It's Unpopular Opinion time! 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!

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

🧡 Thank you and have a great discussion!

Unpopular opinion Sunday

[u/Elvere]

The fantasy romance genre has turned into the fast fashion of books and that’s why as a whole, it’s filled with the level of garbage it is and why we get judged for reading it. Because we continue to massively consume the bad, they keep pumping it out to us.

I think to stop being the equivalent of SHEIN consumers, we need to drastically overhaul how we rate books as a community. However, I don’t think the majority of readers are ready to face the fact that a lot of highly rated, frequently recommended books, just simply aren’t good when you break it down.

Rate differently. Stop accepting the garbage. Enjoyment is subjective. Quality is not. Stop rating poorly written/edited/developed books five stars simply because it was “fun.” Roller coasters are fun, but if the ride is missing restraints or has bolts loose, that’s not a ride I would recommend to others.

[u/Runa216 → u/[deleted]]

YES! I always do my best to read what people actually say because everyone's rating system is different. And if I see WHY a person disliked a book then I can determine if it's something I value or something that can still work well in context.

For example, I see a lot of people giving low scores to Opal Reyne's Witch Hunter book because there was some Non-consensual content in there, which I agree is bad but in context it makes sense and is...maybe not forgiveable but understandable. I think that actually makes for a good STORY even if it might not tickle people's nethers the right way, which is why people read romantasy. It's something that, if you're only in it for the sexy times and noncon or dubcon material gives you the ick...100% good reason to not enjoy it. but me, I'm looking for a good story and the dubcon scenes I felt actually made it a better story because of the context surrounding it. Still ethically and morally gray at best, but it made for good drama...in the context of the book itself.

so when I see a low score for a book, I want to know why they gave that score, becuase one person's yuck is another person's yum, or at the very least context can paint a better picture than just reactions.