content warning for mentions of stalking, manipulation, assault, rape, coercive control, abuse, and the romanticization of the aforementioned.

I'd like to start off by saying I am aromantic and not much of a romance reader myself (although I don't mind a romance subplot if it's done well), so I'm asking this as an outsider to the genre. I first remember hearing the term "dark romance" as a teenager, and at that point it seemed to refer to any romance book that featured and romanticized stalking, manipulation, assault, rape, coercive control, or other abuses between the protagonist and their (usually her) love interest. Books like Twilight, 50 Shades of Gray, and Throne of Glass come to mind for me first when I hear the term, although I know that they are probably a bit too out-of-date to meaningfully represent the genre today.

Lately, I've been seeing more and more conversation about dark romance, and in particular I've seen more and more people say that "real" dark romance does not involve any abuse or assault between the romantically-involved characters. If that is the case, then what distinguishes a dark romance from a regular romance? Is this a popular position among dark romance readers or a controversial one? Is there a different genre title for books that do feature abuse or rape (and to be clear, here I am referring to specifically abuse and rape, not impact play or consensual non-consent or any other kink) in a romanticized or eroticized way?

With the addition of a few new quests today (yay!), I was curious... What are things that you have or are willing to do for a badge? The main things I think of are suffering through a book you aren't enjoying and buying a book you wouldn't otherwise buy. Have/would you do any of these things? Have/would you do anything else? Just how much do quests and badges motivate you?

Personally, I've suffered through books I don't enjoy and I just scoured the net for a couple of books that I probably won't want to keep, just to try and read all the books in a quest even though I'll just exceed the number of books for the highest badge. (Shoutout to The Monstrous Feminine quest!)

I love reading romantasy and epic fantasy with romance. However, I do not wish to read or watch or hear anything related to romance for a while, as I am currently convinced love is purely fictional and I won't be able to experience it ever. (Today I got dumped via an AI-generated text. AI-GENERATED TEXT. Now I know that when someone is not ashamed of telling you the last time they willingly picked up a book was in middle school, that is a huge red flag. Such people lack not only the empathy to try to understand what the other person is feeling, but also the reading comprehension skills required to come up with a proper answer on their own. I dont feel even a little sad, it just feels like I just parted ways with ChatGPT. Good riddance I guess... I hope I am the first and last person to experience this, but I also know I wont be. I hate AI a bit more each day.)

It feels good to put my anger into words, but back to the purpose of this post: It is kind of hard to find books with absolutely no romance, especially in fantasy. If it won't be too specific to find, I would also very much like books that would make me laugh. I feel a reading slump approaching, so I would appreciate any help 😊

EDIT: I want to thank each and every one of you for all your recs and especially for your support! Your comments mean the world to me :) I realised once more just how much I like being a part of this community. Love you all 💙

Just a friendly reminder!

Do be mindful of your book forum posts. If you're sharing a thought that sounds arbitrary and holds no danger of spoiling anything about the book, post away without clicking the Includes spoilers? tab.

However, if you're going to mention something specific about a character, if you're quoting a phrase or a whole paragraph, may I please request you DO click the Includes spoilers? tab?

Thank you very much!

I was thinking about The Golden Compass earlier because I'm going to be buddy reading that series later this year (rereading in my case because we actually read it in English class in 7th grade) and about the concept of daemons in that series, which is, to summarize briefly, an animal representation of your soul that lives in the physical world with you who you can talk to and interact with. Honestly, the dream. In the book, your daemon essentially settles into one animal form based on who you are for the rest of your life when you hit puberty.

And because I love animals and always love reasons for more animal talk - what would your daemon/animal form/however you want to conceptualize it be based on your personality and why? Post a picture if you want!

(To post a picture, use  without the spaces.)

I can't believe we lost Dolly and Tim in the same day (he passed late last night apparently).

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to tell me your favourite Tim Curry show/movie/musical/game, and give a book rec based on that piece of media.

I also read Tim's memoir, Vagabond earlier this year, and definitely recommend it.

Such a huge part of my childhood is gone, and while I'm still working my way through this novel as well. 😔