Відео

Honestly if it's not Aragorn and Arwen/Beren and Luthien levels of intensity and dedication I don't want it. If it's not "ungloved dancing in 2020 Emma" I don't want to hear about how scandalous it is. I love romance and fantasy, but I want both to be good and have actual characters

I genuinely don't get why they (publishers, book stores) are trying to market these as fantasy first and romance second - they're all more fantastic romance than romantic fantasy. Why not just put the romance as the first bullet point and mention that there are faes and dragons involved, since most readers are here for the -smut- romance anyway? Does the "fantasy" genre actually attract more people in the romantasy crowd?? Sheesh, leave the fantasy shelves for the authors who have thought their world and plot through.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE romantasy… HOWEVER this was BEFORE it became a popular/official(?) genre and it was always fantasy that had a romance subplot that i loved. Literally ever since it became popular online it’s become something else that i can barely stand to read.

its also a stupid wish fantasy that a thiusand year old magical being will find a twenty year old girl attractive in any way

Did not expect the My Tender Knight shoutout lmao honestly if your book reads like historical romance with a shirtless guy on the cover it shouldn't function as fantasy in the same way those historical romances aren't equal to 1000 page Ken Follet novels (not that those are perfect just. different level of historical fiction innit...)

I have read my fair share of the faerie smut. But I never go into it for the amazing writing lol. It's just a trashy novel. like the book equivalent of the jersey shore. I feel like it has its place but I dont like that it's taken over. I want to see a wider range of stuff. Booktube and Booktok both only suggest YA romantasy stuff to me. I enjoy stuff from all genres so how I got pigeonholed like that in the algorithm is crazy. Oh I wanted to add I read The Blood Ties series by Jennifer Armintrout (now goes by Jenny Trout) many years ago. It's out of print I think but still lives on kindle. Not sure if it would qualify as urban romantasy but it def had some smut in it. Compared to newer romantasy I think the story was better. The whole love triangle and enemies/lovers thing wasn't as cut and dry and there were a lot of things going on to make everyone do what they did. But it was a good read.

Unique movie: MONSters by Kore Eda Shoplifters by Kore Eda . The Man From Earth 2007...heads up...there is religion as topic...I don't watch religion-topic movies...I do very much enjoy this one and have re-watch is multiple times as I love the phylosophy and psychology aspects in it.

Video is worth your time! ✨️☺️✨️ The only fantasy romance books that I can suggest to you are Radiance by Grace Draven [with 10% sexy time] and Elf Prince and Fierce Heart by Tara Grayce [0% sexy time]. Most unique one: Long may She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas...smart FMC, good side characters + NO ROMANCE 🙀

8:00 till 9:00 is THE BEST PART OF THIS VIDEO FOR ME! That are the book woman write for [young] female readers? 🤨 The woman write their wishfull fullfillment! Man with no brain cells and waaaits for women to decide when she is going to be ready and fall in love with him and say the L word 🙄 Apparently in RL you want a healty communication in relationship but in books the men is just a body with 1✨️ or 5✨️ smut to it 😮‍💨 . To me it looks the woman writters want to bully man back because of wrongs done in the past. What was that saying about POWER....😑 . I really get sooo angry! I have read a book where I was literarly wishing for the MMC to drop the woman....but noooo he has stars in his eyes and worships the ground she walks 🤢 ... I wonder if that book was a sapphic romance would the Elf Queen allow being treated 😈 like that by a Human Woman? Thank you for reading my rant ☺️

Then maybe... Don't read it?

Omfg i was sooooo fucking pissed when i got invested into the world of The Cruel Prince and in the finale, THE MC AND SAID PRINCE ENDED UP TOGETHER 🤢 Fuck. My. LIFE. 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Commenting as im going so edit: youre so right. Zuko set the bar so high and we've been chasing that feeling ever since

