I’m annoyed we have to keep having this confirmation but you’ve said this so eloquently! This should be required reading for anyone starting off in the genre
I congratulate the Romance genre for being strong enough to have this conversation. At this point, it feels like every five years one genre must fight the fight about it means to have novel put on it's shelves. When Romantasy was just beginning as a genre, lots of fantasy readers were upset because they got a romance wrapped in a Fantasy wrapper, but since Fantasy is such a board category (and really not as widely read as romance) they had to back down until Romansty became a thing. Now people are trying to say Romance doesn't need to have a HAE, but won't say why they need Romance novels to not have HEAs. It's built into the genre, the same way magic is built into the fantasy genre. Genre isn't there because it's fun, it the first way the story is defined to audiences, which for romance means you get a HEA.
Yes! Bow howdy did I get an education after I remarked that I enjoyed Verity :-/ A friend schooled me about the romance genre rules and how the readers' trust had been betrayed. It's one of those books that gets thrown across the room by many.
I liken the genre to blues music. Can I predict what chord is coming up next? Maybe. Probably. But there's a satisfaction when it happens and different artists make it happen in different ways which is a beautiful thing. And there's a comfort food quality to that.
Verity is a good example of how expectations change the way you read a book. I’ve never thought of it as a romance but that’s probably because I only knew it existed after it went viral and there were spoilers everywhere.
Music genres are a good analogy. No one complains when they hear familiar chords. They wait to hear this artist’s specific take on it
We were all about My Best Friend's Wedding when it came out. When I think of the rom-coms of that era (probably the height of that film genre), it's more "com" than "rom." It's a comedy, maybe even a satire on the romance movies. But yeah, I agree that I don't understand why this HEA conversation keeps coming around again, especially on Threads. Nobody wants to follow the rules.
I read that in the original version of that movie she got a happy ending but audiences hated her so much they changed it to focus on her platonic love story. I’m trying to remember another romcom around that time that ended this way and can’t think of one. Maybe that’s why 🧐
I can’t think of any either. The funniest part of this movie in hindsight is that they had a marriage pact for turning 28 years old. What? That’s so young. Your frontal lobe just closed. Stop that.
Really love your "Also enjoying" section! I'm always ready for another version of The Fugitive!
Thank you! I'll try to share more of those things in the future.
Quick, easy, and satisfying. You should do it all the time!
I’m annoyed we have to keep having this confirmation but you’ve said this so eloquently! This should be required reading for anyone starting off in the genre
I congratulate the Romance genre for being strong enough to have this conversation. At this point, it feels like every five years one genre must fight the fight about it means to have novel put on it's shelves. When Romantasy was just beginning as a genre, lots of fantasy readers were upset because they got a romance wrapped in a Fantasy wrapper, but since Fantasy is such a board category (and really not as widely read as romance) they had to back down until Romansty became a thing. Now people are trying to say Romance doesn't need to have a HAE, but won't say why they need Romance novels to not have HEAs. It's built into the genre, the same way magic is built into the fantasy genre. Genre isn't there because it's fun, it the first way the story is defined to audiences, which for romance means you get a HEA.
Yes! Bow howdy did I get an education after I remarked that I enjoyed Verity :-/ A friend schooled me about the romance genre rules and how the readers' trust had been betrayed. It's one of those books that gets thrown across the room by many.
I liken the genre to blues music. Can I predict what chord is coming up next? Maybe. Probably. But there's a satisfaction when it happens and different artists make it happen in different ways which is a beautiful thing. And there's a comfort food quality to that.
Verity is a good example of how expectations change the way you read a book. I’ve never thought of it as a romance but that’s probably because I only knew it existed after it went viral and there were spoilers everywhere.
Music genres are a good analogy. No one complains when they hear familiar chords. They wait to hear this artist’s specific take on it
We were all about My Best Friend's Wedding when it came out. When I think of the rom-coms of that era (probably the height of that film genre), it's more "com" than "rom." It's a comedy, maybe even a satire on the romance movies. But yeah, I agree that I don't understand why this HEA conversation keeps coming around again, especially on Threads. Nobody wants to follow the rules.
I read that in the original version of that movie she got a happy ending but audiences hated her so much they changed it to focus on her platonic love story. I’m trying to remember another romcom around that time that ended this way and can’t think of one. Maybe that’s why 🧐
I can’t think of any either. The funniest part of this movie in hindsight is that they had a marriage pact for turning 28 years old. What? That’s so young. Your frontal lobe just closed. Stop that.
How do I like and restack this multiple times? What if I print it off and just paper the streets with it?
Spread the word 😌
Retweet repost write it in the sky tattoo it on the back of everyone's eyelids!!!
I only wrote this so I can repost when this topic comes up again