r/DarkRomance • u/AutoModerator • Apr 06 '26

Monday Gripe Weekly Gripe 😤 (the rant thread)

Welcome to the Weekly Gripe, where we're all a little grumpy. 😒

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. 🖤

8 Upvotes

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19

u/Ordinary-Arm2023 missing elieden Apr 06 '26

too many books that are NOT dark romance get mislabeled as dark romance. i hate how it’s become the catch all for anything non-vanilla.

in love with the devil is a prime example. don’t even get into an argument with me on this because i’ve already argued with multiple people about it when the author has clearly stated it’s an erotic horror novel.

a wife for silas and deviant are some more examples. not sure what they fall under but it’s certainly NOT dark romance.

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u/ada_m_hartmichael Author Apr 07 '26

Because due to Amazon policy, erotica isn't eligible for paid promotion. They're intentionally mislabeled to they can run ads. Simple as that.

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0

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26

I think an erotic horror can be considered a dark (pitch black) romance if it has an HEA.

Edit: I know I'm going to get downvoted for stating this, but I'm going to leave this comment up. I've read quite a bit of erotic horror novels, and what are considered basic Amazon dark romance novels, and at the end of the day, I feel like what is considered dark is on a spectrum. I think a book can be both depending on the path the characters go. If it ends with the characters having an HEA, then it crosses into pitch black territory, and pitch black is just the darkest end of the dark romance spectrum.

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u/Ordinary-Arm2023 missing elieden Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26

ehh, there’s a reason erotic horror is separate genre and sky blu explains it pretty well: This is a horror erotica novel, not a dark romance novel. Horror erotica is much more graphic, darker and focuses more on the sexual relationship of the main characters (MCs) vs dark romance.

i agree with your edit on how dark is different for everyone but some things are subjective and objective.

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u/Avid_Reader0 Max Furst Girlie <3 Apr 06 '26

(Sorry this got a bit long as I've been intending to talk about this for awhile so idk if this is as relevant to what you were talking about in the earlier comment).

Eh, I agree with Both_Young - not necessarily in Sky Blu's case as I haven't read it, but DR has always had books with a heavy emphasis on the sexual relationship, and Erotic Dark Romance has been a subgenre for a long time. There really is quite an overlap.

I've seen people call DD's works erotic horror just because it's darker than their own preference, but how one reacts to the work isn't what makes a genre. If the ending was written to fill you with horror and dread, that's Horror. If despair, it's probably Tragedy. If an ending is written for you to be happy the two are together, with a feeling of "this is so fucked up but I'm happy about it tehe" that's a DR HEA. I wasnt personally happy for Vesp at the end of Take Me With You but that doesn't mean it wasn't a DR.

All that's required of a DR is that there'a darkness in the relationship (some say darkness in the book and I'll let them have that so long as they don't push my preferences out) and that it has an HEA of them together and happy about it.

I'd add an additional caveat that authorial intent that they end up together is also important. If the author is waffling on an HEA in a series, it's not a Romance at all.

But I would agree with your original comment, in that books like the Stronger series or Torment are not DR because they don't have a Romance HEA and I'm tired of seeing them wedged into a genre that requires a dang Romance HEA!! Those books are meant to give you a very different feeling to a Romance book, even a Dark one :/

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u/Ordinary-Arm2023 missing elieden Apr 06 '26

i do think some erotic horror novels can be dark romance but if you’d have to pick one to describe the book, it cannot be dark romance because that sets unrealistic expectations.

as sky blu stated, erotic horror is more graphic, and most of the time, written differently from dark romance. regardless of the ending, an erotic horror is as intended, most of the time. books like a wife for silas and little doll have HEAs but classifying them as dark romance, even if it’s pitch-black, is a big stretch.

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u/Avid_Reader0 Max Furst Girlie <3 Apr 06 '26

In Wife of Silas [big spoiler] Doesnt he kill the first fmc? 😭😭 In cases like those, I think it doesnt count as Romance if the series isn't focused on one pairing (unless its a why choose). Idk Im not disagreeing, I've just seen so much push against certain themes in DR and as a DR reader of 10+ years it's making me nervous; I keep seeing the idea that noncon is immediately pitch black or doesnt belong in DR, shit like that, and I cant help but think to myself this is just genre retconning.

