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Originally Posted by issybird
I also class romance and sci-fi together as far as my own distaste goes; however, I know that within each there must be better books, typical books, and lousy books. As for thrillers, I was thinking of the subset with a manly man with a weapon on the cover and a limp partially clad woman in a subservient position.
I think you’re right about romances being formulaic, up to a point. I think the insistence on what is called HEA, or at least HFN, does them a disservice. Why limit outcomes and in a manner which the reader expects? I assume sci-fi doesn’t do that. But then, it’s not dissimilar to mysteries in that respect; readers have every confidence that Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot will figure out the culprit and that someone will find Nancy Drew bound and gagged in that closet.
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I happened to hear part of a discussion of romance books on the radio on Valentine's Day. One person who called in said she discovered romance novels during the pandemic when she just needed to read something feel-good with a happy ending. I don't see anything wrong with there being a genre of books that predictably ends well. As long as these books are marketed so the potential reader knows what they're getting, then people who don't want this can avoid it.