First the dislikes because I want to end the post in positive way!
What I dislike:
1. Love triangles.
I hate them. I don't want to read them. And it feels like they're everywhere. Especially on fantasy/dystopia genre. I get it, it happens and you can have feelings for two people at the same time but seriously, love triangles never end well. It's not just that one gets hurt, everyone gets hurt. I especially don't like love triangles when they come up on sequels. Like the first book is all about girl meeting boy and they fall in love, and usually I ship them. Then comes the sequel and oh, there's another boy who is after the girl. Shock. And of course the girl have some kind of feelings for him too and she just can't decide. Usually the girl ends up with the boy she first met and the whole love triangle just was pointless.
I'm sorry about the rant but love triangles are just one thing that ruins books for me. Many could have been awesome but eventually I resent them because the love triangle.
(I was actually super excited about Throne of Glass but then I heard there's love triangle. Now I'm not sure if I want to dive in, which is so sad.)
(I was actually super excited about Throne of Glass but then I heard there's love triangle. Now I'm not sure if I want to dive in, which is so sad.)
2. Insta love.
Oh yes. The Insta Love. It's basically bullshit. I mean, if you claim to fall in love at first sight, it basically means you find the other person hot and you fall for their looks. Not personality. You can't see anyone's personality on the outside and fall in love with them. I mean, why can't they just say in books they find the other person attractive? But of course no, they just have to fall in love. I believe one can have a crush at first sight but love? It takes more than one glance.
Thank goodness the insta love has lost it's majority (or then I've been lucky and avoided them).
3. Pining best friend.
I'm not sure how to explain this, but I don't like the situation when someone has pined for someone (usually their best friend) for years but never said anything. Then, for some reason, they end up together. What? It doesn't feel like genuine love, especially since the girl has had bad relationships and then she realizes the best friend is love of her life and been there forever. I repeat, what? It doesn't feel like all winning, and it's just not for me. Friends-to-lovers is okay as long as it's genuine and mutual, not other pining for years and the other runs after other guys/girls.
4. Too independent heroine.
Yes, there is such thing as too independent. I'm not huge fan of helpless heroines but honestly, I take helpless over too independent any given day. What's too much, you ask? Well, you know, when the heroine doesn't let the guy do anything for her without her ranting about how she's independent woman and knows how to tie her shoelaces (especially when the thing is so simple like paying for dinner or something really small and gentlemanly like holding the door open for her). Being independent is good but taking it to extreme and claiming it's basic feminism irks me so much (and usually ruins the story).
5. Changing for love.
No. You don't have to change yourself for love or it's not love. That's how I see it. If the other demands you to change, dump the person (usually there's a bad boy and good girl, and the girl demands the boy to change). It's not genuine, unconditional love if the other has to change. Then it's conditional love, and I don't like it. It's so sad, especially since it seems that every other books has this situation: usually the girl demands change of some kind and the boy changes and then people swoon. However, I'm not having it. I'm not against change, but the change must be because the person grows or wants to change for themselves. Not for someone else.
So yeah. This change thing is probably the biggest turn off in romance for me.
What I like:
1. LGBT+
Firstly, we need more same sex relationships (especially in YA and NA but in mainstream adult romances too). Then we need the whole rainbow of different kind of persons with different types of love/sexual interest. I'm honest so, if it's LGBT then I'm more likely to pick up the romance book (I'm quite bored with all the hetero romance books because there's practically nothing new there).
(There's just one tiny aspect I need to be wary about LGBT+ romances. BDSM. It seems every other books in MM romances has it. And it's not my thing, so.)
2. Bad boys.
Well, yeah. Gentlemans are good but I just need bad boys in my life. However, with the bad boy there's bound to be the changing for love aspect, so I've become quite wary with the books that promises bad boy in the summary.
(Pretty please, can I have bad boy LGBT book? I'd die for it.)
3. Slow burn with witty and sarcastic banter.
Quite spesific, don't you think? I know what I like. Slow burn or hate-to-love, that's how I roll. Throw in the mix a little bit witty and sarcastic banter, and I'm gone for.
4. Happy endings (or happy for now)
When I was a teenager, I hated happy endings. I yearned for bittersweet and shatters-your-heart endings but nowadays I like the happy endings. Life is hard enough itself so I like books to show something different. Especially if I'm picking up a romance to cheer myself, then I really don't want to end up crying because the ending is so sad/bittersweet/horrible.
(There's always exceptions because Brokeback Mountain, A Walk to Remember and various other my favourites don't end up happily but yeah. Generally I like the happy endings.)