im writing a fantasy with a romantic subplot... im genuinely tired of romance being forced with no adding to the themes and or being toxic... itll add to the themes becayuse the themes are about loving eachother despite our differences, and being ourselves ((ik its chliche but its important)) , Their relationship will work towards this theme because they are technically on opposing sides in a civil war... ((though not qualifying as enemies to lovers cuz they dont hate eachother when the romance starts, its more like enemies to friends to lovers yk)) also the two will slowly open up to one another and encourage them to be themselves :) also ima make em not toxic, i hate it when romance is toxic and has really stupid beef in it, or is just straight up abusive... they are gonna be wholesome, maybe theyll argue but theyll always stick by eachother at the end of things :) its gonna be wholesome af and no one will stop me mwahahahah !!!! also i wont force it, itll go slow; theyll become a thing roughly a third way in, maybe half mark at the earliest... im gonna attempt to make them be really close and wholesome with one another before becoming a thingy cuz imo the best romances is when you want them to be a thing even before it becomes one; or even implied to be one... also side not but as a guy i hate how theres not really much diversity in love interests, also why are they all assholes ??? ive felt more emotions than just being angry at people 😭, also this sets up really bad expectations in romance for both women and men .... people need good role models :) especially when it comes to YA cuz mostly teens read it. also about diversity, i hate it when theres like no disabled characters sm in fantasy, im disabled and i can name a total of three disabled characters in fantasy; Hiccup + toothless httyd, Starflight wof, toph atla, ((2/4 of em are dragons)) ... This issue of lack of representation everywhere is across all genres but seems to be very present in fantasy :/ also where are the mobility aid users ??? the invisibley disabled characters, and the neurodiverse ??? Another thing that bugs me is so many villans have burn scars and generally are just scarred up, like dude i have a burn scar and im not planning the end of the world 😭chill tf out...(also this negative rep made me feel gross and has had negative consequences on my life cuz i thought my friends wouldve hated me if they saw how "gross" my burn scar was, or that theyd think im evil or something... representation in media affects real life)

the only romantasy i’ve read and liked is Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries and T. Kingfisher’s Paladin books. But maybe it’s because I’m getting older and want older protagonists? I read SJM books when they first came out and went through an obsessive phase but I’ve been burned out for years 😂

Thank you for voicing so eloquently my issues with romantasy these days. I thought I just became more conservative with age.

I mean doesn’t violet literally have two dragons, so that if one of them does die, then she has got plot armour and she won’t?💀

Didn't realize how good we had it with older YA until booktok... Honestly my biggest problems are with the trend-chasing, shoving smut in everyone's face, and "dark romance" that's literally just abuse. Then you put those things together and you get young folks being taught that actual abuse is just kinky quirky spice. Enemies to lovers and "dark romance" has so much potential, and yet everything is so shallow. Like you mentioned in the video, things like enemies to lovers needs complex characters, and romantasy can't even commit, they're just checking off boxes. "Dark romance" that I'd like to see is either tragic (think characters in a horror story/messed up situation, or characters who are co-dependent or clash) or a relationship where one or both are dangerous, but not purposefully to each other (like someone who would go to any lengths to protect their partner, or they have ~dark magic~ but do their damndest to not let it touch their partner). It doesn't have to be the healthiest relationship, but there's a difference between "we have issues" and "one literally owns the other or whatever and they purposefully hurt each other"

20:02 who are they?

fantasy romance books with non head strong bland stupid protag’s? and actually interesting love interest? PLEASE RECOMMEND

s3x with emotional connection? 🥱 Boring. Been there, done that. Available whenever I want. s3x _without_ emotional connection? Or even better, with _negative_ emotions? 😎 Exotic. Unattainable. Fascinating. Can't look away.

I'm so glad I've found this video. I love fantasy and it genuinely pisses me off how many books are marketed in the fantasy genre when they're actually just badly written romance (sometimes even just porn on paper) with pretty much no fantasy elements. And there's nothing wrong with books like that but put them where they belong!! In the romance section!! I hate to say this but I've started avoiding contemporary fantasy books written by female authors because it's a disappointment every time

Shout-out to The Invisible Library for being a fun fantasy detective story with strong romance elements while also being slow-burn. I recently finished the whole series and it hits all the reasons why world-building makes a fantasy story functional, so that when the romance develops you can actually enjoy it, while not having to be confused about how the world works.

