Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish Had Less Romance

A weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

If you have been a blog follower you know that I am pretty romancephobic. I don't often like the romance in the books I read. I often want less romance and more plot. Or less romance and more character development. Usually I just want less romance. So of course I had to use this topic to mention some of the books I wish had less romance. And please don't hate me for any of these. I am such a black sheep when it comes to shipping so if you love this romance I don't blame you. I just didn't and wanted less of it.

1.) Fear the Drowning Deep by Sarah Glenn Marsh - My Review
You may notice a trend as this list goes on but I'll start right here by saying, I didn't love this book. I liked a lot of different elements but so much of the plot was based on the romance and the romance did not work for me which was problematic.

2.) Salt and Storm by Kendal Kulper - My Review
I went into this book expecting it to be a historical fantasy with a lot of magic and a lot of mystery. I got a historical romance with insta-love. I actually DNF'd this the first time because I was so disappointed. I ended up going back to it but my thoughts didn't change much.

3.) Glitter by Aprilynne Pike - My Review
Oh, this romance. This romance was so infuriating for me. All of my comments about this book while reading was how much I disliked the romance. It was cliche, insta-love, and made me roll my eyes so furiously I'm surprised they didn't stay that way.

4.) The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi - My Review
I did like this book, but like a lot of these I thought there was so much of a focus on the romance. The Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone style romances are not my favorites. It's just so hard to do well in my opinion and I didn't connect with this one.

5.) A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess - My Review
I wasn't blown away by this book but it did have some good elements. It also had some elements that totally didn't work for me. And the reason I am including this is that people have ships for this series and I am like "really? There's a ship? I remember monsters but no ship."

6.) How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather - My Review
This romance. This is another one that makes me roll my eyes so much. I honestly disliked it so much that I blocked it out. Then talking to someone else who had read it I was like "oh yeah, that romance was awful and confusing."

7.) Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman - My Review
This is another book that was not what I was expecting. I went into it thinking that it was historical fiction about real life pirates and it ended up being a historical romance about two people who eventually became pirates. I wanted less romance and more pirates.

8.) The Sin-Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury - My Review
I love this book and this series. But the problem with this romance is that it was a love triangle and I absolutely did not like or trust the character that the MC so obviously prefered. And you know what, I was right and he was and is awful.

9.) An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir - My Review
The problem with this romance is that there were two love triangles. It was like a ridiculous love square. Each MC had two potential romantic partners and they were all kind of terrible options. Plus then one of them went in a super awful direction.

10.) Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios - My Review
The problem here was also in the love triangle but one of them was kind of abusive, okay really abusive, and the other one felt like insta-lovey. And this is a book that had some more mature themes and I just didn't feel the heat.

Honorable Mention...
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - My Review
I reviewed this yesterday and the more I think about it, the less I like the romance. It was so sudden and the main character just fell too hard too quickly and her actions were kind of icky.

There you have it. The books I wish had less romance. What books do you want to have less romance? What list did you do today? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Top Ten Tuesday: Popular Ships I Do Not Ship

A weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Wow, this should have been an easy prompt for me. I like unlikeable characters. But as I started making a list it was hard to think about which characters are popular because I have such a skewed view of this. But then I got a better idea. I'm nervous about telling you the ships I don't ship though. I have a feeling you are all going to hate me when you see some of these. But remember I have a cold romancephobic heart. Please don't hate me. And also all of these are canon. I though there are some non-canon ships that I don't get but these are just the canon ones.

1.) Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I know I have talked about this one before but, don't get it. I will never get it. Mr. Rochester is not a romantic hero. He locked his wife in the attic and then hit on his employee. Not okay or romantic. Creepy and rude!

2.) Christine Daae and the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Speaking of creepy and rude. Now I do think that the Phantom is a tragic hero and when I read this as a 20 year old I thought he was so sweet for letting her be happy without him. But now I'm in my 30's and think he is basically a stalker and kidnapper.

