Revive Real Fantasy: My opinion on the trend of 'spicy' fantasy novels.

There has been a new trend of 'spicy' or 'smutty' fantasy books - I can't be the only one who hates it.


Disclaimer: This blog post includes sensitive and explicit topics, and is purely my own opinion on the subject.

 Book-Tock and Bookstagram - the dubbed names for readers on Tick-tock and Instagram. They have a huge hold on the book industry, deciding which books should be popular and which should be thrown in the trash. Recently, they have found a new author to dote upon: Sarah J. Maas. 

 I have never read one of these books (I hope you haven't either) and never will. This post is based on videos and reviews I have seen about these books and others like them. I saw one or two videos about those books and made up my mind not to read them. These videos and reviews describe Sarah J. Maas's works as 'spicy' or 'smutty', which is the new Bookstagram and Book-Tock term for explicit content. I'd like to point out that not all Bookstagrammers enjoy theses books. There are quite a few accounts that I follow that do not condone those types of novels.  

But this isn't the first time 'spicy' fantasy made its rounds in popularity. The ever famous Game of Thrones is well known for its explicit contents, which go as far as incest. Even though GoT is so popular, the vulgarity of it is generally acknowledged. People know that these scenes and storylines are indecent, even though they still choose to watch it.

The rise of Sarah J. Maas as brought a rise of unashamed readers who do not deny their love for 'smut'. It is being normalised, and I am not happy about it.

Let me clarify that I have nothing against 'romantasy' - I myself love a good romance in a fantasy novel. What I don't like is having explicit scenes in the novel. The whole appeal and magic of fantasy is... well, magic, plus some beautiful worldbuilding and interesting conflict. This is what I, and many others, love about fantasy. It shouldn't be about what two characters are doing in the bedroom.

I'm going to be honest, I almost scrapped this post because it might be offensive. But then I would be the one accepting this as normal. 'Spicy' books should not be normalised - it should be frowned upon and rejected. This shouldn't even be something we need to talk about; it shouldn't be something I, as a 17 year old girl, should have an opinion on.

I have to clarify another thing: I am a Christian, so any explicit topics in a book already turn me off. I suppose that most non-Christians do not have anything against explicit content, but I know many non-Christians that are of the same opinion as myself. 

And this is my very controversial opinion: Keep s*x out of fantasy. Those things happen in the bedroom, not in books. Bring back 'clean' fantasy that focuses on the plot, the wizards, magic, and monsters. Bring back stories like Lord of The Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Shannara Chronicles, and Chronicles of Prydain. Those books are full of wonder and beauty without the need for 'spice'. If 'spice' is the only appeal in a novel, is it truly a good book?







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