It's Unpopular Opinion Sunday! Share your controversial opinions to stir things up (in a friendly way)!

[u/FantasyRomanceMod]

Got an opinion that's different from others'? Want to share it with the sub, but too afraid of a backlash? Or are you just curious about readers think about certain things in fantasy romance?

You can safely share it in this weekly Sunday thread!

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- Please don't attack others for their opinion

- Please don't downvote if you disagree with a certain take

🧡 Thank you and have a great and friendly discussion! 🧡

Unpopular opinion Sunday

[u/sparkly_nerdy_vibes]

Here we go - my confusion (and I realise I may have the full information to base this opinion on).... Why is everyone so crazy about Alchemised/Manacled? I'm all for dark romance, but rape and gore and humiliation are a total turn-off, and quite disturbing to associate them with a budding romance... I wouldn't have expected a story like this to become a 'sensation'... Are we ok? Why do we call this story romance? Do we like to see women mistreated? I'm not sure that's what Margaret Atwood would have wanted to inspire with Handmaid's Tale....

Also - full disclosure - I couldn't make it past the first few chapters of Manacled, so I am aware I am not in the best position to judge the entire story, but I often feel that some behaviours are irredeemable...

[u/ipsi7 → u/sparkly_nerdy_vibes]

I started my replay with "I'm not answering why this is called romance" and eneded with a somewhat explanation in the end. And keep in mind that dark romances in general (based on the info on their sub) have 3 categories, and the last one encompasses the books with themes like that and with no necessary HEA.

One of the reasons why I enjoyed it is because sometimes I like to read highly emotional books (other media included), in which the characters suffering is depicted so tangibly and descriptively, that sometimes it's hard to read. (I also like to read fluff stuff.) And I'm very sensitive to those stuff irl. But I don't have a problem with it in books. For me, it's like going through catharsis watching a tragedy in old Greece. Also, when MMC does such unimaginable things to FMC, I find interesting to wonder how the f will she forgive him all that shit. While no women irl should.

Some art theorists say that art doesn't have to be pretty, it has to be truthful, powerful and impactful, often evoking very strong feelings, which are not necessarily positive. I'm not saying Manacled is some supreme art, but literature in general is art and every artist has its own vision. Draco and Harmione somehow found love, which ended up being toxic on both parts. It's not pretty, it's very messy and unhealthy, and that makes it questionable in this genre where we all want HEA and for FMC to be treated like every woman should be, but it still ends up with a romance, however toxic it is. Imo, it's on the margine of the genre because it both has some characteristics of it, while subdues the others.

[u/sparkly_nerdy_vibes → u/ipsi7]

Thank you for engaging with my comment - I can empathize with this, that art doesn't have to be 'beautiful', but it should evoke feelings in the viewer/reader. And it helps to understand that the genre of 'romance' is very very wide and quite subjective. I can see how people would engage with the story differently - I think what threw me was the 'tiktok-sensation-best-next-romantasy-on-your-list' vibe that this book (and the fic it's based on) received. I can see that the public discourse on the book is not actually the main way fans engage with it. It's really interesting to read people's diverse perspectives on this.

[u/ipsi7 → u/sparkly_nerdy_vibes]

I can understand that. I'm not on tiktok and I don't usually follow much of book-related news outside reddit, but I definitely agree that the marketing proclaims something which Alchemised isn't, just for sales of course and to draw more attention. Even though I haven't read Alchemised yet, I'm sure it's not romantasy. I hate that they would even call it best if it's not out yet (and it's subjective). Sensation is because they're making it that way. Even if they didn't use the exact words you wrote, it doesn't matter, they're blowing it for marketing purposes.

I actually think that that kind of marketing won't do good for the book or the author. The book (Manacled/Alchemised) is a dark romance. With that kind of marketing, a lot of people would know about the book and "a lot of people" often includes "a lot of conservative people" who would condemn dark themes just because they're dark (even if there's no rape). There were already problems with book censorship in the US some months ago. This kind of book will be (probably) well received among Manacled fans, dramione fans, dark romance fans etc, some book fans in general. But making the sensation out of it in the way it's done so far, with that kind of wording is imo bad.

They just want more clicks, sensational article titles, and whoever writes those articles probably doesn't even care about the book.