The romantasy genre has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. In 2023 and 2024, the romantasy genre gained ascendance thanks to the widespread influence of various social media trends, especially TikTok’s “BookTok” community. BookTok first rose to popularity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as users gathered to share book recommendations, review books, and forge communities focused on literature. BookTok helped popularize the romantasy genre; novels that fit this category blend fantasy and romance but maintain a primary focus on the romance aspects of the plot. Key features of romantasy books include sprawling and intricate world-building, unique magical systems, strong female heroines, and epic journeys featuring intense danger. The romantic relationships that drive these plots often engage with typical romance tropes and patterns, such as the enemies-to-lovers dynamic or the slow-burn romance. Popular series in the romantasy genre include Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros; A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas; Cruel Prince by Holly Black; and Crowns of Nyaxia by Carissa Broadbent.

Romantasy novels vary in their levels of sexual content, which BookTokers often euphemistically refer to as “spice,” but regardless of a book’s “spice level,” romance remains a central focus of every romantasy novel.