I just they would keep these books out of the fantasy section and put them in YA where they belong. They should not be shelved with the likes of Tolkien and Martin. Call me a book snob, I do not know you or care that you even like me. What I love is classic fantasy or modern fantasy that focuses more on the fantasy of an epic tale than girls falling in love.

A friend of mine ranted about this whole thing the other day and on the point of characters feeling immediate bodily attraction to each other despite hating each other she said something along the lines of: "they're falling in _lust_ with each other and the girlies are telling me that's love and leave it at that throughout the rest of their 500 page books? Respect my time _and_ your own characters enough to either build a better romance or let them stay hating each other with f*cking every now and then" And she was so right about that honestly

W

I don’t like romantasy because of three things it just for some reason can’t avoid: annoying, brooding men with a martyr complex, giant man tiny woman troupe/some vague gesturing toward alpha male culture, and a lack of depth in any character at all. These authors want there to be flaws so they can write enemies to lovers but the flaws are like… “he loves too hard” or “she has anxiety” or “he has a secret”. OR they make the men just god awful people who murder hundreds but then with a hand wave they excuse it. There is never any depth. I think this is fine if you are writing a fantasy so the shitty romance can hide behind the plot and character development, but once you remove a plot there is nowhere to hide the bullshit anymore.

I really don't mind sex scenes or smut in books as long as it serves a purpose. Everything in a book needs to further the story, so a sex/smut scene should show something about the characters and their relationship, how they feel about this sort of vulnerability and intimacy, how they communicate during it, if they're comfortable with it and if they express that, etc. Unfortunately I think in a lot of romantasy the smut is included because people think romance=has smut scene and so they need to include it

cruel prince is the only romantasy book that i read and literally wtf was that experience 😭 i actually liked cardan, he was supposed to be cruel, i thought he was still a compelling character. jude though... i didnt feel her at all. i felt like the author was trying too hard to make her a badass just for the sake of being a badass (though she does have flaws which is already better than sjm). i knew from the moment taryn was introduced that she'd have beef with jude over a boy, just from the way her character was written to be more 'feminine'. actually i liked the book until the end of it but the end had me like 🤨 because of that, and the fact that i know the romantasy books are basically just copies of each other, i never touched booktok again 😭 i thought i hated enemies to lovers now, and i only liked enemies to friends to lovers but i loved kanthony in bridgerton so the problem is obviously just bad writing 😭

I feel like at this point publishers need to strap these straight, allosexual romantasy writers to a chair (because let’s be honest, most queer romances / romantic subplots in fiction usually aren’t nearly as explicit and terribly written) and enforce limitations on how much smut they are allowed to write in their books and tell them that the relationships they are writing are glorifying abusive behavior. Because if the publishing industry continues to promote and reward these writers for their poorly written sex scenes and abusive relationship dynamics, I feel like the readers of romantasy novels are going to romanticize these abusive fictional relationships and won’t see any red flags if they get themselves into a similar relationship in their own lives.

i watched this as someone who likes a good romantasy lmao

As a young adult author, I find it really encouraging to watch videos discussing writing tropes and pet peeves. It’s reassuring to know that my approach to writing is on the right track. For instance, in my current book that I'm writing, I explore the enemy-to-lovers trope. The characters start off with a lot of animosity due to valid reasons and family influences, but as they spend time together, they gradually come to understand and appreciate each other. I focus on making sure that their flaws and positive traits are portrayed authentically, without glamorizing the negative aspects. It’s a journey for the main character, starting from being uncomfortable around the other person, to developing a friendship, and eventually falling in love.

If you want good romance in actual fantasy books, read Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. She's great at writing interesting and flawed characters. The world building is fascinating and the romance is not big, but there.

