What is Dark Romance and Why is BookTok Obsessed With It?
Photo: Cover of Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
BookTok has become a crucial part of the modern publishing world, with its devoted users now powerful enough to make or break a novel through their enthusiasm alone. The vast spectrum of literature lovers on TikTok has helped to elevate many writers to the status of best-sellers, from Colleen Hoover to Taylor Jenkins Reid to Ali Hazelwood. There’s a solid chance your local bookshop has a “TikTok Made Me Buy It” display in-store. And the latest additions to those tables are probably a bit less peppy than the dominant trend of cartoon covers and sweetheart shenanigans. Indeed, romance is getting dark.
The name “dark romance” offers its own succinct definition of the genre. It’s a field of romantic stories where the themes and content are far more adult and taboo-busting than is generally seen in mainstream fare. If traditional romance is defined by its happy endings and declarations of love winning over all else, its shadowy sibling is more willing to push the boundaries of what actually counts as love. You tend to know a dark romance when you see one. The covers are typically black or red, with titles like Twisted Love, Forbidden, Hooked, Scarred, Deviant King, and so on. Dark romance books often contain stories about abduction and kidnapping or play around with BDSM and blur the lines of consent. Emotions are high, as is the sexual content. The heroes are anything but, often occupying roles in criminal underworlds such as motorcycle gangs and the mafia. Some are outright killers. Morality is optional, but pleasure is not.
The subgenre has seen a dramatic rise in support in recent years, with TikTok videos using the hashtag receiving hundreds of thousands, and occasionally millions, of views. The aesthetic of these clips is similar to the books themselves: a Gothic color palate, possessive hotties with dark pasts, roses everywhere. Dark romance lovers have sent books like Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton, a stalker romance featuring graphic violence and rape, soaring up the Amazon best-seller charts and inspired levels of Discourse that are overwhelming even by BookTok standards. It’s simultaneously a surprising development for the mainstream popularity of the romance world and extremely predictable for those who were paying attention.
Stories of all-consuming obsession are appealing to many romance readers for a reason. The safe space the genre offers allows readers and writers alike to wholly delve into their oft-derided desires in ways that society tends to denigrate. It’s very common to see warnings for “dubious consent” and non-consensual sex” in these books, with the latter being a highly euphemistic way to talk about rape. Degradation is a familiar trope, as are themes of hardcore dominance and submission that go well beyond what was considered scandalous in 50 Shades of Grey. The basic idea is that almost anything can be sourced for pleasure, and if the rest of the romance genre won’t allow for that, the dark side must step in.