Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses might be popular, but one BookTok creator has claimed that one of them just isn’t ‘that good’
If you’ve ever spent more than 10 minutes on BookTok, a section of TikTok dedicated to all things reading, chances are you will have heard of Fourth Wing or A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Written by Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas respectively, the Fourth Wing and ACOTAR series are undoubtedly some of the biggest books in the romantasy genre. But while many readers see both bestselling books as equals, not everyone agrees.
Maddy, also known as @maddyireland_ on TikTok, previously shared her experience of reading both Fourth Wing and A Court of Thrones of Roses, revealing that for her, there was a clear winner.
“I’m going to say it. You just can’t compare them,” she said. She explained that she “adored” Fourth Wing, adding: “I loved it. Honestly, this world. Bury me in this world, it is amazing.
“I loved all the dragons. I loved the powers, I just loved this book.”
Moving on to ACOTAR, she sighed before explaining: “I like the world, I do. I’m literally just over halfway.
“I do like the world. I wasn’t sure on the idea of fairies at first, don’t mind it. Is it blowing me away the way Fourth Wing blew me away? No.
“I want to love this book so much, I really do and I’ve got all five of them to read. And I’m just like we need to pick up the pace a little bit because it’s a bit slow.”
She later posted a follow-up video after finishing the full book in which she said: “I just didn’t think it was that good.”
People in the comments section were quick to defend the ACOTAR series, with one writing: “You need to keep going it’s soo good! The third book was amazing! So much happens in it.” Another said: “Read the second book PLEASE and then come back and thank the entire internet.”
Not everyone agreed though, with one commenting: “Literally you are the first person I have found who has thought the same as me! Do I even go to book 2?? Could easily leave it at that.”
Another wrote: “Girl I agree!! I read the entire ACOTAR series before fourth wing and I was so disappointed in ACOTAR I almost didn’t read fourth wing (per booktok) but I’m so glad I did it was SO SO SO much better.”
Goodreads users seem to agree too. At the time of writing, Fourth Wing has an average star rating of 4.58 from over 2.6 million reviews.
A Court of Thorns and Roses, meanwhile, has a lower rating of 4.18 from 3.5 million reviews, though the second book in the series, A Court of Mist and Fury, comes in higher with a 4.65 average score from 2.6 million reviews.
