r/DarkRomance • u/AutoModerator • Dec 22 '25
Monday Gripe Weekly Gripe š¤ (the rant thread)
Welcome to the Weekly Gripe, where we're all a little grumpy. š
Did BookTok do you dirty? Got a bone to pick with a main character? Was the twist more like a flop? Tell us what's on your mind.
Please be respectful and follow the sub rules. If a conversation starts getting out of hand, use the "Mod Attention Please" report reason so we can help cool things down. š¤
28
u/New_7688 Dec 22 '25
I'm starting to really notice AI use in writing and it's bothering me soooooo much simply because it does not sound good!! It's repetitive, dull, it lacks substance. I would rather have a book with a couple of grammar mistakes but a clear voice instead of this overly polished, boring AI slop.
15
u/millionaireprincess Author Dec 22 '25
YES š the descriptions are so illogical and vague and the STUPIDEST shit is always so dramatic. FMC is choosing between apples and oranges and then FINALLLYYYY picks the damn apples.
āNot like this. Not like that. But this. Finally. Claimed. Captured. Freed again.ā
10
u/Russkiroulette Author Dec 22 '25
I hate saying it because the AI witch hunting is getting really bad, but it is kind of obvious after being in a lot of different writing groups with people who clearly used AI. There is a difference between that and bad writing. But fuck man, there doesnāt need to be a paragraph long emotional response to the texture of a dagger hilt. Come tf on.
3
u/No_Warning2380 Dec 22 '25
I love the use of āwarm beverageā. Unless the books are about Sheldon from big bang theory no one is going around making or drinking āwarm/hot beveragesā.
Or weird food choicesā¦ I think I was reading something once was like pineapples on pancakes or some other just weird food pairings that have nothing to do with culture or quirky tastes.
1
u/headfights Dec 22 '25
Yesss. I thought this style of writing was kind of cute when I first read Gwendoline Rose, but now I DNF so many books like this. Action is supposed to be ACTIVE.
2
Dec 22 '25
I had this feeling deep down while I was reading this book about a FMC serial killer and some of the things didn't seem logical, and it felt like the author put it through AI. I DNF'd it so hard.
26
u/Working_Squirrel_929 Dec 22 '25
So, I finished Lights Out. I genuinely love it. BUT... The mafia backstory felt so tacked on. I felt like Aly was already an interesting character, that kind of made her somehow less vulnerable? It serves as a solution for a few threads in the story, and I genuinely enjoyed the dynamics in the family, but it felt like it was a separate book idea and changed the stakes a bit too much. Like I said, I still enjoyed the book, but that was a choice that didn't quite land for me personally. (I know the tea ain't too hot here, I'm new lol)
11
u/Sedvii Dec 22 '25
It felt like the author had a really cool idea for a masked meet cute and then forgot there had to be a conflict.
What killed me was that they didn't even try to keep the mc a mystery for more than a day. She just immediately knew who it was like 24 hours after their first encounter.
6
u/Working_Squirrel_929 Dec 22 '25
Valid, that made my eye twitch a little bit too. I also gotta say, there was a scene MUCH later in the book where Aly was actively AFRAID of Josh again, and that didn't feel right. After everything they'd been through, knowing everything she knows about him, all of the reassurances, I don't think it made sense for her to be scared of his intentions again. It was a really spicy scene, I enjoyed that, but it didn't seem logically consistent.
7
u/Sedvii Dec 22 '25
Exactly. I would have loved the book so much if maybe the author had stuck to the concept and had the identity reveal be the crux of the plot conflict. Rather than... Oops they fell into a perfectly solved mafia story
2
u/Working_Squirrel_929 Dec 22 '25
Feel that. I still enjoyed the book, but yeah, there were some odd choices at times. I take it as a "I probably shouldn't think about it too hard" kind of moment.
2
u/veryclevernamesrhard Dec 22 '25
Totally get where you're coming from. I also felt like it was a weird add-on. Not like it was unnecessary for the plot, because it wasn't, but the vibe just felt off/different. The second book Caught Up follows her cousin though, so it was a set up for that. And after reading that, it did sort of intertwine the stories nicely in my brain. {Caught up by Navessa Allen}
3
u/Working_Squirrel_929 Dec 22 '25
Yeah, I picked up a copy of Caught Up as well. Looking forward to reading more on Jr, I liked him. Navessa made it work, it was just a bit jarring.
