Ilona Maher Loves 'ACOTAR,' Wants to Play Nesta: Stars Who Read the Books

Celebrities are just like Us, and they read faerie smut, too.

Former football player JJ Watt nearly broke the internet when he revealed he was reading Sarah J. Maas’ steamy romantasy series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, which has taken the internet (specifically BookTok) and the fantasy genre by storm.

First published in 2015, the first book in Maas’s sweeping epic romance follows Feyre Archeron, who for years has struggled to keep her family alive in the magicless human realms of Prythian. However, when Feyre unknowingly kills the sentry of a powerful High Fae named Tamlin, she is transported to a world of magic, faeries and violence where she must fight not only to save her family but her entire realm.

Watt isn’t the only celebrity who has been drawn in by the magic of Prythian and its High Lords: singer-songwriter Maren Morris, actress Megan Fox and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, among others, have all checked the first book (at least) off of their TBR list.

A Comprehensive Guide to the Sarah J. Maas Universe: 'ACOTAR' and More

Maas has so far published five novels in the series, with the fifth book, 2021’s A Court of Silver Flames, serving as the first installment not told from Feyre’s perspective but instead from the POV of her ruthless older sister, Nesta. Maas confirmed in 2023 that a sixth ACOTAR book was in the works, though she revealed no further information about the plot. (She is also the author of the best-selling Throne of Glass and Crescent City series.)

“I am working on the next ACOTAR novel,” Maas shared during “Live Talks Los Angeles” in September last year. “I’m drafting it, and that is all I will say.”

A Court of Thorns and Roses television series is in the works at Hulu as well, Us Weekly confirmed in February, though casting choices and a potential release date have not been revealed. Ronald D. Moore revealed in July 2024 that he is no longer the showrunner after moving to Sony. (Hulu is owned by Disney.)

Keep scrolling to see all the stars who’ve entered Prythian:

@ilonamaher

My plan is working #acotar #booktok @Lauren Doyle #sarajmaas

♬ Can’t Catch Me Now – from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – Olivia Rodrigo

Ilona Maher

The Olympian has read every Maas book, and BookTok quickly determined which Bat Boy would be the best boyfriend for Maher.

“So recently, people were pairing me with Cassian, so I’m going to cast myself as Nesta — and also, I would like to makeout with Cassian,” Maher told Access Hollywood in October 2024. “You know what? I have three sisters, we can all play [the Archeron sisters].”

She even suggested Dancing With the Stars partner Alan Bersten could play The Suriel.

Yung Gravy

The rapper has found that Sarah J. Maas fans love hearing his deep voice read the spicy scenes, and he even read some passages on stage at concerts. In an August 2024 TikTok, he picked up A Court of Wings and Ruin, introducing his video by saying, “My fellas with toxic masculinity, it’s time to get out of here. Everybody else, it’s time to get steamy.”

Hannah Dodd

“Help, I’m in love with a fictional character,” the Bridgerton actress captioned a July 2024 Instagram Story. “Hannah Fey Katie Dodd is what I will respond to now.”

JJ Watt

Watt shared that he had picked up the first book in the ongoing ACOTAR series in April on his wife Kealia Ohai Watt’s recommendation. “Kealia swears by it,” he wrote via X at the time. “I have no idea what I’m getting myself into.”

As a first-time ACOTAR reader, Watt was initially rooting for love interest Tamlin when he started the series, even expressing his desire to play the High Lord of the Spring Court in a live-action adaptation. However, he was encouraged by fans to keep reading before he decided on any favorite characters, as the book series is full of twists, turns and betrayals.

“Finished the first book, started the second. Sucks to suck Amarantha,” Watt wrote via X in April, referring to the first book’s Big Bad. “(although if she’s so magical, how did she not know Rhys helped during 2nd challenge?)” By the time he finished the first book, Watt shared that he didn’t know who he should be rooting for: Tamlin and his best friend and emissary Lucien, or Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court.

Maren Morris

Morris shared a photo of herself reading A Court of Thorns and Roses via Instagram in a May photo dump. “A week of horny songs and fiction,” she captioned the post.

In a video, she held up A Court of Mist and Fury, the second novel in the series, and gave a shout-out to a fan-favorite scene: “To those who gave me a heads up about Chapter 55, thank you.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Hamilton scribe checked the entire ACOTAR series — which currently consists of five books — off of his summer reading list in 2023.

Jordan Fisher

Fisher, for his part, has read more than one series from Maas, including her first-ever fantasy series, Throne of Glass, published in 2012, three years before ACOTAR’s release. In a video shared via TikTok in April, Fisher shared that he was in the last “hundred pages” of Queen of Shadows, the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series.

“It’s at this point in every Sarah J. Maas book, the last hundred pages, every single Sarah J. Maas book,” the former Disney Channel star said, exasperated. “She don’t give a s—t about you or your family or your feelings, how it affects you at work. She don’t give a s—t.”

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Claire Holt

The Vampire Diaries alum took to TikTok in March 2024 to post about her experience with the series, sharing a video with the overlaid text, “Me to the fictional book character who didn’t return by feelings,” set to the trending sound from Love Is Blind: “When you see and realize what you missed out on, you are going to choke.”

While Holt didn’t say how far into the series she was, she did ask in her caption, “What does Feyre have that I don’t?” She’ll have to ask Rhys, the High Lord of the Night Court, about that one.

In the comment section of an August 2024 TikTok, Holt shared that her fancast for “the perfect” Rhysand would be Olympic swimmer Thomas Ceccon.

Megan Fox

Fox talked fantasy during her March 2024 episode on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast when asked by host Alex Cooper how she likes to unwind at the end of the day.

“I usually stay by the fire and I like to read,” Fox shared. “I read a lot of metaphysical books, but right now I’m reading whatever that new, like, adult version of Twilight book that’s out. It’s like an erotic faerie book.”

When she confirmed that the name of the series was, in fact, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Fox noted that she was “loving it” so far, though she hadn’t yet “gotten to the horny part” of the story.

“But I know that I’m gonna get there because I know that he has, like, the ability to bind her energetically with magic,” she noted, “and I’m already, like, I’m here for that.”

Hayden Panettiere

A behind-the-scenes pic shared via Be Real showed Panettiere reading ACOTAR in 2022 while on the set of Scream VI.