Question Websites for LNs without an L (and more)

I think that there's a bit of disconnect between what's going on in TV and books. TV shows tend to add emphasis on catfighting because it's popular among viewers and hence good for ratings. The Romance novels I've come across tend to be wish fulfillment fantasies with perfect matrimonial partners. The latter tend to not be focused around harems. What's interesting is that books that get adapted into TV shows tend to up the ante on catfighting.

There are other, more realistic Romance stories out there, and I find that these tend to be much better.

It sort of depends on which books you're talking about. While Japanese webnovels are dominated by otaku-oriented works written and read by young people, Chinese webnovels have a much more diverse readership. The latter is not very well represented on NU, and there are entire genres that are absent here. I think that it's a real shame as I spend a lot more time reading books that aren't translated than books that are. But unless you read Chinese, this won't mean a whole lot.

 

Wow, you are so very much out of luck. With very few exceptions, the Asian webnovel genre is extraordinarily misogynistic by western standards. Historically, women were basically property of some male (father, husband or son) throughout their lives, and that kind of attitude absolutely fills chinese webnovels to the brim. Fun Fact: A study revealed that one in four chinese men under the age of 40 publicly brag about raping one or more women, with 'sexual entitlement' being the most common excuse. (US / Europe rate is 1 in 20, and they aren't bragging about it) And you wonder why chinese webnovel authors write them that way? It sells to their target demographic. As a mater of fact, many chinese webnovels are referred to as YY (Yi Yin) novels - slang meaning 'mental masturbation novels' and are written for exactly that kind of powertrip. Korean- and Japanese-based webnovels are less commonly translated, for several reasons, but are overwhelmingly less nails-on-blackboard to western ethical codes.

On NU, I can only advise you to look for novels that (1) lack the rape or harem tags, and (2) have 'protagonist loyal to love interest' tags. Those will be almost all male MC's though. Chinese female MC 'romance' stories are even more painful to read, what with the female MC rationalizing her rape, hopelessness, sexual and psychological abuse as being devoted, loyal, and loving - aka stockholm syndrome in spades. NU could probably use that as a tag. . . I can't actually recall reading a single korean female MC novel, but there are loads of japanese ones that may be enjoyable - especially if you can stand m2f genderbending or species transformations. (This IS the country that sells egg vibrators from vending machines in middle schools. )

The following is a list (in no particular order) of novels that have a solid female lead. Many lack romance, many have much violence, or some other problem, many are of other genres than chinese fantasy, virtually none of them are complete, and a large percentage are OEN's: Original English Language - books written by english speakers, but written in the style of asian fiction. (painting with a broad brush: chinese lust for power and influence, koreans lust for money and property, japanese lust for weirdness and sex) Most OEN's here are from Royal Road.

This should probably keep your reading list occupied for many, many days.

Stunning Edge
It's Not Easy to Be a Man After Traveling to the Future
Divine Doctor Daughter of the First Wife
Skyclad - OEN
The New Journey of an Old Soul - OEN
Quod Olim Erat - OEN
Metaworld Chronicles - OEN
Flow - OEN
Azarinth Healer - OEN
Phoenix Destiny
Manowa
Fluvia - OEN
Wizard with the Flower Blades - OEN
Who Says This OL Cant Become A Splendid Slime - OEN
The Whisper of the Nightengale - OEN
Spiritsmith - OEN
Crashed Into Fantasy - OEN
ReLovely - OEN
Nigotta Hitomi no Lilianne
I Quit Being A Noble and Became a Commoner
But God Forced Me to Reincarnate - OEN
Assassin Farmer
Decent Of The Phoenix
Ascendance of a Bookworm
The Good for Nothing Seventh Young Lady
Make My Abilities Average
Genius Doctor Black Belly Miss
Another World, Another Gender
Adorable Treasured Fox - Overturning the Heavens
Reign of the Hunters
Risou No Himo Seikatsu
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
Unruly Phoenix Xiaoyao

 

Wuxia World, Volarenovels and Gravity Tales are quite good. (Most of the novels on Volare have female protags)

I'd recommend The Grandmaster Strategist (fiction) and Romance of the Three Kingdoms (a classic Chinese literature). They're both in a historical setting with Three Kingdoms based on actual Chinese history.