by Marleigh Green
If you’re anything like me, and you spend way too much time on BookTok, you’ve
probably seen people talking about books that blend the genres of Romance and Fantasy.
Together, they form the power couple: Romantasy. But what exactly does it mean? What makes
a book straight up Fantasy versus Romantasy?
Romantasy is defined as a subgenre of Fantasy where there is a romance subplot that
exists alongside the Fantasy main plot. How intrinsic the romance is to the plot depends on the
book. For example, I wouldn’t label a book like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings a Romantasy,
because romance is such a minor aspect of the story, despite what the films might suggest. You
could make the argument that Melissa Caruso’s The Obsidian Tower qualifies, since a romance
subplot exists, even though the main story isn’t driven forward by it.
If you’re curious about reading books within the genre of Romantasy to see what it’s all
about, but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. Here is a list with mini,
spoiler-free synopses of some popular Romantasy books currently on the market.
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Two words: Dragon College. Fourth Wing centers around Violet, a young woman who is
forced by her ambitious mother to enter the cutthroat Basgiath War College. Most
students don’t make it out of training alive, and while Violet is underprepared for the
obstacles ahead of her, she possesses a great deal of cunning and grit. The college is full
of enemies eager to cut the weakest link, including the intimidatingly powerful student
Xaden Riorson, who has a dragon, more knives than you can count, and an ax to grind
with Violet. Fourth Wing is fast-paced and exciting to read, and certainly worth the
internet hype.
Romance Tropes: Forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, shadow daddy, academic rivals.
You can read the rest of this story by purchasing our print issue or our online flipbook (coming soon)!
Author Bio
Marleigh Green is an Editorial Assistant and the Social Media Manager for Page Turner Magazine. Marleigh is a 32-year-old pre-published new adult fantasy author from Los Angeles, California. She graduates from Emerson College with a Master of Fine Arts in Popular Fiction Writing in Spring, 2024. A longtime writer, she resides in her native city of Los Angeles and is working on her debut novel, World Breaker, the first book in her Dark Horse series.
