My paint skills are through the roof!
I’m currently reading Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor and the book starting off really cool. I liked the gritty urban fantasy theme in a European city and I liked the characters that were introduced. I’ve read about 65% and something terrible has happened… something I hate in stories… and I’m not sure if I should put it down. I’m going to rant a little about forced romances in books. So there’s a MINOR SPOILER for this novel.
Just before half way through the book a romance is introduced… Main character Karou and the angel start to… like each other… What??? It was a great story up until this point! Now it’s just about the damn romance. It feels unsubstantiated and it just wasn’t necessary. It wasn’t weaved in the story it just feels so random. Why do books ruin their stories by adding forced romance of super-hot-but-super-powerful-and-perfect man who falls in love with girl. Where’s the chemistry apart from the fact that he’s hot??? 😦
I can see how this romance plays a bigger part because now we’re getting to know more of his past, how it plays in with the bigger story… but really? At least make the romance more believable. I just… gah! I hate when books start off so well and then become a pooper (yes, I know, I’m so professional).
I think forced romances are a true pet peeve of mine, especially when they’re with a super-natural-super-human-super-hot man. Are you reading a book that you’re not sure if you want to give up on because it’s a pooper?
– Ermisenda
Ermilia 
I don’t know the book, but I have read the odd novel where something apparently extraneous like this turns out later to have affected the plot. I would suggest waiting to the end and seeing if it still seems to jar.
Yeah… I’m thinking of holding on but it’s kind of a chore to read. 😦 I’m not very excited to pick it up. That shouldn’t happen with reading!
Sounds like something added for “market value”, this ain’t Hollywood, we don’t all need a romantic subplot!
Exactly. And I really don’t mind romantic subplot, but just weave it in properly. Try to stay away from cliches where possible.
I can’t really judge as I have not read the book, but it does sound as though the author needed a few thousand more words to make up the length – a regrettably common occurrence. I’ve done it myself, but never felt the need to inflict such writing on the paying public.
Sadly, I have to agree. At this point I feel like you could split the book into two totally different ones. I want to keep reading the first half! Not this second half nonsense.
I read the book and was left with the same feelings. She’s so obsessed with him it felt like wading through it all. However, keep reading! Akiva and Madrigal are coming up and I really enjoyed their story. Plus in the second book there is basically no romance, just a lot of war.
Thanks! I’m glad it’s worth it. Because it started off so cool. 😀
I know this might not be a popular opinion, but I honestly could have done without any romance in the Harry Potter series. Other than Harry’s parents getting together, obviously. I enjoyed the magic and the adventure. The romance aspect tended to detract from what I felt were the good parts of the story.
It’s a popular opinion with me. JKR ‘had’ to make the series ‘relevant’ to teenagers growing up, and teenagers growing up date, make out, break up, and so on. It seemed very much a bolt-on to me too. There is a great deal of imagination in the adventure itself (once you get past her tendency to keep repeating basically the same plot in successive books) and in the magical detail and the culture of the wizardry world; by contrast the bolt-on elements seem banal, they jar.
[I have to be careful here, because I write for the teenage market and my characters also date, kiss, and so on too.]
I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and loved the splatter of romance in it. As a teen, I thought it had barely any romance. And compared to most YA books, it doesn’t have much. Thanks for sharing your perspective though! I think it can be hard for authors to weave romance without detracting from the main plot.
I don’t mind it so much if it’s not there in your face, but only there beneath the surface, I can put up with it. I don’t mind romance in books, although I do not like romance books, but there has to be a purpose to it, and not interfere with the story.
I agree with your sentiment ‘I don’t mind romance in books, although I do not like romance books’. I want it to add to the story, the characters, and atmosphere rather than take away. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, bookgeeking! 🙂
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