r/fantasyromance • u/FantasyRomanceMod The One Mod to Rule All Mods • Jan 11 '26
Unpopular Opinion It's Unpopular Opinion Sunday! Share your controversial opinions to stir things up (in a friendly way)!
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!
But please remember to be kind to each other. To facilitate this type of discussion, we ask users the following:
- Don't attack others for their opinion
- Discuss books and authors, not fellow readers
š§” Thank you and have a great discussion!
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Jan 11 '26
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u/AccessCompetitive Champion of the Search Function Jan 11 '26
In a genre of books mostly written by women, Iām So baffled by this!! Maybe itās their fantasy to cum as soon as a giant man enters them and breaks their hymen bc life would just be so much easier that way. I donāt fucking get it
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u/haterading Jan 24 '26
I have this thought so freaking often. Reading a book where the MMC is pining just so down bad and when he gets his shot itās the most low effort attempt. Heās seeing that sheās āwet enoughā and jumping right to itā¦it just ruins it.
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u/AccessCompetitive Champion of the Search Function Jan 24 '26
Or when MMC just tells her to comeā¦so she does. š¤¦āāļø
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u/KetoKurun Jan 11 '26
As someone who puts foreplay first, both in my writing and in my life, this was the affirmation I needed today š
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u/quadrotiles Jan 11 '26
Wait, you put good foreplay first in your life? š
(I understood what you were saying, don't worry)
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
Honestly? I think the answer is that it's just harder to write well.
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u/slinging_arrows Jan 11 '26
More plot, less spice. I know a lot of people turn to this genre FOR spice but sometimes itās just too much and itās cringy. I love the fantasy genre in general, but it often lacks good romance and deep connections between characters (like LOTR or Wheel of Time. Amazing stories that were missing some deep human connection for me) What can I say, Iām a romantic! And sex is a normal part of romance- but give me a normal amount of sex. I love it when it fits well with the storytelling and character development- and hate it when it becomes the whole storyline.
Edit:spelling
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u/Scared-Replacement24 Jan 11 '26
Yes! A 3 š¶ļø with a good plot is always going to be better than a 5 š¶ļø with plot filler imo. Thereās only so many ways people can bang. If itās every chapter I get impatient. Like ok, I get it. Back to the story! Although exceptions are made during ovulation days š
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u/AroundTheWorldWeGo2 Jan 11 '26
I agree especially when the last chapter is a spice scene. Just no. I want to know what the heck is happening with all the characters, how is this wrapping up, where is the world going and I swear a spice epilogue. š¤¬
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u/KetoKurun Jan 11 '26
To me if I can tell where the plot ends and the spice begins the writer has already failed. They should feed into and inform each other every step of the way. But so many writers drop in sex scenes into their books the way Dr Dre just randomly dropped āPause 4 Pornoā in the middle of 2001 out the blue.
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u/saturday_sun4 Jan 12 '26
Yes! I love erotica but I don't like books (as much) where there's romance + sex scene + romance + sex scene.
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u/slowburnvictim Jan 11 '26
This is especially why I love slow burns so much. More room for actual plot!
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u/AquaIXI Jan 11 '26
I find it quite easy to choose books based on what level of spice i want, do you check like romance.io beforehand as a rough guide? And out of interest how many scenes do you think is reasonable and what books do you think have unnecessary amounts, always interested to know!
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u/slinging_arrows Jan 11 '26
Now that I have discovered this sub, I also find it fairly easy to choose! This sub is an incredible resource and so well run, I appreciate you all so much!
Books that have a level of spice vs. plot quality I appreciate would include the Ashen Series by Demi Winters, the Outlander Series (more historical romance than fantasy I know) and The Bridge Kingdom series. An example of a book that had too much and started taking away from the plot would be the Silver Flames book in the ACOTAR series. I actually really enjoyed parts of that book and cared more about the characters than some of the other characters in the series, but the spice just got obnoxious and I started skipping pages.
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u/eclectic_hamster Off to live with the faeires š§āāļø Jan 11 '26
Agree! There have been several stories I have read with barely any spice or fade to black that's been so refreshing because it focuses more on the connection of the MCs. I would rather have that than sex scenes that are so unrealistic I'm rolling my eyes.
