Warning: This list contains spoilers for Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City.

Summary

• Sarah J. Maas' love interests often play into young adult fantasy tropes, sometimes creating questionable dynamics.
• Some of her love interests overcome initial shortcomings and become loving, ive partners.
• Rhysand, Rowan, Hunt, and Dorian are examples of well-developed love interests that fans appreciate.

Readers of Sarah J. Maas' multiple popular fantasy series come for the romance, but doubtlessly prefer certain love interests from her books over others. The Throne of Glass TV show, these romances will be a challenge to get right.

Unfortunately, some of Maas' love interests fall back into the worst tropes of the young adult fantasy genre. However, when the heroine moves past their worst actions so quickly, it is not clear if the story wants the reader to take these things seriously. On the other hand, these characters' best moments are often associated with Maas' strong depiction of mental health conditions in how they their partners. Finally, Maas fans know that there is a running joke in the fandom that the heroine will never end up with book one's love interest — something Maas establishes only to subvert later.

8 Tamlin Of The Spring Court

From A Court Of Thorns And Roses

Tamlin is the worst love interest in all of Maas' books for obvious reasons. He is initially framed as a typical supernatural love interest: powerful, mysterious, and dangerous. There are red flags in Feyre and Tamlin's relationship in the first book, yet Feyre falls in love with Tamlin and puts herself in terrible danger to save him. With all that she goes through, the reader is compelled to believe their love is the real thing. Then, in A Court of Mist and Fury, Tamlin becomes increasingly possessive, sexist, and generally unaware of what Feyre needs to heal from her trauma.

Feyre is always guarded and not allowed to leave the estate; when she tries to express that she feels suffocated, Tamlin "loses control" and lets out a harmful blast of power. Things culminate when she says she needs to do something useful, and he traps her in the house to prevent her from leaving. For a while after this, Tamlin refuses to believe that Feyre doesn't want to be with him anymore and insists Rhys must have kidnapped and brainwashed her. Romantic moments between them are retrospectively abusive, showcasing how this was always a toxic relationship.

7 Chaol Westfall

From Throne Of Glass

Chaol is sometimes compared to Tamlin favorably, with people pointing out that Chaol at least acknowledges his mistakes. Chaol's arc is characterized by a lot of self-doubt about himself and who he is fighting for, which makes him a poor partner at times. To some degree, Chaol was always afraid of Aelin/Celaena, even when they were together. When he sees the kind of violence she is capable of, he feels vindicated in not completely trusting her for the next few books. He then has romantic subplots with Nesryn and Yrene, the latter of whom he marries.

To some degree, Chaol was always afraid of Aelin, even when they were together.

Chaol's relationship with Nesryn is mostly casual, while he lashes out and says hurtful things to Yrene at some points. Again, these shortcomings are caused by his own inner turmoil. Once Chaol works through all this, he is a completely dedicated, loving husband to Yrene, while he and Aelin affirm that they will always love each other as friends. He implicitly s Yrene and Aelin both as two of the most powerful characters in the Throne of Glass series. However, Chaol still has a lot of points against him from when he unfairly blamed his partners for certain events.

6 Connor Holstrom

From Crescent City

Bryce's best friend is Danika, and Connor is Danika's second-in-command of her pack of wolf shapeshifters. Connor has long been interested in Bryce, but she does not date Vanir (the series' catch-all term for supernatural beings) as a rule because of her mother's experience of having to flee Bryce's father with her baby. Connor has a mild "won't take no for an answer" attitude, but Bryce's friends like him and think she should date him. After a bad date, Bryce agrees to allow him one chance, and Connor probably fully intended to be a completely respectful and adoring boyfriend.

Then Connor, Danika, and the rest of the pact are killed as the story's inciting incident, so he never gets the chance to do this. Additionally, the aftermath of this kind of proves Bryce's point regarding her reservations about dating Vanir. Bryce's phone is hacked and everyone finds out that she was partying and hooking up with another guy right after agreeing to go out with Connor. Bryce then becomes a pariah among the wolves for "cheating" on Connor. Connor might have had a good love story with Bryce, but the story just punishes her for even momentarily showing interest.

5 Hunt Athalar

From Crescent City

Hunt and Bryce have a pretty trope-y dynamic, where they are unwillingly paired up to investigate the deaths of Danika and her pack. At first, Bryce does everything she can to annoy Hunt, and Hunt thinks of her only as an insipid party girl. They slowly come to learn more about the other and their respective traumas and become each other's biggest pillars. Generally speaking, Hunt is a good love interest: He helps Bryce at her worst moments and respects her boundaries, recognizes how powerful and capable she is, and can be vulnerable enough to allow her to him.

Hunt is also the point where Maas subverts her own trope subversion; everyone doubted he would last because he is the book one love interest, and were all surprised when he and Bryce stay together. However, Hunt's biggest weakness is that he comes across as an obligatory love interest when Crescent City tells a much more compelling story about Bryce's relationship with Danika. Hunt is a good partner, but Bryce having a good partner is a given in this story when romance is such a big part of Maas' brand.

