Romantasy fiction, a blend of romance and fantasy, has become a publishing phenomenon, with UK book sales reaching £1bn in 2024 for the first time in years, driven primarily by women under 35. The genre, popularized on BookTok, offers escapist tales of magical kingdoms and empowered heroines, reflecting a growing disillusionment with modern heterosexual dating and political gender divides among young women.
Romantasy Sales Surge
Sales of science fiction and fantasy books increased by 41.3% between 2023 and 2024, largely due to romantasy's popularity. Sarah J Maas, author of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, has sold over 75 million copies worldwide. Rebecca Yarros's Onyx Storm recorded the biggest UK opening week for a hardback fiction title in a decade. The genre dominates bestseller charts, with female authors and readers at the forefront.
Emma Loffhagan, Guardian books writer, visited the opening of Bad Girl Books, Britain's first romantasy bookshop in Oxford. She observed a queue of about 100 people, mostly women, clutching totes with slogans like "hot girls read smut" and swapping recommendations. Only two men were present, waiting with their girlfriends.
Escapism and Female Gaze
Young women are drawn to romantasy for its female-centered narratives and male characters written from the female gaze. "The escapism is a really big element," says Loffhagan. "Women are the heroes, slaying dragons, while having amazing love stories. It doesn't feel like it can be achieved in the real world." Readers appreciate the world-building, friendships, and storylines, with many rejecting the stigma of "fairy porn."
BookTok, TikTok's book community, has fueled the genre's explosion. A TikTok representative at Hay festival described it as the biggest community on the platform, with billions of views for romantasy hashtags. This has boosted reading among young people, despite overall reading enjoyment falling to its lowest level in two decades.
Dating Disillusionment
The romantasy boom coincides with young women's disillusionment with modern heterosexual romance. Concepts like "heteropessimism" have gone mainstream, reflecting despair at being attracted to the opposite sex. A Vogue essay titled "Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?" sparked debate about women's aspirations beyond male validation.
Survey data reveals an ideological gender gap: young British women are more likely to identify as left-wing, while young men are nearly twice as likely to vote for Reform UK. "If you are a young woman today and you see that young men are less progressive than they were 30 years ago, it's really isolating," says Loffhagan, 26. She notes pessimism among friends who date men, and a growing awareness of how dating apps hinder offline engagement.
In-person singles events are emerging as a trend, offering hope for algorithm-free connections. "It's hopeful that we're acknowledging that something feels broken in dating and gender relations," Loffhagan adds, "and those discussions are partly prompted by the popularity of romantasy itself."