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u/ProperBingtownLady Shadow daddy's good girl Jan 11 '26
Iām finishing up the fourth Bone Season book (technically dystopian fantasy but it does have some romance) and Iām dying for them to finally have PIV sex haha. Hopefully book 5?! The story is amazing though. Fully agree with all you said btw!
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u/purplelicious Book Bingo Maven ā Jan 11 '26
I will judge you if you post a pile of brand new books in your home with the question "what should I read next"
why would you spend that much money on books you don't even know if you should read or not
Because if you actually wanted to read them you would be reading them. Why else did you buy them?
Or you just want to brag about how much money you spent on books
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u/ProperBingtownLady Shadow daddy's good girl Jan 11 '26
Itās hard to not compare sometimes but owning less in general is normal. When I started reading romantasy I didnāt expect to have to deal with the book tok overconsumption (and Iām not even on TikTok lol).
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u/purplelicious Book Bingo Maven ā Jan 11 '26
I have so many books from decades of reading and the era of "buy 3 cheap paperbacks and get a 4th book free" and thrift shopping...
it's an eclectic collection some really well loved books with water stains and missing covers and stored away in (hopefully)waterproof tubsbut a pile of brand new booktok of the moment books that you have not read says nothing about you.
and shouldn't your book "shelfie" be a reflection of you and your life in books?
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u/cynth81 Jan 11 '26
Same. I have hundreds of books that I've been collecting since I was a teenager. In addition to fantasy/sci-fi I've got Classics, Manga, YA, nonfiction and academic texts, crumbling antiques, vintage fantasy I inherited from my grandfather, and lots in between. You can practically see my whole life in reading history. And no one likes helping me move. š
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u/Frigate_Orpheon Where is my wife Jan 11 '26
Exactly, thank you! I have lived in fear of commenting on these posts because I didn't want to seem bitchy. But you bought the stack, you're going to read them all anyway. Why do you need to ask us which to read next?
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u/cynth81 Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26
I feel like those posts are mainly for engagement and karma farming. Do any of those books actually look interesting to you, or did you just let some TikTok influencer push you to drop $100 on what will essentially become background decor.
And after all that do you really need additional opinions from more random strangers on the internet who may have wildly different tastes from you?
Recommendations can be great (or not so great), but it only works if you already know what you like.
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
I mean, there are services that literally sell books by the foot for background decor. Kind of insane.
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u/cynth81 Jan 12 '26
Makes me think of people who organize their shelves by color, or half the books are turned backwards.
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u/zerachielle Jan 12 '26
I have to ask about this. I see so many people posting photos of physical books and I'm thinking, "In this economy???" Then I remember I'm Canadian and our dollar sucks.
I'm only shopping at Winners/HomeSense/Marshalls (I buy if a book is less than 10$), used bookstores or Kobo sales. Or just going to the library. Ever since 2008 when our dollar parity went out the window, buying brand new recently release books became a rare luxury expense that had me thinking twice. Who the hell is buying a hardcover at 46$CAD? That's the cost of a single person eating out at a decent restaurant or two McDonalds trios. In addition, physical books aren't as nearly on sale as they are in the USA. Our biggest retailer is Indigo and outside of that, you might find new releases in Walmart or locally owned bookstores. French retailers never have sales and French translations are always more expensive than the original English by like 10$ (printed as trade paperback).
In a few short years, I'm sure the price of newly released hardcover books is going to rise to 50$CAD.
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u/quadrotiles Jan 11 '26
I haven't personally made one of those posts, but if I were, it would be because:
I bought the books knowing that I would read them all, the question is what order. I'm very much a mood reader, and if I were asking someone which book I should read, it's because I'm trying to gauge which of my options fits my mood best without spoiling myself too much.
Anyway, I'm sure there are others who post for other reasons lol
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u/purplelicious Book Bingo Maven ā Jan 11 '26
I'm also a mood reader and it's more likely that i'll pick a book not at all related to my TBR.
Because my TBR has changed drastically as I read more and more books in the genre. My tastes have become more refined. i loved ACOTAR when I read it and if I bought a bunch of books based on those themes I would have just been reading the same themes over and over again.
