A good book has its pros and cons, but at what point do we acknowledge that the cons might be too much?
Warning: This content contains spoilers for books Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, Powerless by Lauren Roberts, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, and Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlson.
BookTok used to be a treasure among readers in the early days of its reign. With stories like Normal People by Sally Rooney, and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller spreading like wildfire across the platform, it was hard to find a book not to love. From lighthearted picks to books that weigh heavy on your soul, the variety was endless. The majority of my favorites stemmed from the fantasy genre, but it appears BookTok has taken a turn for the worse since the popularization of romantasy.
Fantasy used to contain glamorous magic, with complex worlds and characters that left you psychoanalyzing them. Books like The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, with its independent female main character Jude Duarte, or Caraval by Stephanie Garber with its legendary circuses and sisterly love, contained fantasy that carried real plots and actual enemies-to-lovers tropes. However, the more recent releases of books like Powerless by Lauren Roberts and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros, seem to dampen this legacy.
Words cannot describe my disappointment when I first opened Powerless by Lauren Robets. When I finally got my hands on a copy, I couldn’t even finish it. Roberts has been under fire since her book was released due to its eerie similarity to the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. Both stories center around a world divided by the powerful and powerless, determined by blood, and contain two royal brothers: one the golden, and one the darker, fighting for the love of the special heroine female. To top it off, (spoiler!) both female lead’s best friends have their fingers broken by the government. Even though Powerless was written a whopping ten years after Red Queen, these similarities only drew my attention back to the initially released novel. Reading the recycled tropes and copy-paste characters felt like reading a fanfiction of Aveyard’s hit series.
Romantasy kept its downward slope after the release of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Yarros’s first book immediately became a hit all over BookTok, and when I finally marched into Barnes & Noble to buy it, I was impressed. Dragons, a dragon college, and insane world building, sign me up! Yet, when the sequel, Iron Flame, was released the next year, I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed and disappointed. The book contained an overwhelming amount of action. While reading, I began to wonder if it was meant to be split into two separate volumes.
The dialogue between characters bordered on cringey, and the love story between her two main characters grew toxic with every turn of a page. Not only this, but Yarros’ female main character Violet Sorrengail also bears shocking similarities to Red Queen’s female main character, Mare Barrow. Both have lightning powers and have brown hair that fades to silver at their ends. Despite these pitfalls, I will give Yarros this: she is not afraid to kill off her characters. This is a lesson plenty of authors could learn when writing their life-or-death sequences, like when their characters all happen to survive the most gruesome battle of their lives. Sound familiar ACOTAR lovers?
But it’s not just romantasy. It’s dark romance too. For books that are already a little over the top, it’s important to draw a line between the dark and the wrong. There are perfect examples of stories that can venture to the deep end but still set boundaries on right and wrong, like Hooked by Emily McIntire or Electric Idol by Katee Robert. Yet other stories start to romanticize stalking, zero consent, and men that can’t accept the word no, which only makes the genre more prone to immense criticism. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlson has a reputation for venturing a little too far into the darkness, often leaving online readers uncomfortable. What woman is going to get the hots for the guy that’s stalking her and not be diagnosed with Stockholm Syndrome?
It’s my hope that readers will reconsider these books and go back to the originals, or even better, go for the underdogs. If you want your heart ripped out of your chest, read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh, or the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. Your choice, go to the Trojan War, an Irish rugby match, or the Kingdom of Adarlan. For sweet, fantastic romance, I highly recommend Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber, the entire series had me hooked for years. But if you want a little more spice, try The Deal by Elle Kennedy, or Quicksilver by Callie Hart. These authors know how to write complex characters with aggravating flaws, but personalities so intricate you can’t help but love them.
BookTok used to be a lot more credible, it’s disheartening to see its integrity start to dissipate with repetitive stories or creepy narratives. Try something better, look at stories on the shelves of your local Target or Barnes & Noble, don’t just attempt the popular book recommendations. Â