Great video, new follower from me!

the german accent is HEAVYYY hahahahahha

I think that in order to be able to fully enjoy Romantasy, it needs to be considered as it's own distinct genre. If you consider "Romantasy" as its own genre, rather than fantasy with a sprinkle of romance or romance with a sprinkle of fantasy, then you'll likely be disappointed, as neither of these "typical" readers will have their expectations met by the majority of books in this genre. I also think that Romantasy has drawn up an even bigger issue that we need to think about: the distinction between what's considered "Young Adult" vs "Adult". I really do think that even the term "young adult" is vague. Maybe it needs to be rebranded as "Teen" vs. "Adult" instead, especially since the current distinction between them is essentially whether or not the book contains "spice".

such a great video!! 💗👏🏼 GaLiGrü an dich! Weiter so xxx

I cracked up when you said, "No, I want her to look like this when he pushes her down the stairs" and the Bullying to Baby Girl category! So much of what you said is spot on. I recently read the first "The Time I Got Drunk..." book thinking it might be slightly different and because it had so much hype, but it was basically the same as everything you just mentioned (except the female protagonist is black). I was actually pissed off after I finished reading that book.

So, my main issue is less with the genre and its tropes and marketing or whatever and more specifically how people interact with it. I *despise* the argument "you dislike it because you can't handle the female MC/point of view/whatever and because people costantly shit on the interest of young women". This is a whole can of worms where a lot of grown ass men in their 30s still live. They can't accept that young girls may like something they don't. But it's besides the topic that enrages me. The point I wanted to talk about is that they try to hide behind this "you dislike it because muh sexism / you are a pick-me". No buddy, I dislike it because it sucks ass. There have been countless books before with female characters as the MC that loved someone and had a sexuality. It's just that your brand of this isn't well written. Just looking at my library I see the Black Magician trilogy, anything with a female MC by Sanderson, I see Le Guin's books as well, by the way. A woman not exclusively writing about young women, think about that! Your YA/NA fantasy romance ain't anything new darling. It just has more porn into it. This honestly sums up the entire topic as far as I am concerned. Many of these are young people or new readers, and it's wrong to shit on them BUT there is a reason why we dislike these things and wish people read more stuff. Damn, I remember whatever I read back then myself, but that's not all I have read in my life. Fellow Italians will surely remember the craze for Licia Troisi's books which, for the not fellow Italians, was a rather big author back in the 00s for fantasy over here. And I swear to God, looking back at it her books feel like Booktok stuff. Badass young women MC who somehow also cry endlessly all the fucking time. Terrible worldbuilding. Characters that are there only as props for the MC to either love, be better than them or kill. Magic that's basically a plot device but pretends to have a system. But even in that, you could still find nuggets of something else. She had some original ideas as far as fantasy concerned for example. Yeah the worldbuilding wouldn't last one small analysis, but at least it wasn't just "medieval fantasy copy of X real country" or "fae magic!". At least some characters sometimes had stuff to do that wasn't related with the MC existence (ex: in the second book the male love interest goes on his own sidequest as an ambassador to some potential allies in an underwater nation. Yeah, imagine that, he more stuff going on than being horny AND it was something fantastical!). And I cringe looking back at them, yet I still feel some kind of fondness for them. Because I grew up, I developed my tastes, but ultimately that's where I started caring about fantasy as a genre (and literature in general). But the fondness is related with that: my experience with it back at the time. As a grown ass adult now, I have been exposed to more stuff (I *looked* for it) and developed a taste of my own. Hell, maybe if I read them again I would enjoy parts of it again, dunno. But God, I am not still reading THAT and only THAT kind of thing. This is the issue with Romantasy. Sure, the 15yo picking up a fantasy novel for the first time may enjoy something like Lightlark. I understand why they like it (albeit I am not comfortable with how much the entire genre is basically just erotica with a disguise on and it's being sold to young girls). But after they are 15yo they become 16yo. Then 17yo. At some point they will hit their 20s. And then their 30s. Will they still onl read the kind of thing that Lightlark or Fourth Wing are? Because that's what it looks like. It has been 4 years since the Covid outbreak and the same fucking pattern of books is spammed endlessly. And the same people pick up the new entry in the Dark Violent Brooding Man Controls My Life But In Fantasy-land genre. If this is all they are exposed to, if they never receive the *IDEA* that there can be more to fiction... it's just sad to me.

while we are at it, if i ever see someone that like romantacasy unironically complai nabout anime or videogame girls, its on sight

yeah i agree with you so much, many romantasy books are the same now, shoving random tropes into them, always trying to have enemies to lovers, having the same boring characters, and too much spice or whatevrr. its so hard to find new good books these days, its annoying and sad

I'm so glad that romantacy has come to be recognized as its own subgenre because that makes it easier for me to avoid it when I'm looking for fantasy-focused books.

