First romanticy bookshop opens in Oxford
A new bookshop dedicated to the romanticy genre has opened in Oxford, capitalizing on the genre's growing popularity.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The UK's first bookshop dedicated entirely to the romanticy genre has opened in Oxford, drawing long queues of eager readers on its first day. Romanticy, a blend of romance and fantasy fiction, has become the fastest growing genre in publishing, driven largely by viral recommendations on TikTok's reading community, BookTok. The shop, named Bad Girl Books, was founded by Starlin Moreau, who said the genre is still niche in mainstream bookstores but has a passionate following.
Sales figures highlight the boom: the UK romanticy market was worth £59 million in 2023 and jumped to £84 million in 2024, while overall UK fiction sales surpassed £1 billion for the first time. The genre's appeal goes beyond explicit content, according to Moreau, who noted that many books explore deeper themes such as mental health and leaving abusive relationships.
Author Ova Jarin, who swapped a career in IT to write romanticy, said the genre offers female empowerment and male characters written by women, which she described as more liberating. The opening of the Oxford shop marks a new chapter for a genre that has turned viral online trends into global bestsellers.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 4 |
|---|---|
| The UK romantasy market grew from £59 million in 2023 to £84 million in 2024. | |
| The UK's first bookshop dedicated to the romantasy genre opened in Oxford. | |
| UK fiction sales overall exceeded £1 billion for the first time in 2024, driven by the romantasy boom. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Channel 4 focused on the cultural and commercial impact of the romanticy genre, using a lively report from its culture correspondent. The tone was enthusiastic but balanced, highlighting both the 'smut' stereotype and the deeper themes. It included interviews with the shop founder and a bestselling author, and provided specific sales data to underscore the genre's rapid growth.
- “It's become a highly lucrative genre with leading titles selling tens of millions of copies worldwide.”
- “I feel like a lot of people think it's just, you know, explicit content all the time. But there's so much more depth to these books.”
- “I think this is because women want to read male characters written by women, whether they have halos, horns, tails or wings.”
Broadcast Timeline
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