A Court of Thorns and Roses — spice level
Sarah J. Maas · A Court of Thorns and Roses · reviewed by Zakes Mdluli · 23 August 2026
3 out of 5 chillies
3 out of 5 — Hot
Book one is a three. Explicit, but only in a few places, and the rest of the book is tension. If somebody told you this series is filthy, they were talking about book two.
Rated on our five-chilli scale, the same one on every story here.
What the rating means
We rate every story on this site out of five chillies, and we are using the same scale here so you can carry the answer straight back to our shelves.
- One — warm. Attraction and a closed door.
- Two — steamy. Sex on the page, written for feeling rather than detail.
- Three — hot. Explicit, and part of the story rather than a scene break.
- Four — scorching. Frequent, graphic, central.
- Five — filthy. Nothing implied, nothing faded out.
Where this book actually sits
Most of A Court of Thorns and Roses is not spicy at all. It is a slow, cold, careful book for a long stretch — a girl in a house she cannot leave, learning the rules of somebody else's world, and noticing a man she has every reason not to notice.
Then there are two or three scenes, late, where the door does not close. They are explicit. They are also short, and they arrive after several hundred pages of build-up, which is exactly why people remember them so strongly.
So: three chillies. Not because the heat is constant, but because when it arrives it is unambiguous.
The warning that matters more than the rating
Book two, A Court of Mist and Fury, is a different animal — considerably more explicit, and much more often. If you are picking up book one because someone described the series as spicy, know that you are reading the quiet one first.
Most readers who bounce off book one were sold book two's reputation.
Who it is for
If you like the wanting stretched out — the long, cold, watchful middle where nothing is said and everything is felt — this is one of the best-known examples of that in modern romance, and the payoff is real. Our slow burn shelf is built on the same pleasure.
If you came for heat on every second page, you will spend a lot of this book waiting. That is not a flaw. It is just worth knowing before you start.
If you loved this, read The Spirit's Slave
Sihle remembers Akhona from the pits. Now he waits beyond the mirror, and the only thing more dangerous than wanting him is asking him to come back.
It is the closest thing we publish to what people actually love about ACOTAR: a man who is not safe and not human, a woman who walks toward him with her eyes open, and a world with its own rules that the story takes seriously. It is set in South Africa, the folklore is ours rather than borrowed, and every chapter is illustrated.
We rate it four chillies — one hotter than this book, and a great deal shorter to get through. It sits on our dark romance shelf.
Chapter one is free. No signup, no card, nothing to install.
If you want the full explanation of how we rate heat, we wrote that up separately: spice levels explained.
FAQ
What is the spice level of A Court of Thorns and Roses?
Three out of five chillies. There are two or three explicit scenes late in the book, and a long slow build before them. It is explicit, but the heat is not constant.
Is ACOTAR spicy or is that the later books?
Mostly the later books. Book one is the quiet one. A Court of Mist and Fury, the second book, is considerably more explicit and much more frequent — that is the book people are usually describing when they call the series spicy.
Is ACOTAR appropriate for teenagers?
It is published for adults and contains explicit sexual content, particularly from the second book onward. Treat it as an adult series.
What should I read after ACOTAR?
If what you loved was the dangerous, not-quite-human male lead and a heroine who chooses him with her eyes open, try THE SPIRIT'S SLAVE on No Safe Word — South African folklore, four chillies, and a free first chapter.
What do the chilli ratings mean?
One chilli is warm — attraction and a closed door. Two is steamy. Three is explicit and part of the story. Four is scorching, frequent and central. Five is filthy, with nothing faded out. Every story on No Safe Word carries a rating on its card.
If you loved it, read this next
THE SPIRIT'S SLAVE
Scorching
A man who is not safe and not human, a woman who walks toward him with her eyes open, and a world with its own rules the story takes seriously. The folklore is ours rather than borrowed.
Chapter one is free — no signup, no card.
More ratings on the spice level guide.