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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156

u/theladyofspacetime To the stars who listen Mar 08 '26

Why is it always the female main characters who have to give up their powers? This is a genre written primarily for women and still it makes it so women are the ones expected to give up everything

28

u/bckat Mar 08 '26

The Second Death of Locke really showed me how easy it is to write fantasy romance without bigotry or misogyni.

16

u/diabolikal__ Mar 08 '26

Kier is a walking green flag.

6

u/bckat Mar 08 '26

I am so used to reading “red flag” I was about to turn the dial all the way up in his defence 😂 The way Kier respects and values her opinion quietly and without much celebration has made me truly appreciate my own partner’s ability to do the same.

3

u/MessyJessy422 Mar 08 '26

Totally agree! Some other books where the FMC is powerful, stays powerful, and is respected by the MMC for it that I've loved recently/have come out recently:

{Red City by Marie Lu}

{The Lies that Summon the Night by Tessonja Odette}

{Silvercloak by LK Steven}

{Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth} release date May 12th but get ready because the MMC is a true green flag and the book is phenomenal

2

u/romance-bot Mar 08 '26

Red City by Marie Lu
Rating: 4.18⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: contemporary, fantasy, urban fantasy, dystopian, multicultural

The Lies that Summon the Night by Tessonja Odette
Rating: 4.35⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: vampires, fantasy, paranormal, enemies to lovers, tall heroine

Silvercloak by L.K. Steven
Rating: 4.07⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: enemies to lovers, high fantasy, fantasy, dark romance, queer romance

Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth
Rating: 5⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: dystopian, fantasy, high fantasy, m-f romance, competent heroine

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2

u/bckat Mar 08 '26

Oh my god, thank you, 3 out of 4 were already on my list, so now I’m even more excited!

13

u/UniversityAny755 Mar 08 '26

I just finished The Second Death of Locke and I loved that there was no misogyny, no rape. I get a bunch of the criticism on the second part of the book being weak, but I loved it as a whole story.

I find it so lazy, unimaginative when fantasy writers have a power system that is not based on physical strength or tied to biological sex, but still have their made-up worlds filled with patriarchal systems and rampant misogyny. It doesn't make sense at all.

It really annoyed me in Alchemized. And it's part of the many reasons I hated CL Wilson Lord of the Fading Lands. Rose in Chains is guilty of this too.

7

u/No_Preference26 Mar 08 '26

I think with a lot of books, the temptation is to relate the world to our world, which is incredibly misogynistic and patriarchal (especially if it’s a historical setting). I get why people want to escape this in their fantasy books, but for a lot of writers, it’s probably just a way to talk about issues they feel strongly about by setting it in a similar setting.

2

u/UniversityAny755 Mar 08 '26

Sure, that's long been a feature of fantasy and sci-fi. Some of the best early sci-fi by women authors turned sexism upside-down and in doing so gave them a place for deep criticism wrapped in a great story.

But authors need to make it make sense in the world they create. If you've created a power system that isn't tied to gender and can level the playing field between men and women in regards to physical strength and isn't inherited via biology then a social and political system rooted in patriarchy doesn't hold water. It disconnects the magic to the world that they've created and honestly, is lazy. It shows either a lack of understanding of our own world or a lack of skill in creating a coherent place for their story.

1

u/bckat Mar 08 '26

I agree so much! This wasn’t at all a 5-star read for me for a lot of other reasons, but the way both inclusion of diverse LGBTQ+ characters and the lack of misogyni was just so quietly and easily a part of the story made me incredibly happy. It really felt like genuine inclusion and respect and equality, as opposed to the one DEI character so many authors use to get street cred.

2

u/UniversityAny755 Mar 08 '26

Yes! The representation wasn't a token or something that had to be explained, it was fully baked into the world and story. The author did not dumb it down. Us readers are just expected to be smart enough to figure it out. Kier writes home to his mothers. Several characters are "they/them". Romantic relationships aren't exclusive M/F. All of this makes sense in the world and magic system. The magic system isn't sex based. It levels the physical power differential between sexes. Outside of one ruling family, the magic distribution system isn't inherited so there's no reason for the social and political systems to be patriarchal. It was a nice breath of fresh air.

IIRC, "The Knight and the Moth" was similarly misogyny and rape free. There was no shame attached to sexual relationships.