4 Rhysand Of The Night Court

From A Court Of Thorns And Roses

Rhysand "Rhys" is a beloved and deeply complex character from Maas' repertoire. Fans adore Rhys because of his sassy attitude and witty comebacks, while he is a great partner to Feyre — most of the time. Rhys' best attributes are how he helps Feyre with her mental health and is a champion of women in Prythian. When Feyre leaves Tamlin and takes refuge in the Night Court, she is very traumatized and depressed from her experiences with Amarantha. Rhys and the rest of his inner circle share their own coping strategies with Feyre, and she gradually regains her physical and mental health.

Once she is with Rhys, he encourages Feyre to become more powerful and rise as one of the leading political figures in Prythian.

Additionally, Prythian is a predominantly patriarchal society, an attitude that Tamlin imposes on Feyre's life. Once she is with Rhys, he encourages Feyre to become more powerful and rise as one of the leading political figures in Prythian. He also makes her his co-ruler and the first High Lady in Prythian's history. Rhys generally respects women more than some of the other High Lords, with Mor and Amren holding senior positions in his court. However, the story occasionally throws some subplots the reader's way that force them to consider how good of a partner Rhys really is.

Rhys demonstrates some problematic impulsive supernatural love interest traits that likely come from Twilight. Feyre has to set clear boundaries with Rhys, which he mostly respects. His treatment of her while they are in Amarantha's court is terrible, but the story excuses it because he did what he had to for them to survive. Then there is A Court of Silver Flames' worst Rhysand decision, where he doesn't tell Feyre that her pregnancy is potentially life-threatening. Because Rhys has some really great moments as a love interest, fans are hoping that the next book can do something to correct his worst storyline.

3 Rowan Whitethorn

From Throne Of Glass

Rowan has some similar strengths and weaknesses as a love interest as Rhys, but neither are as extreme. His relationship with Aelin has a bad start when he is assigned to train her by Queen Maeve. At first, this means Rowan beats Aelin up every day and verbally abuses her about her apparent apathy towards what is happening in Erilea. Like with several other supernatural love interests, the story then demands that the reader excuse this (Aelin certainly does) so they can become partners in crime and later lovers.

Once Rowan apologizes, he and Aelin both start to talk about their pasts, and they become friends and then partners. From here on out, Rowan's entire existence is about putting Aelin back on the throne. His ing her as a partner is inextricably linked to his serving her as a blood-sworn protector and consort. The story also emphasizes that Rowan is Aelin's match because of his substantial magical power. Aelin is a force of nature and the most powerful person in this world, and Rowan is one of the few people alive who will not be overwhelmed by her.

2 Sam Cortland

From Throne Of Glass

Sam is a completely perfect love interest, whose only caveat is that the story doesn't give him enough time to show how he and Celaena would have handled future challenges in their relationship. It is something he shares with Connor and some other pairings from Maas' career. Sam quietly loved Celaena the whole time they were both working for Arobyn and never expressed how he felt because he believed she preferred life with Arobyn. However, it becomes clear that in moments of crisis and danger, Sam will always rush to her side.

After she gets a confession out of him, and they buy their way out of Arobyn's service, the story does showcase some of the strengths of Sam and Celaena's relationship. They might have butted heads at some point over what they wanted their future to look like. However, when Arobyn tries to drive a wedge between them by asking Sam if Celaena has told him the truth (because Arobyn knows that Celaena is Aelin), Sam is loyal to her. He asserts that whatever her big secret is, she can tell him when she's ready, proving the trust between them.

1 Dorian Havilliard

From Throne Of Glass

With all of his romantic subplots in Throne of Glass, Dorian falls in love hard and fast. This becomes an issue with Aelin (then Celaena) when it turns out that he is far more invested in the relationship than she is. However, after being a little bit moody about the breakup, Dorian maturely accepts these circumstances and forces himself to let her go. When Aelin's relationship with Chaol falls apart within the same book, and she desperately needs a friend, Dorian is there to her. Dorian continues to be Aelin's biggest defender, even to Chaol.

After Aelin, Dorian meets and falls in love with Sorscha (in Heir of Fire). The story sadly prevents Dorian from showing how he might have received some of Sorscha's reservations about the relationship in the long run when she is killed at the end of the book. However, from Dorian and Sorscha's brief scenes together, the reader gets the impression that Dorian would like nothing more than to unconditionally adore and whoever ends up being his soulmate. This might have been Sorscha, but their romance is tragically cut short.

Dorian later has a relationship with Manon, who has a lot in common with Aelin, demonstrating one of Dorian's best qualities as a partner. Manon and Aelin are, quite frankly, both terrifying women who need to intimidate and occasionally decimate their enemies to reclaim their respective kingdoms. Meanwhile, Dorian only encourages them and offers occasional advice and comfort, both as Manon's partner and Aelin's ex-partner. Dorian's ability to accept and love both the best and worst parts of a partner makes him the best love interest in any of Sarah J. Maas' books.