3.) Paige and Warden in The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
(My Review)
I like Warden, I do. I like that he is a revolutionary who is going against his people because of their unfair treatment of humans but I don't think him and Paige should be a couple. Friends, allies, partners sure. But no kissing.

4.) Aileana & Kiaran in The Falconer by Elizabeth May
(My Review)
See above. When I read The Falconer for most of the book I shipped the other side of this triangle but then even that fizzled. I like Kiaran but I just do not feel any shipping feels when I think about him and Aileana.

5.) Agnieska and the Dragon in Uprooted by Naomi Novik
(My Review)
See above (and well #1 too). Don't get me wrong, I liked the banter here but this was a slowburn and an enemies to more that I didn't love. The real relationship in this book is the female friendship between Nieska and Kasia. I could do without the romance between the Dragon.

6.) Fayre and Tamlin in A Court and Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
(My Review)
Okay, so long story short I don't like Beauty and the Beast style romances. This list makes that abundantly clear. But I know most people liked the sexy times here and I was like "hey what about Rhysand and also the mystery."

7.) Celaena and Rowan in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
(My Review)
While we're on the subject of SJM. I was a hardcore Chaoleana through most of this series. Like I loved Dorian but not with Celeana. Then the fandom switched but now I'm can't do it guys. I'm not Team Chaol anymore though. Now I'm just Team Celaena. I'm warming up to Rowan but I'm not there yet.

8.) Elias and Laia in An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
(My Review)
People ship this right? We're supposed to ship this, right? I do not ship this though. It felt kind of insta-lovey for me and I couldn't get behind it. I shipped Elias and Helena for awhile but now I'm just luke warm about the romance in this book.

9.) Anna and Etienne St. Clair in Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
(My Review)
Speaking of lukewarm. I know everyone is all about this series and this ship. I'm not. I was definitely a black sheep on this one. I liked it but it didn't blow me away and my disconnect with the romance may have been one of the reasons.

10.) Tiger Lily and Peter Pan in Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
(My Review)
This is another book that I liked but wasn't blown away by because of the romance maybe. The general plot of this book is the romance between Peter and Tiger Lily who is seriously pinning for him. And I didn't love that.

There you have it. The romances I do not ship? Do you not ship any of these? Are they your OTPs? Do you hate me now? What romances don't you ship? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

My Blogger Reputation and Giveaway

I'm so excited to be a part of this awesome event as part of the upcoming release of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton, one of my most anticipated debuts of 2016. I just bought a copy of the UK paperback from The Book Depository and I cannot wait to read it. It sounds like an absolutely amazing combination of fantasy, mythology, and Westerns in a Middle Eastern desert setting. Sign me up.

About the Book:

Title: Rebel of the Sands Series: Rebel of the Sands #1 Written by: Alwyn Hamilton Published: March 8, 2016 by Penguin (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.   Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.  Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is. Get a copy: (Penguin / Amazon / Book Depository)

In a world where metal and magic clash with deadly consequences, Amani finds herself becoming a myth in the making, legendary for her sharp-shooting skills, more gunpowder than girl. So, inspired by Amani’s legendary skills and growing reputation, Penguin had asked bloggers to come up with our own blogger reputation post, highlighting skills, behaviors, designs, or habits that you would be famous for in the blogosphere. So what am I know for?

As a blogger... THEMED MONTHS!

Me without themes. Or sometimes with, you know.

I think most bloggers and followers of My Thoughts Literally know that my thing is picking a different theme every month and reading a bunch of different books that fit that theme. Currently my theme is pirates (although I'm basically done with the pirate reads I had planned). Past themes have been genres like Science Fiction, High Fantasy, and Mystery or concepts like Time/Dimensional Travel, Geek Books, Adventure/Survival, Anti-Love, and Supernatural Christmas.

I love taking the time to explore in depth a particular genre and concept but it's great too because then I don't spend too much time focusing on a particular type of book. Next month will be something totally different so it keeps things fresh at the same time. And the themes definitely keep me focused. When I don't have a theme I tend to just stare at my bookshelf unclear of what comes next. I need structure or I face crippling indecision.

