Written by: Jane Grounds
Kelsey Woods is a film composer who uses her free time to create music inspired by the incredibly popular fantasy book series, A Court of Thorns and Roses by author Sarah J. Maas. As a New York Times Bestseller, the series and author have garnered an intense following thanks to the 13 million books sold worldwide and a devoted fanbase behind those sales—with Kelsey Woods leading the charge. Her latest song “To Keep You from Breaking,” is a beautiful example of how Woods channels her passion for the series into beautifully orchestrated, easily digestible orchestral movements.
Kelsey Woods has tirelessly worked to transpose the raw emotion from the books into musical notes that evoke passionate reactions from the listeners. Reading the chapters of the book while listening to Kelsey Woods’ music creates the illusion that you are being surrounded by the story, allowing the book to come to life around you.
The first song in the collection, “Music Under the Mountain” boasts almost nearly half-a-million streams on Spotify alone, introducing Woods's talent for weaving majestic violin melodies. Woods followed up that with the ethereal “Chapter 54,” before releasing the third installment “To Keep You From Breaking” this week. Woods' passion for the world of Maas’ novels is evident from the careful, imaginative movements with each release, creating a wonderful listening experience that even people unfamiliar with the work can appreciate.
In addition to composing this evolving musical piece of art, Kelsey Woods has also amassed a large following on TikTok, where she shares a behind-the-scenes view of her labor of love. Hulu, the popular streaming service, is producing a TV series based on the popular books, and many of Kelsey Woods’ TikTok fans are trying to get Hulu to include this music in the TV series.
Find more from Kelsey Woods here.