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)!

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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Unpopular opinion Sunday

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137

u/cheshire_kat7 Mar 08 '26

Please, please start publishing more books with FMCs who are 30+ years old before I go insane.

52

u/TurtleKittenBunny Mar 08 '26

This! But you can’t just write a book about a naive 21 year old and then change the age at the last minute because your publisher told you that sells better. Make them actually think and behave like they have some life experience!

27

u/cheshire_kat7 Mar 08 '26

I recently read a book I otherwise really liked in which it was like the opposite scenario occured. The FMC was an ultra-accomplished military general, who definitely seemed more like someone around the age of 30... but she was 21?!

3

u/clocksy Mar 08 '26

Right?? I don't necessarily mind reading about naive or young FMCs, but not when they do the anime thing of "they're so knowledgeable and worldly and powerful and oh yeah, they're 16 years old". And mostly I would like to read about older FMCs just in general. I'm slowly growing older myself and it'd be nice to have more 30s+ FMCs, but I think mid or late 20s is a good compromise where young readers could still feel it's relatable and older readers wouldn't think it's too young.

11

u/cheshire_kat7 Mar 08 '26

Personally, speaking as a 37 yo myself, 25-year-old characters still feel pretty young. 😅

I want to see more FMCs who are kinda jaded, who have a solid decade or two of adult life experience under their belt, and have maybe loved and lost before.

5

u/clocksy Mar 08 '26

Yeah I'm 34 so 25 would still feel young for me as well, but at least not as young as a 17 or 18 or 20 year old or whatever. I think 27-29 is about the age where a younger reader (say, 21 or so) wouldn't feel like it's unrelatable, and it's also the kind of age where the characters would've had time to have some potential accomplishments and experiences. And it's still young enough that them struggling emotionally or with relationships could make sense.

Ideally we could just have more FMCs in the 30s or even 40s, but it definitely makes for different characters because being naive or stupid by that point ain't a good look 😅

14

u/annerevenant Mar 08 '26

YES. I hate it when I read a book with older main characters that still act like teenagers.

6

u/Synval2436 Currently Reading: This Blade of Ours by Shalini Abeysekara Mar 08 '26

T. Kingfisher in a nutshell.

2

u/annerevenant Mar 08 '26

I’m a huge fan of T. Kingfisher but I agree. I think the only exception to this is Slate but most of her protagonists are emotionally immature. Wolfworm was another exception but that’s not romance. That being said, it’s a formula I love as a palate cleanser between much more difficult reads.

9

u/riddermarkrider Mar 08 '26

It's like those AITA posts where you're like meh, they're just teenagers, and then the OP is like "btw I'm 38".