Where the Real World Ends and Magic Begins 

Have you ever woken up from a dream so fascinating that you wished you could stay there forever, or at least for a little longer? That’s exactly what romantasy feels like.  

Over the past few years, romantasy has taken over our bookshelves – and honestly, it’s probably not going to stop. From A Court of Thorns and Roses to Fourth Wing, people everywhere are falling into these worlds. But it makes us wonder: why do we keep coming back to romantasy? And what does it actually do for our mental health?  

There’s something we can all admit. Life is a lot sometimes. Work, school, relationships, constant stress and on top of that: the never-ending background noise of troubling news that’s hard to switch off. Add to that the long, grey and rainy Dutch winters, where the sun barely shows its face for days (or weeks). And then finally, there was Covid, which was the ultimate cherry on top. With all these things going on, it’s no wonder we crave something that feels warm and safe. On those days, opening a romantasy book feels like closing the door on the real world, at least for a while.  

Sure, any book can give us a break from reality. But romantasy? There seems to be something unique and different. It doesn’t just distract us for a short moment; it picks us up and drops us into a completely new world, where magic is real, love is passionate, and somehow, everything feels safe-even when the stakes are sky-high. The best part? No matter how messy things get, there’s always hope at the end. The real world doesn’t always make that promise.  

And it’s not just about the stories. It’s about belonging. Communities like Romantasy Affairs aren’t just spaces where we talk about our favorite characters or debate the best tropes (although that does happen a lot); They’re places where people share excitement, wild theories, and sometimes even their hardest days. They even come together in real life, like at fantasy balls and book events – celebrating the magic we all love. It feels like being surrounded by people who just get it, even if we’ve never met them before.  

Of course, there’s a balance. Sometimes it’s easy to slip so deep into books that we avoid reality altogether. That’s something we try to keep in mind. But most of the time, these stories are exactly what we need. So maybe we can say: romantasy is more than dragons and love affairs (even though we absolutely love both); Its proof that magic, whether in stories or even small, real-life moments still exists, if we’re willing to see it.