A phony book announcement for the nextA Court of Thorns and Rosesrelease has reignited discussion about Tamlin’s virtues and flaws. The only thing more anticipated than book 6 is the uncertain future of theA Court of Thorns and RosesTV adaptation, but with that indefinitely on hold, attention has returned to the next installment ofSarah J. Maas’ project.
Although clearly a joke, this isnot the first time phony announcements have focused on the Spring Court, raising interesting questions about the POVs in the ACOTAR series. The creator jokingly said,“Elain, anyone?”concerning Tamlin, highlighting how reductive of Elain’s character it would be to connect her to Tamlin in a redemptive context. Although Maas did the multiple-POV format well inA Court of Frost and Starlight, Elain desperately needs dedicated development in book 6.
A Court Of Gentle Claws: ACOTAR Book 6’s Fake Title Explained
The Title Was A Fake Announcement For April Fools
On April Fool’s Day 2025, Instagram user@kalia.booksplayfully announcedA Court of Gentle Clawsas the next installment in theA Court of Thorns and Rosesseries, promising a September release and a Tamlin-centric plot. While a humorous hoax, the concept sparked discussion about Tamlin’s potential redemption, a storyline fans have been following since 2016’sACOMAF.If it were real, it would haveA Court of Thorns and Rosesstory nine years in the making. The excited reactions to hoax titles emphasize that readers reallyneedACOTARbook 6.
The creator’s description of the hints at the fake book’s plot line were intentionally egregious, mentioning a“love triangle”specifically including Elain, to manyACOTARreaders’ dismay. This is not the first April Fool about the eagerly anticipatedACOTARbook 6 - last year, there were similar prank titles (perReddit), includingA Court of Bloom and Decayand, hilariously,A Court of Fiddles and Pollen.All of these jokes referring to the Spring Court show thatthere isclearly an appetite for more Tamlin in the storyline, regardless of whether readers sympathize with him or not.
A Court Of Gentle Claws Is A Great Choice For Tamlin’s Redemption Arc, But Not For Book 6
Achieving Gentleness Would Track With His Initial Beast-Inspired Characterization
A Court of Gentle Clawsas a title,despite being a little goofy, is surprisingly appropriate for a later book focused on Tamlin. I’ll bedisappointed if a Tamlin mate theorycomes true where Elain is concerned.Elain’s love should not be the thing that redeems Tamlin, as it would completely undo the message told in the original trilogy, where Feyre’s love is certainly not enough to fix him. This said, a general redemption arc makes sense, particularly becauseA Court of Thorns and Rosesis partly inspired byBeauty and the Beast.
However, book 6 is too soon for a full circle moment like this.Tamlin needs to redeem himself, and for that to work, readers arguably need a return of Feyre’s POV, which is pretty sparse inSilver Flames.It needed to instead focus on Nesta’s journey. Because it seems pretty likely that Elain is next, it is unclear whether Sarah J. Maas simply wants to move on from Feyre’s POV, so that readers would see her family life through other characters, not unlike Diana and Matthew in Deborah Harkness’All Soulsseries.
Why The ACOTAR Series Needs To Tell Elain’s Story Before It Moves On To Other Characters
Elain Has Not Been Explored Enough Yet
A natural progression from Nesta’s POV inA Court of Silver Flameswould be focusing on Elain. This was not so subtly hinted at toward the end of the fifth book, withRhysand speculating that there is more to Elain than her family assumes. If book 6 were to jump to Tamlin’s POV before developing Elain’s character, I think a lot of readers would be upset, myself included. Not to mention, there are unresolved feelings betweenACOTAR’s Elain and Azrielthat should be explored in the next book, especially considering Azriel’s bonus chapter inA Court of Silver Flames.
Their potential romance has been set up with forbidden love implications because their getting together could cause a major inter-Court conflict via Lucien, her“fated mate”. Pivoting to write book 6 about Tamlin’s redemption arc would be a waste of this buildup. It also seems like it is time to explore a potential couple that are not mated, since Maas already has two fated pairs in the Inner Circle: Feyre and Rhys, and Nesta and Cassian. However, even readers who support a pairing between Elain and Lucien likely want that next rather than the abrupt shift to Tamlin.
It would also provide a sense of symmetry in the overall story to firstly flesh out all three Archeron sisters…
It would also provide a sense of symmetry in the overall story to first flesh out all three Archeron sisters. Elain’s character has real potential, but has been largely underexplored, perhaps intentionally. Hopefully there is a payoff in the next book, because I suspect Elain will turn out to be the most interesting sister of the trio inA Court of Thorns and Roses.
