Sweet Venom blends tropes from three distinct subgenres: dark romance, sports romance, and suspense. The novel’s foundation is dark romance, a subgenre popularized on social media platforms like TikTok that features morally ambiguous anti-heroes, unsettling power dynamics, and taboo themes. The author’s note explicitly flags elements like stalking and consensual non-consent, which are hallmarks of the genre. The latter element is a kink practice that consists of a person giving consent to their partner to act out a non-consensual scenario, such as simulating rape. In the kink community, this involves guardrails to protect the participants, including negotiating the scenario beforehand, using a safe word, and performing aftercare.

This preference, like the romanticization of stalking, contributes to a fantasy scenario wherein the submissive partner gives over or loses control to their dominant partner. These taboo sexual dynamics contribute to the moral ambiguity of the love interests and the generally darker atmosphere of the genre, which frequently centers around experiencing and overcoming trauma. These tropes also lend themselves to controversy surrounding dark romance, as the popularization of morally gray or harmful actions on the part of the typically male love interests might contribute to toxic real-world narratives surrounding gender, sex, and consent. However, proponents of this genre advocate for the exploration of taboo dynamics and acts through fiction, as it provides an outlet separate from real-world constraints and dangers.

This dark narrative is set against the backdrop of sports romance, with Jude’s status as a celebrated “hockey god” providing a public-facing identity that contrasts sharply with his private vendetta. The competitive, high-pressure world of elite college hockey serves as an arena for his aggression and dominance. Hockey romances in the traditional romance genre include Icebreaker by Hannah Grace and Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid.

Finally, Sweet Venom incorporates a suspenseful plot driven by Jude’s mission to avenge his stepmother’s death. His methodical stalking of Violet and his violent encounters create a thriller-like tension that propels the story forward. By fusing these genres, the novel creates a complex narrative where the public adoration of an athlete masks his private obsessions, heightening the story’s central conflicts.