Gen Z, it turns out, are addicted to reading – but the books they’ve become obsessed with are far from tame.
Beloved on TikTok, the ‘Romantasy’ genre – a blend of romantic and fantasy fiction – has taken the world by storm, with its fans being mainly young middle-class women.
The books feature faeries, mythical kingdoms and dragons – and, most importantly, very detailed sex scenes – to the extent that the genre has been dubbed ‘fairy porn’.
Indeed, Spotify‘s top audiobook for 2024 was A Court Of Thorns And Roses (ACOTAR) by American author Sarah J Maas, who is widely considered to have spearheaded the popularity of the romantasy genre.
Romantasy was first posted on Urban Dictionary in 2008, but it’s thanks to TikTok, and Maas – whose books have sold 37 million copies – that it’s really taken off.
ACOTAR features a protagonist called Feyre and her love interest High Lord faerie Tamlin. Even more dastardly and alluring is the lord of the Night Court – Rhysand, the epitome of tall dark and handsome, with spades of sex appeal.
Also popular is Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing, described as ‘The Hunger Games meets 50 Shades Of Grey’ – again featuring morally grey love interest Xaden Riorson.
Love Island star Chloe Burrows has enthusiastically recommended the ACOTAR series, telling her TikTok followers that she’s ‘in love’ with the hero Rhys and felt ‘depressed’ she only had one book left.
The ‘Romantasy’ genre has taken over TikTok – and its spicy scenes have readers ‘obsessed’. Pictured: TikToker Corrie recommends Fourth Wing
Holding up A Court Of Frost And Starlight, she said: ‘Guys this is my application to BookTok. I’ve just finished this, and I’m depressed because now I only have one book left. I honestly can’t imagine life where I’m not thinking about ACOTAR. I am obsessed.
‘Sometimes I catch myself in the middle of a conversation thinking about it, I think about it all day long. I think it’s because I’m in love, I’m in love with Rhys.
‘I want to read it again and I didn’t even do that in English and I did it for A-level.’
The TikTok hashtag for ACOTAR alone has been viewed over 14 billion times, with the appeal put down to the high levels of ‘spice’ and ‘smut’.
One tamer sentence from A Court Of Mist And Fury reads: ‘His mouth found mine, the kiss open and deep, a clash of tongues and teeth. He lay me down on the pillows, and I locked my legs around his back, careful of the wings.’
And later: ‘With one long claw, he shredded through silk and lace, and my undergarment fell away in pieces.’
In Fourth Wing, the main character Violet has the power to wield lightning, and does so during intense moments of intimate activity.
On TikTok, Grace’s Book Nook said: ‘There are two kinds of people in this world. There are people who have read ACOTAR and there are absolute f***ing wrong-uns!
Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing is described as ‘The Hunger Games meets 50 Shades Of Grey’. Pictured: Angelina Frerk
Alicia Whatmore from Manchester added that she ‘didn’t know what to do with herself’ after finishing the ACOTAR series
‘Listen, there is only one way to live your life, and that is on the Sarah J Maas train. Choo choo, all aboard.
‘These books will change your life and you’re going to want to buy all of them.’
And Corrie, who runs TikTok account @booksinmy30s said of Fourth Wing: ‘There are two books in the series so far so it didn’t feel very daunting. These are so good, these got me out of my ACOTAR hangover.
‘The story is really good, it’s set in a war college where they’re training to be dragon riders. We have dragons in these books!
‘I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the dragons, but by the end of this book I was wondering why the hell my career path hadn’t ended up with me being a dragon rider. It was all I really wanted to do. I promise you’ll really like these, we’ve got romance.’
Alicia Whatmore from Manchester added that she ‘didn’t know what to do with herself’ after finishing the ACOTAR series.
Romantasy, however, can be hard to spot as they often have discreet covers as readers seek to keep their racy reading habits on the down low.
The Washington Post says: ‘The fastest way to tell if you’re looking at a romantasy is the title. Is there a common noun, followed by two that involve something terrestrial and something corporeal? A House of Earth and Blood? A Song of Blood and Stone You’ve got romantasy.’
Love Island star Chloe Burrows has enthusiastically recommended the ACOTAR series
Chloe told her TikTok followers that she’s ‘in love’ with the hero Rhys and felt ‘depressed’ she only had one book left
In addition to TikTok stars, the racy novels have caught the attention of celebrities including Margot Robbie and Dua Lipa.
It’s estimated that UK sales of Romantasy totalled £27million last year, up from £15 million in 2022.
The first ACOTAR book has more than three million reviews on Goodreads, while Yarros’s Iron Flame, was the most pre-ordered title in a single day in November 2023.
A Court Of Thorns And Roses (ACOTAR) is being adapted for TV by Hulu, and the rights to Fourth Wing have been optioned by Amazon MGM Studios.
The trend is led by Gen Z – but now women of all generations are thought to be joining in – and it’s considered to be a resurgence of the ‘bonkbusters’ popular in the 1970s and 1970s, such as Dame Jilly Cooper’s Rivals.
‘Of course the girls are reading horny fairy books. It’s cheaper than travel and more fun than therapy,’ wrote Emily Mulligan in The Guardian.
Romantasy books are even inspiring weddings – as now that the TikTok generation is tying the knot, their favourite online trends are seeping their way into wedding ceremonies.
The trend sees social media users taking their avid adoration for fantasy novels, such as Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and implementing them into their special day.
On TikTok, Grace’s Booknook said there are two types of people – those who have read ACOTAR, and those who haven’t
The term ‘Booktok’ has seen an 8500 per cent growth in popularity, with more than 110,000 Google searches in the past month for the phrase alone, according to wedding planning site Hitched.co.uk.
With a staggering 46.3 million views on the tag #HarryPotterWedding, the children’s fantasy fiction set in the wizarding world is the series heading the movement and inspiring book lovers to hold non-traditional weddings.
However, the Romantasy genre has also sparked concerns and have been accused of taking over Young Adult fiction – with teenagers being exposed to the spicy reads.
Young Adult fiction (YA) has become increasingly ‘adultified’ due to a trend for ‘spicy’ reads on TikTok, which have replaced the likes of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.
Books such as A Court Of Thorns And Roses by Sarah J Maas, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (both based in the US) and The Spanish Love Deception by Spanish writer Elena Armas – which all contain adult themes and explicit scenes – are popular recommendations on the app.
Avid readers on the platform often rate their racy literary finds with a red chilli emoji according to how likely a reader is to find sultry themes and dynamics.
Romantasy author Sarah J Maas (pictured in February) is widely considered to have spearheaded the genre
More than half of readers choosing to read YA books are in fact over 18, according to WordsRated, which may, in part, be down to the content appealing to an older audience.
Earlier classic examples of YA fiction include The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, and books by John Green, which all worked to bring ‘grown-up’ concepts like politics, mortality and self-discovery to a younger audience.
But now the genre consists predominately of what is known as ‘romantasy’ and the predominance of spicy sub-plots has left little room for those with other interests.
Some of the content is also difficult to spot, as books such as the Love Hypothesis have unobtrusive and even cartoon-like covers, meaning that readers may not know what they are getting into.
‘Tell me why this was in our school library at the science section,’ said one TikTok commenter about the Love Hypothesis, which includes a very explicit sex scene.
Sarah J Maas’s works are now considered to be ‘New Adult’, for readers aged between 18 and 29 – although they were first published in the YA category.
Source link