And I know a lot of fellow bloggers and members of the bookish community have told me that they love the theme idea. A lot of people are mood readers so they don't necessarily want to do it themselves but they think it's a cool and creative concept for the blog. Right? You guys think that right?

As a reader... SOLVING TWISTS AND MYSTERIES! 

You have probably heard me bragging about how good I am at solving mysteries. I like to tout this
reputation for sure because I am a little conceited and often super proud of myself for figuring things out in mysteries or fantasies. Especially if it's an author whose books I often don't solve stuff in like Brandon Sanderson. But I also like figuring twists out and mysteries because I hate surprises. I'm just as excited, if not more, about getting something right as I am about having my mind blown.

But here's the truth as to why I say that I'm so good at this... I love theory-crafting. Often when I'm reading a book where there is a huge mystery element, my brain is working a mile a minute and I spend a lot of the book suspecting and accusing people of things they may have done or will do. I tend to narrow these theories down as clues start coming in but I operate under a guilty until proven innocent mantra while reading so that helps.

I think a lot of bloggers know me for my ability to solve mysteries. Mostly because I shamelessly brag about it but that's how reputations work right? I don't know. But if you want verification, ask Michelle at Pink Polka Dots Books who I was DMing about Dangerous Girls and whose faith I'm trying to restore for not figuring out her OTSP Secret Sister last round.

BEING ROMANCEPHOBIC!

You may have seen my discussion post where I talk about why I find romance superfluous and wish books didn't feel like they have to have it. Or you've heard me complain about how I didn't like the romance in a book and that I don't read contemporary romances because love is a secondary plot to me to the main thread of a book.

And yeah, it is kind of frustrating to not be the shipping type and not enjoy books that were otherwise great because I didn't like the romance but I'm used to it. It happens so often. But honestly I like being this way because when I do find a ship that I like and a romance that I enjoy then it's even better. It's such a rare thing that the ships I do ship I fall hard. It's quality of quantity for me. Plus doesn't it help you all out too. I'm not going to steal your book boyfriends or book girlfriends. That's not my thing, more for you.

I know I've talked to a few bloggers about this who fall into the same romancephobic camp. It's nice to find those fellow readers who could do without that kiss at the end of the world. And hey, if you didn't like the ship and you want to complain about how stupid it is, you know where to find me.

Those are my reputations. What are yours? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. And to celebrate the pending release of Rebel of the Sands, Penguin has an amazing giveaway. Don't forget to enter down below and check out this book when it comes out in two weeks!

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday: Tortured Love Stories/Ships

A weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Today's prompt is a Valentine's Day freebie. You may know that I am romancephobic, a term I created to point out that I think romance is not essential to enjoying a story for me and can often be superfluous. But I'm not totally against romance. In fact I love a good tortured love story. I like when there are obstacles for the couple getting together. The universe won't let them, society won't let them, they won't let them. The on again off again romances and the ones that don't have happy endings. That's what I like. So here are ten of my favorite tortured love stories and ships.

1.) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - Add to Goodreads
The tortured love story to end all tortured love stories and one of my all-time favorite books. Heathcliff and Cathy are honestly terrible people who love each other so much that they will do anything to make sure that the other person is completely miserable. They're life ruiners, they ruin people's lives.

2.) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - Add to Goodreads
While most people are all, aren't Cosette and Marius adorable, I'm over here feeling heartbroken for Eponine who helps the man she loves connect with someone else. It's a heartbreaking story of unrequited love and I feel her pain.

3.) The Song for Achilles by Madeline Miller - My Review
If you know what happens in The Iliad to Achilles and Patroclus then you know that this book does not have a happy ending. But before we get our hearts ripped out we get to see a relationship that lot of people are trying to stand in the way of. That's what makes the ending hurt so bad.

4.) The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steifvater - My Review
Sure we still don't know if we get a happy ending here but I'm skeptical. I mean Blue Sargent is told that she will kill the person she loves by kissing them. She has kept love and relationships at arms length for her whole life. Until now? Also, don't get me started on Pynch.

