Maybe anti-romantic is a little harsh. Not romantically inclined? Like a little bit of darkness in your love story (or a lot) such as it were? With Valentine’s Day right around the corner I thought I’d offer some ideas for books that have just the right amount to appeal to the person who likes a certain kind of love story.
Me (reading the ending): Really? You’ve known each other a couple of days at most. Idiots.
Truth be told I don’t find any of Shakespeare’s plays romantic but this is the one that’s most often cited and it has some nice moments but tends to go right over my head in the romance department. Everyone behaved like children. The end.
The Great Gatsby is one that should have appealed to me more. I mean rich guy throwing his money away and obsessing over the one that got away is usually right up my alley.
But good God! Daisy has got to be one of the most obnoxious characters I’ve ever read and that’s even before the dreadful ending. Its about the death of the dream and all that as much as romance but yeah, life with her would have been a nightmare buddy.
There’s a lot of other things going on in this trilogy (An I Darken & Bright We Burn) that could get you through the love triangle.
But if you want to read about how love makes you stupid look no further. I mean the second and third book the stupidity trades off between which one of the two main characters is more in love with Mehmed at this point.
Mehmed isn’t even that interesting! He’s like reading about paint drying!
This is literally a book called Heartless that’s an origin story for the Queen of Hearts. I loved it. I don’t think I need to say anything more about where the romance heads 🙂
Again this is a perfect romance for me. The elements are there but the book is so out there, funny and cute at the same time that the romance is like oh, yeah. That happened. I mean she marries a guy that changes into a horse at night.
Literally the best of both worlds- around during the day to work and converse but at night he’s out in the fields and you can be alone and read. The only thing would be if its necessary to off a spider but I suppose those things can wait until he’s not a horse.
Jane Eyre is another classic I have never understood the romantic appeal of…
Except the movies when they hire a hot guy to play Mr. Rochester. Then it’s like okay, sure we’ll just forget about that little secret that was hanging out in the attic. Wink. Wink. Don’t get be wrong I love the book I just never saw the relationship as romantic. Though I feel a reread coming on!
The Gentleman’s Guide falls into the My Lady Jane category. It’s got a relationship that I love but it’s not really a romantic book or romance heavy. Its so much fun and friendship and adventure. But yet I adored the relationship between Monty and Percy so maybe that’s the key to romance…
Maybe I need to be tricked?
Wuthering Heights is actually this non-romantics idea of the perfect romance. Madness. Moors. Insanity. Violence. Ghosts. Screwing with the next generation. Revenge. Needless to say I ate this story up.
When Heathcliff is telling Catherine to haunt him I was like that is my idea of the perfect man… which maybe says something about me but that’s a story for another day!
So I like my romances a lot dark and a little off. If you have any good suggestions for the perfect anti-romance romance I’m always open to giving them a try 🙂