5. Unique story or twists.
Let's face it, when it comes to pure romance stories, there's so many cliches and so used storylines. When there's something new-ish or some twist, I'm so much more invested to the story. (Hint: just making it LGBT+ instead of M/F makes miracles to the story.) So yeah, mix something unique or rare there, and it's so much better!
What do you like or dislike about romances in books? Do we share some likes/dislikes? Write your choices in the comments or link your top ten post so I can make a visit! :)
3. Pining best friend.
I'm not sure how to explain this, but I don't like the situation when someone has pined for someone (usually their best friend) for years but never said anything. Then, for some reason, they end up together. What? It doesn't feel like genuine love, especially since the girl has had bad relationships and then she realizes the best friend is love of her life and been there forever. I repeat, what? It doesn't feel like all winning, and it's just not for me. Friends-to-lovers is okay as long as it's genuine and mutual, not other pining for years and the other runs after other guys/girls.
4. Too independent heroine.
Yes, there is such thing as too independent. I'm not huge fan of helpless heroines but honestly, I take helpless over too independent any given day. What's too much, you ask? Well, you know, when the heroine doesn't let the guy do anything for her without her ranting about how she's independent woman and knows how to tie her shoelaces (especially when the thing is so simple like paying for dinner or something really small and gentlemanly like holding the door open for her). Being independent is good but taking it to extreme and claiming it's basic feminism irks me so much (and usually ruins the story).
5. Changing for love.
No. You don't have to change yourself for love or it's not love. That's how I see it. If the other demands you to change, dump the person (usually there's a bad boy and good girl, and the girl demands the boy to change). It's not genuine, unconditional love if the other has to change. Then it's conditional love, and I don't like it. It's so sad, especially since it seems that every other books has this situation: usually the girl demands change of some kind and the boy changes and then people swoon. However, I'm not having it. I'm not against change, but the change must be because the person grows or wants to change for themselves. Not for someone else.
So yeah. This change thing is probably the biggest turn off in romance for me.
What I like:
1. LGBT+
Firstly, we need more same sex relationships (especially in YA and NA but in mainstream adult romances too). Then we need the whole rainbow of different kind of persons with different types of love/sexual interest. I'm honest so, if it's LGBT then I'm more likely to pick up the romance book (I'm quite bored with all the hetero romance books because there's practically nothing new there).
(There's just one tiny aspect I need to be wary about LGBT+ romances. BDSM. It seems every other books in MM romances has it. And it's not my thing, so.)
2. Bad boys.
Well, yeah. Gentlemans are good but I just need bad boys in my life. However, with the bad boy there's bound to be the changing for love aspect, so I've become quite wary with the books that promises bad boy in the summary.
(Pretty please, can I have bad boy LGBT book? I'd die for it.)
3. Slow burn with witty and sarcastic banter.
Quite spesific, don't you think? I know what I like. Slow burn or hate-to-love, that's how I roll. Throw in the mix a little bit witty and sarcastic banter, and I'm gone for.
4. Happy endings (or happy for now)
When I was a teenager, I hated happy endings. I yearned for bittersweet and shatters-your-heart endings but nowadays I like the happy endings. Life is hard enough itself so I like books to show something different. Especially if I'm picking up a romance to cheer myself, then I really don't want to end up crying because the ending is so sad/bittersweet/horrible.
(There's always exceptions because Brokeback Mountain, A Walk to Remember and various other my favourites don't end up happily but yeah. Generally I like the happy endings.)
5. Unique story or twists.
Let's face it, when it comes to pure romance stories, there's so many cliches and so used storylines. When there's something new-ish or some twist, I'm so much more invested to the story. (Hint: just making it LGBT+ instead of M/F makes miracles to the story.) So yeah, mix something unique or rare there, and it's so much better!
What do you like or dislike about romances in books? Do we share some likes/dislikes? Write your choices in the comments or link your top ten post so I can make a visit! :)
Good to see instalove getting so much hatred today. It's such an unrealistic, tired plot device. I get that a lot of teenagers feel their brand-new crush or relationship is automatically going to last forever and is some epic love story for the ages, but that still doesn't mean they're in love so early on. Love triangles are also annoying and seriously overdone.
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Okay this is an awesome list and I completely wish I could use the "praise hand hallelujah emoji" because YES?. I have no complaints on this list. This is all the win. I now follow you on GFC and bloglovin. I love this blog.
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Rebecca @ Vicariously! (also my link to my TTT)