Book Rant - 'Love' In Books

Greetings fellow earthlings! It's me, Unicorn. Today I wanted to do something I haven't really done before which is posting a rant about my feelings towards a book or certain type of book. In this case it's about something in books. Love.

Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about love in books overall (I personally am not a big fan of romance books, as you probably know, but hey, that's just my opinion). What I've seen a lot recently in YA fiction though is; a) the characters in teen romance novels always seem the same, and b) when there is love brought into a book with a different theme on the side, the love becomes unhealthy and the girl usually becomes completely dependent on the guy (he makes her complete and without him she wants to die.) These things annoy me a lot, so here comes a rant!


First of all, point A. To read this you must know, as said previously, that I am no fan of romance books. I've read a few and just not enjoyed them. They just aren't my thing. But I did read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green as well as Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon along with a few others (Fangirl too). I found that books that were solely romance books (unlike books like Divergent by Veronica Roth that have romance but are still largely sci-fi dystopian) usually had very similar characters. The characters always had their own 'cute' quirks that made them weird and were supposed to make them more likeable, funny and memorable. ("It's a metaphor.") I just found that all these characters were so similar and had personalities that were very much the same. There really isn't much variety.

Take Oli (is that how you spell it?) from Everything Everything and compare him to Gus from The Fault in Our Stars. I found that yes, they had different lives and different situations but they were both so similar and I kept on repeatedly noticing this as I read the books. There isn't much variety in love interests in YA romance. I find these characters are getting boring. But that might just be me. Maybe I'm the only one who's tired of this or who finds that the characters are similar at all. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!



Next, point B. This one bothers me soooo much. There are so many books where there's a girl who's life is going pretty alright, you know, not really above average, but still fine. Then this boy comes in and their life is suddenly complete and perfect and all they want to do 24/7 is be with that person. Then, if the person ever leaves, they become an emotional disaster and are constantly unhappy and cry all day and basically just want to die without them. They see no point in life anymore except this one person. This annoys me. Women are always written in teen books as people who are weak and need a man to complete themselves. Can we get a book with a female protagonist where she doesn't fall in love, nor need a man? There are so many books that have a completely good plot and then the character falls in love and feels lost and hopeless without the person. Women should be able to be strong, independent characters. If the boy leaves or dies or disappears another way, then you shouldn't be devastated for the rest of your life! There are better things to do with your time! You aren't hopeless without him! You have friends and a life and better things to focus on! Ever noticed those aliens invading or that upcoming test that will determine your future or your school test that's upcoming that will determine if you fail or not? Oh yeah, THAT. I think characters really shouldn't be so dependent on men. We should show that women can be strong in fiction and everywhere in general, and don't need a man to complete them! I'm just sick of that. Your life can be complete and wonderful without a guy by your side. And I don't mean that romance books should end of course; plenty of people like them. I just think the girls in books shouldn't be depending on guys and have a completely miserable life without them. We need more independently strong girls in books!

Rant finished. This wasn't as long as I'd expected. I hope you liked and agreed with my rant! If not, that's great as well! Give us your thoughts down below in the comments! What annoys (or doesn't annoy) you about romance in books? Did you agree/disagree with my opinions? I'd lovelovelovelove to hear your thoughts and will be sure to respond!

~Unicorn