As someone who likes the genre I’m just really happy there’s so much content being made. Yea some of it is slop trying to recapture the fad of ACOTAR (the book pictured), but some of the stuff coming out of it is really good. Also, because of this, there’s more romance in a lot of genres that didn’t have much before (looking at you sci-fi).
Personally, I love love and reading romance brings me joy. Some of these books are cringy teen angst with unrealistic and toxic relationships (mainly the YA side), but I’ve found that most I’ve picked up have healthy relationships with interesting plots that don’t revolve around just the romance.
That said, pure romance books (the pastel section of the store) have burned me too many times for me to bother trying anymore. Almost everything that this post complains about but 1000%.
Ngl, this post reminds me of the backlash that seems to follow anything coded for women that becomes really popular.
When I watched the movie, I turned every line spoken by a vampire into a pickup line and it became fun again, but you shouldn’t have to play games like that with your literature. Or cinema.
The whole “imprinting on a baby” thing I heard about, that really skeezed me out
Ngl, this post reminds me of the backlash that seems to follow anything coded for women that becomes really popular.
I don’t fucking hate that romantasy is being made, just that the percentage of fantasy that is centered on anything other than love is so low I have a hard time finding anything new I like. Just like I’m sure you were frustrated that your only option for romance was from the ripped bodice section and wanted more branching out. I’m upset that the fantasy genre has swung so hard. I’ve read fantasy books that were pretty decent that had romance as a large section, but most of the time it’s either men writing women badly or writing wish fulfillment porn, or women writing toxic and/or angsty shit.
If you want a recommendation of what NOT to read when choosing new romantasy, avoid the Clocktaur set of books. Not only is the romance both angsty AND toxic, but the author switches between first and third person while also switching who the first person character is mid-chapter. Also, all of the characters constantly pinch their noses in consternation. It was really promising world building ruined by bad writing. A much better romantasy set of books was the Shepherd King set (One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns). It isn’t great, but the romance part was better written, and the magic system was very unique and interesting.
As someone who likes the genre I’m just really happy there’s so much content being made. Yea some of it is slop trying to recapture the fad of ACOTAR (the book pictured), but some of the stuff coming out of it is really good. Also, because of this, there’s more romance in a lot of genres that didn’t have much before (looking at you sci-fi).
Personally, I love love and reading romance brings me joy. Some of these books are cringy teen angst with unrealistic and toxic relationships (mainly the YA side), but I’ve found that most I’ve picked up have healthy relationships with interesting plots that don’t revolve around just the romance.
That said, pure romance books (the pastel section of the store) have burned me too many times for me to bother trying anymore. Almost everything that this post complains about but 1000%.
Ngl, this post reminds me of the backlash that seems to follow anything coded for women that becomes really popular.
i dunno. twilight was really bad
Now come on, if you stick to reading it out of principle it sorta turns into X-Men and that’s ok with me.
I worked at borders when the last book in the 4 part series came out. Manager told me to read it. So I speed read the first two
The only part I liked was the use of blank chapters to represent the passage of time during depression
The rest was so dullllll
I don’t know if xmen in the 4th book would have saved me
When I watched the movie, I turned every line spoken by a vampire into a pickup line and it became fun again, but you shouldn’t have to play games like that with your literature. Or cinema.
The whole “imprinting on a baby” thing I heard about, that really skeezed me out
But that baby is named with a portmanteau of the grandma names! It’s so carefully thought out! /s
it’s very illustrative of the culture the author comes from.
I don’t fucking hate that romantasy is being made, just that the percentage of fantasy that is centered on anything other than love is so low I have a hard time finding anything new I like. Just like I’m sure you were frustrated that your only option for romance was from the ripped bodice section and wanted more branching out. I’m upset that the fantasy genre has swung so hard. I’ve read fantasy books that were pretty decent that had romance as a large section, but most of the time it’s either men writing women badly or writing wish fulfillment porn, or women writing toxic and/or angsty shit.
If you want a recommendation of what NOT to read when choosing new romantasy, avoid the Clocktaur set of books. Not only is the romance both angsty AND toxic, but the author switches between first and third person while also switching who the first person character is mid-chapter. Also, all of the characters constantly pinch their noses in consternation. It was really promising world building ruined by bad writing. A much better romantasy set of books was the Shepherd King set (One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns). It isn’t great, but the romance part was better written, and the magic system was very unique and interesting.