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Book Club 16w
I would argue that this was happening way before fourth wing. One that comes to mind is From Blood and Ash, and I bet there’s something before that. It’s a cycle and trends change
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Book Club 16w
Hot take. Fourth Wing has done irreparable damage to the romance genre. It’s almost impossible to find a well written fantasy with any romance in it now. Like stop describing how hot he is. “Enemies to lovers” this, “slow burn” that. We’ve lost the plot
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Anonymous 16w

It goes back to Twilight and Fifty Shades. And tbh if you wanna be super real abt it, this trend goes back to pulp fiction. There have ALWAYS been easy to read, “trash” books out there. And people will always enjoy them. This has literally NOTHING to do with a brand new series. Fourth Wing if anything is the culmination of the trend, but in no way whatsoever responsible for it.

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Anonymous replying to -> #1 16w

this^^^ like the whole “fourth wing ruined fiction” thing baffles me so much, like I’m forced to conclude that argument is always made by like edgy 14yos who don’t remember the YEARS of romance hate (I’m only in my 20s and I grew up with people picking a new romance/erotica to hate every few years)

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 16w

I assume it’s just people who haven’t read a lot of stuff that came before. Like they’re reading current releases and what’s popular

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Anonymous replying to -> OP 16w

It’s wild to say a brand new series is responsible for the state of romance though. Just very short sighted tbh. No hate, it’s just a very limited perspective on a HUGE and long lasting genre.

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Anonymous replying to -> #1 16w

Oh sorry I wasn’t saying that a current romance is responsible, I’m saying that I think people who only read current romances might think this issue is new because they haven’t read older stuff

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Anonymous replying to -> OP 16w

Nah I agree with you! My comment was directed at the original post, not yours :)

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Anonymous replying to -> OP 16w

it’s 100% people who don’t engage in reading spaces, or in romance spaces, very often, or people who are misogynistic/pretentious and want an excuse to complain about things that are popular and/or that women like

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 16w

(tbc I’m NOT saying that you’re pretentious or misogynistic if you criticize fourth wing or twilight or [insert popular romance here], but you might be if you say x book is ruining literature or whatever)

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 16w

But like the reader world is so diverse and yeah maybe you have to work just slightly harder to find things past the default booktok fyp, but if you need an algorithm to tell you what to read and you’re unable to do any of your own exploration, then maybe fourth wing and acotar and twilight are at your level anyway

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 16w

This is also super true!!! The misogyny, etc. I don’t know that the original poster fits that or not, but no single book is ruining an entire genre. There are still SO many romance authors (especially lgbtq+ ones!) writing books that aren’t solely trying to replicate success off of tropes. People read the most popular and visible 3 books and think it’s the entire genre when the genre spans centuries and is soooo deep in diversity.

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Anonymous replying to -> #1 16w

Exactly! Romance and fantasy are so much older and wider than what the last couple of years has produced

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