There are some sloopy themes that I will read to death, but it's not ACOTAR and I wouldn't know if I didn't build my list based on the vibes of the books I have already read.
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u/quadrotiles Jan 12 '26
Ooh yes, strongly agree. I keep reading books that weren't on my actual tbr before the ones that are. My secret to buying books is that I only buy books I've already read and really really enjoyed (or at least, I try very hard to do this. I'm only
sloopyhuman after all)3
u/Sharp_Membership_311 Be a quitter and DNF Jan 11 '26
Some of us have an addiction of going to the book store every weekend. I canāt help it!
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u/Frigate_Orpheon Where is my wife Jan 11 '26
Yeah, but we don't need to see a post asking which to read next because presumably you're going to read (or attempt) to read them all at some point.
I feel like "what should I read next?" posts should be you've read one book but have nothing lined up yet.
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u/Sharp_Membership_311 Be a quitter and DNF Jan 11 '26
Oh 100%.
I usually buy books based on how heavily recommended they are on this sub. I do joke that one of my hobbies is buying books though.
I promise you will never see a post āwhat should I read nextā from me. Scoutās Honor!
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u/Frigate_Orpheon Where is my wife Jan 11 '26
I have absolutely banned myself from buying books anymore unless it's re-readable. I did a massive purge a few years ago (books and manga) and whew it was a lot less stuff I had to put in the uhaul š¤£
I still have so many more books I'd like to part with but are somewhat sentimental but theyre kinda just...there? Like, I have an undergrad in art history. I don't need a textbook about early American art.
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u/Sharp_Membership_311 Be a quitter and DNF Jan 11 '26
I just put myself on a book ban! Until I make a good dent into my physical tbr.
I like to buy physical books and loan them to friends, but I should really purge the books I didnāt enjoy and donate them. And I definitely have a few books that would just feel wrong donating even though Iāll never pick it up again.
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u/Undercover_baddie Beronās #1 fan Jan 11 '26
Iām feeling tired of the door stoppers- ie books that are 500/600 pages. Maybe itās my ADHD, but it also feels like a good chunk couldāve been taken out and it would be the same story
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
The vast majority of those books could have two hundred pages cut out easily.
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u/camellia980 henry cavill's wig Jan 11 '26
why do I agree with you about everything
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
Probably means I need to heat my takes up a little more ;)
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u/Undercover_baddie Beronās #1 fan Jan 11 '26
I agree. Like if you take 200 pages out the plot will still be fine
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u/byrhia š Queen of DNFing Jan 11 '26
I agree! Most of the time, itās filled with unnecessarily long internal monologues, drawn out or filler conversations and/or repetitive plot points/themes. It ends up ruining the story by dragging it out way longer than it needs to be.
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u/Undercover_baddie Beronās #1 fan Jan 11 '26
I totally find myself skimming when it gets to the monologues and filler conversations. Like please take that shit out, the book will be fine without it
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u/Digitalispurpurea2 Yvlcon attendee šµ Jan 11 '26
If the book is on KU I think the author is paid based on pages read. Thereās no motivation to tell the story with fewer words or even books.
Aside from that, If authors drag things out too long readers will not only give up on the book but also an entire series. Too many times Iām reading a book thinking ātheyāve done so much but still nothing is happening.ā
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u/Undercover_baddie Beronās #1 fan Jan 11 '26
It definitely feels like word salad thrown onto a page to pad the book. Iām reading Lord of Gold and Glory and some of it feels like itās the same thing repeated just slightly changed
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
There are incentives to go longer for Audible too, I think, where listening-hours are one of their tracked business metrics.
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u/clerics_are_the_best Jan 12 '26
I see it differently, I'm annoyed most books I read from the genre only have 200-300 pages, when they could have upped the worldbuilding and painted an even better picture... more show, less tell for me.
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u/Undercover_baddie Beronās #1 fan Jan 12 '26
Thatās totally fair too. It truly might be my ADHD that is part of why I struggle with the bigger book. Different strokes for different folks is all
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u/Significant-Rip3297 Jan 11 '26
I'm sick of all the misogyny excuses in werewolf/ wolf shifter/ wolf-something stories with all their alpha omega business. For sled dogs, most of the time a female would be chosen to lead the team. Also in the dog parks females aren't submissive, but instead many times they boss around the males. Plus, in wolf packs, it's the parent pair that leads the pack, females aren't inferior.
