He’s Not “Dark and Romantic,” Babe. He’s Evil.
My dad pointed to our Amazon “recommended books for you” and I saw many familiar faces. Gorgeous shirtless men who starred in the covers of all my favorite dark romance novels I had secretly downloaded on my Kindle, hoping no one would ever know that I fantasized about a hunky man letting go of his hate for me to love.
“Which one do you recommend?” He asked. I never read another one of those romance books again, at least not on my Kindle Family Plan.
Luckily, nowadays these books look a little more “classy.”
Authors and their publishing companies have gotten the hint. Romance is the largest and most profitable genre of books. On a trip to Barnes & Noble, I noticed that some steamy books I had read in my young adult romance phase had the covers changed to look more PG-13.
But maybe “classy” isn’t always honest.
Immediately, I think of books like “Twisted Love,” by Ana Huang, which is recommended for 18+ audiences and, on her website, features a warning label for a “possessive antihero, explicit sexual content, and profanity.” But not every reader will research the book beforehand for trigger warnings to see if the book is not suitable for them. They will see its baby blue cover that looks more like a wholesome romance and less like a dark romance.
more like a wholesome romance and less like a dark romance.
More recently, there’s the “It Ends With Us” movie drama, which follows the controversial history of the novel with the same title by Colleen Hoover. At the core of the on set drama is how producer Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni, both of whom starred in the film, disputed on a number of things, including creative differences and an instance of Lively accusing Baldoni of fat shaming.
A clear disagreement viewers have seen center around Lively and Baldoni’s differing promotions on the themes of the movie. The best example is seen through the movie posters. The official movie poster looks like the average modern romcom poster with Lively in the center surrounded by flowers. Yet, Baldoni posted another on his Instagram where the theme of ending the cycle of abuse—which, spoiler, is the meaning of the title—was highlighted with the caption, “we break the pattern or the pattern breaks us.”
Books really want us to judge them by their cover.
When I see a book like “Twisted Love” or “It Ends With Us” that both deal with darker themes, as a reader, I’m not expecting these colorful books to have themes of abuse. Or, if I found them in the young adult section at Barnes & Noble. While the section of young adult books is “marketed” towards 18-25 year olds, it does not stop underage readers from getting their hands on a copy.
My concern is that these books which have aesthetically pleasing colors on their covers trick readers into books that glamorize abusive behavior.
The overtly cheesy lines of some main character’s love interest are lines the average girl would be cringed out by. A lot of these books have unrealistic plots that are for fantasy and escapism. And in no way am I saying someone isn’t allowed to read these books.
With a book that is a “dark romance,” you know when opening the book there will be dark themes unattractive to a more wholesome reader and features a list of trigger warnings for reader’s discretion. However, with the books mentioned previously, there are subtle things included in them that could be normalized in a toxic relationship. And it seems like they don’t want us to know it, with their pretty designs and poetic narratives failing to inform readers what their romance book entails.
An adrenaline rush, for example, may come multiple times while reading a steamy book. These rushes in real life aren’t exactly what love looks like. For example, when a character in a book says explicitly “no” to something, and the bad-boy love interest does it regardless because he knows “that’s what she really wants anyway,” is actually an awful thing to do in real life. But it’s common enough in a book and almost subtle enough to be seen as a “grand gesture” instead of a warning sign to a toxic partner. Like when the love interest says one thing but does another, knowing they shouldn’t be with the main character, but is so enthralled by them that they disregard morals and promises and goes into a relationship with her anyways.
Those aren’t exactly the greatest things to look for in a partner, either, and yet authors continue to put it in their books to stir drama. Both of these examples will probably not have a trigger warning on the front of the aesthetically pleasing cover. It begs the question to readers and authors alike: “What does romance look like, then?” We can easily point out toxic behaviors, but it’s become so muddy that the books that are just as steamy and feature a non-toxic cast of characters are suddenly difficult to differentiate.
And when we can’t tell them apart by the cover, how can we tell them apart by reading them?
For cover artists and publishers of books, I know it may not intentionally target a desired—young— audience, but when the book's themes are darker, maybe go for darker colors, scarier fonts, more shirtless men. And for readers, I recommend looking at reviews before the book, and also make sure when you buy a book from Amazon it’s not attached to your family plan.
Strike Out,
Written By: Riley Flynn
Edited By: Olivia Wagner, Nina Rueda, and Hollis Humphrey.
Riley Flynn is a sraff writer for Strike Magazine Orlando. She's a fashion lover and is usually at a thrift store trying to find a dupe for the latest fashion trends. When she's not writing an article or sifting through clothes, you'll find her painting, writing poetry, or working on her next screenplay. You can reach her on gmail as rileysflynn04@gmail.com or via Instagram at @rileysage04
