Sarah J. Maas fans think they have worked out the reason behind the new special editions of the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series.

The exclusive Night Court Editions were first announced back in January, with fans immediately expressing their disappointment at the cover design. The new books feature a back and silver foiled cover with black sprayed edges, which disgruntled fans have described as "underwhelming" and "boring" on TikTok.

But as readers eagerly await news of the , they've come up with a theory for why the special editions have been released now. Posting to TikTok, @kevintnorman, who has over 260,000 followers, shared his working theory.

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"Ok I have a theory as to why the new ACOTAR special editions are just plain basic black," he said. "I think it's solely just to attract more men into reading the series.

"Hear me out, because ACOTAR is growing so much in popularity you start to see girls convince their boyfriends to read it and I think the series just becoming more and more popular and people are talking about it and they want men to pick it up."

He explained that he believes the existing ACOTAR covers, which are red, blue, purple and orange, are less appealing to the male demographic, adding: "So if they're all black I think they think they're more inclined to read it."

People in the comments section seemed to agree with Kevin's theory, with one writing: "I'm inclined to believe this theory, that's a good point. It's the bookish Dude Wipes."

Another said: "No because actually that's probably it tbh. So underwhelming for 10 year anniversary edition though tbh," while a third wrote: "This... actually makes a lot of sense."

And a different commenter said: "I think you might be on to something here. The only reason I was able to convince my husband to read is because the cover looked cool."

Meanwhile, another ACOTAR fan looked for the silver lining, adding: "I'm actually so glad that these aren't prettier [than the original covers] because if they released gorgeous editions of an unfinished series I would feel so mad."

The Night Court Edition of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series will be be available to buy from April 29, exclusively from Waterstones.