Dark romance is a new sub-genre that was heavily popularized through the internet, and involves discussion and sexualization of darker topics, including murder, torture, rape, kidnapping, abuse, sexual assault, and other criminal acts. Dark romance was made popular through BookTok, an online community of readers on the social media platform TikTok. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, BookTok became wildly popular and began recommending and popularizing dark romance novels such as Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton, and many other romance novels, including the works of Colleen Hoover, Ruby Dixon, and Ali Hazelwood. In this thesis, I trace the history of the romance genre and the history of dark romance and argue that the Gothic romance and many adaptations of Gothic classic novels have contributed to the rise of dark romance. I then analyze a few of the most popular dark romance novels, including Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton, Hooked by Emily McIntire, Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver, and The Predator by RuNyx. Finally, I present a collection of some oft-repeated criticisms of dark romance made by users on various social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, and X, and refute each argument. My thesis argues that while dark romance has been demonized and heavily criticized on social media, to the point that some users call for censorship of the entire genre, there are many reasons why readers would enjoy such a genre. I also refute the idea that dark romance has a lasting negative effect on readers.
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Dark romance is a new sub-genre, unlike anything seen in the romance genre before. It is gritty, passionate, violent, and has a rabid fanbase on the internet. One of the main goals for this thesis is to provide a definition and discussion of dark romance. I begin with a literature review, detailing the different ways romance novels and dark romance have been discussed over time, and then define dark romance as a sub-genre of romance novels that deals with dark topics that are not widely accepted by the romance community. Some of these topics include extreme violence, sexual assault, murder, kidnapping or captivity, dubious consent to sexual activity, and generally, sexual activity that involves kink or power dynamics is included. These topics are particularly dark, and because of this, some might see their inclusion as antithetical to a romance plot. (1)
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