07:44
Faizan
Growing up, romances were considered the worse books to read in my house. At least certain romances were. Chick lit and high school romances were acceptable to read on occasion and classics were always fine. But traditional romances with a man and a woman embracing on the cover? Those were trashy, poorly written, and only worth reading for the sex scenes which probably made up at least half of the book's contents.
After a certain age, I was allowed to read whatever book I wanted to, but romances were still looked down upon as the least valuable genre. However, by the time I hit middle school, romance novels were just too tempting.
Since they're available at every place ever that sells secondhand books, it wasn't hard for me to find romances and form my own opinions about romances. And it wasn't long before I really liked them, so much that I started my own blog to review just them. And millions of other readers love them just as much.
There are a lot of stereotypes involving avid romance readers, like desperate spinsters, lonely women, and curious teenage girls. But the truth is, the majority of romance readers are college educated women who are married and have fulfilling lives. So even though there is a level of escapism, there's a lot more to the appeal of romance than that.
Many women, myself included, like it for the positive messages in the books. The heroine almost always has insecurities about her body or her wits or personality and yet the hero is still completely enraptured by her. For instance, in Lord Braybrooke's Penniless Bride by Elizabeth Rolls, Christina Daventry is incredibly insecure about her financial means, looks, and heritage. As the bastard daughter of a nobleman, she is only one wrong move away from being on the streets. However, somehow she captures the heart of Lord Braybrooke without even really trying. While people could chalk it up to the fact that she's really beautiful without even knowing it, that's not true in all romances. In Morning Comes Softly by DebbieMacomber, Montana rancher Travis Thompson marries a woman he doesn't think it beautiful in the slightest. However, he ends up falling in love with her anyway. While not everyone thinks finding love is the ultimate goal in life, in romance books, it means happiness. Romance books say that everyone can find happiness without changing who they are.
While the positive message is attractive to readers of all ages, others, especially teenagers, have another reason to read romances.
"They help me study for SATs," a friend once told me, laughing. "It's strange, but where else am I going to read words like florid, staccato, and amorous outside of vocab exercises and classics?"
She had a point. Despite my family's thought that all romances are poorly written, I have noticed that I need to turn to the dictionary with them more than any other genre. It's not so much that they are trying to hard to be 'intellectual'. It's more that there is a lot of emotion in romance books, even more than other genre because the main storyline is an emotional connection. Sometimes, 'happy', 'sad', and 'angry' just doesn't cut it so the writer turns to bigger and less-used words to describe their characters and their settings. While this isn't really a reason to read romance books, it is a bonus for some people. I know I'm not the only one who thinks so. In the guidance counselor office at my school were some romance books with the SAT study material that had been picked out for their vocab usage.
After a certain age, I was allowed to read whatever book I wanted to, but romances were still looked down upon as the least valuable genre. However, by the time I hit middle school, romance novels were just too tempting.
Since they're available at every place ever that sells secondhand books, it wasn't hard for me to find romances and form my own opinions about romances. And it wasn't long before I really liked them, so much that I started my own blog to review just them. And millions of other readers love them just as much.
There are a lot of stereotypes involving avid romance readers, like desperate spinsters, lonely women, and curious teenage girls. But the truth is, the majority of romance readers are college educated women who are married and have fulfilling lives. So even though there is a level of escapism, there's a lot more to the appeal of romance than that.
Many women, myself included, like it for the positive messages in the books. The heroine almost always has insecurities about her body or her wits or personality and yet the hero is still completely enraptured by her. For instance, in Lord Braybrooke's Penniless Bride by Elizabeth Rolls, Christina Daventry is incredibly insecure about her financial means, looks, and heritage. As the bastard daughter of a nobleman, she is only one wrong move away from being on the streets. However, somehow she captures the heart of Lord Braybrooke without even really trying. While people could chalk it up to the fact that she's really beautiful without even knowing it, that's not true in all romances. In Morning Comes Softly by DebbieMacomber, Montana rancher Travis Thompson marries a woman he doesn't think it beautiful in the slightest. However, he ends up falling in love with her anyway. While not everyone thinks finding love is the ultimate goal in life, in romance books, it means happiness. Romance books say that everyone can find happiness without changing who they are.
While the positive message is attractive to readers of all ages, others, especially teenagers, have another reason to read romances.
"They help me study for SATs," a friend once told me, laughing. "It's strange, but where else am I going to read words like florid, staccato, and amorous outside of vocab exercises and classics?"
She had a point. Despite my family's thought that all romances are poorly written, I have noticed that I need to turn to the dictionary with them more than any other genre. It's not so much that they are trying to hard to be 'intellectual'. It's more that there is a lot of emotion in romance books, even more than other genre because the main storyline is an emotional connection. Sometimes, 'happy', 'sad', and 'angry' just doesn't cut it so the writer turns to bigger and less-used words to describe their characters and their settings. While this isn't really a reason to read romance books, it is a bonus for some people. I know I'm not the only one who thinks so. In the guidance counselor office at my school were some romance books with the SAT study material that had been picked out for their vocab usage.
Posted in: arts
