ACOTAR or Throne of Glass first?
ACOTAR and Throne of Glass do not spoil each other. Start either. Finish both before Crescent City book two if crossovers matter to you.
Short answer
Either. They are different doors.
TOG and ACOTAR do not spoil each other. Pick the tone you want. Crescent City’s later books assume you already know both endgames.
Two finished-enough Maas doors
Throne of Glass is a complete assassin-to-epic run. Start with the novel Throne of Glass, not The Assassin’s Blade.
ACOTAR is the courtly romantasy door. Start with A Court of Thorns and Roses, not Silver Flames. Further ACOTAR novels are announced; that is not a reason to wait, and it is not a reason to treat TOG as ACOTAR book zero.
There is no required “Maas chronological order” that turns book one into a syllabus.
Crescent City is the spoiler engine
Crescent City book one can stand as its own case. From House of Sky and Breath onward, named crossovers arrive. If you care about that, finish TOG and get through the published ACOTAR run before Crescent City book two. See the Crescent City guide.
If you do not care about crossovers, you can read Crescent City as urban fantasy and treat the cameos as noise. That is a taste, not a rule.
How to choose if you only want one
Pick TOG if you want a finished long fantasy with a contested prequel. Pick ACOTAR if you want faerie courts and a novella that looks like a novel. You can read the other later. You cannot make Crescent City book two into a gentle on-ramp for either.
FAQ
Do I need TOG before ACOTAR?
No.
Do I need ACOTAR before TOG?
No.
Should I start with Crescent City?
Not if the other two series are on your list and spoilers bother you. Start with House of Earth and Blood only if this is the series you actually want.
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