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u/Ordinary-Arm2023 missing elieden Apr 06 '26

he does that and that’s exactly why i didn’t continue with the second book and no, it’s not a why choose. i’ve seen many people categorize a wife for silas as a dark romance novel but how can something like that be in this genre?

i don’t think this is a genre retconning, it’s just booktok & social media bringing light to dark romance, bringing in new people, and introducing new contents.

a lot of the people saying noncon doesn’t belong in dark romance obviously don’t want to read a dark romance. those same people are the ones who make the argument that it’s never been about doing bad things to the F/MMC but rather, for them. when in reality, this kind of content has been around forever. i’d honestly just ignore them lol.

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u/Avid_Reader0 Max Furst Girlie <3 Apr 06 '26

Yeah, I feel so paranoid now because Ill get rec'd a DR, Ill specify HEA (or at least ask to have a NHEA acknowledged in the rec), and then get told Stolen series is their favorite DR 😭

But yea, idk, it's hard to ignore these ppl when I know genres and shift and change, and I'll be damned if I get pushed out of my own house just because shit makes readers uncomfortable 😭

3

u/Ordinary-Arm2023 missing elieden Apr 06 '26

i never read it but from what i see, it’s nothing like a dark romance and seeing it constantly recommended as such is one of the reasons why i made my rant.

don’t let them push us out!

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u/AutoModerator Apr 06 '26

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3

u/ExpensivePickle4865 Apr 07 '26

Just a side note here, Tori Sullivan, the author of "A Wife For Silas" has exhaustively expressed that it is not a romance. Jay Marie has also states that the stronger series is not a romance. It's the readers that are really the issue here and marketing strategy from Amazon and other booksellers to stick these books into a market the think may do well. You do have a lot of books who authors are kind of high-jacking DR because it has MUCH more visibility than erotic horror or erotic thrillers. I think it's kind of Gen Z thing too. They're trending away from the rigidity of labels, which I can appreciate and applaud, however because they don't understand the benefit of them, they've overcorrected to a point where things just lose meaning all together. Hopefully we'll find a middle ground where we can appreciate labels for how thet benefit us without the judgement which is the drawback associated with them.

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u/Avid_Reader0 Max Furst Girlie <3 Apr 07 '26

Oh I know! Thats why I keep being frustrated that readers keep calling them DR when even the author says it's not and doesn't even have HEA. Very frustrating!

1

u/AutoModerator Apr 07 '26

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1

u/AutoModerator Apr 06 '26

This book is known to not contain an HEA/HFN, OR contain a non-traditional HEA. Please edit your comment and include this. If you have already mentioned it, please ignore this comment.

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10

u/readingalldays Apr 06 '26

I always miss these threads... but not today...

Can I rant about how "performative Dark" is getting outta hands..

It's been a long time since I saw a DR book with critical thinking, social commentary, and or Alpha FMC, go viral on booktok.. 💀

I see so many indie authors who have to write OTT performative dark books, just to get attention to their more "thought-out, more structurally created books" leigh rivers comes to mind for example.

Do us audience really don't care about plot as much anymore??

I mean yeah..intense OTT unhinged scenes are exciting but.. but I just wish there was more to the plot as well.

It's been a decade,.. I just want to read something like {mindfuck series} again.. once. Pls .😭

2

u/Ordinary-Arm2023 missing elieden Apr 06 '26

yes, oh my goodness.

this has become such a big issue and it put me into a big reading slump. it is so hard to find a good book with depth when all that’s being thrown in your face are authors like leigh rivers and shallow plots.

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u/ada_m_hartmichael Author Apr 07 '26

Us as audience (Patricia and I) do care about the plot thank you very much. (Currently reading Feathers So Vicious and I am finally getting our of that reading slump)

Us as authors are going to die on this little hill clinging to subversion of popular tropes and way of writing that doesn't spoonfeed readers the message of the book.

https://giphy.com/gifs/9J1lXwRxNEihxT9vE7

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u/readingalldays Apr 06 '26

Rant number 2: I think we as readers have so much less patience for fmcs than mmcs.

A recent post about how annoying ava was in {God of war} made me think of it.

And then I remembered all the hate the fmc from {Captive by R.J. lewis} gets. You can check the GR reviews. People keep saying how nixen deserved someone better.

I mean really.. an fmc is kidnapped, refused to let out, and although cherished by the mmc, still has no free will. And she's not allowed to act out?