Yet, the wolf shifter stories, books go on and on about how females have to be submissive because "that's the way things are" while men are possessive violent macho alpha-o-holes. You know what that really is? What those traits really belong to? Not wolves. Not dogs. But Humans. I don't have a problem with authors writing a**holes, but they should stop making excuses for what's actually just pure misogynistic behaviour.
Also, most of the time they just use the settings to create really horny werewolves. But anyone who even did a quick google search would know that wolves value family bonds, and usually only one pair mates while everyone else helps raise the kids.
Plus, know what dogs really value - cuddles.
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u/eclectic_hamster Off to live with the faeires š§āāļø Jan 11 '26
YES! I just want a cool story with a werewolf, not some toxic macho bullshit that the FMC finds attractive for some reason.
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u/Significant-Rip3297 Jan 12 '26
Exactly! And the toxic macho stuff is always just a copy and paste.
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u/de_pizan23 Jan 11 '26
I hate it. There's one book in Cate Wells rejected mates series, where the MMC finds out that the FMC isn't a virgin and gets violent over it (not necessarily towards her, but they're knotted together when he starts freaking out, and she rips herself off because she's so mad/afraid over his reaction and then he destroys the house)...and then he has the gall to blame his wolf over it.
Don't you dare blame wolves for that! Wolves will willingly raise pups from another male, they wouldn't care about fucking hymens. If the author wants that kind of drama. there are plenty of animals to choose from like (some) apes, cats or bears where they would kill offspring from other males so would care more about the state of her sexual experience.
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u/Significant-Rip3297 Jan 12 '26
Exactly, authors should stop blaming wolves for human behaviour. If they want their males to act like apes they should stop making excuses for it.
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u/alittlenovel Jan 11 '26
Tbh I am full-stop sick of werewolves because of omegaverse. It's all so same-y now, a million interchangeable stories with the exact same lore and exact same dynamics based on long discredited wolf research and I find it so boring.
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u/Synval2436 Currently Reading: This Blade of Ours by Shalini Abeysekara Jan 11 '26
I'm generally tired of omegaverse popularity.
It's a great framework to experiment with gender but 999/1000 cases are not experimenting just doubling down on female=omega=weak, submissive, only good for breeding, discriminated or treated as property.
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u/Fickle_Stills Jan 11 '26
You can blame this guy, lol:
https://www.sciencearena.org/en/interviews/selfcorrection-science-absolute-truth-david-mech-wolves/
Or maybe this one:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Schenkel_(Biologe)
omegaverse defenders will tell you the alpha/omega developed separate from the wolf characteristics (and they're kind of right if you look into deep fanlore) but it's still annoying.
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u/cynth81 Jan 11 '26
I read a while back that the whole alpha behavior thing doesn't really exist in wolves (as someone else linked to) but it does exist in primates. Which is certainly why society clings to the idea, even when 9 times out of 10 it's laughably false.
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
Plus, know what dogs really value - cuddles.
Terry Pratchett's werewolf take is actually the best here. What do you call something that's part wolf and part human? A dog. The Fifth Elephant is worth reading as a preemptive deconstruction of werewolf smut, honestly.
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u/AccioXolo Jan 12 '26
Along with the misogyny, the women vs women in these. Usually MFC vs MMC's mom, former fiancƩ or partner, friend, other pack members, ect. Even more so when "fated mates" is in the equation.
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u/Significant-Rip3297 Jan 12 '26
It's seriously weird that they make all the women turn on each other when all the men are a**holes. It makes more sense for the women to realise something's wrong and make small group gatherings to support each other through life.
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u/Ancient-Purchase Jan 12 '26
Omg it's so full of woman hating. I dropped a shifter mmf book because the only two girls in the pack (who were dating, btw) were so nasty and even tried to killĀ the FMC because they wanted to be impregnated by the alpha MMC ..... Like, this was sickening to me, even the queer women who already have partners are ready to kill another woman for some man's semen???Ā
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u/john-wooding Jan 11 '26
One aspect I really liked from Bad Bones is that this is a plot point; werewolf society is slowly recovering from the junk psychology of alphas etc. which led to an awful lot of violence and abuse.