5.) The Luxe trilogy by Anna Godbersen - My Review
There's a lot of tortured love in this series. My favorite is Henry and Diana. Because being in love with your sister's fiance is tough. Especially if he loves you back instead of her and you still can't get with him. There's a lot more that goes down with them throughout the series and it's majorly tortured love.

7.) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - My Review
There's a lot of great tortued ships in this book. Like how you send the guy you love to prison and then break him out only to have him hate you. Or how you are kind of romancephobic yourself but you like a person who won't admit to liking you back until really bad stuff happens to you.

6.) The Winner's trilogy by Marie Rutkowski - My Review
When we first meet Kestrel and Arin he's her servant and she's trying to redefine her role in society. There's an attraction but it's complicated. Then it gets even more complicated. Not sure how this will all end either but it's been pretty tortured alone the way.

8.) His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman - My Review
The ship in this book doesn't happen until super late into the series because reasons. But then when it does happen it's ripped out from under us because reasons. This is a tortured romance that is so freaking bittersweet.

9.) This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner - My Review
Finally, one with a happy ending. I almost didn't include it for that reason. There are a lot of Romeo and Juliet style tortured love in the Starbound series but this one is the best one I think. I mean when we first meet them she's a soldier and he's a rebel who kidnaps her.

10.) Carry On by Rainbow Rowell - My Review
This one also has a happy ending but along the way it's super tortured. I mean these are two people who are sworn nemesis who are secretly in love with each other. They both spend a lot of time pining for the other person but the worst part is that one of them doesn't even realize how they feel. Painful.

Honorable mentions
- The on again off again relationship between Lena and Kostos in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
- The Romeo and Juliet-esque romance in The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
- The tortured, Gothic love stories in Blood and Salt by Kim Ligget
-The painfully slowburn crush with a happy ending in The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie 

What are your favorite tortured romances? Do you like them as much as I do? Or are you more of a Happily Ever After kind of fan? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Five Stages of Bookish Grief: Being Romance Phobic

So I am once again behind in my reading for the week. I wanted to have a review ready but I don't. So I was originally not going to post anything for the second Friday in a row but then I figured I can do a discussion post. And after drafting three different ideas, it hit me. There is something I talk about all the time on the blog and on twitter but I have never really explained it in a way that maybe makes sense.

I talk all the time about how I find romance superfluous, I hate romance, and how I am romancephobic. But I have never really explained what I mean by that or what goes through my head when I read books where there is romance I don't like or if romance is a big role in the plot or character development. So awhile ago I did a post about the Five Stages of Bookish Grief when it comes to solving twists and I thought, what better way to explain my thoughts about romance then by telling you the five stages of grief.

But first there is one distinction I want to make. You can not ship the ship and not be romancephobic but still go through the stages of grief. I'm sure everyone has come across a romantic pairing that the didn't like or a romantic trope they don't like. That is often when you go through these stages of grief. But if you are generally romancephobic, you go through these stages regularly and they are even more heightened. But I'm sure we have all been through this at some point if you didn't like that particular relationship. Right? Anyway, the stages.

1.) Denial

We all know what denial is, but when it comes to romance I think you can infer what I mean when I say that I like to start every single book in this phase. Maybe there won't be any romance. Maybe I'll like the romance. Maybe it won't overshadow the plot development. This will be great, I'm ready. As someone who doesn't usually like romance I am always kind of hoping that there won't be romance at all. And then I start reading, I'm meeting the characters things are going well and then BAM, enter romantic lead. And I'm still kind of in denial. I'm like no, but it's still okay I'll become invested in their relationship. It'll be good.

What To Do Next: Just keep reading. If you're "romancephobic" then denial is a really great place to be. Pretending that this isn't a big deal will help prevent you from moving on to different stages of grief where you don't want to live.

