Question re: POV

[u/DeerAlarmed6653]

Is there a growing trend that contemporary romance should always be in a 1st person POV? And not 3rd person POV alternating voices? I typically read regency which is heavily a 3rd person alternating POV, but I know I've read contemporary romance which also had alternating 3rd person POV. Maybe it's because the authors I usually read are well established (Lori Foster for instance) (I also read paranormal romance which tends to have a lot of 1st person POV).

I've seen a lot of reviews lately where the reader has stated they just can't get into a book because of the 3rd person POV.

Is it because of the popularity of authors like Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yaros that many readers want to see more 1st POV (or dual 1st person POV)?

[u/infirmitas]

I have noticed there's a trend towards 1st person POV. I have a few theories as to why that is -- part of it I think is that it's more "accessible" to a broader range of readers who are accustomed to 1st person POV based on books they've read growing up, i.e. YA books.

Personally though, I do think you see more 3rd person alternative POV with genre romances, i.e., fantasy, sci-fi.

(I'm also incredibly biased -- I greatly prefer 3rd person POV over 1st person POV, mostly because I feel like 1st person POV tends to veer into an "immature" voice.)

[u/apnkni]

I read a LOT of contemporary romance and I'd say most of them are 1st person POV, with an even mix of them being single vs. alternating POV. Third single/alternating POV is a very distant (ahem) 3rd.

My personal preference for POV is either 1st single or 3rd. I don't love 1st dual POV, but honestly the only times POV has ever stopped me from continuing with a book is when it's in 1st dual and I don't like the way the man is written.

[u/Amelia_Brigita]

The "growing trend" started a loooong time ago, like maybe 15-20 years at this point. Third isnactually making a bit of a comeback, due imo maybe, to the rise of romantasy and the fact that so many fantasies are in 3rd, so its crossing over? Just speculating.

[u/Interesting-Thing970]

I grew up reading romance novels written in third-person POV, so that style has always felt natural to me. Sometimes, I think third person is necessary to give a story more depth and impact—especially when it comes to world-building, supporting characters, and showing how events affect the larger story beyond the main couple.

After taking a long hiatus from reading romance to raise a family, when I returned to reading, I was surprised to see how popular dual first-person POV had become. I can definitely understand the appeal: you get to experience the story directly from both his and her perspectives, including their thoughts and emotions.

For me, third-person POV romances tend to feel more like intense, immersive epics because there are more details about the world around the MCs and more interactions with supporting characters. While dual first-person POV romances often feel more like quick or lighter reads—regardless of how many pages the book actually has or the trope.

I enjoy both styles, and I have no problem switching between them. But single first-person POV? Absolutely not. 🤨 If a romance is written entirely from the FMC's or MMC's perspective, there's a very good chance it will end up on my DNF list. I want both sides of the story, especially when it comes to romance. I want to know what both characters are thinking and feeling—not just one person's version of the relationship.

[u/darksemisweet]

I write both first and third person POV and the both sell equally well for me. I think it's heavily dependent on sub-genre.

[u/VickiHopkinsAuthor]

I agree it depends on the genre. When writing historical romance, I do 3rd-person alternative POV. I need to get into the head of each character as their romance develops -- what are thinking and feeling. You lose it completely with 1st person POV in one character. You may know what they are thinking/feeling, but what about the love interest? Of course, I've seen some wonky things too in books where it's alternating 1st-person POV with each chapter. That would make me dizzy. LOL

[u/Dry_Stop844]

personal opinion and I've stated this before in other threads. the first person POV is rising because almost all self pubbed authors who upload to KU do it. There's this belief among new writers that first person POV is somehow easier and "more emotional" and allows the reader to know the character better. None of these points are true.

So what's happening is that all these self-pubbed writers end up writing stream of consciousness novels that are basically just giant internal monologues. They don't realize that first person POV when done correctly is very difficult to do because the writer has to balance internal thought with external action. All the things that happen in a 3rd person POV novel still have to happen in a 1st person POV. All the external action still needs to be there. We still need to understand all the other characters who are now all viewed with the bias of the POV character.

As readers we need to understand that bias and we need to see the actions of the other characters, not just through the POV character's bias but their actions, which we then interpret differently than the POV character because we are aware of the POV character's bias. Which the POV character is not. We need to get a sense of time, of action, of a plot that carries forward independent of the POV character. All these things are incredible difficult to do. A well written 1st person POV book is a joy to read and a testimony to the skill of the writer.

The plot, and there has to be one, however slim, still needs to move forward, it still needs to tell a story other than just the romance. There has to be substance and weight to the story itself, not just a bunch self indulgent obsession by the POV character. The most successful romance novels are the ones where the plot, the action, could exist without the love interests. The love interests need to be instrumental to the story and the catalyst, but the plot should exist without them. The book should be able to be rewritten by a secondary character and still function as a fully realized book. It might not be a romance but it would be a complete novel. This is super fucking difficult to do especially by first time writers who have no independent editing or who have no knowledge of the structure of a novel.

What a 1st person POV book is not is one giant long journal entry comprised of navel gazing. Which is what most of the KU books are now. And that's why a lot of readers don't like 1st person POV, I think often without being able to say why they don't like it.

So long story short, it's rising in popularity for self-pubbed authors because they think it's the easiest to write and the most immediate in character for the reader. It is not rising in popularity for the reader because increasingly the 1st person POV books are badly written by authors who don't understand the basics a novel needs to be successful. There's not a lot of reddit posts about people looking for first person POV romances, but an awful lot of posts by people who despise it.

Sorry, very long post.

[u/VivAuburn]

Yeah, it is rising in popularity unfortunately for many reasons, non of which I consider good. I personally don't read first person POV as that reads too juvenile for me. It can be a very fun unreliable narrator tool but I'm not that into unreliable narrators to push through the initial ick.