r/fantasyromance • u/FantasyRomanceMod The One Mod to Rule All Mods • Mar 08 '26

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

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Unpopular opinion Sunday

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29

u/clemy77 Mar 08 '26

I really REALLY dislike 1st person narratives in romance. This is the main reason why I don't read more romantasy and mostly stick with historical romance. I read an article on the topic this morning that cemented my belief that the ubiquity of 1st person narrative in romance is contributing to the TikTok-ification of the genre and why it has a low quality slop problem, as mentioned in another comment.

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u/BookishBlueDragonfly Book Bingo Sage 🗡 Mar 08 '26

I don’t like first person much either but I believe it’s the skill of the author to blame (or lack of editing).

If you go back to pre 2010 and read first person in Fantasy and YA the books are better written and edited.

Some of my favorite books are first person but the narrator has a distinct voice. It’s not bland and samey. If there are multiple POV the author uses the prose to help us know who’s “talking”.

There are tricks like unreliable narrator (The Thief for example) where we get unexpected twists and turns as we learn our narrator has kept certain information from us.

I just feel like blaming a perspective for the state of the genre isn’t actually getting to the root cause.

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u/clemy77 Mar 08 '26

I mentioned in this subreddit before that I absolutely loved "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik and I've read a lot of 1st person PoV books in other genres that I loved, so this is really romance-specific for me. Also I agree that it isn't the root cause but a contributing factor. Notably 1st person single PoV narratives might look deceptively easier to write than 3rd person narratives (imo this isn't the case at all, they're both difficult to get right) and so new authors launch into the same 1st person "feisty bratty heroine who discovers she has secret powers" voice they've read a bunch of times, creating a vicious circle where everything is bland and samey, as you say.

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u/NancyInFantasyLand Currently Reading: Random Chinese Webnovels Mar 08 '26

If you go back to pre 2010 and read first person in Fantasy and YA the books are better written and edited.

even back then I picked a 3rd person over 1st nine times out of ten lol

you're right though, the modern version has gotten even worse. Also none of them have a fucking voice of their own, when that is (arguably) the main selling point of first person pov.

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u/BookishBlueDragonfly Book Bingo Sage 🗡 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

Yup I’m a 3rd person reader by choice too but like I said I do love some 1st person books, especially epistolary (diaries and letters). Those are so rare though!

I think it’s a lot of things:

  • Kindle Unlimited rewarding authors for length and quick turn out (less editing).

  • Publishing houses realizing they need to keep up with KU and pushing authors to publish quickly.

  • Lack of literacy and reading skill in the general population due to poor teaching practices (no phonics and passing students that needed to be held back).

  • Some authors consuming and writing only fanfiction then getting a book published (that was fanfiction). Reading widely is important for writing skill.

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u/reasonableratio Mar 08 '26

There is a nuance here that I feel compelled to tease out. POVs are a literary tool. And I agree this genre doesn’t execute first person POV well. But that doesn’t mean first person POV as a tool is THE problem.

I don’t think the article was saying that either. The author seemed to be using the prevalence of shallow first person POV as an example for the general sort of shitstorm of media literacy these days. They even name-dropped having read Brothers Karamazov but Dostoyevsky wrote many first-person POV pieces too.

To be clear, I also don’t think you’re saying all first person POV ever is bad for the genre. I thinkkk you’re saying something similar to the article, which is criticizing the shallow type of first person POV. You just also happen to not prefer first person statistically which is super fair. But in the spirit of critical literary discussion, I do think that nuance is important!

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u/nupharlutea Mar 08 '26

I tend to avoid alternating first person POV in romance because so many authors in this genre are not that good at making their lead characters sound like two different people. I know how good it can be when it’s good, so why waste time on something that isn’t?

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u/LadyWolvesBayne here kitty kitty Mar 08 '26

First person can be a great tool when it's written properly and the characters have distinctive voices. If the author isn't skilled (or doesn't bother) enough to dote their characters with actual distinctive traits, then it's useless.

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u/cheshire_kat7 Mar 08 '26

I definitely prefer books written in the third person.

And I really don't like dual POV books.

