seen from Pakistan
seen from Türkiye
seen from Bulgaria
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Greece
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Philippines
seen from Russia
seen from Singapore
seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Russia
He's a reminder of what I want to feel everyday, whether it's with him or on my own. He's taught me that who I am when I'm with him feels too good to sacrifice for the approval of everyone else. The way I dress, the guys I talk to, the games I play... it's all plastic, and when I'm with him, I'm gold.
Penelope Douglas, Punk 57
Life is fifty wrong turns down a bumpy road. All you can hope is that you end up somewhere nice.
Quote: Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas
by kayssmusings
Damon, about Rika: Is she crying? Is she crying?
Winter: A little.
Damon, grabbing the phone: You should be WAILING you stone cold bitch.
Will, walking in: What the hell is happening?
Winter: Damon is making me call people and tell them his dead to see how they react.
Damon: Now call Banks.
My interests do not have to be limited. I can like reading elitist, aesthetic fiction like TSH or IWWV or Never Let Me Go while listening to Taylor Swift or Neon Trees or Girl in Red, or reading absolutely questionable escapism books like CoHo or SJM or a bodice ripper or Penelope Douglas or while listening to Tchaikovsky, reading a scientific textbook or even Marauders fanfiction and doing ballet simultaneously and there is no reason to limit myself to either or. I like what I like. Anyone can like what they want to like.
"I don't need escapism" I say as i remain a slut for books .
The Problem Of DARK ROMANCE- Love over Lust (Booktoks problem in the books they recommend)
Caution: Spoilers of Mention Books. If this is too much for you to take in; cut and swallow because I am not giving you any water to make it go down easier. I am not taking back what I said. Thank you.
Numerous hot topic books that have an active following along with a high rating; often do not deserve their popularity.
Ultimately, the books that have come to my attention are books that when mentioned will be easily recognizable by most romance readers, as well as those who familiarly visit 'booktok'. Books such as; Punk 57, Icebreaker, Haunting Adeline, and Hunting Adeline. In the upcoming rage of discovery, it seems that SMUT has become the most intriguing genres to people all around.
Now there is nothing fundamentally wrong with SMUT or the writers of such books but at some point, we, as readers and consumers of literature should assess the quality and substance of the books being read. It is questionable and overall absurd that books such as The Price of Honor by Richard Fierce go unnoticed due to the popularity of books that center around sex, sex, sex, and sex. If that is what you are interested in as the world you need to escape into the maybe there is something you need to take up with a psychiatrist.
A book (without fantasy elements), nonetheless, should be able to capture a story that not only takes readers into a world they have never been in to help them to proper experience these situations. As well as, to be able to comfort or bring attention to the lives of either customary or diverse populations. Books such as Charming As A Verb, The Withering, and Love Hypothesis (it has smut but it isn't heavily implicated, I got to know the characters not their genitalia) were able to do these things amazingly, while also maintaining a positive ranking with readers. Which leads me to question the popularity of books like Haunting Adeline and Punk 57; not every book needs to be new and exciting but certain things that would be distasteful and unrealistic should be assessed in reading.
Let's dive into the rationale of Haunting Adeline (I have not read the complete book, I dropped it rather quickly because of the 'message'):
Haunting Adeline, with its premise, could be a unique Thriller story- the romance aspect should definitely be questioned on whether it should be removed. Now if anyone who has read Haunting Adeline AND likes the book, please give your remarks and opinions on the claimed romance. Dark romances can definitely be accepted in CERTAIN situations but there is a line that crosses from ROMANCE BOOKS and into PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER. Most of the actions in Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline are beyond diabolical- the female lead has to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Haunting Adeline overall essentially has the operation of sex trafficking, this would have been a good place to stop and the DARK in Romance would have already been completed. It would have also been able to offer a story to those who have been sex trafficked, instead of romanticizing and sexualizing a victim of sex trafficking by a mentally unstable male lead. Of course, the disgusting aspect does not stop it from being a good book because ultimately there are women and men who suffer from the effects of Sexual Trafficking and victims who develop Stockholm Syndrome from abusers.
I am unsure on whether the writer themselves had written the book in hopes of communicating the devastating and revolting topics to bring awareness but the conclusion gathered by readers of Booktok have been the opposite. The normalization of PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER as DARK ROMANCE need to be looked into by a professional.
A lot of people may say that the point of dark romance is TRAUMA, TOXIC LOVE, and occasionally ABUSE. That is the essence of it all. Though the problem is DARK ROMANCE varies from PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER. Example A: In Book One, you can get kidnapped because you were in the wrong side of the neighborhood and end up being beaten by a gang member because of this but after seeing that you were a victim and not from the rival gang as they first assumed, they decide to make peace. A lot of things can happen that do not need the female or male lead to mentally submit to the 'love interest'. Aspects such as an arranged marriage in a gang, drug addicts, sadists and masochists, vampires and hunters, even a ghost and a human- that can go so far if put into the hands of a writer who can draw a line between clear one-sided abuse and mistreatment. DARK ROMANCE is not TOXIC LOVE and TRAUMA done by A onto B, that causes B to submit out of fear. It's the push and pull of adrenaline between two people who damage each other or potentially do so, who both find their peace in destroying each other or fixing up the broken pieces. A vampire and a hunter are both out to kill each other, none are trembling out of fear because daddy vampire will hurt them so they just HAVE to sleep with them.
Now PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER; there is nothing morally wrong about reading them. It opens up a door to understanding and possibly a world that you have never been in. (or have, all things considered. I apologize if you have been exposed to situations such as those.) Though, there is something morally wrong with sexualizing the supposed 'romance' in psychological thrillers. It is not 'hot' when you have to cry and plead to your significant other to stop, unless it is under terms of agreement like, sadists and masochists, and even they have limits, I think. (I don't participate in those subjects)
I believe the problem behind Haunting Adeline is the glazing over of real life struggles and readers filling their minds with delusion. It makes me question if anyone who actively supports the relationship between the characters have put themselves in Adeline's shoes. I have seen countless readers or fans of the book, say "He got better." That is wonderful, but did he get better or did she just accept her fate and stop trying to fight back?
At some point you'd stop too if the 6'4, early thirties man, kept telling you he was obsessed with you after assaulted you multiple times on top of the numerous times you were assaulted by other persons.
However if you still believe this book is a DARK ROMANCE and not a PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER, please do see the fact that the consumption, enjoyment from sexualization that you get out of this book, and promoting it as romance other than psychological thriller can be detrimental. As the lines of romantization that readers have created are shocking. Remember this is not just a fictional, hot, steamy book and can very well be someone's reality.
Put yourself in just one of the scenes that you so find hot, if you think you would like it being done onto you, seek professional help or find someone that matches your kinks before you harass someone in the streets. No sane person wants a gun in their body.
Concluding, promote books that have substance to their genre and actually properly portray the topics of the genre. Seek help if you enjoy the 'romance' in the book. If you like the portrayed psychological thriller, that's cool.
NB: If you would like to know the things I found distasteful in the other book listed, please let me know, because there are a few reasons.
NNB: In placing the tags for the note-worthy books below, I found that there was no community/following for the books, though all the questionable ones did. Except for Love Hypothesis cause her gooch bussed open.
"I know it's pathetic to want a place among other people, and I know you'll say it's better to stand alone and be right than stand in a crowd and be wrong, but... Do you ever feel it?"
_Penelope Douglas (Punk 57)
Anyukám egyszer azt mondta: “Az élet ötven kanyar rossz irányba egy döcögős úton. Csak remélheted, hogy a végén valami szép helyen kötsz ki”
— Punk 57 - Penelope Douglas
