I've stated before that I have nothing against romance in YA. I find it a nice touch if done well. I usually don't go to a book advertised as contemporary romance of course because fantasy and sci-fi are more my cup of tea.
Here's my take on it. If you say your book is fantasy, fantasy should be the main feature. Not that hot boy who's not human. The hot boy who isn't human should be a side plot. Same with dystopian.
Going back to the Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins did a wonderful job of blending romance with life threatening situations. Because let's face it: When you're thrown into an arena to fight to the death, hot baker boys are REALLY low on your priorities list. As they should be. A revolution to change the world as we know it takes top billing to romance. Because if my life was on the line or everyone was looking to me to lead them, I would not be thinking about boys.
To me, romance in books like these (Books with some sort of higher calling or goal. Life threatening stuff and all that jazz) are like spices. Put on just the right amount and it will taste great but overload them and the spices blot out the taste of the food. They could even make you reach for a gallon of water.
In my own novel (Which is urban fantasy) I do have romance. It just doesn't amount to much until late in the series. No one kisses until book four (the last book). When my main character meets the boy who will eventually be her love interest, she does acknowledge the fact that he is attractive but cocky but she doesn't linger on it too long because HELLO! She's in the middle of an escape attempt and good looking guys are low on the priorities list. A few more references are made but it's more of a typical teenage crush. There's not much time for romance to build.
Same thing in book 2. There are hints of that relationship and I start also building another possible relationship between two other characters. Book 3 the relationships grow more and by book 4, yes some of the romantic tension is finally unleashed. But the romantic plot is smaller. That's the way I like it.
It's all opinion of course. Tell me how you prefer your romance in books! I'm curious.
-Authoress Anonymous
I like romance in books, but not too much. If it is woven into the plot, that's one thing, but sometimes I feel like it isn't. And if they have it, I want it done WELL. I want to fall for the love interest (assuming he's a guy haha) and I want to fall hard. If it isn't good enough to draw my attention away from the real plot, it has a negative impact on the book.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those who just never cares for romance at all, but speaking objectively, I think your strategy with your own books is a good one, though for maybe a different reason.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much you participate in fan communities online, but I've noticed that one of the BIGGEST topics that folks seem to love arguing and speculating and writing fan-fiction about is character pairings - will Hermione end up with Harry or Ron, will Katara choose Aang or Zuko, etc. By not establishing your "OTPs" (One True Pairings) from the get-go, but weaving in hints and possibilities instead, you give your future fans some great material to analyze and speculate about, rather than just shoving your conclusion right down their throats. (I blogged about this just yesterday - the art of leaving the reader something to do - but your thinking about romance in particular gets it from a whole different angle.)
Short story: rock on!