I don't think I've ever read a book that's in the romance genre. I just got one that sounded pretty interesting, but I don't really have expectations going into it. I've read books with romance in them, but it's usually a subplot. I liked the romance in 11/22/63 by Stephen King. The questionable way Haruki Murakami writes women made me feel weird from what I remember about Norwegian Wood. I don't have anything in particular against romance books, but I just never think about reading them.
by _SemperCuriosus_
9 Comments
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I read Archer’s voice which was pretty good, Reminders of him and It ends with us which seemed good too but other than them every romance book has been cringey and utterly ridiculous for example The love hypothesis, Twisted, The fine print like wtf and then I never touched the genre again.
What type of romance are you talking about? Because it’s a pretty sweeping genre as a whole.
I mostly enjoy it, especially romances that overlap with fantasy and sci-fi.
What one did you pick up?
Personally I don’t read romance books either. I just find them very uninteresting. Occasionally I find a romance book that I like, but it’s usually one where it’s got a lot of other elements like worldbuilding, plot, etc that are interesting to me. For example I really loved The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and even got invested in the romance plotline by the end, but that’s an exception. (I think I do much prefer tragic or bittersweet romances than ones with happy endings)
I used to think my dislike for romance was because all the romance in the books I read was straight, but I’ve found queer romance books don’t usually interest me much either. For example I liked A Memory Called Empire but thought the romance subplot was really boring.
The definition of a romance book is a book with a central love story with a happy ever after. If it doesn’t have either of those then it’s not a romance book. For instance, Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean tragedy.
I read romance books because I want to be able to explore human relationships and experience and emotions in the relatively safe environment of a happy ever after.
I read romance every once in a while. Right now I’m reading The Idea of You by Robin Lee, because I watched the movie on Prime and really enjoyed it.
My favorite genre is sci-fi and my favorite sci-fi author is LeGuin. But every once in a while I’m in the mood for something dramatic and cheesy.
At this point it’s nearly 90% of what I read. I try to sprinkle in some classics and non-fiction here and there, but it’s been my go-to genre for about 12 years now.
I didn’t read it at all until I was in my 20s when I realized that my favorite parts of the books I was reading were always the romantic subplots. The nice thing about it is there are so many subgenres that I can still cover a broad range of topics and styles while staying in the romance realm, which keeps me invested in the story.
I like romance novels because they are just mindless nonsense, and that’s what I am looking for in a book, as an escape sometimes.
I don’t read them and have never considered going for one. Romance being the whole plot seems boring to me. I have opened a few at CVS or in vacation rental libraries and had good laughs at some weird descriptions.
But I’m open to being convinced to try if someone has a good one!
I will say I did not mind the smut in the Court of Thorns and Roses series at all. That was the smuttiest book series I have read so far, and it was fun!