Exposing The REAL Reason Behind Romantasy's Success | a deep dive into booktok's favourite subgenre

[@saramm3765]

I have a teenager and do not think YA should have spice. I wish they would separate YA from NA so parents could feel like they can count on whatever their kid picks up at the bookstore will be age appropriate if it's from the YA section. Instead I spend time double checking authors she likes and books she's interested in. I agree parents should be aware of what their kids are consuming but I also believe the publishing industry has a responsibility to not treat YA books the same way adult books are treated. Especially when some of these books are including bully romances and making young girls think that's okay. An adult knows it's fantasy but a teen might think it's normal. Also, why do adults want to read spice between teens? That's weird. If you want to age up characters through a series start the characters age 20. That's still young but an adult.

[@thebookbelle]

Thanks for your comment! Completely agree ☺️

[@whiteraven562]

I have mixed feelings on that subject. Lots of teenagers are s*xually active, so it seems like a good thing to have good, healthy depictions of that kind of relationship for them to read about. On the other hand, it feels like the vast majority of romances these days, at least in the fantasy space, are *not* healthy at all and would def give teens some incorrect, unsafe ideas about consent and boundaries

[@morganjones2744]

romantasy grew to some extent but was not called as such back in 2015 when ACOTAR was first published and didn't start getting as popular as it is now till around 2022 on tiktok The term was actually used back in 2008, but I can't really pinpoint how it was used in 2008 from anywhere. Based on how popular it's been for the last couple years, I can't imagine it would go away for a few more years at least; trends with books, like fashion, have a cycle. One trend was the hunger games dystopian rise; after hunger games became so so popular, writers went to ride that train and just kept at it till readers grew tired of it. I feel this may happen in a similar way with romantasy, but what is interesting is how split it is; people are either loving it or its completely not for them (some even go as far as hating it). I wonder what would happen once this trend falls downhill. I wonder if it will alter/change. I heard many tropes that readers do not like, and these things will likely be noted by authors (especially debut authors) as we continue on seeing more romantasy books.

[@thebookbelle]

Thanks for your comment - agree with all of this! :)

[@Hvitlys]

Could you do a detailed breakdown on why Fourth Wing has become such a huge phenomenon? I keep thinking it's not a very good book (it has many elements that I would criticise), but in spite of that, I read it, couldn't put it down, then had to continue immediately with Iron Flame and I've become obsessed with this world & characters. I really would like someone to analyse the elements that made this book such a massive phenomenon 🙂

[@thebookbelle]

Sadly there isn’t often a detailed reason why books become phenomenons - ultimately it’s a combination of lots of things working well - ie the cover, the concept, the state of where the market is at that moment in time, but also the book itself! Often, books that aren’t the BEST quality but have a commercial/hooky appeal will take off in a huge way mainly as they’re easy to read, and therefore accessible to a wider range of people, importantly those who aren’t regular readers! Hope that helps ☺️ publishing is a magical art sometimes and often the books you think will do really well don’t, and vice versa!

[@infinitecurlie]

Honestly speaking, I wish that Romantasy had its own section because it's shelved along with other authors like Sanderson and someone who reads romantasy and then goes to read Sanderson is going to experience a lot of whiplash because they might think that Romantasy is what fantasy as a whole is. At the same time, I get why they do it, because people catch a lot of flak for reading romance books. I'm intrigued by the taking off of spice scenes, BookTok, and books like Fourth Wing that took off even though (IMO) the book is terrible and it was poorly researched especially with the Scots Gaelic. I might be too biased though because as a fantasy writer, it's really easy for me to zoom in on things and criticize it that I guess others wouldn't. Idk i got to the gets-you-into-trouble-and-you-like-it-level-of-hot and put the book down because I just couldn't and if I wanted to then I would have read something on Wattpad instead. I have no problem saying that the book wasn't for me even though I love romance, fantasy, and some romantasy. 23:39 Great point. I remember reading Kresley Cole in high school (probably shouldn't have been LOL).

[@thebookbelle]

Really interesting points! Thanks for watching ☺️

[@HeatherHarrisfit]

I love this video! Thank you for the inside info 😜

[@thebookbelle]

Thanks so much for watching! ☺️

[@HeatherHarrisfit]

I love what you said about the plethora of romantacy similar titles and covers being published just bc of the similarities to successful books. That’s why I Love my booktube channels! I count on you guys’s reviews to help me make up my reading list. It’s way too overwhelming to walk into a bookstore and try and pick a good book. I feel like I would pick one that wasn’t that great just bc I liked the cover art 😜

[@thebookbelle]

Yes this is why I love booktube too! Can always rely on them for the recommendations ☺️ thanks for watching!

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

I feel like every Romantasy book I read is enemies to lovers 😂

[@thebookbelle]

So true… it’s so popular at the moment!

[@whiteraven562]

not only that, they speedrun it in the first book so the author can get to the "I love you"s...and then there's a third act break-up so that the couple resets to square one for the start of the next book. God forbid we get some slow burn anymore. Instant gratification only

[@V_4_Versace]

YA deserves love stories and maybe for older teen books to explore sex because it's crazy to exclude that whole part of a young person's reality and as adults I think we forget how often we were thinking about dates, and love, and contemplating sex as teens, but spice isn't necessary imo, especially when it veers into the unrealistic porn tropes that will give youth unreasonable expectations of how sex actually works. Also, as far as the genre remaining popular and lasting, I truly hope so but I'm nervous as someone who has seen too many girl-centric genres fall to the wayside, especially when they start making movies and tv shows about them... It's just too easy for patriarchal societies to see things made for women (especially as a visual media) and make fun of them as 'cheesy, childish, "girlboss" woke DEI trash' simply because men aren't the face 🙄.

[@thebookbelle]

Really great comment, thank you for sharing! ☺️

[@SolarmatrixCobra]

I wish booktok would promote more diverse books such as queer fantasy and/or featuring other kinds of marginalized authors and characters. It's sad to see time and time again how the most popular authors and books always seem to be white cishet at the forefront.

[@thebookbelle]

Agreed! Thanks for watching :)