The “Swiftification” of Romance

Blog Writer // Alyssa Clark

Taylor Swift’s dominance in the media over the past few years is unlike any other present celebrity. Album release after album release, on top of her renowned Eras Tour, she simply keeps going. Her presence has influenced many parts of the internet, specifically BookTok. BookTok is a part of TikTok where book lovers (like me) go to find recommendations based on their favorite tropes or songs, finding community in the subculture. The BookTok hashtag on TikTok has 37.8 million posts and creators upload there everyday. When searching on the app, it is incredibly easy to find posts regarding book recommendations based on your favorite Taylor Swift song or album. While this is done for other artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan, Swift’s extensive discography, massive fanbase, and literary merit has led to this surge in popularity for books tied to her. 

The romance genre has specifically been influenced by not only Swift’s music, but her personal life. Authors have started writing books inspired by a specific song of hers, and the number of these books has been increasing significantly. When searching “Taylor Swift Book Recommendations”, TikTok will provide you with a search highlight, detailing  specific books ‘made’ for Swifties or books based on albums, songs, references, and more.  Even popular books that were not originally inspired by Taylor Swift then become associated with Swift and her fans. A novella that specifically comes to mind is Love’s a Game by Kaiden Howell. It resembles Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship, a romance between a pop-star and an NFL player. Fans have become so enthralled with Taylor that it leads to high demand for anything related to her. Even the title is a reference to one of Swift’s many hits, “Blank Space” from her fifth studio album 1989. 

Love’s a Game by Kaiden Howell cover (credit: kaidenhowell.author on Instagram)

There are many more books that can come up when discussing Taylor Swift and romance books, some being ‘Tis the Damn Season by Kimi Freeman, The Playlist by Morgan Elizabeth, and Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales. In an interview from Nerd Daily, Kimi Freeman directly discusses her inspiration, saying “…[it] came from Taylor Swift’s same-titled song on her album Evermore. I’ve always been obsessed with the track and thought it would make a really cool movie or book.” (Dumpleton). It is evident that Swift’s music moves people to the point of wanting to write books based on her own work. Her impact, while likely unprecedented, is ultimately helping this genre grow and reach wider audiences. 

One of my favorite authors that comes to mind is Emily Henry, the author of the bestselling novels Beach Read, Funny Story, People We Meet On Vacation, Happy Place, and Book Lovers. She is known for assigning Taylor Swift albums to her books in terms of its overall vibe, relatability, and more. In an interview with the Today Show, she specifically details those listings, ranging from Book Lovers being 1989 to Beach Read being Folklore. She goes even further to assign specific songs from Midnights to her books as well. Another author is Lynn Painter who wrote Better than the Movies, and is known to include Swift references in her books. There are multiple instances where a song is mentioned or Taylor Swift herself is brought up in conversation. “Paper Rings” from Lover and “New Year’s Day” from Reputation are two direct references in Painter’s books. The influence of authors partaking in this trend is essential to what is considered the “Swiftification” of the romance genre. 

 

Graph of rising romance novel sales (credit: WordsRated)

Romance as a genre has become incredibly popular in the past decade. This is not to say it hasn’t always had its place in the literary world, but it is now without a doubt a dominant genre. According to Penguin Random House, book sales for romance novels have increased by more than 50% in 2021 alone (Curcic). It also has become more socially acceptable to read these novels since the media has shown how many people are consuming this genre. BookTok has produced a significant amount of related video content that seems to entice readers who wouldn’t normally enjoy diving into these novels. With that being said, Taylor Swift being involved also helps with increasing readership by grabbing her fan’s attention and pulling it in the direction of romance books. When posts are made that directly call attention to Swift, for example, “Read this romance novel, according to your favorite Taylor Swift album,” it is a digestible piece of marketing for someone just scrolling. Using this format, especially when Swift has a far and wide audience, increases engagement with the romance genre and all the novels that are under that umbrella. She also has distinct eras across the years of her career which assist in “swiftifying” a variety of novels.