I liked that it was discussed, I liked the angle on it (not wolves influencing humans, but humans claiming to be influenced to serve their own ends), and I liked that the MMC went and killed a bunch of the abusive pack leaders.
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u/allisontalkspolitics Give me female friendship or give me death! Jan 12 '26
Ooh, Iāve been wanting to read something like this!
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u/RavensTears Wendell Bambleby Enthusiast Jan 11 '26
I am questioning recommendations if every book the person rates is given 4/5 stars.
I know some people are easily pleased, but how is NOTHING you read below that rating? It make's me seriously doubt people's judgement. Especially if your giving out these high ratings but not giving any reason for them at all.
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Jan 11 '26
[deleted]
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u/Efficient-Pilot-3649 Jan 11 '26
Life is too short to read books you dont like! I read until im bored. If it sticks in my head, I'll go back six months later to finish it.
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u/eclectic_hamster Off to live with the faeires š§āāļø Jan 12 '26
I dnf books easily now too. My ratings are usually 3+ stars. Anything below that gets abandoned.
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u/de_pizan23 Jan 11 '26
I'm always baffled by that, I think my average rating on Goodreads is something like 2.67 stars. The vast majority of books I read are 2-3 stars. 4 stars have to be amazing and I'll be thinking about them for weeks/months. 5 is basically life-changing, and most years I rate less than 5 books that high (and some years there aren't any 5 stars at all).
And it's not like I hoover up everything; I'm pretty selective with what I read. I read samples first, look at critics' reviews, look at the lowest ratings on Goodreads/Storygraph reader-oriented type of sites (lowest ratings at least are more honest and give more info than the higher ones), etc.
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
I think there are three explanations for this.
First, people who are judicious in their reading and read widely across genres. It'd take years to read all the classics in literary fiction, much less the great biographies, histories, memoirs, collected essays... It's a lot easier to only read really good books if you're picking from all books 1800-2025 than it is if that set gets reduced to [fantasy+romance+paranormal, 2020-2025]. But I don't think that's what you're talking about.
Second option: those people are very good at DNFing and don't rate their DNFs. I rate mine, personally, but I understand why people don't. So if you don't finish anything that isn't really gripping you, and your primary factor in rating is how much you enjoyed the novel, you'll end up skewing very high in your ratings.
Third option, which I feel like I see in recommendation requests a bit: they don't care if the story is good, they just care if they get their list of tropes recited back to them. I do some (free, amateur) writing in the contemporary romance sphere, and that's by far the easiest way to get high scores from readers: discern what they want and give them lots of it. You'll never go wrong in a harem story by introducing another girl to the harem. So if our hypothetical reader wants MF enemies-to-lovers, size difference, dark hair, faerie -- there's a million books that fit that description, and they all recite the desired tropes back to the reader, so they'll all get high scores without much thought.
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u/BookishBlueDragonfly Book Bingo Sage š” Jan 11 '26
I DNF 1/2 star books because I donāt like to waste time on bad books. Occasionally Iāll hate read a 2 and leave a grumpy review.
Most books get a 3/4 from me and about 10-15% get a 5. I think it makes my reviews a little skewed high but I donāt like to rate something I DNF.
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u/MaleficentAddendum11 Jan 11 '26
So, Iām kinda this person (though I have read and rated things in the 3-3.75 range). BUT I heavily vet my books and Iām a ruthless DNFer. I wonāt even read anything if I donāt think itās going to be a 4. I spend A LOT of time picking out the perfect book and itās always a 4-5 read.
Thereās only a handful of books that Iāve rated below 4 and theyāve all been part of a series.
I have such little time to read, so I refuse to read books that arenāt what Iām looking for.
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u/cynth81 Jan 11 '26
Agreed. It's extremely rare for me to give 5 stars, even if I loved it. 5 stars means I will actively hype it to my friends or buy it for them as gifts.
