The frenzy over this new book proves Australians like their literature with a side of spice

As the clock struck 12.01am on Tuesday, cheers erupted from excited readers in hundreds of bookshops across Australia as the eagerly awaited next chapter in one of BookTok’s buzziest romantasy series dropped.

Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore, usually a cosy daytime literary den in Sydney’s Bondi Beach, was heaving with feverish cosplay-laden readers, all with eyes for just one book: A Court of Splintered Harmony. Similar scenes played out in Melbourne too as bookshops stayed open into the wee hours for the new release.

Written by the bestselling romantasy writer Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Splintered Harmony is the sixth entry in the multi-million book selling series A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR).

Following a young huntress who is dragged into a magical land ruled by powerful faerie courts and High Lords, the series has become an all-out cultural phenomenon, fuelling much of BookTok’s romantasy craze.

The previous instalment, A Court of Silver Flames, landed in 2021. The long wait for the series’ next chapter finally ended on Tuesday, and readers couldn’t have been more ready for it.

“I had to order some more stock yesterday knowing that we were going to run out of paperbacks by the weekend. I honestly thought I had bought one month’s worth of stock,” says Gertrude & Alice’s co-founder Jane Turner.

The small bookshop hosted its first-ever midnight release party, welcoming 50 avid readers into their tiny space and offering them tarot readings, googly-eyed donuts, mini lolly cauldrons and, of course, a copy of Maas’ long-awaited book.

The energy was similarly buzzing at Dymocks Sydney, where singer and former professional swimmer Cody Simpson joined more than 350 fans for the midnight release. The songwriter, who selected ACOSH as the second book in his recently founded book club – was even tasked to read the first few paragraphs once the book hit shelves, which he did in his very own set of elf ears.

These were just two of hundreds of launch parties across Australia for the romantasy book – a record for the series’ publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing.

“We had the biggest number of midnight party registrations and over 270 launch parties,” says a Bloomsbury spokesperson. “We sent out over 1000 party packs with point of sale – in this instance that included tote bags, bookmarks, wristbands, posters – and other goodies.”

Dymocks had more than 2200 ticket sales and RSVPs for midnight and early opening release events across its stores. Meanwhile, ACOSH delivered the chain’s biggest pre-order of the year.

Anticipation was just as hot globally, including in the UK, where fans reportedly took annual leave to read the book upon release. Many showed up to launch events dressed in their finest fantasy gear, including faerie ears and dragon wings. So intense was the buzz that some booksellers even compared this week’s launch to those for the Harry Potter books.

This fanfare can largely be attributed to BookTok, the section of TikTok dedicated to book recommendations and reviews. Maas’ work, which combines high fantasy, romance and plenty of sex, immediately appealed to BookTok, a space inundated with readers of adult fiction, romance and fantasy. In fact, the hashtag “ACOTAR” has more than 8 billion views on the platform.

BookTok creators, many of whom are women between 20 and 40 (Maas’ core demographic), praise the ACOTAR series for its empowered female characters, handling of heavier themes like mental health, and use of provocative, yet tasteful, sensual imagery. Many have also described the series as a gateway back into reading thanks to its digestible prose and narrative formulas. For longtime readers, meanwhile, the series’ references to classic texts, such as Beauty and the Beast and A Wrinkle in Time, keep bookworms satisfied.

“Maas writes worlds you want to live in and people you’d follow anywhere,” says Melbourne-based Trilogy of Romance bookshop co-owner Aleyna Dogan. “Her books give you the full package: magic, danger, found-family, banter and a love story you can feel in your chest, all in one. Romantasy lets readers escape completely, but the heart of it is real. The heroines are flawed, strong and allowed to want things, and the romance is the reward rather than the whole point.”

It’s thanks to this that Maas was able to reach the New York Times bestseller list at the age of 27 with Crown of Midnight. Her popularity further skyrocketed in 2015 after publishing A Court of Thorns and Roses, the first book in the ACOTAR series, which attracted older readers due to its raunchier themes. It remained on The New York Times combined print and e-book bestseller list for 45 consecutive weeks.

Overall, Maas has sold more than 75 million books worldwide, and has yet another bestseller on the horizon – her next instalment in the ACOTAR series, A Court of Forgotten Melody, is due to land on January 12. This can only mean one thing: the launch parties are destined to continue.

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