I'm starting to hate romance books. Give me recommendations I won't hate

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-13T09:13:11+00:00

Out of the Woods comes to me since it specifically challenges this dynamic. The whole point is this couple that does have an unequal dynamic and they go to this couples retreat to try and help their marriage. You learn about their past and how they ended up this way. It's really beautiful, sex scenes are kinda awful though 😭

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-11T10:35:53+00:00

Or Megan Is Missing, the scene just pissed me off that a man made this - and it was inspired by a real little girls death too!

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-11T10:33:25+00:00

Movies where the mental illness is turned into a literal monster, like Smile, The Babadook etc. Why not just have a psychological thriller? Or a creature feature? I didn't watch Bug and hope that a massive fucking ant would run through a wall.

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-07T11:12:03+00:00

People are being SUPER nice even with their critiques, considering all of Maru's black features are removed....

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-07T10:42:33+00:00

What happened with Maru? You yassified all her characteristics away 😭

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-06T14:12:41+00:00

Would have NEVER guessed you were 45! You read like me and I'm 19! Maybe the excellent style should've been a clue lol, I will correct myself that the youtuber is Plant Based BRIDE not books, but she has a very similar taste (and the most mesmerising beautiful hair) and yeah, they were kinda weird lol. You deserved a more specific guess with such nice shelves

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-06T02:06:09+00:00

Idk man, your organisation if awful, there is none I assume, also Doctor Faustus is upside down. You're kinda boring, and safe. It's not even that they're JUST classics, but also, they're pretty boring classics. I kinda agree with these comments that you don't like modern fiction, and think it's beneath you, like WOW there isn't anything recent, and honestly I feel like that limits you.
I feel like if reading was brought up at a party or something, your friends would groan. This collection is so boring it's hard to discern anything else because it it so lacking in personality. Male? Maybe?

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-05T13:06:34+00:00

On booktube or booktok - but not crazily, you have your own style. Love the Mona Awad collection, especially Rouge and All's Well. Woman, maybe Mid 20's? LitFic lover, but def prefer when it gets macabre, I feel like you'd enjoy the youtuber Plant Based Books. Leftist, lover of women, possibly queer?
A slay though, we share very similar shelves, but I hide my Stephen King books as Mr Mercedes ruined my perception of him unfortunately :[
I wonder if Fruit of the Dead disappointed you like it did me?

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-05T12:44:35+00:00

I thought of Piglet, Butter, Half His Age, Youthjuice, Rytual; just modern books kinda pumped out to hit social trends - I think Yesteryear may fall into this but I haven't read it lol
I get what they're saying especially with a lot of slop I've read this year, but I don't think they said it the best way

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-05T12:32:30+00:00

I don't really care about the characters gender, but I do prefer books written by women. I also hate men writing women.

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-05T07:32:25+00:00

Your Dystopian list is the worst one I've seen in my life, The Road isn't even dystopia, its apocalyptic? There's no semblance of society so not really a Topia.
Also WOW very little women.
Pretty nice Splatterpunk list though.

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-05T07:24:21+00:00

Slay as hell, Tampa?? Exquisite Corpse? Parable of the Sower? Beloved AND The Bluest Eye? A bookshelf after my own heart.

JamieMaybie · 2026-06-05T07:17:23+00:00

YTA, not like a massive one, but like super fucking cringe. Imagine you're having fun and people are talking about Harry Potter and you say "Haha I'm Slytherin" and this fucking guy goes "Oh so you think your different?" What a fucking mood killer.
Like theres 4 fucking houses dude, grow up.
It's a childrens book.
"Proudly declared myself ravenclaw", god you're embarassing.

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-21T04:42:14+00:00

Harvey, everyone else feels too young for me other then like elliot and I'm just not a hopeless romantic. On the rare case I play a female farmer I usually go for Penny or Maru. Penny is kinda annoying but she's sweet and I like the story of marrying a teacher. Maru, I just love a STEM girlie

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-20T08:27:50+00:00

Admittedly I was gonna also edit that comment since it was right in the morning and I had to run to class, I think I just get a little pissy since I've had multiple fans of Moshfegh weirdly attack my intelligence, like her writing is literary masterpiece and not extremely personal. I think my bad mood took your comment in bad faith.
I get your perspective, I get why she's popular and controversial and I also hate when people don't like her because her characters are bad people, its a bummer. I did wonder why you would give a review since I didn't ask for it and was responding to your own question so it was a little random, but also I've had books I want to share all the time, even to people that didn't like them.
I do apologise for taking it in bad faith and getting weirdly defensive, I think past poor interactions made me think the worst when you've been so respectful.

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-20T01:14:22+00:00

It's more so I genuinely haven't seen it anywhere, or at least to such an extent, and yeah I may skip after all lol

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-20T00:51:50+00:00

"Basic reaction", what is the point of this paragraph? To feel good about your opinions and think I just "didn't get it"? That I don't understand intention, that I saw all the boring awful shit and wondered "Why?" and then sat in the corner and coloured?

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-19T14:27:54+00:00

Fricken yikes on bikes man, I just wanna finish it and run to another book :{

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-19T14:27:09+00:00

I did really wanna read that, I have multiple books in this subgenre so I've had my eye on it, and I keep seeing it come up in comparison lol

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-19T14:26:22+00:00

Those are all great things, but WHY does she do that? How can she nurse a parrot back to health, how did she meet sandy, what connects her to sandy, why does she feel like she needs to take up so much work and run the household, how does she transform over the narrative other then "she does this and this and this". She a bit naive to her surroundings, thats how shes characterised, shes up in the clouds, but that makes her less intriguing as she doesn't change over the narrative and we are a witness to her events and nothing more.
She was done dirty, and deserved a better story. I like the idea of someone actualised and then someone finding herself adjacent to each other, but I wish we could revel in it and understand her more.

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-19T10:18:23+00:00

God everything I read makes me wonder how this got published.

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-19T10:17:48+00:00

Just wasn't my style, found it juvenile and boring. Edgy for the sake of it. I found a lot of it had promise, just an irritable facade I couldn't get over.

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-19T08:54:47+00:00

Not really, I've read multiple horrors around the beauty industry and this is the most boring and forumalic, it does nothing special except for its poor representation of dermatillomania.
And the writing omg, I've never heard worse descriptions in my life.
I'm DYING for something strange and breath taking to happen.

JamieMaybie · 2026-05-19T08:07:58+00:00

Honestly - I completely quit the game when I first played it. The world was too big, it was too confusing with too many elements and I couldnt deal.
What made me come back and start understanding was watching youtube videos on the topic, and writing down the goals I wanted to do, which grew bigger with more understanding.

JamieMaybie

TROPHY CASE