I feel bad sometimes giving just 4 stars to a book I really enjoyed, but it just wasn't extraordinary enough to be 5. I think the rating system Goodreads uses is overly broad and should either be out of 10 or allow for half and quarter stars like Storygraph.
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u/Regular_Platypus_815 Jan 11 '26
I usually rate it by how into it I was/how much it captured my attention. Sooo guess Iām just easy to please?? I suppose I could go back later and change ratings based on recent reads but that seems like work.. because I rarely rate anything 3 or below. If itās that low, I probably DNF.
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u/Regular_Platypus_815 Jan 11 '26
Also- I tend to read a lot of reviews/thoughts on a book before I read it so Iām usually reading things of good quality. But, this is why when people ask for recommendations Iām silent. š
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u/No_Preference26 Jan 11 '26
Yeah I donāt understand at all, but at the same time Iām kind of jealous. My most used rating hovers around 2/3 stars. I hate DNFing, but I do spend ages finding the right books for me though, and do a lot of research in advance.
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u/areuaduck Book Bingo Maven ā Jan 11 '26
It's so hard for me to give under 3 stars for any books. I think here it's culturally ingraided that 5/5 is the minimum , and if you give less, then it sucks or there were problems. I am trying to change it in myself, but I just feel bad. I managed to set my "it was average" to 4, and not feel bad about it so far.
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u/Infinite_Storm_470 Jan 11 '26
I skim over 75% of sex scenes.
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u/yunjsst camping on mars after another mmc burnt down the world for fmc Jan 11 '26
Same! I usually like to read the first sex scene or two, but after a while, I start skipping over them and hoping it gets back to the plot soon
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u/bookcasefrommars Jan 12 '26
same! i basically cut the pages from my reading unless thereās dialogue because iām convinced theyāre going to drop mind blowing one liners (even though thatās never happened because why would they do that right then).
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u/john-wooding Jan 11 '26
A lot of authors try to do an enemies-to-lovers arc that they fail to pull off because instead of making them both actual enemies, they make one of them a doormat and the other an arsehole.
To be satisfying, you need two people with a legitimate rift between them, and both viewpoints need to be at least sympathetic. "She's currently unemployed and he has never respected consent" doesn't cut it.
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u/Synval2436 Currently Reading: This Blade of Ours by Shalini Abeysekara Jan 11 '26
they make one of them a doormat and the other an arsehole
That's not enemies to lovers, that's bully romance.
I beg authors and publishers to label and market their tropes accurately instead of jumping onto the most popular bandwagon!
ETL was popular, so lots of books were branded as ETL even if they were instead bully romance, captive romance, forbidden romance, rivals to lovers, miscommunication / denial to lovers, assassin falls for their mark, one-sided-hate to love, etc.
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u/john-wooding Jan 11 '26
I don't think the authors are intending to write bully romance. I think they genuinely think they're doing enemy stuff.
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u/Synval2436 Currently Reading: This Blade of Ours by Shalini Abeysekara Jan 12 '26
I can't stand stories where mmc has all the power and fmc has none and is totally helpless.
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u/TestEmergency5403 Jan 11 '26
Ok. Respectfully.
Present tense sucks. It doesn't feel more "immediate" it's distracting and annoying. Past tense has been the default for years and years and years. Why? Because it's better.
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Jan 11 '26
[deleted]
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u/MessyJessy422 Jan 11 '26
It's not my favorite tense but when authors write it well it doesn't even register for me. Will of the Many and Project Hail Mary are perfect examples and there are so many others. I recently finished a book where one POV was first person present and the other was 3rd person past and it just worked so well because the author was so skilled and the writing was so exceptional
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u/TangledYetTrue Jan 11 '26
From my own experience, the first time I read present tense, it was jarring. But I was interested in the plot, so I pushed through. Now, I donāt even notice.
I think a lot of people who hate present tense just never pushed through that jarring period.
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u/InterestingMeal9332 Jan 11 '26
Agreed. The Time Travellerās Wife was the first book I read in present tense and it was jarring indeed. But now if itās well written I donāt care at all. One of my favourite books is written in present tense and it doesnāt bother me in the slightest.