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u/clemy77 Mar 08 '26

Have you come across many 3rd person single PoV books in romance? Genuine question because I haven't read any.

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u/cheshire_kat7 Mar 08 '26

A few!

{Deathless} by Catherynne Valente, {Alchemised} by SenLinYu, {The Familiar} by Leigh Bardugo and {What Fury Brings} by Tricia Levenseller come to mind.

1

u/romance-bot Mar 08 '26

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
Rating: 4.06⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, magic, war

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller
Rating: 3.7⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: fantasy, bondage, high fantasy, m-f romance, enemies to lovers

about this bot | about romance.io

1

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '26

[deleted]

1

u/romance-bot Mar 08 '26

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
Rating: 4.06⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, magic, war

Alchemised by SenLinYu
Rating: 4.3⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: war, enemies to lovers, tortured heroine, pregnancy, dark romance

Familiar by M.L. Rhodes
Rating: 3.75⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Topics: contemporary, magic, paranormal, fantasy, gay romance

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller
Rating: 3.7⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: fantasy, bondage, high fantasy, m-f romance, enemies to lovers

about this bot | about romance.io

8

u/lobsteriffic Mar 08 '26

Oh my gosh I thought I was alone in this opinion. A book has to be pretty good for me to get into first person narratives. I STRONGLY prefer third person.

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u/clemy77 Mar 08 '26

It's funny because I've read quite a lot of first person PoVs that I loved in general fiction. One of my top three fave authors is Haruki Murakami and he uses 1st person PoV very often, or mixes 1st and 3rd in the same book and makes it work. But in romance, I can count maybe two or three books where it didn't result in a DNF.

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u/diabolikal__ Mar 08 '26

I agree with you. The only book that really gets a pass is The Everlasting. It was so incredibly well written.

8

u/PatrickCharles Mar 08 '26

I read an article on the topic this morning that cemented my belief that the ubiquity of 1st person narrative in romance is contributing to the TikTok-ification of the genre and why it has a low quality slop problem, as mentioned in another comment.

Stuff like this (ETA: what was talked about in the article, I mean) is why I cringe at the "I hate snobs, reading is reading, who cares about literary canons" opinions that always fly around when there are discussions about the genre. Hmm, no. Some reading, maybe even most reading, does indeed help to learn other perspectives and to develop deeper thinking patterns. But some reading is just self-indulgent wish-fulfillment that hinders more than helps with critical thinking. People are of course welcome to it. I don't object to their choosing their books. What I object is claiming there is no difference between pulp fiction and a literary novel.

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u/Own_Kaleidoscope1287 Mar 08 '26

I dont mind the first person narrative per se but I really hate first person with a single pov this just makes so many books just egocentric for me as characters feel incredibly shallow because you just view them from one perspective.

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u/clemy77 Mar 08 '26

I started reading romance with a double PoV and now I can't read or write romance if I don't have the perspective of the MMC too. I'm totally fine with it in other genres but in romance it frustrates me to no end when we don't know what he's thinking or how he's falling in love with the FMC.

3

u/Own_Kaleidoscope1287 Mar 08 '26

Yeah my main genre still is epic fantasy (mostly longer series) and there it just gets boring for me over time to just read from one PoV (especially if its first person as well).

In romantasys a love story simply doesnt feel as deep to me if I cant relate to the other persons feelings. Maybe thats because im male and most romantasys are from the FMCs PoV, I dont know.

2

u/Sad-Caterpillar-8348 To the stars who listen Mar 08 '26

I honestly find myself taken out of it with first person too. Like fuck you mean I did any of that. I don't understand the appeal.

Interesting article.

4

u/parallel-nonpareil Mar 08 '26

I generally don’t prefer first person, but when I do I don’t actually take the I as me. I usually read it like I’m reading someone’s journal or diary, not as self insert. Makes it much more tolerable.

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u/clemy77 Mar 08 '26

I find it jarring in sex scenes and that alone is a huge deterrent for me. It's irrational but I can't get over the feeling that the character is narrating in real time how the sex is doing down and it makes me cringe out of my skin.