I like fantasy. I like romance. But I am not a young adult. I am not interested in one more teenage girl with dead parents going to magic school, faerie court or dragon training. Of the 20 “Romantasy” nominees on the Goodreads Choice Awards, I’ve read “A Dawn of Onyx” and “The Hanging City,” the only grown-up books on that list. I Dnf’d “Fourth Wing,” because FOMO, but not my jam.
What possible distinction is there between “Romantasy” and “YA Fantasy?” Who is writing for us olds?
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I am not interested in one more teenage girl with dead parents going to magic school, faerie court or dragon training.
You forgot to mention that despite the dead parents and other disadvantages she turns out to be super special and powerful and of course she gets the hot guy.
Romantasy is supposed to be more new adult leaning (that’s what I heard, I’m not a romance reader) with more explicit scenes. But I think the problem is, that it’s currently a very hyped trend in the genre, so everything that sort of fits the bill gets that label.
of course she gets the hot guy
But not before she is very conflicted about her feelings for him, and tries to deny how in love she is. And also he has unique eyes, which will be described as every available opportunity
The writing quality and complexity is similar to YA, but it’ll include a lot of pornographic passages.
Romantasy often includes explicit sex scenes and YA is written for minors between the ages of 12 and 18 so no, it’s not YA. There can certainly by YA romantasy but a lot of it is not for children
Romantasy - [Morning Glory Milking Farm]
YA Fantasy - NOT [Morning Glory Milking Farm]
EDIT: I think YA is a misnomer because most people think YA = Teenagers, but a young adult is like 18~22.
No. Same reason why horror isnt just another name adults. Goosebumps is a whole diffrent ball park from gone to see the river man.
Ya is pretty much teen lit. Romantsy can be very very smutty so no.
Romantasy is just romance with a fantasy backdrop. They’re adult. Women can write adult books. I know it’s shocking, but women can.
There is YA and adult that fit it, just like there is for scifi, mystery and fantasy. It’s similar to paranormal romance but with more epic fantasy elements.Try something in the Liaden_universe it mixes space opera with fantasy and romance.
There are multiple free ebooks on both Amazon or Baen.com, many libraries carry them as well.
If you’re looking for Romantasy with older lead characters, T Kingfisher’s World of the White Rat books - specifically the Paladin novels - are absolutely spot on. Tender, sweet, funny and very real.
ETA: this is quite a common request over on r/Romantasy so there are some good threads with lots of recommendations.
I’ve never been a big fantasy reader, nor do I like romance, but there’s something about those books that is just perfection. I love the writing, the plots, the characters - just everything about them. The Clockwork Boys and the Wonder Engine are good too, but I agree that the Paladin trilogy is better
Romantasy is just fantasy with romance focus. It can be either adult or ya. It’s a label to distinguish it from other fantasy subcategories such as epic fantasy
Sarah J. Maas would fit into what you’re looking for. She has several series out right now and while most of them are about young women with dead parents doing xyz (faerie court, investigating a murder by a demon, being the king’s assassin) they’re smutty af so definitely not YA.
No, romantasy is going to have explicitly sexual conduct, express or implied, which is not present in YA. YA is explicitly written for under 18 year olds. New adult, NA, is the term used for ~18-22 year olds. So you should be able to filter out YA and NA romantasy and find what you’re looking for. It’s a newer publishing term so you’re going to be looking for new releases more than a large back catalogue.
Not sure if you’re looking for recommendations, but {the undertaking of hart and mercy by Megan bannen} is excellent.
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is one of my favorite books ever. I’m always trying to get more people to read it, so I second this rec. 😂
You basically have to ignore goodreads on this. (they are owned by amazon) so this award is just another way to push the same romantasy that already gets pushed on tiktok.
Its why there is romantasy + fantasy + ya, so these megasellers dont cannibalize each other in the same category.
if you’ve ever seen one of these images with a bookcover and arrows with tropes pointing to it, thats what goodreads tries to sell - fourth wing was sold like this too, apparently it’s"Hunger games + Harry Potter + dragons!!! + enemy to lovers + found family".
If you want to read anything else I recommend either using another site or use the lists and groups that are user created.
you want the r/fantasyromance subreddit, the youngest MC I have there is 25.
I listened to a podcast (either Book Riot or Reading Glasses) a while ago that made this slight distinction:
- Romantasy - Centered on the fantasy, but involves a romance.
- Fantasy Romance - Centered on a romance, but in a fantasy setting. So it’s like a “subgenre” of Romance.
I don’t consider “YA Fantasy” to be interchangeable with either of those terms though. There could be YA Romantasies, YA Fantasy Romances, or YA Fantasy (without romance).
I think the disconnect is that a lot of the popular YA Fantasies in recent years tend to have romance elements. If you’re looking for Fantasy for adults that don’t include romance elements, r/Fantasy would be a good place to search.
YA novels are so much more than romance and fantasy!