I'm grateful for some clarity. I haven't been able to get far with these books.

In my opinion, those who write romantasy use a visual learning style versus a sound or tactile.

I so love your style! Here's hoping your channel grows!! 💜💜

I really want to get back into young fantasy but I HATE the stupid love stories and smut. Thats why i havent read phantasy in years. I always thought i am the only one with this issue, i just want an interesting book with a good premise and actually fleshed out characters

random but it’s sad that a lot of the “illustrations” you use of the characters are actually AI-generated. not blaming you, but moreso blaming the authors/whoever decided to generate a bunch of garbage instead of hiring a real artist

I don't know, maybe it's the aroace in me, but I'm always so annoyed when the introduction of a love interested is absolutely drowned out by the author beating you over the head with "they're attractive, ok? They look so gorgeous, you can't even imagine!!" Because 1 - it always makes me dislike them on instinct, 2 - it becomes so obvious that they're not really a character in their own right as much as they are a "love interest" and anything that happens to them will directly tie into their romantic potential and 3 - it's just annoying. I wanna see a love story (esp if it's an enemies to lovers) where the characters come to respect and understand each other before they feel any sort of attraction. Like, yeah, people fall in love in different ways, but also - it's not just pretty people that get to fall in love. I think stories where a characters aren't absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, where they aren't immediately drawn to each other, has so much more potency and authenticity to each other, because then you actually get to see why they come to feel for each other. Not just because they're both hot. Maybe even a character that isn't seen as attractive by the mc at first, until they get to know each other better, and the love interest becomes uniquely beautiful to them. Sorry for the ramble.

I was nervous going into this video because I've been working on writing a fantasy series with romance in it. I laughed all the way through this video because genuinely, I agree with every bit of this. It's actually stuff I feel like romantasy authors should really look at. I tried reading ACOTAR, and the male/female thing set my teeth on edge, and the repetition of phrases as well as there being no real plot was very frustrating. That series alone is why I'm hesitant to pick up other romantasy genre books, but have heavily been reading fantasy when all I used to read is horror.

As someone who really dislikes most romance and romantasy books, I agree with many of the points made. I would, however, say that when a book or series gets really popular, it often leads to others trying to either replicate it or create something in the same genre knowing its having its moment. This isn't strictly a romantasy thing. Fantasy has been all over the place before romantasy and so has dystopian and science fiction. People often don't mention that because they personally like these genres. Weren't the years of Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, GOT etc quite heavy on fantasy and epic fantasy? As for the value of books, you literally said in less than 2 minutes of the video that you really enjoyed watching something you found bad and cringe and that's probably what a lot of fans of Mass, Yarros and others get from them. For example, I personally could never get into Harry Potter. The writing was bad enough to never engage me but criticising the series is sacrilege for millions of people who grew up reading and finding comfort in it. I both find those experiences validating while maintaining that I found the book to be terrible. I completely agree on the problematic tropes in romance and romantasy. But I feel it's the way it is because most romance and romantasy authors apply a Harlequin formula. Their characters do not have much personality other than the tropes they represent. The way they interact with each other is based on the Harlequin 'Enemies to Lovers', 'Brooding/Sunshine', 'Fake Dating' formula. That's why it can feel comforting to those who want that kind of reading experience which is quite predictable and over the top. That being said, we all take different things from different books at different times and it's perfectly valid to love them for different reasons.

the snark coming off the screen made my whole life - to me, enemies to lovers romance is about yearning and people coming together despite their differences or whatever the external forces are, if they can't build a world that gives credence to why these people shouldn't be together and what makes it so angsty....why are we here?. Where's the build-up? Especially in fantasy where the sky is the actual limit on what kind of intrigue you can bring into a story... There's no nuance, no yearning/longing/or true acrimony between characters to make it believable and horrible s*x scenes don't make up for it - I'd rather read a contemporary romance novel that does this well in 200 pages than a 500 page tome that goes nowhere o:(

Fourth Wing being rebeca's first fantasy book makes so much sense now