My Ramblings: Terms I Dislike In Books

Terms I Dislike In Books

I think the quarantine may be finally getting to me because a few nights ago I was half asleep and this thought just came to me. So I wanted to comment on it and see what everyone else in the bookish community thinks about it. I'm an avid romance reader and sometimes things that get to me may not get to other people. So I'm very interested in hearing feedback and more opinions on these terms and how they're used in books. Maybe I'm in the minority on this subject, so without farther ado here we go!

"Clean" Romance/Book: When an author/publisher makes a point to market and state in a book's synopsis that it's a "clean" book. My first question off the bat: Since when is doing the deed dirty? Do people not know how babies are made at this point in life? If you're reading romance I certainly hope you've had a health/science class or two. 

Wouldn't it be more prudent to state that there are no explicit scenes in said book then if that's the "problem"? On a whole other note, do people not know that you can skip a few pages when you don't want to read about something? Maybe these people are reading in the wrong age bracket? Then again a lot of YA novels sometimes feature something close to going all the way. (Note: I can also understand when an author doesn't feel comfortable writing explicit scenes but make a note of it that way instead of using the term "clean" romance)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't understand how people can create a problem where there wasn't ever even supposed to be one in the first place. Then again, I don't go into novels looking for or not looking for a couple to go all the way. I just let the story flow. If it goes there great and if it doesn't that's also great. 

The Curvy woman/BBW (Big Beautiful Woman): This is usually also included in the title of the book, as a note in the synopsis or as a woe the heroine has throughout the novel because "no one wants her since she's curvy". Just no. 

Most of the time the term curvy describes a woman who has a bigger than "average" (aka skinny) butt and thighs that touch but still has a flat stomach (I call witchcraft on behalf of the majority of women here!). I don't know about you but that's not the average size of e.g. the american woman (which as of 2020 is size 14). According to the clothing charts I looked up it would be someone who wears XL and can weigh up to 170 lbs. 

Granted there probably are bodies with the proportions described above out there but those are in the minority. If you're going to write about bigger women how about doing it better? Not all bigger women are shy, hate their bodies and conclude that they've never dated because of their bodies. Let's let go of that stigma because it's in too many of the paranormal romance novels I read and it's damaging. Period.

The Alpha Male: This is also included in the title of the book and/or as a note in the synopsis. Can you see a pattern here? *Eye Roll*

Let's get one thing straight first: I have read and still read about alpha males in novels. It's a very popular trope in shifter romances (and paranormal romance in general) and when well written and done well does make for an interesting story.

However, as popular as this trope is I have a love/hate relationship with it. I've realized in the past few years that reading about a guy who actually emotes and knows how to use his words to communicate with his partner is so much more fulfilling than the stoic traditional grunting muscular guy thing "pure alphas" do. I would like to see that incorporated more into the alpha trope or have it as a subcategory of some kind. 

Until I read a book that showed the guy having emotion I didn't realize that that was what a lot of alpha male novels need. It makes for a much more engaging and "realistic" (even in fantasyland) set of characters and stories. 

There's definitely an audience for them and I'm not calling out anyone who likes to read alpha male type books but maybe I want to carve out a bigger chunk of stories of alpha males with emotions category for myself and everyone else that felt that there was something always missing in those stories and could never put a finger on it.

(This turned into a very long and ranty post!

Thanks for reading until the end!)

I'm genuinely interested to know your thoughts on these terms used to describe books/stories in the comments below!