Toxic Romance: Problematic Faves

As a fan, it can be difficult to acknowledge that something you loved when you were younger has not stood the test of time… It’s hard not to look back on a favorite childhood TV show or movie with the lens of a modern viewer and not see the glaring lack of representation.

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Toxic Romance: Villain to Hero

I find that romance is frequently the genre that does the most work to examine if villains are capable of change and worthy of love. Do people who have done terrible, depraved things deserve to be loved? Personally, I find it so much more interesting to watch characters work for redemption as opposed to attaining it through one heroic act that results in their death.

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Tired Tropes

while tropes are important to writing genre fiction, please keep in mind that mishandled tropes can easily become cliches. And then there are tropes that are so beyond cliche they need to be retired. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the romance tropes we could do without.

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Toxic Romance: Addiction

It’s no secret that drug abuse and alcoholism continue to be a rampant issue in many communities around the world, so it’s little wonder that these issues find their way into the plots of romance books.

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Bridgerton is here, what’s next?

Bridgerton has proven what we in Romancelandia have known to be self-evident for years: romance novels make for excellent entertainment. Now that Bridgerton has crossed into the mainstream and people are loving it, it’s time for more.

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Toxic Romance: Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse or past trauma is a frequent plotline in romance. And while something as serious as abuse shouldn’t be reduced to a plotpoint, it has nonetheless become a staple of the genre. Why? Because by and large, romance is the genre that most commonly addresses the issues real women face in their daily lives, including abuse.

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Toxic Romance: People of Color

We need to continue to push the conversation on why inclusivity in all literature is important. As publishers and gatekeepers of content, we must do our due diligence to serve all readers. It simply isn’t right or fair that large swaths of Americans are not seeing themselves in the books they read.

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