As women became more empowered in public, breaking glass ceilings in the workplace, they fantasized more about submission and domination in their private lives.

Every Woman’s Romantasy

What does the explosive popularity of books by Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros say about female desire today?

By Flora Joll

Romantasy is the hybrid of two genres serious readers love to sneer at: romance and fantasy. Populated by fairies, goblins, shapeshifters and sorcerers, these novels turn up the charm with fantasy’s high stakes and epic tropes.

Sarah J Maas and Rebecca Yarros have become its dominant authors and their readers take the genre pretty seriously: an estimated $33 million worth of romantasy books were sold in 2023, according to The Bookseller, up from $18.5 million in 2022.