I’m not sure how other readers of historical romance novels read their books. I’ve never had conversations with my fellow readers. But when I read I start often start after a period of abstinence. I pick a book from one of my reading lists. If I like the writing style of the author I then move on to other books by the same person. Once I run out of books I might want to read by the author I other books with similar themes and styles. I flit through dozen of books this way.
Today I just ended a book called Lord of Ice by Gaelen Foley. I tried to write a short review on goodreads. But I couldn’t remember the thoughts I had meant to write while I was in the middle of the book. But thinking about what to write about this particular book I came to realize that I have a general sort of dissatisfaction with the books I have been reading. I know I read romance because the stories sweep me into a binary world of happy-endings. And I know sometimes these stories require a certain level of suspension of disbelief but I find myself wanting a little more from these characters.
To elaborate, I find myself wishing for stories where the characters are put in the context of social hierarchies of the time. I want to see them come in contact with and interact with gender inequality and class system. To be fair most authors try to include these concepts in the stories but they use them ineffectively. The portrayal of social inequalities in these stories are halfhearted and without nuance. Maybe next time I write I can bring forth some examples.
I understand that I might find the depth I’m looking for in a different genre of books but why not in this one? I would love to read stories that have the intersection of historical romance and social issues that would still sweep me away but would also add the nuances of real people of that time.
pixelskylines
yousharknotpass
areudirty
kaledo-art
ellievsbear
vaporwave
germansingergirl
annaxmalina
stormborns