s narrative, because I am dreading the inevitable goodbye to the oldest Archeron sister.

As for my final thoughts, I think this book was a solid way to build anticipation for the next release. I for one, am itching to get my hands on the next book. Specifically because of the ending with Elain. Having her go with Mor to Vallahan, was the ending I didn’t know I needed. I think this was a perfect ending for the book. I am beyond thrilled that Elain has been given her own storyline and is no longer a wallflower character. Despite what Elain has already done (or lack there-of), I need a better reason to hate her. Hopefully Maas delivers a better reason, or a redemption.

Photos by Elise Plocher.

Elise Plocher4 hours ago

70 5 minutes read