Fitness influencers love to inform us that “summer bodies are built in winter”, and boy oh boy have I spent the last three colder months in the southern hemisphere in a deep phase of preparation. I had a meticulous spreadsheet. I tracked everything with military precision. I committed to my grindset and sacrificed for my goals.

However, my end result wasn’t a six-pack of abs and a back strong enough to carry a dinner convo with the most punishing of acquaintances. It was to consume the entire back catalogue of Sarah J Maas – 16 books in total (including the novellas) – in anticipation of the long-awaited sixth book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

I have flung myself headfirst into the Maasverse and like many readers I find myself … a changed woman.

Unless you have been living under a rock, or are Nobel prize for literature recipient Anne Carson (who mostly reads books written in 500BC), it has been impossible to miss the chokehold that the romantasy genre has had over (mostly) millennial women for the last several years. Characterised by blending elements of fantasy and romance together and catapulted into our hearts and nethers by its wild popularity on BookTok, romantasy is all over our bestseller lists and our social media.

Sarah J Maas is expected to........

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