Sarah J. Maas, the best-selling American author best known for her debut novel, Throne of Glass, is a true life superhero.  She has the ability to make people cry, smile, fall in love, and shake in fright all with a few powerful lines of her writing. I have been reading books written by Sarah J. Maas for a while now, and with each book I read I fall more in love with the way she writes. Her writing is very distinctive, and I can pick it out of anywhere.

One of the most captivating things Sarah does, is she never leaves one speck of the scene unmentioned. Some authors will describe the characters who are speaking, and the dialogue being exchanged between them. However, Sarah goes as far as to explain each person’s body language, what they’re wearing, what’s going on around them physically, and what expression crossing a character’s face suggests about their emotions at that moment in time. Sarah J. Maas is so descriptive with her writing, you can truly lose yourself in her books. 

My favorite technique of hers is her ability to deploy the element of surprise. She constantly uses the same writing techniques and we, as readers, don’t realize she’s doing it until it happens. Sarah will take a very active character and will slowly fade them out by giving them fewer scenes and lines. She does it over the course of a few chapters so you don’t notice that it’s happening. She covers the absence of these characters by distracting readers with a big conflict that does not involve them. Eventually, she will strictly focus in on the conflict and will forget everything else outside of it. More times than not, the conflict will lead to a desperate plea for help or an inevitable death of another character if left on their own. Just when you think there is no hope left, she will reintroduce the character you didn’t even realize was gone, to come and save the day. It is a way to completely surprise a reader, and each time she does it I find myself with my mouth wide open in shock.

Every author you will read has some technique that is unique to only them. Sarah J. Maas’ is her ability to keep you intrigued by her foreshadowing. Sarah sets her scenes in ways where the reader believes they can predict exactly what will happen. Readers are so sure of their predictions, which is exactly what she wants. However, right when you think your prediction is about to come true, Sarah throws the character’s a curve ball and completely changes what you thought was going to happen. Sarah J. Maas is so unpredictable as a writer, and will always incorporate things into her story that no one else would have even thought of including. 

It is truly difficult to put in writing how amazing Sarah J. Maas is as a writer. The only way to see for yourself just how good she is, is to go to your nearest library or book store and pick up one of her two most famous series: Throne of Glass and/or A Court of Thorns and Roses. Those books have changed my life and the way I view myself and the world around me. However, it wasn’t the stories that truly moved me. What moved me was the way Sarah could make me feel when she wrote, and how she incorporated true life lessons with in her works. Sarah J. Maas has been such an influence on me, and will always be my favorite author for as long as I read.