Romance books are here to stay New Gen Z trends by Libraccio

There is a crisis in readership, or so we’ve been told for years. Nobody reads anymore and yet, something seems to be shifting, especially among younger generations. Credit goes to genres like Romance, Fantasy, and Romantasy, which are drawing teens and young adults back into physical bookstores and continuously expanding, proving they are far more than a fleeting trend. And it all stems, unsurprisingly, from TikTok.

From social feeds to personal bookshelves: what are younger audiences actually reading?

Dictating the reading habits of Gen Z is, more often than not, the digital sphere: findings from a new survey commissioned by TikTok across the European market reveal that #BookTok is broadening reading habits, helping users discover new genres, purchase more physical books and audiobooks, and diversify their roster of authors. While the Italian book market as a whole is charting positive territory (+2.9% compared to the same period in 2025), recent data from the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) reveals that genre fiction recorded the industry's sharpest spike with a 9.6% surge, outpacing literary fiction thanks to the massive impact of the Romance phenomenon (+20.3% in the first quarter of 2026). The BookTok Bestseller List, compiled by cross-referencing TikTok platform data with NielsenIQ BookData and Media Control, underscores the dominance of romance and serialized sagas, cementing names like Hazel Riley, the pseudonym of a young Italian author behind the international bestselling series Game of Gods, a mystery romance deeply steeped in Greek mythology.

The Romance renaissance

These figures indicate that the Romance genre can no longer be dismissed as a passing fad; it has cemented itself as one of the primary engines driving the Italian publishing market. Its success is propelled by increasingly engaged reader communities and the unique ability of these narratives to forge a profound emotional bond with their audience. Serialization and the craving to follow beloved characters across sprawling installments within complex narrative universes play a crucial role in sustaining long-term enthusiasm and a genuine passion for reading.

2026's most-read titles: the essential bestsellers for Gen Z

Among this year’s most devoured titles in the Romance and Fantasy categories are Game of Gods: Descent into the Underworld by the aforementioned Hazel Riley (Sperling & Kupfer), Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros (Sperling & Kupfer), which was also recently accompanied by the novella Threshing Day - The Jasad Crown by Sara Hashem (Il Castoro OFF), Non è un paese per single by Felicia Kingsley (Newton Compton Editori), The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (Sperling & Kupfer), The Deal by Elle Kennedy (the hit book behind the wildly popular Off Campus series), alongside Alchemised by SenLin Yu (Rizzoli). Yet the clearest confirmation of Gen Z's central reign over the romance world will drop with one of 2027’s most eagerly anticipated releases: on January 12th comes A Court of Forgotten Melody: The Valkyrie Cycle, Movements II and III by Sarah J. Maas (Mondadori), the sixth Romantasy chapter of the sprawling saga and the second volume in the Italian edition.