2.) Anger

When you reach the anger phase it's because you can no longer talk yourself into thinking the romance won't be happening or won't be a big part of the book. At this point you are actively rooting against the characters getting together. You kind of wish there were a love triangle because then you could throw your shipping feels into a different basket. Or you are thinking that the main character is an idiot because they picked this clearly terrible person to be in love with. And didn't they just meet them? Do you even know the meaning of the word love? Take a cold shower because the world is about to end and you are more concerned about making out! Geez, I'm getting fired up just writing this.

What to Do Next: Take a cold shower yourself. So maybe your ship didn't sail or maybe the character is more concerned about romance but you getting all worked up about it is not going to solve anything. Here is where I like to think about the things I do like within the book. Really anything to not think about how much I hate the romance. And then I like to compartmentalize and move right back to denial.

3.) Betrayal

In the betrayal phase you're now longer angry at the characters you're annoyed at the writer. I know it's not fair to them but that's what you're thinking. There's a lot of comparisons that happen here. You're starting to think all about tropes and how ridiculous it is that there is another love triangle or another example of instalove or another good girl loving a bad boy. How cliche! Eye roll. You're annoyed that author for not being more creative. Don't they know you hate instalove? Why didn't they give you a slowburn you could get behind? Why did they even need to have romance? You wouldn't have missed it if there was no romance.


What to Do Next: Stop whining and keep reading. Just because it didn't work out the way you were thinking doesn't mean that you should feel so betrayed. Tropes exist and are popular for a reason. It didn't work for you but it's not over sometimes these things work themselves out. Trust the writer to make a good story. Otherwise you're going to have to compartmentalize and return to denial.

4.) Depression

It didn't work itself out, it only got worse. And now you're not angry or annoyed, you're sad.  At the depression phase you have officially realized that you don't ship it, you're not going to ship it, and the romance is going to be a thorn in your side for the rest of your reading and you're super bummed about it. A lot of times when I reach the depression phase it is because I realize that the romance I'm not enjoying is having a larger impact on my like or dislike of the book.  This is when I find myself whining and shouting "WHYYYYY!!!!" at the book or into the heavens. Or I'll want to skip whole sections because I want the action not the romance. You'll find yourself groaning when the characters are making goo-goo eyes at each other and when they're kissing or doing more than kissing are described you make a lot of frowny faces and disapproving noises.

What to Do Next: Suck it up and keep reading. I know that right now it feels like the biggest travesty that you don't like the fact that there is romance or who the character chose but again, there is nothing you can do about it. Just like when you were in anger you are going to need to focus on the things you did like about the book. Or focus on other ships. I sometimes ignore the main ship for secondary characters whose relationships I do support. Or maybe try to compartmentalize and return to denial.

5.) Acceptance

Okay so maybe in the end you really did like or not hate the romance. That is really the best case scenario here. If you go through all the stages and you're like "well I kind do like them" or even if you get through it and think that you aren't actively rooteing against them I call that a win. But mostly it like... Yeah, you didn't like that romance. You didn't ship, you'll never ship it, and that's okay. You can't win them all. At this point maybe you've just succeeded in compartmentalizing and you don't even notice that the MC ended up with the character you didn't like. Or maybe you've just realized you didn't like the romance but there are other really great things about the book so there is no use getting all upset over it. Or maybe you're still in denial and will live there forever because ignorance is bliss.

What to Do Next: Compartmentalize and live in denial. Honestly that's usually how I reach acceptance if I didn't like the romance. It's going to happen, it happened, I'm not going to like it but if I pay any attention to it at all I will let it ruin a perfectly great book for me. Whatever, I'm romancephobic and I'm okay with that.

So This is Bad, Right?

I mean, I have in fact accepted that this is just how I am. But one of the things I will say about being romancephobic is that when I do find a ship that I like, boy will I fall hard for it. It's not very common for me to be so on-board with a romance that I want to talk about it, give it a ship name, or find fan art  but when that does happen I am ecstatic. Like it's almost annoying to people probably because I won't shut up about how much I ship it. For me it's about quality over quantity and I'm okay with that.

How about you? Are you romancephobic? Or are you romancephilic? How do you deal with it when you don't ship something in a book? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!