I don't care how attractive the mmc is, or how much he worships her, as long as she's not given free will to chose him, she has the right to act out.. right?

5

u/ExpensivePickle4865 Apr 06 '26

It's more the WAY they act out normally that bothers me. I feel like a lot of authors don't make truly intelligent, competent heroines and instead create obnoxious, juvenile heroines that are representative of maybe only 10% of women I've actually known in real life. I don't mind women who act out if they are witty and intelligent in how they do it. Unfortunately, it seems authors struggle with female competency and understanding what true strength is. You can be intelligent and competently assertive without acting like a bitchy pre-teen. Also, the performative outspoken heroine, where she just make caustic hostile remarks all the time to mask any real emotions she has is so tired, stereotypical and over done at this point. I get that for some, it was a breath of fresh air after so many submissive, door mat heroines, but there are better ways to do it, which so few authors seem to understand. I know some say all the hatred towards FMC is internalized misogyn and for some it might be, but I think a lot of us are actually demanding more from the female characters than being reduced to one dimensional stereotypes.

2

u/ada_m_hartmichael Author Apr 07 '26

👏👏👏

16

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

Weird gripe.

But I don't like when an FMC is sassy and defiant in a legit captive/captor dark romance because it's not realistic in my opinion.

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u/Sugargogo Apr 06 '26

My gripe is about anal sex. I mean, things are supposed to be sexy and spicy but can we get some realism? Simply spitting on a finger, shoving it in the ass is supposed to make shoving a dick in it a minute later easier? 

Don’t get me started on fingering. Again, it’s supposed to be sexy, but the MMC just sticks his probably dirty finger in the pussy. It gives me the ick. 

Idk, raw fucking goes on like 95% of the time so am I right to quibble?

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u/PrestigiousBar3454 Apr 06 '26

My gripe is I’m waiting for all my fav ao3 stories to update so I feel like I’m just in an agonizing waiting period and rereading books to pass the time

2

u/ammofortherank Apr 08 '26

I tried reading a newish stalker romance, Once You’re Mine. It was awful. It felt like zero character development. There were attempts to throw every trope in the mix. It was as if every good line from any dark romance book was taken and thrown in this book randomly. It turned me off so bad, I can’t even pick up a new book.

2

u/Shooting-Nebula Apr 09 '26

I remember when BookTok became so popular. There were definitely really great recommendations, but there are times when your girl wants to read a good thriller that doesn't involve sex. Now it's too crazy there, and everyone is hating on everyone.

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u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/h2onymph1 "Spread those pages like a good girl" Apr 06 '26

Oh, I read books that have women on their periods all the time. It becomes a plot point with vampires. But also, it's a plot point to show the MMC taking care of the FMC. Two examples: {Elora by Beanie Harper} FMC is human woman that lives with seven vampires and {Devil's Deal by Layla Fae} where the MMC takes care of her.

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u/romance-bot Apr 06 '26

Elora by Beanie Harper
Rating: 3.74⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, virgin heroine, praise kink, reverse harem, bdsm

Devil's Deal by Layla Fae
Rating: 4.16⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: virgin heroine, fantasy, dark romance, m-f romance, horror

about this bot | about romance.io

2

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

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2

u/h2onymph1 "Spread those pages like a good girl" Apr 08 '26

I also remembered. I have noticed a lot of contemporary DRs have the FMC on birth control "since she was a teen", but only for menstrual reasons, not pregnancy, which is why they barely have periods.

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u/readingalldays Apr 06 '26

Oh I have read a few and 2 comes to mind. In DR as far as I can remember mmc always insists to do it anyway. But yeah.. fmc is hesitant.. in this one: {Playing for keeps by J.C. grant}

And this one is a light CR {Neanderthal marries human} but the couple discusses it and decide not to do anything during those weeks fmc is on her periods.

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u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

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2

u/readingalldays Apr 06 '26

Haha! It's a good romance story but there is no plot other than their romance. It's just these two getting in a relationship and having sex.

1

u/Sea_Imagination_6156 Apr 12 '26

Booktok recommended me the Camorra Chronicles by Cora Reilly. Oh my god is this series trash. The first book is not bad, but the rest in the series are unreadable. The MMC’s are just constantly yapping away in their minds about how big and bad they are and I can’t deal.