The countdown is officially ON! Ever since Sarah J. Maas appeared on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast, the excitement, theories and speculation have been building. Now, after YEARS of waiting, 'A Court of Splintered Harmony' is almost in our hands. It feels like a fever dream. HOW ARE WE THIS CLOSE?!
As you may already know, I LOVE a good fan theory, a Reddit rabbit hole and an outrageous ACOTAR conspiracy. Who's ending up together? Who's getting their happily ever after? Who's going to break our hearts? I'm here for ALL of it. But now, with release day almost here, we need to talk about something a little less exciting.
Spoilers.
When Fan Theories Become Actual Leaks
Last week, things started taking a dark turn. The excitement surrounding the release was suddenly overshadowed by actual leaks. Not theories or predictions, but people claiming to have genuine information from the book and sharing it online.
I deleted Reddit. I've been desperately trying not to scroll through social media, which, as someone who manages Bookstagram and BookTok accounts for a living, is NEAR IMPOSSIBLE.
Every comment section suddenly feels like a risk.
Then Sarah J. Maas herself was forced to speak out, pleading with fans not to share spoilers and describing the situation as beyond disheartening.
My heart sank. The leaks were real.
Can you imagine spending years writing a book, carefully constructing every twist and emotional moment, only for people to start sharing those moments before readers have even had the chance to open it?
There's a HUGE difference between discussing what you think might happen and deliberately telling people what does happen.
One is fandom. The other is just selfish.
And Then Came Walmart...
Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, a couple of hours ago a photo started circulating online.
And there it was. The beautiful, bright pink, shining beacon of a book we've been waiting months for. 'A Court of Splintered Harmony'. Sitting on a Walmart shop floor. An entire display, sale stickers slapped on the covers, apparently available to purchase a full week before the official release date. I couldn't believe it.
As an independent bookstore, this one really stings. At Book Hero, we've signed an embargo agreement that, short of agreeing to hand over my firstborn son, is probably the strictest we've ever encountered. We've taken it VERY seriously.
We've spent months planning our midnight release party, and I cannot tell you how excited we are! We've got romantasy trivia, games, crafts, prizes, goody bags and an entire evening dedicated to celebrating this incredible series. I've literally just picked up the flower crowns for the occasion! Our bookshop will also be opening at midnight so customers can come in and collect their copies the moment they're released.
Behind the scenes, our team will be heading into the warehouse at midnight to start packing orders as soon as we're allowed to open the boxes. We were planning on getting in our cars and doing personal deliveries and then in stepped NZ Post who have been AMAZING! It turns out there are some huge ACOTAR fans at their head office too, and they've been working closely with us to make sure as many of our customers as possible WILL receive your books on release day at no extra cost through their Evening Express service. This has been no small feat, especially with the strict embargo preventing us from shipping books the day before, as we normally would.
It's going to be an absolutely HUGE night, and we genuinely cannot wait to celebrate with everyone!
So yes, it's frustrating to see copies apparently sitting on shelves elsewhere while independent bookstores are working so hard to honour the release date and bending over backwards to still deliver for our customers.
We don't yet know how those books ended up on display, but there needs to be accountability when embargoes are broken. Otherwise, what's the point of having them?
And once those books are out in the world, so are the spoilers.
But What About Spoilers AFTER Release Day?
Here's where things get a little ridiculous.
I recently found myself planning how to read 'A Court of Splintered Harmony' as quickly as humanly possible to avoid spoilers. Between our midnight release party, work and being a mum to two little boys, uninterrupted reading time isn't exactly easy to come by. And then I caught myself seriously contemplating a plan.
What if I bought the audiobook and listened to it on 2x speed while packing and delivering customer orders between 1am and 5.30am (when mum duty resumes)? Then I'd know what happened. I'd be safe from spoilers. And I could sit down the following evening and actually READ the book properly.
HOW RIDICULOUS IS THAT?! I've waited SO LONG for this book. I don't want to rush through it at double speed in the middle of the night just so someone on Instagram can't ruin it for me.
I want to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea, a warm blanket and absolutely no interruptions. I want to disappear into Prythian, savour every chapter and stay up until the wee hours of the morning because I simply cannot put it down.
After all, a release like this only comes around once every five years! And surely I can't be the only person with this dilemma?
People have jobs. Children. Responsibilities. Some of us are lucky if we get half an hour to read before falling asleep with a book on our faces. None of us should feel like we have to race through a story we've waited years for just to protect ourselves from spoilers.
Let's Keep the Magic Alive
So this is my heartfelt plea to the Bookstagram and BookTok community.
PLEASE, if you're going to share spoilers once the book is released, give people a proper warning. A MASSIVE spoiler alert. Not a tiny disclaimer buried in a caption after you've already revealed the biggest twist of the series. Don't put spoilers in Reel covers, opening lines or the first few seconds of videos. Give people the chance to scroll past and enjoy this book at their own pace.
Because that's what this should all be about.
The excitement of finally holding that beautiful pink book. The thrill of turning the first page. The gasp when a theory turns out to be right (or spectacularly wrong). The tears, the laughter and the desperate need to message your friends when something HUGE happens.
That's the magic of reading. And after all these years, I want every single reader to experience it.
So bring on the midnight release parties, the flower crowns, the late-night reading sessions and the completely unhinged group chats. We're SO CLOSE, and I genuinely cannot wait to celebrate this moment with all of you.
Just please, for the love of the Cauldron, NO SPOILERS!