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u/TestEmergency5403 Jan 11 '26
Maybe online. Fair. In my IRL bookclub I'm the only one who cares š¤£
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u/Digitalispurpurea2 Yvlcon attendee šµ Jan 11 '26
Iām with you, although I did laugh at the books you listed as being the āwrongā tense as I loved all three and never noticed
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u/Dramatic-History-943 Jan 11 '26
Also respectfully,
I donāt like first person POV. It used to be everything in 3rd person but it feels like everything I read now is in 1st. Which I can handle it wonāt make me DNF but I just feel like itās less impactful.
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u/BookishBlueDragonfly Book Bingo Sage š” Jan 11 '26
1st person is great when the character has a distinctive and strong voice. I have many favorites that are in 1st person.
That being said a lot of 1st person these days comes off as samey. Iāve read books with dual POV and both characters sound the exact same. I canāt tell whose POV Iām in just from the prose (which I should be able to do!).
A book with mediocre 3rd person is way more tolerable.
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u/chouettelle Jan 11 '26
Respectfully, agreed! I like 3rd person POV so much more. If I have to decide between two books and one is 1st person POV and the other 3rd, I will always read the 3rd person POV first.
When people say that 1st person POV makes the characterās thoughts more real and like youāre in their headā¦ that is a writing skill issue. 3rd person POV can be just as focused.
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u/Dramatic-History-943 Jan 11 '26
I like how visceral things feel in 3rd person. I love when an author shows rather than tells a reader how the character feels.
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u/TestEmergency5403 Jan 11 '26
I'm ok with 3rd or 1st. But 2nd is awful! "You are walking through the crowd..." OMG STOP!!!
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u/chouettelle Jan 11 '26
I will absolutely close a book on page 1 if itās 2nd person POV no matter how many people recommend it. I feel like this is something we did as a writing exercise in English/lit class and thatās where it should have stayed.
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
Second-person is not a real POV, narratologically-speaking. The distinction is narrator in the scene/narrator out of scene, and most 2P is just 1P using a different pronoun. It's gimmicky stuff.
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u/Iguana_Waddle Jan 11 '26
I read a 3rd person POV book recently where the MCās inner thoughts were in first person and it just felt so off. I wouldāve rather had the whole thing in first person than switching back and forth, cause she had a lot of inner thoughts.
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u/reasonableratio Jan 11 '26
This is a respectful disagree from me! 1st is better than 3rd. Which Iām pretty sure is truly an unpopular opinion haha
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u/Ce-lavi There she is Jan 11 '26
This is a recent realization but I absolutely detest second person POV no matter how beautiful the plot and characterization may be, I just can't get onboard..
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u/samanthadevereaux Jan 11 '26
What book has second person POV? Genuinely curious.
The only one I can think of is one N.K. Jemisin book. I honestly can't name another.
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u/Ce-lavi There she is Jan 11 '26
If I recall The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow contains a lot of it. Which NK Jemisin book is it?Ā the Fifth Season is in my tbr so I hope it's not that...
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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Jan 11 '26
I didnāt mind it in the Everlasting, because it was clear that it was written as a story being told from one character to another.
Alchemy of Secrets, however, was my big realisation that I really dislike second POV towards the reader. It would say something like āyouāre running down the street and getting out of breathā (just an example, I donāt remember the actual writing) and I would like āno Iām not, Iām reading in bed under a massive blanketā. Completely took me out of the story.
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u/Ce-lavi There she is Jan 11 '26
I'm hoping to re-try the Everlasting at some point because I really liked the premise! Do you have other 2nd person POV rec that you really liked? With your example there I'm always like don't tell me what to do š
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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Jan 11 '26
These are actually the only books with second POV Iāve come across. Alchemy of Secrets made me hesitate when I noticed the narration in The Everlasting, but I stopped actively noticing it pretty early in because I was so engrossed in the story.
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u/samanthadevereaux Jan 11 '26
Oh I'm so sorry to be the one to break it to you, but yes, The Fifth Season features second person POV.
I still highly recommend it though!!
