I was reading *Shatter Me* and this thing made me raise my brows. Like, *Shatter Me* definitely isn’t a book I like a lot, but I want to discuss *this* thing in particular.
>”No you’re not,’ he snaps. His eyelashes are like individual threads of spun gold lit on fire. I almost want to touch them. “You don’t understand that power and control can slip from your grasp at any moment.”
Like, can we focus on the actual conversation, please? There’s literally NO reason to stuff rants about his eyelashes between these lines. It’s not even an intimate moment or anything. The two barely know much about each other at this point. How many of you have conversation with people trying to kill others by using you, and all you could care about is his eyebrows/ripped muscles and stuff?
Yes, maybe this is just a me thing because I *hate* romance where it’s just smut and *omg he’s so hot and I wanna fuck him so bad I hate my hormones angst angst angst*. But this CAN’T be the right way to write slow-burn romance, right?
It’s just so toxic. You know this person is a madman and yet it’s okay to like madmen if they’re hot and have ripped muscles and fascinating eyelashes and shit like that? Is this the message you want to send readers?
Now listen. After reading *The Cruel Prince*, here’s what *I* think slow-burn romance should be like. You \[hate this person/are indifferent to this person\], then you spend some time with them and get to know them better, then realise that maybe your first impression was incorrect and that maybe this person isn’t so bad/stupid after all. *Then* you find yourself slowly falling for them and maybe notice how hot they look or whatever.
(Tho I’m still against the entire omg-you’re-so-hot-I-love-you-so-much thing, since IMO *loving* someone *just* cuz they look hot is stupid. Or maybe it’s just because I’m asexual but whatever.)
This is a rant, of course, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. I see this stupid thing in almost every romance book now, and I HATE IT SO BAD. I HATE angst. I miss the time slow-burn used to be sweet and adorable. Now pick up a fantasy book (especially high fantasy) and all you see is angst. Ugh.
Thoughts?
by FantasticHufflepuff
1 Comment
I haven’t read either of these books, but in general I agree with you. There’s something about instant attraction and lust for no reason that seems awfully cliché and unrealistic for me. I think describing interactions, emotions and character development in a smart way is what really makes a good slow burn