I have not been that big of a reader throughout my life and only really read old literature every once in a while when i felt like it. I previously considered The Great Gatsby to be my favorite book because I thought it felt like a nice slice of life though didn’t particularly care for the ending since it felt rushed and unclear to me, this was all until i very recently watched a Pride and Prejudice movie and subsequently read the book. At first I was bored and really didn’t see why it was so popular until I realized I liked the charm of the characters and thought the romance was sweet and more genuine than anything i’ve ever really seen before, i liked how it seemed like the characters unabashedly hated each other and i’m a sucker for subtle stuff too and the ending was nice. After i finished it though i felt kind of empty, I liked the dynamics of the characters but felt like they really had a total of maybe 4 conversations that felt fulfilling and a couple quips here and there so it felt like their interesting relationship wasn’t really delved into. This is not a critique on pride and prejudice though it’s a good book but I realized I also used to read a lot of Manhua at a point in my life and previously thought I liked the princess/duchess romance thing but realized that I liked something down to earth way more and that I really don’t care about politics, my main issue with Manhua also was I felt like the characters barely really talked or hung out with each other a lot of the time, and the setting overall seemed fake like it’s always vaguely European but not quiet anywhere and it never seemed to know how far things were and it annoyed me when the characters were already married and just progressing into actually liking each other and then the main male character would just disappear for a bit and leave the wife or such in charge of the kingdom/dukedom and she would have an arc of learning to do taxes or going to charity balls alone or some other unrelated plot point which I always felt like just subtracted from the plot.
If you actually read my whole thing and have any recommendations thank you so much I will appreciate you hearing me out but
TLDR:
-Romances are nice
-I like the Victorian Era thing
-Rich people but not Dukes/Princes
-Love interests actually talk and interact
-The main plot is related to the romance
-I like things that are hard to read
Please use your superior knowledge of books to assist me in there trying times🙏
by Latter-Milk719