Romance is a very popular genre, but it should just never be read. Yes, the entire genre: fantasy romance, historical romance, sci-fi romance, contemporary romance, the weird, niche genres like cowboy romance, all of it just needs to go. Throw all of your romance books in the trash, burn them, whatever you need to do inorder to cleanse yourself of these terrifying books. But why is romance so bad, you may ask? Well, you can read about it below, along with books that you definitely should not read.
There are Too Many Happy Endings
What’s with all the happy endings? Lots of romance books end happily ever after, and it’s so unrealistic. Plus, who wants to read a story where everything ends well for everyone, and they’re all living the best lives they can? Half of them are so unattainable anyway, like staying married for life or dying together because they can’t live without their partner. If it doesn’t end in a complete dumpster fire, what’s even the point? Romance should be full of heartbreak and tragedy, and nothing like the book below.
In Wait For It, Diana Casillas has no idea what she’s doing half the time, nor how she’s made it for the last couple of years without murdering anyone. Being an adult is way harder than she thought. She has a new house, two young boys she became a guardian of in the most painful way, a job that she usually adores, and plenty of family and friends; she has almost everything she could want. Well, except for a boyfriend. Or husband. But neither of those are necessary, are they?
They Teach Us About Healthy Relationships
It seems like everywhere you look, people are yapping about healthy relationships, green flags, and how to be better partners and people. Where’s the drama, the yelling, the toxicity? Where’s the enemies-to-lovers story where they just stay enemies forever? Life’s too short to worry about staying healthy or having healthy interactions with others, so there’s no place for it in fiction. Everything is supposed to be destructive, and this book does a bad job at explaining that to readers.
In Yours Truly, Dr. Briana Ortiz is struggling. Her divorce is nearly through, her brother doesn’t have much more time to find a kidney donor, and the promotion she wants is probably going to the new man-doctor who’s been annoying her since they met. But before she starts hating him, he changes everything by sending a letter — one that shows he’s funny and likable. Now they’re hanging out, and Briana struggles to resist him even more when he gives her the best gift: a kidney for her brother.
They’re an Escape from Reality
Sleep is supposed to be our escape from reality; that’s it. In order to thrive, we must otherwise stay rooted and bound to what’s going on at all times. Our mental health is ruined when we try to get away from the harsh grind of day-to-day life that sucks our souls away with no end in sight. I know that it’s hard to resist, but in order to persevere, we must deny ourselves even the tiniest amounts of escapism and pleasure. After all, the last thing we want is to get unrealistic ideas about love, as shown in the book below.
Nora Goes Off Script follows Nora understands the equation for love after all, she’s a romance channel screenwriter. So when her husband abandons her and their two children, she uses this to write a new script that’s picked up for the big screen. It will be filmed at her century-old home. Leo Vance, former Sexiest Man Alive, is cast as her husband. But once filming wraps and everyone leaves, Leo is still there, with a proposition: he’ll pay a thousand dollars a day for a week. Nora agrees, not knowing that seven days is enough time to fall in love. And to get heartbroken.
I hope this article clears up why romance is so terrible. And remember — don’t go reading any romances, but especially not any happy, light-hearted, HEA ones!
Click here for a satire article on writing a best-selling romance.
Check out our Contemporary Romance shelf on Bookstr’s Bookshop page.
