The Aromantic Romantic Book Club!

[Queasy_Attention]

Hey all! If you, like me, find yourself in the confuddling position of being aromantic and also loving romance novels (or movies, or shows, we don't judge), this is the place for you! I invite everyone who has a favorite piece of romantic media to come here and talk bout it!

To kick things off, I'm rereading Pride and Prejudice right now. I think what gets me about this book is that the concept of marriage is so separate from how we view marriage now. It's integral to everyone's societal statuses. Lizzie's reward in the end is a happy marriage, but it's not just the fact that she loves Darcy that makes that marriage feel like a true reward. It's also the financial stability and the fact that she has a partner who she likes and who respects her, both of which were difficult to find and not certainties. I also love that era setting where every raised eyebrow stands for, like, a four paragraph essay. I'm both desperate to live in that world and thankful that I don't.

I also have some lower-brow books that have little to no subtext or nuance, but I still adore them. Kiera Andrews has some terrifically sappy M/M novels. I think it's the central focus of the characters' sexualities that draws me, because that's something I can relate to. Most of the time, the romance is centered half on the situational relationship between the two characters and half on the fact that they're attracted to one another in a time or place where it's forbidden. And as I can relate to both platonic and physical attraction, I vibe with her books!

I've also read some stinkers where the relationship is cookie-cutter set up and boring, and the characters only like each other because of some mysterious force called romantic attraction. If there's no reason for it and no reason why it's interesting or creates conflict, then I'm out.

I also tend to like romance in written books rather than live-action shows or movies. When it's too set in reality I tend to get a bit uncomfortable. That being said, I did just watch the 2005 Pride and Prejudice and man that was good. So I guess it varies!

How about you all? What's your favorite romance book/piece of media? What do you like about it? Is there anything you can relate to? Did your enjoyment of romantic media change when you figured out you were aro? Did it not? What are some of your favorite tropes? Least favorite? What are some of your favorite books? Least favorite? What do you recommend for others with your tastes? The questions are endless, and so are the stories! Pick a book or two and feel free to hang out and talk about your favorite butterflies-in-the-stomach moments.

????????

Edited November 20, 2020 by Queasy_Attention

[Elle28]

First off, I'm glad I'm not the only aro who actually really enjoys reading, writing and watching romance in a fictional sense! It's definitely confuddling. I really enjoy YA Fantasy romance books, as cheesy as they can be sometimes. Some of my all time favorite series' that have a large romance plotline are Sarah J Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses (has since been moved into the NA category at the release of the upcoming book...) and Throne of Glass.  I'm currently reading her newest book Crescent City and it's great so far, a tear jerker for sure! One of my other favorites that comes to mind is Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer's Between the Lines and its' sequel Off the Page. Really great somewhat fantast plotline but quite a bit of non-descriptive romance. ALSO I just finished Mary E Pearson's series The Remnant Chronicles and the three books in the trilogy are some of the best YA I've read (gotta love lots of love triangle action!).

I do not find that my interest in romantic media has changed since realizing I'm aromantic. Actually, I think I find myself searching for it more because I just really enjoy the idea of it.  Lots of reading/show watching has been done over quarantine since there really isn't anything else to do lol.

 

[Queasy_Attention]

40 minutes ago, Elle28 said:

I do not find that my interest in romantic media has changed since realizing I'm aromantic. Actually, I think I find myself searching for it more because I just really enjoy the idea of it

Interesting! I think I'm a bit the opposite. Part of why I liked reading romance before was that I couldn't quite pin down why I liked some romances better than others. When one hit, it was really exciting because it was unexpected. Now, I know what I like and what I don't, so I know how to look for it better but it doesn't surprise me anymore. 

41 minutes ago, Elle28 said:

Lots of reading/show watching has been done over quarantine since there really isn't anything else to do lol.

Holy shit, cheers to that. I burned through so many old YA books the week before election week-- and during election week, too. Twilight, Percy Jackson, Beastly (which was that good kind of awful, I highly recommend it), Warriors, etc. It's a good escape, though I will say that rereading the first Hunger Games book was a little depressing.