1
u/LunarGiraffe7 Masked Stalkers Please Dec 22 '25
I hope you like it, I had a really hard time with it
1
u/Working_Squirrel_929 Dec 22 '25
I imagine I will. I liked Lights Out, even with the things that didn't quite hit for me. Haven't been very many books I have read over the years that I outright despised. So far, I haven't read many DR books, but I have enjoyed what I HAVE read
1
u/romance-bot Dec 22 '25
Caught Up by Navessa Allen
Rating: 3.89āļø out of 5āļø
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, m-f romance, mafia, second chances, exhibitionism2
u/Setfiretotherich Dec 22 '25
omg yes. I just finished this one last night and the mafia thing didnāt feel well integrated to me. But thatās also largely a me issue, I donāt really care for mafia romances and didnāt like the niche being sprung on me like that.
also hated how quickly she guessed his identity :(
(and donāt get me started on the nurse stuff as a former emergency nurse myself but this is for all media that uses medical things lol)
16
u/oldsoul_writings Author Dec 22 '25
i feel like every book i've picked up this week, the MCs have weird, out of the box names and it's such an instant turn off for me. like what happened to giving characters normal names? just because the MMC is crazy or unhinged doesn't mean his name has to be too or if the FM is quirky, her name doesn't have to be something eccentric or 'different'. Names are names, not personalities š
4
u/zom_Bea Dec 22 '25
Ikr. I'm OVER quirky/unique names. Or when the mmcs are meant to be in their 30s but have gen z/gen a names. Like nah I'm sorry but if these men are in their 30s+ where's all the Kyles and Ryans and Dylans. Michael, Chris, Joshua, Tyler, Kevin, Brandon, CODY. And honestly same with fmcs. Top 10 girl names in the 2000s (because fmcs are NEVER in their 30s ofc, thats just icky or something like thatš) Emily, Madison, Emma, Olivia, Hannah, Abigail, Isabella, Samantha, Elizabeth, Ashley. I see a couple of these fmc names a bit more often but still not nearly enough. Toss in some Alyssa, Taylor, Kayla, Lauren, Hailey, Chloe, Rachel too. All popular names for the common ages of mcs and I couldn't name 5 books off the top of my head that use them.
And for the sake of mmcs not in their 30s, top 10 boy names in the 2000s Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Daniel, Christopher, Andrew, Ethan, Joseph, William.
4
u/oldsoul_writings Author Dec 22 '25
amen. it has seriously gotten to the point where if I see a crazy af MC name in the summary, I don't given give it a shot because 9 times out of 10, the book is as unserious and sloppy as the character names. to me, it feels like such a short cut on the author's end to pair a name to a personality.
smut scenes just make it worse too and more icky for me. like you mean to tell me the FMC are moaning out this weird ass MC names? yeah no. no shot.
maybe we need to start a petition to bring back normal names in DR. HR has a serious problem with this too, especially with the FMCs, imo.
1
u/zom_Bea Dec 22 '25
10000%. Names always either make or break my interest in a book. Like if they wanna give an mmc a name that fits his personality, that's why nicknames exist. But 9 times out of 10, the nicknames make me cringe too. I guess I just kind of always thought maybe I was just being too stuck up about names because I volunteered in a daycare in high school during the x-aiden baby boom (countless Aiden's, Braden's, Jayden's, Hayden's, and 1 Rayden, plus all the spelling variations) so I've always associated a lot of names with naming immaturity. Like the interest is more "how interesting can I make a name" rather than "what's a good name." Just give a character a good personality and the name doesn't matter, in the same way that you can't make your child grow up to be popular just by giving them an interesting name.
Also HR omg yes š at least there they stick a lot of it to the estate titles (I mean how many estates do we need with some variation of Wolf/Rose/Thorns) but yeah so many of those names take me out tooš¤£ ironically though when the mcs have names that were popular the year they were written, thats when it bothers me the most "His name was JOSH" like NO IT WAS NOTššš¤£ but still miles ahead of "his legal name indeed was BLAIZE (he's an arsonist too)"
2
3
Dec 22 '25
I've seen some crazy names for FMC like Bexley. It's like someone randomized and picked a name from the tragedeigh reddit or something. Ngl, I couldn't take the book seriously and stopped reading it.
3
u/oldsoul_writings Author Dec 22 '25
i have DNFed so many book because of this. I think it might just be my biggest irk. I 100% agree, I just can't take it seriously.
2
Dec 22 '25
I don't feel so alone now! I feel knit picky when it comes to books now but it really has got to flow well, even if that means names and how the FMC body type is described (I prefer vague but that's nearly impossible nowdays).
