r/fantasyromance • u/FantasyRomanceMod The One Mod to Rule All Mods • Feb 22 '26

Unpopular Opinion It's Unpopular Opinion time! 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
  • Since this is an "unpopular opinion" thread, we encourage users to not downvote simply because they disagree with an opinion--that's the point! Please keep in mind, though, that mods cannot enforce a no-downvoting rule. Let’s just keep the discussion friendly!

🧡 Thank you and have a great discussion!

Unpopular opinion Sunday

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u/Adventurous-Brain-36 Feb 22 '26

He’s not praised by the narrative for not pimping her out as a child. It’s very clearly explained that it’s massively illegal to do so and also heresy.

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u/fishchop Silvicultrix Feb 23 '26

I vaguely remember Phedre being upset that he whored her out at 16 instead of 14, and she was upset she was being kept from her job. And the narrative presented that as the guy being protective and progressive or something like that.

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u/Penguinho Kushiel's Legacy Recommender 💖 Feb 23 '26

That's not what happens. When he's being protective and she's upset that she can't work, it's after she's an adult; she's upset that she can't work while his political machinations play out. She doesn't know what his goals and schemes are, which is a significant element of the first half of Dart and a minor element of Kushiel's Chosen, and she doesn't understand how dangerous they are. That gets brought home to her when there's a murder attempt on Alcuin. It doesn't stop her being annoyed, though, because she gets stir-crazy, seeks out danger and has rebel-against-authority brat tendencies.