What the Romantasys Say About Female Desire

In Romantasy, there are heroines who “wield lightning, ride dragons, and read minds, all while having sex that rarely ends with the first orgasm.”

The audience for these novels blending romance and fantasy? Although there are no precise figures, according to the Romance Writers of America (an association of authors of romantic literature), 80% of the readership in question is composed of women.

“These stories clearly respond to a deep need among their readers. But what is it?” asks the American daily The Wall Street Journal .

Often, the scenarios are similar.

A (normal) woman meets an elf, the lord of the fairies, a dragon rider or a winged mage – it doesn't matter.

They have always been promised to each other (it's a bit of a romantic relationship, as we've said).

And "once love is consummated - after many twists and turns and extreme tensions - the lovers generally end up facing the forces of darkness together," summarizes the conservative daily.

Among the bestsellers in the genre are the series A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas ( ACOTAR in the original version) and Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, the French translation of the first volume of which is expected on June 18.

If these novels are enjoying growing success, according to the Wall Street Journal , it is because they offer, beyond the fantasy universe in which they are set, a reassuring glimpse of romantic relationships.

“Romance-sympathetic novels typically feature lovers destined to be together, biologically or spiritually. In the age of ghosting and perpetual swiping, this starting point is as much about fantasy as it is about being wooed.

by a winged suitor.”

The American daily newspaper The Wall Street Journal

“Dating someone today is about managing risks and maximizing the best options,” observes Sarah Brouillette, a professor of literature at Carleton University in Ottawa, who has studied the success of these novels.

“The idea of ​​total transparency in romantic communication may be a breath of fresh air for readers who have come of age in the era of “situationship,” that relationship blur where a couple’s status is ambiguous for one or both parties,” the American daily argues.

“I believe it’s a commentary on the precarious nature of modern relationships, where the idea of ​​‘til-death-do-us-part’ can seem unattainable at best,” adds Meghan Boone.

At 40, this law professor in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, started a romance book club with other women in her area.

Furthermore, sex scenes almost always adopt the female point of view.

This helps readers understand their own fantasies, says Marcela Di Blasi, an assistant professor in the Department of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies at Dartmouth.

“In the bestsellers of the genre, the sex is fairly banal but explicit, and it gives pride of place to female pleasure. Expect richly described oral sex scenes, in which the fingers of the male lovers navigate like on Waze to the G-spot

of their partner.”

The American daily newspaper The Wall Street Journal

Of course, the downside is the illusory expectations that reading these romances can arouse.

Some readers claim to have regained faith in love. But others admit to having difficulty being satisfied with encounters that fall short of the image of the ideal man that the books have sculpted.

“I always say that what I look for in a man is… I actually look for men written by women,” confesses Lauren Nauheimer.