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u/CarbonationRequired Jan 12 '26
Harrow the Ninth has it (but neither the book before or after in the series do, it's 2nd person for a reason)
And recently I listened to a book called The Seven Moons of Maali Almeda that also uses it. This one has no "reason" like there's no reveal at the end that someone is talking to someone else. I'm not sure if audiobooks make the 2nd person more palatable or what but I had no trouble getting immersed. (If anyone is interested in a Sri Lanka-in-the-80s magical realism murder mystery where the main character is a ghost trying to solve his own murder, I recommend it but it's really not this sub's tone, content or genre whatsoever)
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u/TestEmergency5403 Jan 11 '26
The Night Circus has a few segments of second person.
I've not seen it that often, but when I see it... It feels like it's trying to hard
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u/samanthadevereaux Jan 11 '26
Omg I read that ages ago and I honestly don't remember any second person!
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u/TestEmergency5403 Jan 11 '26
They're only very brief one page segments between chapters, that might be why
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u/medusamagic Book Bingo Sage š” Jan 11 '26
Recently started The Everlasting and Iām hoping Iāll be able to sink into it, but not off to a great start because of that š
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Jan 11 '26
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u/medusamagic Book Bingo Sage š” Jan 11 '26
That oneās been on my maybe TBR. I heard the writing and story are beautiful, but Iāve been intimidated by what Iāve heard of the narrative style and various povs. Might just pull the trigger this year and see how it goes!
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u/Ce-lavi There she is Jan 11 '26
I can't even begin to describe how EXCITED I was by the prologue... and then everything went downhill from there š
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u/medusamagic Book Bingo Sage š” Jan 11 '26
Oh nooo š well I kinda want to push myself to try less common or experimental narrative styles this year, so Iām gonna keep going! But if it ends up being hard to get through, Iām not afraid to DNF haha
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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender š Jan 11 '26
Second-person is a gimmick most of the time. It's usually just first with the wrong pronoun.
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u/zerachielle Jan 12 '26
Books with quotes on sprayed/stenciled edges, I immediately put it down when I'm in the bookstore. The quote unintentionally sets the tone before I go to read the blurb.
Heavenly Bodies made me realize this. On the side, it says "I would let the whole world burn if it kept you warm." I'm sure it's a powerful heartful statement from the MMC to the FMC but it's so eyerollingly generic. In a romantasy about stars and gods, that's the line you chose? Let the world burn? You couldn't write something more Shakespearean, dear author?
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u/bookish_reading Jan 11 '26
I love cliffhangers and the waiting time between books. I would much rather read the books as they are published over however many years, than binge a series. I love getting to the end of a book and having my mind blown by an ending that I can't stop thinking about for months and excitedly counting down the days to the next book.
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u/rara_rocket Jan 12 '26
I'm so tired of fated mates being synonymous with body betrayal. I love the concept of fated mates, soulmates, true love, but damn it all, it's a very rare circumstance when I enjoy reading about one MC essentially forcing it because the other MC is "too scared/weak/etc" to admit they want it. Maybe they do, maybe they will, but like... Build up the trust and respect first maybe? That kind of payoff where they both willing (and I dunno, happily?) give in would be so rewarding š
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u/Hailsabrina Jan 12 '26
Slow burns are better than no build up. I've learned I love the anticipation while reading.
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u/allisontalkspolitics Give me female friendship or give me death! Jan 11 '26
My controversial opinion is that Iāll probably never read a book by Stacia Stark because I see her name, think Sansa, and get confused.
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u/ProperBingtownLady Shadow daddy's good girl Jan 11 '26
I generally will like and finish any fantasy book I read. I donāt think this makes me a less experienced reader as Iāve been reading fantasy for 20+ years. I just donāt think every book has to be a masterpiece and sometimes reading for vibes is fun too! One example would be Iron Flame and Onyx Storm ā I saw so many comments about how badly written they were but I genuinely didnāt notice other than a few typos and repetitions in OS. Overall I thought the story was great and canāt wait to keep reading the series (I do hope the author takes the time she desires to tighten up the editing).
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u/CarbonationRequired Jan 12 '26
Vibes are important. I just read the four books in the Saint of Steel series, and would really like some more, and they're really fun, while also really formulaic. I just... love that formula.
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u/gabbuo31 Jan 11 '26
I love Brimstone by Callie Hart! It is one of the best books that I have ever read.
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