The romance-fantasy genre, colloquially known by the portmanteau “romantasy,” has massively blown up in recent years, largely thanks to #BookTok. So many of the books that content creators feel most passionately about—and that then go viral as the obsession spreads—seem to be those that involve magic, non-human creatures, and fantastical world-building, all anchored by a powerful love story detailed in a wide variety of so-called “spice levels” to suit any reader.
Romantasy novels are so mega-popular that they were credited in 2024 with helping to boost print book sales into their first positive increase since 2021. Bloomberg estimated that the genre's book sales alone reached $610 million in 2024, a significant jump from the already impressive $454 million total in 2023.
