I'm so excited to track my reading more thoroughly and force all my friends/family to make accounts to hold me accountable hehe

I’m about to say what I believe is a deeply unpopular opinion, but bear with me until the end: I love the miscommunication trope. I know, I know. Some of you are probably gasping and clutching your pearls right now, but hear me out.

I love a good angst moment. That blue, heart-aching, lip-quivering feeling you get when reading something irreconcilably sad. But here’s the thing: I don’t actually like the consequences of it.

Let’s say we’re reading a romance novel. The couple is vibing, they have insane chemistry, we got the meet-cute, the first kisses, the whole shebang, and now we’re approaching one of my favorite parts: the third-act breakup. A staple of the genre. But we need a reason for them to break up, right?

So let’s say one of them cheats. I know. Horrific. But the angst of it all? The heartbreak of the person who got cheated on? The longing and regret of the one who did the cheating? Chef’s kiss.

Except... this is a romance novel. We need the HEA. They have to get back together. But someone CHEATED!!! I hate cheating. I genuinely cannot deal with it. I would never forgive the cheater, even if their partner does. At that point, the novel is probably ruined for me.

Now compare that to miscommunication. No one actually betrayed anyone. There’s just a misunderstanding that spirals because these two idiots refuse to communicate properly. And I know what people think: “Ugh, this is so frustrating. If they would just TALK, everything would be solved.” And that’s true. But that’s exactly why I like it.

We still get the angst, the heartbreak, the longing, the yearning... but without any irredeemable damage. None of the emotional rot that permanently changes the relationship. Everything is still fixable.

That’s what the miscommunication trope is to me: flirting with pain without actually committing to it. I get all the delicious sadness with none of the lingering devastation. Tragedy, but with guardrails. We are talking "safe angst", baby.

Does anyone else feel this way, or am I alone in this?

Where are the quotation marks.

Is this a McCarthy thing? This is my first time reading something written like this. I absolutely hate it.

Happy Friday, everyone!

I hope everyone has had a great week, achieved their goals, and read some great books!

Here in the UK (and I believe a few other countries too) it is bank holiday weekend, so how is everyone planning on spending their bank holiday weekend? Also, if you feel comfortable to, let me know where you're commenting from as I'd love to know the range of countries that pagebound users are from!!

I'll go first - as stated I'm from the UK (England specifically) and I'm planning on enjoying the sunshine after work tomorrow, visiting my nanna on Sunday and spending my day off Monday in my garden with a book! 😎

this setting is reminding me so much of the album Danger Days by My Chemical Romance, but tbh any post apocalyptic desert setting is going to remind me of Danger Days