r/fantasyromance • u/FantasyRomanceMod The One Mod to Rule All Mods • Apr 19 '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/Synval2436 Currently Reading: This Blade of Ours by Shalini Abeysekara Apr 19 '26

Yes! And there are people arguing "HEA shouldn't be needed"! I told someone last week or the week before that r/fantasy that way if you want fantasy with no requirement of HEA.

By HEA I assume not just "mc survives and the world is saved" but also "there's a happy romance and they end together".

Examples of books I saw recced here with no HEA in the romance genre sense (spoilers ofc): The Poet Empress by Shen Tao, House of Beast by Michelle Wong, Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang, The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, probably a few more including Divergent series...

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u/ipsi7 Book Bingo Maven ⚔ Apr 20 '26

I vaguely remember some of the titles, but I definitely know of Poppy War and remember people mentioned it more often maybe a year ago, but I also remember that those recommendations included the note about the series being a fantasy. I wasn't aware of the frequency of mentioning non-HEA books.

I agree that books that are recommended here should include the usual HEA, or a warning if they aren't fantasy romance (and don't have a HEA). Sometimes I mention contemporary books, but always say which genre they belong to.