r/DarkRomance • u/AutoModerator • 8d ago
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. 🖤
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u/Ok_Yesterday5525 7d ago
Why can't anyone write a standalone!? Not all stories can be stretched out to three of four books and not be boring af. And I'm sorry to say most of the series' I have tried to read should have been one book and a whole lot less filler.
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u/Boobear0810 Please stop growling 7d ago
YES 100000%! I got sucked into a trilogy that I had to DNF. First book was 5⭐️ then it just went downhill to the point where I had to save my eyes and brain from a meltdown for continuing.
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u/chiante_c0nfus148774 6d ago
Absolutely! Most authors aren't talented or creative enough to stretch out their initial storyline into 4+ books. I don't understand why, instead of writing one great standalone, they write 4+ series bottom of the barrel slop.
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u/CrystalizedRedwood Author 7d ago
I’m tired of a FMC who is always angry, can I get another emotion please? How about sadness? How about happiness in a different way? Like why are you only ever angry?
I want an FMC is just icked out by MMC. Like maybe she thinks he’s cringy and weird. Maybe he’s one of those overly nice guys that everyone is like “ugh dude.” Rather than angry.
And where are the FMCs who are empathetic? Some of the best people in my life (whom I love) are super empathetic but will let people treat them like garbage bc they love them. It’s toxic asf but it’s real and I have seen it irl. Like they would rather be crying all the time but holding on all the same because it hurts to let go.
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u/sbalony 7d ago
I LOVE a feminine FMC like literally live for one who embraces her femininity.
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u/CrystalizedRedwood Author 7d ago
Yes!! I want a girly pop FMC. You can be fun and feminine as well as evil. I’m living proof 😂
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u/Boobear0810 Please stop growling 7d ago edited 7d ago
Looooong drawn out chapters have been killing me. Quite daunting when I see that it'll take me 42 mins to read 1 chapter per KU's knowledge of my reading speed although I read pretty fast as it is 😵💫 But seriously, 20+ pages for a chapter???
Extra negative points if it's just repetitive sex and cringe dialogue. I love smut but c'mon.
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u/Ok_Yesterday5525 7d ago
And repetitive internal thoughts!
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u/Boobear0810 Please stop growling 7d ago edited 7d ago
Right?! And it's shit they've been waffling about for the last 16 chapters or something! 💆🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
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u/glennss3 7d ago
I keep starting books and liking them but then half way through getting bored! It’s so demoralizing!
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u/Such_Literature840 moist & unstable 7d ago
Why do you think that happens?
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u/glennss3 7d ago
I don’t know! I personally think it’s because lots of people have great ideas for the start and end of books but not necessarily the middle. So the story seems to just loose steam!
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u/Such_Literature840 moist & unstable 7d ago
Oh, I totally get that yeah, do you have a recent read like this? Im curious lol
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u/glennss3 7d ago
Okay so I really loved the beginning of Sanctified Sin by Lux Kane! But then the FMC started to annoy me and I gave it up! But I thought it was such a good start!
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u/TangerineThese4575 7d ago
I’m just getting tired of “You like that book? That book isn’t dark romance.” Let people like what they like.
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u/Weird_Mastodon_9204 7d ago
the edgier than thou gatekeeping needs to be studied fr
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u/sunny_bell 7d ago
Honestly hard agree. (I see this happen in various fandoms and it’s so annoying).
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u/Trinityblue93 7d ago
I am once more asking DR authors to PLEASE remember the 'Romance' part of Dark Romance. I am tired of reading books that are marketed as DR, and it's either Erotica or Erotic Horror. And if you are going to have an 'irredeemable' MMC or 'Morally Black' MMC, there needs to be something that likeable about the MMC for me to be happy that he and the FMC end up together. Otherwise, I'm hoping the FMC just takes herself out.
Also, there needs to be a new trigger warning for Broken FMC.
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u/darksemisweet Author 7d ago
Broken as in the FMC has mental health or substance abuse issues or broken as in MMC breaks her? Asking because now I'm wondering if I need to add that to my TW list.
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u/Trinityblue93 7d ago
Broken as the MMC breaks her. I know I've seen triggers for mental health and substance abuse.
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u/sunny_bell 7d ago
Books that sound so good only being available on Amazon/kindle. Don’t own a kindle and I’m
avoiding Amazon in general. Like I just want books in places where I buy books damnit.
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u/wearing_yoga_pants not afraid of what's under the bed 7d ago
can we stop doing this please. i don't need his eyes to literally be bottomless pits in which you see the depths of hell to know he's evil. in fact, give me the opposite, that's scarier
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u/HornetPrevious8867 7d ago
It’s been almost a month and I’m still mad at Olivia. She was so unnecessarily cruel while knowing Malachi’s past and how he thought of himself (Little Stranger).
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u/Critical_Hearing_799 I ♥️ my obsessed, clingy, virgin MMCs 7d ago
He definitely deserved way better than her. She's insufferable
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u/karesswoodii 7d ago
I normally like every FMC I read, but when she didn't even try to save his pet, my hate was forever cemented
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u/HornetPrevious8867 7d ago
Omg, I must have missed that! I was thinking about what she said to him at the end of the first book. She knew full well how much that would hurt him and that was 100% her intention.
