Bookstagram’s least favourite romance tropes

We're all crazy about enemies to lovers, especially in forced proximity, with only one bed; but what are the clichés the book community isn’t so keen on?

There are certain romance tropes we *need* to leave in the past

(Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash)

Hey, did you know it’s the month of romance? Thought I’d mention it, in case you’ve missed all the businesses scrambling for your cash this February, encouraging you to treat yourself, your friends, or a special someone to anything from a three course meal to a personalised His & Hers set of toilet roll. Alas, I feel like their efforts are wasted, because we all know folks just wanna have books!

Jokes aside, this month bookstagram (that is book Instagram, for the two readers of my articles who are not part of the community) has been teeming with chat of romance novels, and people showing off their gorgeous, gorgeous pastel covers. Hey, no shade - I have a whole shelf of them!

But while everyone has been talking about all the things they love about the genre, their list of book crushes, and their favourite tropes, I thought it would be fun to poke around and see what people hate about love stories. You know, the one motif that instantly makes you cringe?

The community, surprisingly, was quite united around several themes. Here’s the shortlist:

Miscommunication

Don’t you just hate it when people assume the worst and suffer in silence instead of having an upfront chat about it? Welcome to the miscommunication trope - the crux of many a falling out between romance couples.

Haley (@haleys_next_book) shares what I’m sure all of us romance readers feel when we encounter this trope - that so many of the characters' issues could be easily solved by just telling one another how they’re feeling.

She gives the example of From Blood and Ash, where Poppy jumps to so many conclusions about Hawke, and even though it’s obvious to the reader he has feelings for her, she can’t see it. And she’s not the only main character in a romance plot to fall prey to this foolishness.

“This happens so often in romance novels,” Haley adds. “The characters waste too much time misunderstanding each other, not sharing their true feelings, when they could have been together all along!”

Nicole (@_nicolesbooknook) asterisks her response by saying small, reasonable misunderstanding like in The Love Hypothesis didn’t bother her, but in Normal People it was so stupid, it really got under her skin. “Just fucking talk to each other,” she exclaims (in all caps).

And you know what’s worse than reading about miscommunication from one side of the couple? Seeing it unfold on both ends! Hayley (@booksandcoffeewithhayley) declares: “Miscommunication when there’s a dual [point of view] drives me up the wall!”

Insta Love

This term stands for, you guessed it, the instances where two characters instantly fall for each other, and their immediate attraction is either never explained, or attributed to some other-worldly soulmate magic.

Melanie (@thebookishphantoms) says she never really liked insta love because of how unrealistic it seems. “I know books are all fiction - well most books I read anyways,” she adds. “But I still don’t like it.”

According to Melanie, the speed at which this bond happens makes it seem really abrupt. “It’s like, woah, okay that was fast,” she laughs. And you know what else insta love is? “Just too convenient,” according to Sarah (@selectedfictions).

Steph (@ofdragonsandbibliophiles) also finds the whole premise super unrealistic, especially when the characters abandon their path for someone they’ve just met because it’s “true love”, so she tries to avoid insta love stories.

Love triangles

And speaking of true love, you know what it’s often used to justify? Love triangles.

This one is definitely on my personal blacklist as well, but instead of going on a rant, I’ll let Kristine (@kristinesreads) tell you why she hates the oldest trope in the drama book.

“I don’t like love triangles because they don’t feel authentic,” she says. “The main character is always going to love one of the two love interests more, and it comes off as if they are leading the other one on. Additionally, the main character almost always acts like a different person when they are around each love interest, and doesn’t seem genuine.”

Kristine points toward well-known examples from popular culture, such as Bella, Edward, and Jacob or Gale, Katniss, and Peeta, to illustrate the point. Though she does add a side note about “the only love triangle that works” - Tessa, Jem, and Will from The Infernal Devices. I’ll withhold comment on why to avoid having too many spoilers in this article, but I do concede this one exception.

Pregnancy

Oh boy, okay. I’ve left this one for last, as I can sense its potential to be a bit controversial. I sure as hell steer clear from stories which feature the main character being pregnant, mainly due to my personal feelings about pregnancy and children (which can be summarised with: yuck!), but let’s hear why my fellow bookstagrammers are not big fans.

Beth (@justanotherbookishlas), for instance, highlights the fact that the pregnancy trope is linked to the social expectation that for a woman to be happy, she needs to have children, which is wrong, as not everyone wants to have children. “I think that it can be done tastefully,” she admits. “But most of the time it is overused, and can be added sometimes as an afterthought.”

Paige (@me.and.myshelf), meanwhile, says that from her experience with romance books (which, let me tell you, is extensive), pregnancy can often be used just as a shock factor, and a way to tie down a couple without the effort of chemistry or building a relationship. “But at the same time I’ve read a couple where it’s been done well,” she adds, “like Elle Kennedy’s The Goal, so I think it also depends on how it’s done.”

As for ones she didn’t enjoy, Paige points towards A Lie for a Lie by Helena Hunting and It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, and I can wholeheartedly agree on the latter. I know bookstagram has strong feelings about this book, but for me personally, the fact that abortion wasn’t even mentioned as an option makes the pregnancy feel like a way of railroading the narrative.

This incendiary opinion concludes our little rant-fest on the worst romance tropes. Got any to add? Drop me a message, I would love to know!