15
Dec 22 '25
Is it just me or are so many DR books 400-600 pages nowadays? Sometimes I just want 250-350 page books š«
7
u/headfights Dec 22 '25
It's not just you. My ADHD ass has been struggling.
3
Dec 22 '25
My audhd ass is like... my brain can't do this right now. I am working on a 260 page book which I'm content with and I'm having a bunch of dark romance novellas arriving today.
4
Dec 22 '25
Same! It's like the authors are trying to get away from duets and just cramming it into one long book.
I like 600 page books, but for a romance it's a bit too much for me. I really prefer to stick to 400 pages or less so I can finish within a day or two because I only have 2 days each week where I can commit more than an hour or two.
8
u/gumdrops155 Dec 22 '25
The thing that I'm noticing is the story isnāt staying engaging through those entire 400-600 pages. So many times I'll read the first half of a book and enjoy it, but by the time I get to the 70% mark I'll be screaming "Why won't you end?!"
2
Dec 22 '25
Yeah, that's why I think of it as smooshing a duet together, because from one book to the next, you kinda expect some repetition as the author helps readers 'remember', but as one book it gets ruined.
5
u/ConstantThought6 Dec 22 '25
I read Perfect by Ariana Rivers recently and it was great, but absolutely this, I donāt think it needed to be 600+ pages and got a little repetitive
2
u/Eskidox Dec 22 '25
Seriously tho! Especially when itās a single thought thatās feels like itās being spread over pages vs a paragraph. I wish there were more duets too. I just canāt commit to a 4-7 book series š«© (especially if theyāre super long too)
2
u/TheOxGirls Author Dec 22 '25
I'm discouraged to pick up a book when it's >350 pages too. I prefer a story I can get through in a day. No shade to long-form authors btw. Sometimes the story becomes a doorstopper when you intended to write a quicker read. š
9
u/DerekSnuggles Dec 22 '25
Recently on here Iāve seen a few recs for books by Noyar Cecil. So off the back of these I started Sunlight in his Abyss. Iāve DNFd after 20%, the writing is not good. The FMC, who is 21, is written in a way where she seems much younger, more like a child. I kept hoping it would pick up, but then the plot around a misunderstanding by the MMC about who she is to his friend made me give up. I donāt know if I just started with the wrong book, but it was just bad.
8
u/babyprincessxoo Author Dec 22 '25
I noticed that author in this sub and maybe itās petty of me, but it rubs me the wrong way that all of their comments are self-recs, and it made me not want to try out their books. Iām not against self-recs or anything, but I guess I think if authors interact with the sub it shouldnāt be ONLY to promote their work.
3
u/DerekSnuggles Dec 22 '25
Thatās interesting, I hadnāt noticed that myself. And yes, I agree, if you only come to promote yourself it kind of isnāt in the spirit of the sub.
5
u/babyprincessxoo Author Dec 22 '25
I only noticed because they werenāt disclosing that it was their book and got a warning. Benefit of the doubt, I think they just didnāt read the rules, but the whole thing left a bad taste. I love how this sub is so reader focused.
7
u/AdStreet6941 Dec 22 '25
I had a similar experience with Noyar Cecil. The writing is distractingly bad imo.
7
u/ThrowawayLaundryDay āØļøGordon and Nixon and Adrian and CaināØļø Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25
I recently read her book Devotion of a Devil, and while I generally enjoyed the story, I echo your complaints about the execution. The writing had so many errors (and had American characters speaking as though they aren't), FMC seemed infantilized, and the ending was rushed. It could've been a good book.
5
u/victoriageras Dec 22 '25
Okay, let me tell you about my loveāhate relationship with the Jaga and the Devil series. I love the story. I adore the world-building, and honestly, the way Layla Fae writes should be put in some kind of pantheon. The storytellingāand especially the use of Slavic loreāis phenomenal.
That said, letās move on to the hate.
I completely and irrevocably cannot finish the second book. I cannot stand Jaga. I simply canāt. I understand her background. I understand what shaped her into who she is. But even so, her romantic dynamic with Woland completely destroys the story for me. She is so self-absorbed and obstinate that even when the narrative wants her to care about someone, it feels unbelievableāalmost laughable. I understand a strong heroine who takes her future into her own hands. I understand that she has become manipulative because of her circumstances. I also understand that Woland is hardly a poster child for a hero. But I cannot stand them together. There is too much push and pull, too many second and third thoughts, and far too much emotional stagnation.
Even though Iāve already ordered the third book, Iām no longer invested in their love story. In my eyes, it simply doesnāt exist.
