For many women, the cumulative weight of what sociologists call the “mental load” – the invisible labour of managing households, relationships and careers – can make rest feel less like an indulgence and more like a necessity.

With rising costs, economic uncertainty and the constant negotiation of work and family responsibilities, the last few years have been marked by widespread emotional fatigue.

Perhaps that’s why so many women are now reading stories where the emotional investment is guaranteed to pay off: the world of romantasy – a genre that mixes fantasy settings with central love stories and sometimes explicit sex scenes.

According to Bloomberg, by 2024, the industry was estimated to be a US$610 million (S$788 million) market.

A Circana BookScan report, which tracks physical book sales in the United States and countries including the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia and India, noted that in the first quarter of 2025, adult fiction grew by 1.9 million book sales.

Romance and romantasy led all genre groupings in the US – but the numbers are only part of the story.

In romantasy, the heroes would rather risk everything to protect the heroine than worry about everyday problems. Male partners are already emotionally aware. Female pleasure is a priority, and most importantly, the relationships always last.

Books like A Court Of Thorns And Roses by Sarah J Maas and Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros have drawn millions of readers precisely because they offer something real life rarely delivers: emotional certainty.

Yarros’ Onyx Storm, the third book of her The Empyrean series, sold 2.7 million copies in its first week when it launched in January 2025, becoming the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years, according to The New York Times.

What may appear to be a surge in popularity reveals something deeper about how women are reading, desiring and imagining intimacy today.

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