Romance in the Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë eras and romance today are, of course, centuries apart, and the difference is profound. Modern romance novels often feel incomplete without explicit scenes, largely thanks to the rise of BookTok, where spicy reads are everywhere. On Reddit, some bluntly describe it as "porn, but written," and just like watching porn carries its own myths and judgments, so does reading steamy novels.
As a non-smut reader, my take is pretty neutral. I’ve read my fair share of rom-coms and lighthearted romances, but experiencing the effect of reading sexual content? That’s something I haven’t explored yet. I can imagine it being fun while also increasing sexual awareness, but there’s definitely a conversation to be had about age. Should teenagers be reading these books, considering that many are directly targeted to them? The pubescent phase is already a time of heightened curiosity, and sex is still that one word that feels almost forbidden at the family dinner table. But after much thought I believe it's right to say that, if written with the right balance, these books could actually help answer questions young readers might not feel comfortable asking elsewhere.
Then, there’s the judgment. Readers of smut are often dismissed or looked down upon by those who believe "real literature" should focus on history, culture, or intellectual depth, basically anything but sex. But fiction has always explored desire, just in different ways across different eras.
Curious about this, I reached out to people who actively read smut novels to hear their perspectives, because who better to weigh in than those who actually turn the pages? Here’s what they had to say!
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