Thousands of Romantasy fans are making midnight dates with new Rebecca Yarros novel | Books

Rebecca Yarros couldn’t sell his first novel. No publisher would take it. But this week, 14 years later, legions of her devoted readers turned up to more than a thousand midnight release parties held to celebrate the publication of her latest book.

In the UK, more than 180,000 copies of Onyx Storm, the third installment of Yarros’ Blockbuster Empyrean series, sold on day one of the release Tuesday. Nearly 60 Waterstones branches held late evening parties or opened early Tuesday morning to mark the apartment. And after some Tiktok users published videos showing that they had managed to buy the book in Asda before its official release, filmed other fans themselves shed their local branches Also trying to get their hands on early copies.

Together with Sarah J Maas, Yarros is at the forefront of the Romantasy genre and writes stories that combine elements of fantasy and romance. The first two books in the Empyrean series, the fourth wing and iron flame, follow the 20-year-old violet Sorrengail as she runs through Dragon-Rider training at Basgiath War College. Her enemies-to-love romance with Xaden Riorson is central to the story, and in the third installment her mission is to save him.

On the threshold of the publication, fans stood in line outside the Waterstones branches across the country. “Many people were dressed up as characters from the books that were so fun to see,” said Jennifer (27), a sea logistic agent who runs the Tiktok account @jennifersbookcase_ and who attended a launch party in Liverpool Waterstones.

Once inside, participants made friendship bracelets, decorated total bags and competed in quizzes. There were temporary tattoos and cupcakes Dragon theme as well as draws and lucky dips.

“The atmosphere was amazing,” said Dana Holland, a teaching assistant who was inspired to create his Tiktok account, @abookishbae, because of Yarros’s books, and who participated in a Waterstone launch party in Portsmouth. “We all went for the same purpose, so everyone was really friendly.” The Netherlands has already made plans with people she met at the event.

“The closer it came to midnight, the more the atmosphere buzzed when everyone was so eager to receive their book,” said 28 -year -old Sarah Walters, who runs Sarah’s book Nook and sold “Blind Date with A Book” boxes, and who attended a launch party in Manchester’s Trafford Center.

Why are Yarros’ books such a hit? For Walters, they have an “addictive” element – the fast pace makes readers “race through”. Booktok – the corner of Tiktok, where users share book recommendations – has a lot to do with it: Yarros “has a very loyal fanbase on socials”. There are already more than 125,000 tikx labeled #onyxstorm.

The fact that the empyrean series rewards re -reading can also contribute to its popularity, says Jennifer, who has read the first two books three times. You “finish each read with a new favorite character or a new piece of the world that had gone completely unnoticed in previous readings”. Yarros “also stands out by drawing life into side characters,” she says.

Like Yarros and her four sons, Violet has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). “I can’t talk on behalf of the EDS community, but I think many people feel seen by a protagonist suffering from symptoms of EDS,” Walters says. “For that community, this has been the first time it has been portrayed in a fantasy book, and it is important that she is still portrayed as a tough and skilled character.”

Walters said there has been “so bad discourse in the media recently” in response to Romantasy Rise. “No one should be ashamed of the books they enjoy and no one should make it feel less than others for the books they read.”