March Blog: Why Romantasy Books Are Important

Grace Mays
2 days ago
8 min read

Welcome Back and Happy Spring!

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Not Quite Grown! I hope the month of February was good for y'all and that March is off to a great start. I don't know about you but I am READY for Spring. We've had unseasonably warm weather the past week or so and it's made me ready for the new season and for the sun to not set at 5pm anymore. The spring forward time change happens tomorrow and I could not be more ready. The only downside is the pollen - it literally makes everything yellow and dusty, and my allergies flare up pretty badly. Fortunately, I've taken the proactive approach and started taking some allergy medicine this week so hopefully I can breathe when I step outside. Once it gets too warm though I immediately want to retreat back indoors. Summers here are the worst and no one can convince me otherwise. Transitional seasons like Spring and Fall are the best!

Grad School Applications....Aaaaah!

Just a quick update about grad school applications - I applied to another Library Science program this week that's in state and still relatively cheap compared to programs at other universities. This is just my second application for an MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) and I'm on the fence about applying to a third program. The reason I even decided to apply to a second one was the fact that Valdosta State tends to prioritize admittance for in state applicants because they receive tax benefits for doing so, and I, obviously, do not live in Georgia. Thank god I did my research with this because otherwise I would've been panicking and probably spiraling too. I thought it was a safe and logical choice to have a back up school juuuust in case. You can never be too prepared. I'm hoping that by May I'll know whether or not I've been admitted to either program and can decide which school I want to attend.

The Announcement that Shook Romantasy Fans

Now, on to today's topic! I kind of sort of came up with this at the last minute but once I had the thought in my head I couldn't shake it. It's something that I'm super passionate about and I hope this will resonate with you too, even if you don't identify as a woman. If you're chronically online like me and have even the slightest bit of interest in fantasy + romance (aka romantasy) books, you've probably seen or heard that the popular romantasy author, Sarah J Maas, was on an episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast this past Wednesday. And if you follow me on Instagram you'd know I was practically foaming at the mouth to hear what she had to say about any upcoming books for a little series called A Court of Thorns and Roses. Because the latest book in this series was released five whole years ago and Sarah went radio silent on social media, fans were desperate for any kind of update on when the next book was going to be released. And boy oh boy did Sarah deliver. We are getting not just one new book, but TWO NEW BOOKS that will release on October 27th and January 12th ! I'm not exaggerating when I say that particular series and her other series Throne of Glass and Crescent City literally changed my life and brought back my love of reading.

My Journey with Romantasy

To make a long story short - it was January 2023 and I had just graduated from UAB a month prior, and I had yet to find a job (little did I know then that getting a job just six weeks after graduation was actually pretty good and I just happened to get lucky). Since I quite literally had nothing else to do other than apply to jobs, I knew I had the time to get back into reading for fun again. I did not really do any of leisure reading in college because, well, the reading I did do for classes was obviously not for fun. And I had undiagnosed and untreated anxiety, so I was hard wired to be doing classwork during any downtime I had. However, once I graduated and the source of my anxiety/stress went away I had nothing but downtime. The very first Sarah J Maas series I read was A Court of Thorns and Roses and I think I finished all five books within a week or two. My reading of Throne of Glass took longer but I was still so engrossed in the world Maas had created. Crescent City came last since Maas' announced she was releasing the third book soon after I started - it was definitely my least favorite of the three series but still. I couldn't get enough. By the end of 2025, 99% of the books I read were categorized into the Romantasy genre. Maas' series was a gateway into the world of fantasy books that showcased complex female main characters that felt so real and three dimensional. I was hooked and very obsessed.

Why Romantasy Books Matter

Reason One: Women are the Focus

When you think of popular fantasy series, what comes to mind? Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter? Percy Jackson and the Olympians? That's what most people think of whenever fantasy books are mentioned in conversations. But how many of those books feature strong-willed, plot centered female characters? I mean, you could argue that Hermione Granger and Annabeth Chase are good representation of girls who are brilliant, confident, and outspoken while still being kind and compassionate. I don't necessarily disagree with that statement either, but they're clearly not the main character. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called Harry Potter series or the Percy Jackson series. Frodo is the Lord of the Rings, not the Lady of the Rings. You see my point. While Maas is not the first female author to write and publish a fantasy series, but she's definitely one of the more popular ones. The 2012 release of Throne of Glass undoubtedly made fantasy trendy again, especially with a new target audience of young women who were seeing themselves in Maas' heroines. It didn't hurt that the sexy fae love interests in these series were a thousand times better than men in real life....no offense to the men reading this.

Not to get on my soap box and start preaching, but female representation is widely known to be lacking in more traditional fantasy novels that are written by men. I love Lord of the Rings but I'd argue that they should've let at least ONE woman into the fellowship. It is glaringly obvious that J.R.R. Tolkien's female characters were more one dimensional - in the background and behind the scenes than his male characters. And we do get some badass moments with the women in the movies (I'm looking at you, Eowyn's iconic "I am no man" scene in Return of the King), the women's personalities, their traits, their stories - took a back seat. They did not get the screen time or the prioritization that I believe they deserved.

Reason Two: They Don't Shy Away from Taboo Topics

Sarah J Maas' characters are the complete opposite. Her feisty, complicated, and total badass female characters are the main story, and their battles, their traumas, and their mental health struggles take front and center. Listening to Maas on Call Her Daddy discuss her own mental health struggles and how she processed it through her writing was so raw and vulnerable and it largely mirrored what I've been dealing with for years. She credits therapy for saving her from drowning, which is exactly how I felt after receiving therapy. And it's not just the women who deal with anxiety or depression either - her male characters are just as complex and have their own journeys to navigate alongside the female characters. The worlds have magic and faeries and have all the traditional aspects of a fantasy setting. What sets her apart is that her characters feel SO real and relatable. I have yet to encounter a set of characters as fleshed out as Sarah J Maas'. Her impeccable worldbuilding and how she connects her series is unlike anything I've read before.

Reason Three: There are Accurate Depictions of Romance

In addition to the already brilliant storytelling and awesome female characters that you see in Maas' books, we get some really romantic and heartfelt scenes that make readers swoon and wish men were like that in real life. You may have heard some criticism surrounding the sex scenes we read in Romantasy books - a popular one I hear is that these stories are just "dragon smut" or "faerie smut". I actually have come to absolutely abhor the term "smut" because it really just does not apply to most Romantasy books. It's merely a label that's just slapped onto the story because there's MAYBE one or two sex scenes in the entire 500+ page novel - I would even argue that most sex scenes are there to drive the plot forward. It automatically demeans and makes fun of the stories and the women that are interested in said stories. What's important is that these sex scenes are focused on the woman receiving pleasure and not just giving pleasure. And to be honest, why shouldn't she experience pleasure?

Even more than that, the romantic partners of the FMCs (female main characters) are (for the most part) emotionally intelligent and genuinely strive to be supportive of their woman. They also do not shy away from being vulnerable and are not afraid to be loud and proud about their love. One of my favorite aspects about the way Maas writes romance is that both partners are equal in their relationship - they can show the same levels of emotion, good or bad. What woman, real or fictional, doesn't want that?

I will forever be convinced that it's because women are interested in Romantasy it's written off as something silly or dumb - just look at how people made fun of fans of the boy band One Direction. Their target audience was comprised of pre-teen/teen girls and they were relentlessly mocked for the interest. Women and girls' interests in things are almost never taken seriously, and Romantasy books are no exception. This is just another prime example of how the patriarchy negatively affects society. Okay - I'm stepping off my hypothetical soap box now.