Taylor Swift’s albums hold their own characteristics and personalities. It can give BookTok users a wide range of options when looking to create book-related content for a specific album. Her debut album, Taylor Swift, is a country album with hits like, “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops On My Guitar.” On the other hand, she has an alternative and indie-folk album, folklore, with “august” and “cardigan” being well-known songs. With these different genres, it gives these content creators freedom when it comes to making a selection of books to associate with her music. For Taylor Swift, it could be a romance set on a farm or ranch, whereas folklore could be in a more mysterious setting with fantasy elements—it allows for content that reaches across the many subgenres of romance allowing for her influence to be present in many spheres. 

My Book Recommendations 

My picks are going to be surrounding two main pieces, the main female character and the main relationship of the story. It is simply too difficult to wrap one singular song for a whole book so I believe this does the best job encapsulating these atmospheres. 

1. Funny Story by Emily Henry 

I feel obligated to start with Henry since her books are so prevalent in the romance genre currently as well as being some of my favorite reads. Daphne is the main character of this story and I felt that “The Prophecy” is the song that most suits her. At the start, we discover that her wedding has been canceled and her ex-fiance has left her for an old friend of his. This song is about yearning for a different and better suited outcome in terms of a relationship. She struggles throughout the story to feel worthy of love again after being left so abruptly, which leads into my song choice for the couple, Daphne and Miles. 

“I’m so afraid I sealed my fate / No sign of soulmates / I’m just a paperweight in shades of greige / Spending my last coin so someone will tell me / it’ll be okay” (2:22-2:44)  

For their relationship, I felt that “False God” was a representation of their love and their feelings throughout the story. These two characters are almost each other’s “saviors” from their past troubles and this relationship is incredibly powerful once realizing what they feel for the other. This part of the chorus perfectly resembles what I felt as the two were first working through their past trauma and attempting to grow together.

“Religion’s in your lips / Even if it’s a false god, we’d still worship [this love]” (0:59-1:06) 

2. Redeeming 6 by Chloe Walsh

The Boys of Tommen series has possibly become one of my favorites this year (maybe of all time). I especially enjoyed Joey and Aoife’s story which takes place in Saving 6 and Redeeming 6. It is important to mention that this is the fourth book in the series, but it holds a special place in my heart so I felt that I needed to put it on this list. The emotional turmoil both the characters go through is incredibly devastating and this impacts their relationship with each other. “Sad Beautiful Tragic (Taylor’s Version)” is a song that successfully wraps around these hard-hitting emotions and experiences at such a young and vulnerable age. The main male character, Joey, comes from an abusive household and struggles with drug usage which is a recurring point that Aoife tries to get him through.

“Distance, timin’, breakdown, fighting / Silence, the train runs off its tracks / Kiss me, try to fix it, could you just try to listen? / Hang up, give up and, for the life of us, we can’t get back.” (3:03-3:31)

Now I am slightly biased since this is one of my top songs from Swift, but “You Are In Love (Taylor’s Version)” is the perfect love song. Joey and Aoife’s relationship stems from them knowing each other throughout childhood, then becoming best friends. Being incredibly close with your partner is something that the song highlights and finds important for a relationship. 

“Cause you can hear it in the silence / You can feel it on the way home / You can see it with the lights out / You are in love, true love, you are in love” (3:07-3:30)  

3. Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu

In 2022, I first read Heavenly Bodies which was independently published by an author I discovered on TikTok. It quickly became a five-star read after I devoured the book within the span of a few days. This romantasy book has not only a beautiful setting, but a beautiful relationship between Elara and Lorenzo, who grow to love each other while working through the other’s weaknesses. For Elara, I chose the song “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” because she is physically trained heavily throughout this book to essentially become a weapon. Elara had to escape from her home in order to survive, now becoming someone that others fear. 

