Reading Romance

I read so you don’t have to.

Latest Posts

  • Perfect is boring

    There’s nothing wrong with being shy

    There’s nothing wrong with being bold

    There’s room under the sun

    For everyone

    It’s time to break the mold

  • Judge of Character

    When reading book reviews (which I usually do before deciding to read a book), one thing that consistently bothers me is how quickly reviewers judge the main characters, especially romance heroines. 

    I see comments like:

    “I hated the heroine.”

    “She got on my nerves.”

    “She was so annoying.”

    “She’s too stupid.”

    “She’s too naive.”

    “She’s too aggressive.”

    “She’s too…”

    …and on and on it goes.

    She’s always too something.

    For many reviewers, she’s never good enough.
She’s not allowed to need the hero because readers are tired of a damsel in distress, but she’s not allowed to be too independent, or she’s too progressive and feminist, and refusing help when you need it is foolish and pig-headed.

    She has to be confident and flirty but also modest and demure.

    She can’t be naive, but she can’t be too sex-positive either. ​

    She has to be smart, both in academics and social situations.

    She’s not allowed to be average in anything or doesn’t deserve the hero.

    She has to be the best, but not so good that we’re jealous of her.


    Why do we hold the heroines to such an impossible standard? 
If anything, these criticisms reflect internalized misogyny.


    These readers are entirely missing the point of reading romance. We are supposed to be able to see ourselves in the main characters and believe that someone like us deserves love and passion.

    Whether we’re bright, beautiful, or confident doesn’t matter—we all deserve love. There’s something worthy about each of us, whether we’re average or extraordinary.


    Would we have these same expectations of our friends? Our sisters?

    Some of the negative reviewers may be judgmental of everyone, but I don’t believe that most of us would be that harsh in real life. 


    Now, I’m not saying that many of these same people don’t also criticize the heroes; they do. However, there is a higher frequency of complaints about heroines.

    That said, reviewers also complain when heroes are not smart enough, not confident enough, etc. (I’m sure there’s more, but the fact that I can’t think of more examples off the top of my head only serves to illustrate my point).


    Perfect is boring.

    It’s far more interesting to read about conflict and character growth. 


    Is a person’s lovability measured by how intelligent they are? By how independent? By how unique? We can’t all be all of these things.

    We shouldn’t have to prove we’re good enough to be loved.
 There are so many kinds of people in the world.

    I understand that some of us are tired of reading the same characters repeatedly, but that doesn’t mean there is something wrong with those characters.

    I’m all for diversity and inclusivity, but inclusivity doesn’t mean excluding average people, either.

    P.S. Have we come up with a term yet for non-binary main characters? I’m not trying to exclude anyone.

    If you know of any terms or would like to suggest some, please leave a comment! But be respectful.

    Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness, even if their views don’t align with yours.

  • Over-the-Top Fiction

    Over-the-top stories are an acquired taste. Not everyone likes them. They often earn eye rolls. However, they’re not meant to be realistic, but that’s usually the number one complaint against them. (To that, I say: If you don’t like a type of story, don’t read it. And more importantly, don’t leave a bad review when the blurb warned you). 

    We read fiction to escape reality. Sometimes, we seek entertainment. At other times, we seek catharsis. We can live a million different lives in between the pages. 

    While over-the-top stories lean more toward comedy, that does not mean they lack emotional range. Sometimes, over-the-top is precisely what we need for catharsis. We can’t (or shouldn’t) be over-the-top in our everyday lives. But stories allow us to imagine ‘What if we could?’ and experience our wildest fantasies. 

    In over-the-top stories, our ‘ids’ run the show. We can experience our emotions in their purest forms and follow our hearts. Knowing we would never actually do any of those things is what makes it so funny. We’re safe within the confines of a fictional world where there usually is a happy ending. So, while we may not want to find ourselves in these incredibly ridiculous situations in real life, it’s fun to imagine what if. 

    If you’re naturally curious like me, you’ve asked a million ‘what if‘ questions. And for each one, you’ve thought of multiple scenarios. Our over-active imaginations need an outlet, or these stories live rent-free in our heads. We can fall down a rabbit hole of daydreams and get lost in our own worlds, imagining the wildest situations:

    What if?

    What if my crush and I got stranded in a cave during a blizzard and needed to share body heat to survive? What if they never noticed me before– is this the chance I’ve been waiting for? Or am I just convenient? 

    What if someone could spend one moment with me and become instantly devoted to me? What would it be like if that intense love at first sight were real? 

    What if someone I was acquainted with had an identical twin I didn’t know about, and they switched places, but I fell in love with the twin? 

    What if I had to enter a marriage of convenience to access a secret inheritance I didn’t even know I had? 

    And for every ridiculous question, there’s a story waiting to answer. In these imaginary worlds, we can act out all of our repressed emotions in a safe, enjoyable way. No matter how angsty or dark or angry we get, by the end of the story, we’ve worked through those feelings with a smile. Sometimes, we need to be able to laugh through our pain. And sometimes, fiction is the closest thing to closure.

    If you have assumed that over-the-top stories aren’t for you, have an open mind. Try reading, listening to, or watching, and see if you feel a release. There’s nothing quite like it.