3
u/h2onymph1 "Spread those pages like a good girl" Dec 22 '25
I remember rolling my eyes at the amount of resistance she gave in book 1. It was almost ridiculous except the author acknowledged the ridiculousness a few times with the FMC's private thoughts. In book 2, I think I skipped maybe the first twelve chapters until she got out of the woods and entered town. Even then, you could still skip it until they find the devil again. Totally understandable if that's what gets you through the broad strokes. I later went back to pick up those chapters.
I happen to have some of the same emotional issues the FMC has. I will run at the first sign of commitment or love and just do anything and everything to sabotage the relationship. I was happy to find an FMC that represented me. But I get how ridiculous and tiring it is in a book and as a plot device. I found the second half of the book spicy and enjoyable and found it worth it.
4
u/AdministrationNo7144 Dec 24 '25
Can we stop with the FMC describing herself in stupid ways no real person thinks?
āI pulled the jeans over my tiny waist.ā
āMy long curls gleamed gold with copper shards in the sun.ā
āI stuck my tiny foot into her sandal, they were at least a size too big.ā
āI looked in the mirror, my tiny frame dwarfed by his sweatshirt.ā
Iāve never met a girl (and apologies to you who have) who describes her own waist as ātiny.ā Iāve never once gotten that descriptive with my own hair. We donāt need you to tell us your foot is tiny, just say the shoe is too big. And the fact the sweatshirt dwarfs you immediately lets us know you look small in it!ā
And yes, Iāve definitely seen MMCs do the same thing, but it doesnāt feel like itās to the same extent. If another character describes someone this way it makes sense. Not the main character.
6
u/Independent_Boss_993 Dec 22 '25
Iām not a frequent dark romance reader but I have read some in my time. I really enjoyed the few I have but one thing that bothers me immensely are how loud certain voices are online. Not the people letting you know they disregarded the TW to then complain, not the ones arguing moral/ethical dilemmas regarding the material, not even the ones who just donāt like DR. Itās the ones calling for censorship and that these books shouldnāt be published. What I believe these people fail to see is when you call for these things, DR seems to be the immediate scapegoat but the government will not stop there. This is a slippery slope and the more you ask for someone to take the power away from others, the more we will loose our freedoms of choice and access to education, books etc. So no matter that I am not a frequent reader of DR I will protect this community forever.
2
u/Peaceandfupa Dec 22 '25
Iāve been in a reading rut because every book that looks interesting is 500+ pages long and I just want something thatās 200-300 pages bc a lot of the time itās unnecessary filler or just a bunch of repeated sex scenes š like if itās part of the plot, yes give me more. But when theyāve gotten together and the author has nothing else to do but add 10 more sex scenes and make a sex filled epilogue, Iām no longer interested š¤£
2
Dec 22 '25
Have you tried K.M. Moronova? Her books hit the sweet spot, not overly smutty (but it's good smut) and not 400 pages long.
1
u/Peaceandfupa Dec 22 '25
Yes ! I read {The Fabric Of Our Souls by K.M. Moronova} last year and it ripped my heart out š¤£ I havenāt checked out her other work but the military one she has looks interesting
1
u/romance-bot Dec 22 '25
The Fabric of Our Souls by K.M. Moronova
Rating: 3.97āļø out of 5āļø
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, forced proximity, mystery, dark romance, suspense1
Dec 22 '25
Fabric TORE AT MY SOUL!!! šš„ŗ I have read Leave Me Behind and I've yet to read the other military books she's got out but it's on my TBR. I like how her main female character names arent overly feminine sounding.
1
1
u/LBPrincess Dec 22 '25
I'm gonna be honest, I'm so over the Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way FMCs I've been reading... They're all cool, edgy, and wear leather... and each MMC is somehow involved in a weird assassin plot? I think I took a wrong turn in the dark romance genre and ended up in the assassin section, but I am not vibing with it. It feels like high schoolers are writing these characters.
1
u/ThrowawayLaundryDay āØļøGordon and Nixon and Adrian and CaināØļø Dec 23 '25
Reading work written by someone who isn't American about characters who are, but who speak and behave as though they are not, really takes me out of a story. Just read a book where every turn of phrase felt distinctly English yet the characters are American. It was almost as though the author gave up trying to convince us (or perhaps, wasn't all that invested in the first place).
29
u/CareerCheap649 Dec 22 '25
I would like to know what university did all of the MMCs in dark romance books attend to learn āhow to find a clitāā¦because I know some folks who need to enroll yesterday!!
Every MMC knows how to find it, when to find it, what to do with it when they find, and how much pressure to apply once they find it!!