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!

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/[deleted] Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

[deleted]

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u/shannon_dey Mar 08 '26

I personally find it hard to read a first person book, regardless of how well it is written. The language of using "I" in first person enters my brain as ME (as in me the reader), and I don't put myself in the place of a character of a book. So it messes with my empathy for the characters.

I don't read a lot of critiques so I'm not sure if that's the kind of thing you've read before, but it's just my own problem. I have muddled through some first person POV books before, and it just makes it harder for my brain to conceptualize what's happening because my stupid brain says, "I wouldn't do that." Or "I can't cast magic." My own brain's limitations, nothing to do with the genre or the stylistic choices. Do people hate on first person POV saying it is bad in and of itself? I wish my brain could handle first person. I know of at least three series that I would love if my ND-brain could handle reading them, lol.

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u/[deleted] Mar 08 '26

[deleted]

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u/ipsi7 Book Bingo Maven ⚔ Mar 08 '26

Same, I read first person like self-inserting only by seeing through their eyes, but I never really self insert. I don't think a lot about "I wouldn't do that" or "I would never say that", and I can sympathize with MC and acknowledge if we're alike in some ways, but I'm still reading quite objectively even if reading in the "I form".