Let’s Talk Bookish: romance as a subplot!

We’re heading into December, slowly but surely, and me and my friends have already baked Christmas cookies and the Christmas playlist has been blasting for more than two weeks (featuring Michael Buble and Motown obviously!). The next two months are filled with exams, we had one today, one next Wednesday and Friday and then like that for the next several weeks – so fun. I hope I still find some time in between: especially for topics like these! Romance as a subplot: I’ll list my faves and least favorites and I guess just about everything that comes to my mind (very structured, right?). And not to forget: the discussion is as always hosted by  Dani @Literary Lion and Rukky @Eternity Books!

Romance as a subplot: why I love it

Romance as a subplot is the best possible thing ever: one, because I don’t like romance as the main plot (not super interesting and come on, where’s the action and suspense!) but then there’s the slowburn relationship that is always there, but never the main focus. Kind of like a best friend to the action, fantasy, crime, mystery and YA. Best possible combination is, of course YA fantasy because there is ALWAYS romance as a subplot.

Favorites:

  1. All of the Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare: here we have a bigger focus on romance than in some of my other choices, but the demons and badass Shadowhunters are the main plot. I mean, come on, all of her characters and then the HUGE variety of couples and love interests is TO DIE FOR. She never disappoints: diversity, secret crush, forbidden love – and even once THREE people, although that was too much for me, it kind of seemed like an escape because she couldn’t choose between Christina, Mark and Kieran…
  2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: while the main focus of the plot is definitely the heist and their mission, I loved the three love interests displayed in the book. Honestly, I can’t decide between Kaz and Inej or Anna and Matthias – both awesome “couples” with huge obstacles to overcome. Wow.
  3. Silver by Kerstin Gier: definetely not the main focus, but the cutest addition, especially since Liv and Henry spent most of their time in dreams together, visiting each others worlds, which adds the special touch!
  4. Harry Potter by JK Rowling: I’ll come back to this later, but for now, let’s focus on the BEST possible couple there is and the most epic love story of all time: Ron and Hermione. Tension from the start, constant fuzz and then at the end: boom!
  5. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard: while politics, rebellion and oppression are the main focus, there’s a slow burn romance and love triangle here I love. Mare, Cal and Maven alone are strong individuals, but together they can rule a country or be its downfall.

Disappointments:

  1. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi: while I didn’t like the entire plot, I most definetely didn’t feel the powerful tension between the characters that would eventually lead to a relationship (I haven’t read up to that point).
  2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: okay, okay, don’t @ me here, I know romance is definetely the MAIN GENRE here, but I DON’T never have and never will ship Bella with Jake. No. Why even. I don’t really like Jake, he’s super wanting, disrespects her decision and is also playing a power game with her.
  3. Harry Potter by JK Rowling: Harry and Cho is a mystery I have never understood. I didn’t understand how she got his attention in the first place and why he liked her, before wanting to ask her out they never had an actual conversation.

That’s it: how do you feel about romance as a subplot and what are your faves? Feel free to comment and have a great November (and safe one, all in lockdown again!). Happy reading!

Author: Blogger Books

I'm a huge fan of Draco Malfoy, I love scones and tea time, I don't like horror movies and obviously I'm a huge book nerd.

22 thoughts on “Let’s Talk Bookish: romance as a subplot!”

  1. Ooh, interesting topic! I definitely agree with you in preferring romance as a subplot rather than a main plot – I’m not a huge romance reader at all. As long as it doesn’t overshadow the action and issues tackled I’m happy to let it stay – The Hunger Games is probably my favourite example! X x x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Ooh, I’d have to go with Peeta – but I also love the fact that Katniss really doesn’t need either of them! X x x

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Pingback: Romance as a Subplot – Let’s Talk Bookish – Eternity Books

  3. An interesting post! I never could understand Hermione and Ron’s love relationship. It felt so artificial for me and obviously Rowling wanted to “pair up” friends. On the other hand, Cho and Harry always seemed to me such a “natural” couple. I am sure Harry was instantly attracted to Cho because of her striking good looks and he also developed a great respect for her because, like him, she is a seeker, but in a Ravenclaw team.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Interesting!!! I always loved Hermione and Ron’s bickering from the start and therefore loved how it turned from nagging into a relationship whereas Harry and Cho were super awkward for me! But to be honest, I’m also not the biggest Harry and Ginny supporter because that was also a random connection!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. Ooh, this was interesting! I never really liked Ron and Hermione together, nor Harry and Ginny; its always seemed a bit forced just so that everyone in the story can have a happily ever after. I also have always been team Jacob, even though I dont really like Twilight at all anyways. Jake just seemed so natural for her, and while she was mourning for like 6 months over Edward, Jacob made her so happy. Edward just seems unhealthy for her. Oh, and team Gale too; the romance with Peter was a publicity stunt, whereas her relationship with Gale was a lot more pure. This was a cool post tho 😁😜

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much!!! And I also kind of understand Harry and Ginny: it was super random, not gonna lie and just started during Halfblood Prince out of the blue, but I always thought that the bickering between Ron and Hermione was super cute and funny and so also supported the relationship!
      And Twilight: I have a super complicated relationship with this series, I reread it a couple of months ago after hating it for several years (I devoured it at the age of 12 hahaha) and then basically hated all three of the protagonists: Bella and Edward only ever talked about her wanting to turn into a vampire and then I didn’t really like Jake, but Bella is annoying and shallow as well… so I understand!
      And ohhh, because I always liked Peeta, but I guess I was influenced by the movies haha 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Haha, its interesting having different opinions on books 🙂 Although I do have to admit, Ron and Hermione bickering was fun lol

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I totally get what you mean!! It was sooo awkward!!! And I also love romance, but not as a focus! But what are your fave romance books? Maybe I can add a few to my TBR 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  8. Hi, I dont know if you got a notification that I linked your blog, but I nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger Award
    cblossombooks.wordpress.com
    I hope you do try it, but if you’re busy or have already done it, dont worry about it 😊💙

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. omg I love this post so much!!! the romantic subplots in SoC means the whole world to me, and how the author managed to make THREE memorable romances in one duology is beyond me. What a master ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: