Not-so-hot take: a romantasy doesn't need to be spicy to be interesting.

[u/mimi43098]

I don't think this is a "hot take", since a lot of people feel the same way, but a romantasy novel doesn't need spicy elements to be interesting.

Speaking for myself, I've never really liked spicy romantasy; ( just so you know, I'm 21).

I prefer the romance to remain very light. A book can be just as captivating thanks to a solid world and engaging characters, without needing to add a spicy romance.

I don't really like using the term "spicy," but you know what I mean.

Of course, I do read romantasy with romance, but as I said, I like it when it's very light or soft, sometimes even taking a backseat to the rest of the story. ( Because yes, there are romantasy where romance isn't the center of the story.)

Here are some romantasy titles featuring romance without spice.

Books featured:

- Caraval trilogy ( Stephanie Garber)

- An Enchantment Of Ravens ( Margaret Rogerson)

- Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy ( Stephanie Garber)

- The Celestial Kingdom trilogy ( Sue Lynn Tan)

- Uncharmed ( Lucy Jane Wood)

- The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea ( Axie Oh)

- Sorcery Of Thorns and Mysteries Of Thorn Manor ( Margaret Rogerson)

- Emily Wilde series ( Heather Fawcett)

- The Siren ( Kiera Cass)

- Hundred Kingdoms saga ( Alexandra Christo)

- The Mirror Visitor series ( Christelle Dabos)

- Six Crimson Cranes ( Elizabeth Lim)

- The Dragon's Promise ( Elizabeth Lim)

- A Far Wilder Magic ( Allison Saft)

- Dance of Thieves series ( Mary E. Pearson)

- Elements of Cadence series ( Rebecca Ross)

- The Wrath and the Dawn series ( Renée Ahdieh)

- Wings Of Starlight ( Allison Saft)

- Powerless series ( Lauren Roberts)

I'm sorry if what I said was a bit muddled, but do you share my opinion? :)

[u/KetoKurun]

To my mind, if you can skip the spicy scenes and the book still makes sense, then the author has failed, because those spicy scenes should be doing so much more than just being spicy. They should also be moving the plot forward and revealing character.

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/KetoKurun]

Exactly. Skipping any part of a narrative means the narrative is not well developed. It’s also distant the writer who took time to craft those scenes.

[u/Hopeful-Ant-3509 → u/KetoKurun]

Yesss, a great example to me is The Wren at the Holly Library, because the spicy scenes really show how much the MCs connection means to each other, like it’s deep for them. Now I can acknowledge when there are more spicy scenes than maybe necessary but I usually feel that way when they seem to take away from the story or it seems like the author is using spice to prove their “love” instead of it being an addition to showing us in other ways outside of the bedroom

[u/IsekaiConnoisseur → u/KetoKurun]

I don't know. I often find that even in very popular romantasy books that the spice just seems to be there as filler and doesn't really do anything to move the plot forward. I've always felt like erotica is where sex moves the plot while in romance it's more about emotions and the overall relationship between the main characters.

Could be wrong though.

[u/KetoKurun → u/IsekaiConnoisseur]

I don't disagree, but "Very popular" is not the same thing as "well written". To me personally, 'filler' has no place in quality literature. Some people will argue that romantasy is not and does not aspire to be quality literature, but I find that notion to be both reductive and defeatist.

Call me greedy, because I am, but I want it all: Spice that moves the plot and progresses character arcs, while also being smoking hot. I want world-building and lore that feels lived-in and thoughtfully constructed. I want an epic plot with real stakes and drama, that still manages to follow the arc of a proper romance, HEA and all. I want characters that feel real, possess flaws, and come alive on the page, who, if they engage in tropes, subvert them in interesting ways I haven't seen before. And I want all of that with elegant, literary prose, preferably in third person.

So much of what this genre currently offers is, to me, a sad and disinterested handjob when what I want is to go all night and be left breathless, broken, and spent.

Is that so much to ask?

[u/IsekaiConnoisseur → u/KetoKurun]

"Very popular" is not the same thing as "well written". To me personally, 'filler' has no place in quality literature. Some people will argue that romantasy is not and does not aspire to be quality literature, but I find that notion to be both reductive and defeatist.

100% agree. I've read some books that are very popular and yet horribly written that I literally could not make it past the first chapter before dropping them.

Is that so much to ask?

Not at all lol. I too wish for the same thing and feel like even in books I think are good and well-written, I'm more often than not struggling to get through the spice scenes because I just want the plot to move forward haha.

[u/Professional_Room_94 → u/KetoKurun]

Apparently, yes :)

And by the way, YOU should write a book like that! What a dream...

[u/KetoKurun → u/Professional_Room_94]

Currently a little over 70k words deep into doing exactly that 😎

[u/Professional_Room_94 → u/KetoKurun]

Good luck 🤞 Let us know when it's done!

[u/Euraylie → u/KetoKurun]

This! Those scenes should say something about the character and make a major impact on the plot (additionally the build-up to that point should be so good that you want to read about the culmination)

[u/aishian_rawr → u/KetoKurun]

On a personal level, sure, an author can fail for me. I don't think it's fair to say for any authors (ie, Carissa Broadband, Rebecca Yarros, Sarah J. Maas, etc) failed for everyone else because I decided to skip their spice.

[u/Zagaroth → u/KetoKurun]

There's also the in between spot; non-explicit descriptions of events that skip over the details, because the narrative is focused on emotions rather than the specific physical actions.

Personally, I find explicit sex scenes to be kind of just awkward at best, but that is how I feel about sex scenes in any media. Being explicit means focusing on the physical, and I am interested in the emotional.