It may be nearly three months past Valentine's Day, but I'm still going to do this tag gosh darn it! Aimee @ AimeeAlways was kind enough to tag me in this all the way back in February, when a post like this makes more sense. These are always fun no matter the time of year, though, so without further ado:
THE RULES
1. Link back to the blog that tagged you!
2. Answer the 10 anti-Valentine's Day questions provided.
3. Come up with your own 10 anti-Valentine's questions for blogs you tag.
4. Tag ten other bloggers to do the tag!
AIMEE'S QUESTIONS
What's one romance book that would actually be better WITHOUT the romance? I don't really read strictly romantic novels, so I'll have to cheat a little on this one. Setting aside the artifice of a fake romance (which made plenty of sense plot-wise), I could have done without any additional romantic intrigues in the Hunger Games trilogy. There was so much amazing story to tell and I felt like the time spent on pushing a love triangle could have been better spent on the big picture.
Name a love triangle where you don't want to "pick a team." Although I personally never read it as a love triangle, the Harry/Hermione/Ron debate drives me crazy! (And, for what it's worth, I don't particularly like the idea of her ending up with either one of them...) I didn't have any strong ships with the Harry Potter series, so to see just how vehement the disagreements over possible couples could get was a little disconcerting.
Name a love triangle where the main character ended up with the love interest you don't like. Mal/Alina/Darkling in the Grisha trilogy! I was sold on those books purely for the Darkling, so the love triangle and its result (along with a lot of other things in the last two novels) really ruined a series that started out with great potential for me.
What book featured awesome friendships? The entire His Dark Materials trilogy, as well as La Belle Sauvage! Those four books feature some of the most moving relationships—platonic, familial, and romantic—in all of literature.
What book featured awesome family dynamics? It's probably inaccurate to use "awesome" as a descriptor, but I loved the contrast between a brother and sister's parallel journeys in Cormac McCarthy's Outer Dark. It's an abusive and deeply dysfunctional relationship, but the way McCarthy shows their differing receptions in the outside world is powerful.
Name a toxic romantic couple from a book. Mia and Colin in The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. I know some readers really hated the direction their relationship developed, but it covered a lot of tropes I enjoy reading about in fiction, so this was a great book for me.
Name a love interest your mother wouldn't approve of. Considering my tastes, literally all of them 😠Most recently, I can think of the frost kings in Spinning Silver and the Winternight trilogy *whispers*my babiesssssss
Is there a book that you DNFed because of the romance? I had issues beyond just the romance, but I absolutely hated the growing romance between Audrey Rose and Thomas in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series. I finished the first book (barely) because it has such a good reputation in the blogging community, but I had to quit for good after only a couple chapters of Hunting Prince Dracula.
Name an action-packed book without romance. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. The biologist does join an expedition into Area X partly to find out what happened to her husband, but that's a very small facet of an expansive story.
Name a book with kick-butt world-building that wasn't overpowered by romance. A Game of Thrones (and the rest of ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin. He's built such a rich and diverse world (that still has some issues receiving plenty of attention and discussion from fans) that's a suitable home for equally well-developed characters. There are certainly romantic relationships in Westeros, but the story expands well beyond them.
MY QUESTIONS
1. If you could banish one romantic trope from fiction forever, what would it be?
2. Name a book you loved that passes the Bechdel test.
3. Name a book that features a male/female friendship that doesn't turn romantic.
4. What's the funniest book you've read?
5. If you had to choose between reading only romance novels or only horror novels for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
6. What's your favorite parent/child relationship in fiction?
7. What upcoming release are you most looking forward to in the second half of 2018?
8. Who was one of your bookish crushes as a child?
9. What was the last book you stayed up all night to finish reading?
10. Name a love triangle that wasn't so bad to read, actually.
I NOMINATE
Evelina @ Avalinahs Books
Danielle @ Books, Vertigo, and Tea
Greg @ Greg's Book Haven
Clo @ Book Dragons 24/7
Tiffany @ Read By Tiffany
Sim @ Flipping Thru the Pages
Erica @ Erica Robyn Reads
Shruti @ This Is Lit
As always, please don't feel obligated to participate if I've tagged you! And if you weren't tagged but are interested in doing this on your own blog, please feel free to use my questions and post your own!
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