“I was tame, I was gentle ’til the circus life made me mean / “Don’t you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth” / Who’s afraid of little old me?” (2:04-2:19)

In terms of Elara and Lorenzo’s relationship, the Reputation track “Don’t Blame Me” best suits what occurs between the two. Their love becomes almost intoxicating and something that they feel they need to have in order to continue living. Once they create a bond, it is one that will never break. It is as the song says, their love is something almost akin to a drug that they would want to continue to use. 

“Don’t blame me, love made me crazy / If it doesn’t, you ain’t doin’ it right / Lord, save me, my drug is my baby / I’ll be usin’ for the rest of my life” (0:02-0:16) 

4. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Last but not least, we have Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez. I am not sure about everybody else’s TikTok algorithm, but I received a great deal of posts regarding Jimenez’s books and what a great author she is. Just for the Summer is about two characters, Emma and Justin, who have both been through traumatic events and decide to break the “curse” they have. This curse entails them both dating people, and those exes find their true love afterwards. For these two characters, “this is me trying” from folklore is a perfect fit for them and what they are going through. Handling emotions in a healthy way was not something these characters truly understood before, often just trying to get through it day by day. Emma specifically would have habits of moving around a lot as a result of her childhood trauma, resonating with this song. 

“So I got wasted like all my potential / And my words shoot to kill when I’m mad / I have a lot of regrets about that” (1:30-1:40) 

Emma and Justin’s relationship is a perfect representation of “Daylight” from Lover. The song details how Swift was unsuccessful in past relationships and doubted her ability to find a great love again. When she finally experienced this love, it felt like ‘daylight’. This stands true for Jimenez’s characters when they have often been unlucky in the past, but now have found each other. They are the brightness that they both were looking for after these failed situations. The characters only ‘see’ the other now experiencing this true and bright love finally. 

  “I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you / I don’t wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you / I’ve been sleepin’ so long in a twenty-year dark night / And now I see daylight, I only see daylight” (0:28-0:52)  

Sources

Curcic, Dimitrije. “Romance Novel Sales Statistics – WordsRated.” WordsRated, 9 October 2022, https://wordsrated.com/romance-novel-sales-statistics/. Accessed 16 October 2024.

Dumpleton, Elise. “Q&A: Kimi Freeman, Author of ‘Tis the Damn Season.’” The Nerd Daily, 12 October 2023, https://thenerddaily.com/kimi-freeman-author-interview/. Accessed 10 October 2024.

Ellis, Maddie. “Emily Henry Talks ‘Funny Story,’ Taylor Swift And What She’s Working On Next.” Today Show, 25 April 2024, https://www.today.com/popculture/books/emily-henry-funny-story-interview-rcna149221. Accessed 10 October 2024.

Noblit, Clayton. “How Do Kindle Unlimited Subscribers Behave In 2023 (And How Does it Impact Authors)?” Written Word Media, 14 September 2023, https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/kindle-unlimited-subscribers/. Accessed 10 October 2024.

Stivale, Shelby, and Aileen Bergin. “Author Emily Henry Answers ‘Funny Story’ Questions, Teases New Novel.” Us Weekly, 8 May 2024, https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/author-emily-henry-answers-funny-story-questions-teases-new-novel/. Accessed 10 October 2024.

Swift, Taylor. Daylight. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-daylight-lyrics.

Swift, Taylor. Don’t Blame Me. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-dont-blame-me-lyrics.

Swift, Taylor. False God. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-false-god-lyrics.

Swift, Taylor. The Prophecy. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-the-prophecy-lyrics.

Swift, Taylor. Sad Beautiful Tragic (Taylor’s Version). Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-sad-beautiful-tragic-taylors-version-lyrics.

Swift, Taylor. this is me trying. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-this-is-me-trying-lyrics.

Swift, Taylor. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-whos-afraid-of-little-old-me-lyrics.

Swift, Taylor. You Are In Love (Taylor’s Version). Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-you-are-in-love-taylors-version-lyrics.