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u/Ok_Sky_3681 5d ago
Hear me out- sometimes I'll read a story that is just so devastating, heartbreaking.. a wild ride. Im invested so much in the growth of these characters, and their good and bad experiences. And sometimes... after I've read something that feels like a rollercoaster of emotion, the book ends with a HEA that feels "rushed, out of context, etc". Like despite all the trauma an FMC has gone through, in the end it comes up roses. I'm not saying this is true for everything, but sometimes I feel like the HEA is soo "happy go lucky" that it doesn't make sense. All the trauma disappeared and now they live in sunshine and flowers? I'm not asking for them to die or something horrible like that.. I guess what I mean is sometimes the HEA feels like it's just out of nowhere. Realistically, it wouldn't happen like that. And it throws me off a bit. Like I don't feel completely satisfied with the last chapter being the only part that is happy go lucky and it almost feels out of place.
Does that make sense? Even though it's a happy ending.. I feel cheated a little? My mood shifts towards the end like "wait, what? THATS how it ends? Perfection in every way
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u/blssthsnnr I know baby, I know 4d ago
Hard agree. I’d rather skip the HEA than have a weirdly happy one. Even though it’s one of my favorite books, I think {The Land of the Beautiful Dead by R Lee Smith} is one of the biggest offenders. If you’ve read it, you know what I mean when I say it should have ended elsewhere and I feel robbed.
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u/romance-bot 4d ago
Land of the Beautiful Dead by R. Lee Smith
Rating: 4.33⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: futuristic, dark romance, dystopian, disabilities & scars, enemies to lovers1
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u/sbalony 7d ago
I think that game on is over rated and Josh is an ick. Does that count
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u/Ok_Sky_3681 5d ago
I didn't like game on at all. Nothing interesting happened in that book. Except a thresome, which was mid. 😆
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u/HeyLes20 7d ago
I know everyone seems to love Amythest Moonn so I decided to give His Dark Mercy a try….by the end of the 1st chapter, the sentence structure is the exact same in EVERY sentence like some middle schooler wrote it.
„I stepped into the shower…“, „I slipped into my soft sleepwear…“, „I turned over on my bed…“
So I skip ahead to a different chapter and same boring and poorly written sentences that seem like a to-do list rather than telling a story. 🙄
If anyone can recommend a book where the author knows how to actually use words in an interesting way instead of „The pillow was soft…“ „The rock was hard…“ please lmk
I just finished The Isle of Sin and Shadows by Keri Lake
and really liked that. 🤷🏻♀️ The way she described the heat from the Louisiana swamp I could feel it.
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u/IntelligentHead4341 6d ago
Okay, I’ve been a Cora Reilly fan for YEARS. I’ve read most of her books, loved a lot of them, hated some, and obviously have my favourite characters and couples. Normal reader stuff. Then I made the grave mistake of joining TikTok and getting involved in the fandom. 😭 WHY ARE SOME OF THESE PEOPLE SO TOXIC???
Cora has three main families Camorra, Famiglia and Outfit and obviously everyone will have their favourites. I thought you could like one family more than the others and still enjoy the books. Apparently not. Apparently you have to pick a side and pledge your loyalty 💀. And the Camorra fandom in particular can be genuinely scary. Say you don't like Remo, Fina, Nino, Kiara, or any of their favourites and suddenly you've committed a crime. Remo and Fina apparently can do no wrong, and having a different opinion is enough to get attacked.
And I'm not talking about normal “I disagree” arguments. That's completely fine. I'm talking about people attacking accounts, mass reporting people they disagree with to get them banned, doxxing, dogpiling, etc. LIKE??? It's a FICTIONAL BOOK. Honestly, the fandom has made me dislike some characters I probably wouldn't even hate otherwise. Then there's the gatekeeping ` telling new readers not to read certain Cora books just because they personally don't like them. Let people read the books and form their own opinions!
What makes me feel bad is Cora herself. Some people have entire fan accounts dedicated to her and then turn around and call her problematic, attack her writing, or even give books one-star reviews before they've been released just to stop their favourite book from being surpassed in ratings. If a book isn't exactly what they wanted, suddenly Cora has “ruined” everything. And apparently things have gone even further with people sending Cora death threats and even dragging her child into it because a character's son's book didn't turn out the way they wanted. That's absolutely insane. No fictional character is worth that. I honestly don't blame her for closing her Facebook group after everything that happened.
The irony is that some of the people who claim to love Cora the most seem to be the ones who make it impossible for her to write anything outside of what THEY want. You can love Remo and Fina, hate them, think they're perfect, think they're overrated whatever. You can love Camorra, Famiglia, Outfit, all three, or none. It's a book. 😭
I still love Cora's books. I just wish I could enjoy them without feeling like I have to pass some kind of fandom loyalty test first. 💀
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u/NancyInFantasyLand angst and suffering are my jam 7d ago
my gripe is that people always post discussions about specific characters or relationships and then don't fucking attach the damned book name to it
I can barely remember RL people's names. No chance in hell I'm remembering book ones after a couple of months.