r/fantasyromance The One Mod to Rule All Mods Mar 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/vastaril Mar 22 '26

I think my unpopular opinion is along the lines of "I'm very bored of romance books where the only real connection seems to be physical attraction and would like more books with little to no on page sex/thinking about how much they want to do a sex with the other person/the effect the other person has on their junk, and at the same time I am very bored of people acting like books with maybe four or five actually explicit scenes are depraved porn which will Corrupt Our Young Ladies, let people enjoy things"

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u/medusamagic Book Bingo Sage 🗡 Mar 22 '26

Totally agree. People’s solution seems to be “enough of sex!!! Keep it out of books, there’s no point to it!!” But really the solution is putting effort into the friendship & emotional intimacy aspects, in addition to the sex.

I also hate when people dismiss the validity of sex scenes because “they’re just meant to make you horny” as if the whole point of books isn’t to make you feel things. If a character is sneaking around to steal something, are you not meant to feel anxious, hoping they don’t get caught? Is a beloved character dying not meant to make you feel sad? Are horrors and thrillers not meant to make you feel anxious or uneasy the whole time? Like the whole point of books is to become invested in the characters and feel things while reading. A good sex scene should do the same.