So, you’ve got a perfect rainy weather and your favorite hot cocoa and a cozy blanket? Or maybe you’re on a sunny beach, listening to the pulsating rhythm of the ocean waves? Can you guess what is missing in these scenarios? Yes, a good book. A good book with a happy ending certain to lighten up your mood. And of course, you are picking up a romance. The romance genre is the only genre that hurls a few bestsellers at its readers every single year. Sure, a thriller and a crime novel also make it to the top but the first place is difficult to be snatched from romance. Authors like Colleen Hoover, Emily Henry & Ali Hazelwood are the most searched writers right now and people love their books. Romance isn’t popular for nothing!
1-Why choose romance?
Simple, breezy, uncomplicated and light. The question should be why not choose romance? Also, you get a bright, cheerful feeling at the end which is just cherry on the top. Even the journey to the destination is amazing! ( I’m definitely not talking about Colleen Hoover. Yup, you know how much you cried.) in your boring everyday life, you can add a spark by enjoying the love story of your fav fictional characters. Of course, you have to listen to Taylor Swift as you read. And then there’s the fact that it is the most popular genre. If you’ve got as much FOMO as me, you are going to read it.
2-Fairy tales do come true…..or do they?
Reading Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty as a child usually evolves into reading romance as an adult. However, we do learn a few lessons on the way. Women don’t need others to rescue them. We can save ourselves. There’s no such thing as a damsel in distress. Also, I think original Cinderella wouldn’t have survived the castle because all she knew was how to manage a household and not how to manage a state. And if the political and royal affairs are as brutal as they are shown in tv and books, God help her.
Modern day fairytales do exist but they are no longer pointless or depict women as helpless. Women empowerment is heavily established. Problems are dealt with and no one just sits waiting for a knight in a shining armor.
3- Negative Aspects
Some people will disagree with me here but I seriously think that romance has more negative aspects than positive ones. Sure, they are easy to understand but sometimes they are just plain pointless. Also, this genre has solidified many stereotypes that shouldn’t be just assumed. I rarely like a romance because most of the time they are cringey, full of second-hand embarrassment and stupidity. I’m talking about the genre overall. Of course, there are some really good books. I’m really looking forward to Ali Hazelwood’s YA debut novel. But sometimes they actually ruin your own love life by raising standards too high……..or in some cases too low.
A vampire cannot be in a novel without being a romantic because twilight has just established that vampires are romantics. ( No, they are NOT!!)
Moreover, many novels just completely disregard their age ratings. Even YA novels have gone way over board. No, these books are not for 12 and above. The quality has significantly reduced over the years. Instead of reading a quality book, what we usually end up with is smutty fanfic which is just not readable, at all.
4-Sub genres
Romance offers a number of sub genres. Fantasy has romance. Mystery has romance. Classics have romance. Even horrors and thrillers also contain a bit of romance. There’s so much to read and not enough time. For reading more about these genres, visit the links below :
5-Tropes
Romance has the best tropes. My favorite is enemies to lovers. And I especially love Chloe Gong’s books. (one of which has the trope, strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers. I know.) There’s so much to choose from. There is so much variety and versatility that you can read on and on and never repeat the same story twice. However, a few of the tropes have become so common that they are almost considered cliches now and although a mass of people especially love these cliches, some readers want to discover something new.
You can read more about fan fav tropes here:
HAPPY READING!
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