What Is Romantasy?

What exactly is Romantasy?

If you were just about anywhere online in 2023, you probably heard the term “Romantasy”, and wondered…what does it mean? In the simplest terms, “romantasy” is a literary category that blends the best elements of both romance and fantasy genres. Maybe you saw one of the viral videos about Fourth Wing on #BookTok, or saw a copy of A Court of Thorn and Roses at your local bookstore, and wondered what they were all about. You wouldn’t be alone—romantasy was one of the most popular book genres in the past year and it’s gaining more and more readers by the day. So what is it about romantasy that’s making people turn page after page?

Epic Love:

The characters in romantasy books traverse realms and enemy lines for their love—it’s like regular romance, but the stakes are so much higher. And all that action creates an adrenaline filled story that’s nearly impossible to put down. In the audiobook style story, Wings of Winter, fae, humans, elves, and witches enter into a hunger-games style competition to return seasons back to their wintry realm. But Rowan, the son of the King, falls for a human warrior who enters the competition which makes what is already an intense story, much more high stakes.

Escapism and Adventure:

Sometimes a good book can feel like a great vacation, for a few minutes or a few hours, you’re whisked away from the routine of your day to day life and immersed in another world. Romantasy books, take literary escapism to the next level–readers explore worlds with supernatural creatures like fae and dragons and explore worlds completely unfamiliar from their own. In Moonshadowe Chronicles, sworn enemies Fang and Lilla are forced to traverse hundreds of leagues from the Northern Kingdom to the Southern Kingdom, and along the way…fall in love.

Extra Spicy Sex:

Romantasy doesn’t have to follow the rules of regular literature or even real life. Characters have supernatural strength and abilities… and all those extra abilities transfer over into the bedroom. In Forbidden Fruit, a greek myth reimagined, Hades and Persephone use magic to make their sex so much spicier–vines turn into bondage and crystals into sex toys…

It’s clear that Romantasy is here to stay. If you’re already a fan and looking for more or if you’re just looking to dip your toe into this new genre, download Dipsea to check out a wide array of series.