Discussion Why do people list "Lacking in romance" as a Con in reviews?

I always find it really odd when stories that have decent world building, character development and storyline get less favorable reviews because they LACK romance. Wtf? Sure, if a story has good romance, that's a plus; but, I have never considered lacking romance as a con. More often than not, missing a popular element just serves to accentuate the better elements of the story; and I'd rather the author focus more on things he can deliver well than include things he is not. There's nothing more annoying than reading a half-assed story when the author could've done better had he focused on his strengths. Yes, some can argue that it isn't bad to work on one's weakness/es however I would argue that unless the author includes an element in a way that it meshes well with the story, just don't do it.

There's nothing bad about a story with no romance.

 

Nothing bad about a story without romance. Are you sure you didn't see reviews for romance stories lacking in romance?

 

Because lacking in romance means MC lack something that made him human, but lacking in strength doesn't make him less human.
(and i hate those musclehead arsehole which stories revolve around getting stronger through the heaven or something. Those guys aren't human)

 

I don’t really mind either way, but if there’s a romance tag then it’s definitely a con if there’s no romance

 

That’s true, but when someone like me says, “lacking in romance,” I usually mean that a story isn’t good enough to be called good, but the romance could elevate it too a good grade. (Does that make any sense)

 

I rarely find that issue here in NU, people are really quick to call it out when a tag ain't in the right place or missing.

 

I find the first poll option incredibly biased and as unreasonable as the reviewers the OP seems calling out to for criticizing novels not tagged as romance or romantic subplot for not containing romance.

 

It's a different story if the problem is the tagging. That shouldn't be blamed on the story. Usually when you read a book without any info apart from the synopsis, your expectations will rely mostly on the synopsis and the author if you know his works. However, in NU, the tags are sometimes wrong. That shouldn't be blamed on the story. Whoever tagged it wrong is to be blamed.

Care to elaborate? Most of the readers i know or saw, like romance novels often because of "self insert" or they just like witnessing a budding romance.

Please don't read too much into the poll options. The first option is just like when you like to eat chocolate. You can never have enough of it, so you want more.

 

Note the other options. They don't seem to carry any connotations. There might be millions of readers here. How can you be so sure that those who read romance do so because they don't get enough of it IRL? Why not make a poll option then, like "a story is better without romance because I don't do romance" or something like that? Why is the "special" treatment reserved only for those who prefer romance? It's basically forcing all those who like romance to fit into your mold if they vote. That's all I have to say.

Edit: I saw your edited post. All right, I won't read too much into it then. Peace!

 

If a non romance focused story has romance, I usually view it as a minus. Romance is not something that makes characters more believable, rather it makes them seems a bit alien in my eyes.

 

There are cases where I feel a lack of romance do seem like a con, but that is typically if the story constantly teases about the possibility of it and never delivers or if the rest of the story is lackluster as well and some romance could have spiced it up.
Otherwise I agree, I don't need romance in every story and I most definitely prefer no romance over bad romance.
Sometimes even fairly well written romance might not work all that well if it doesn't mesh well with the rest of the story.

 

Lack of romantic relationships between the characters almost always means that the characters will have no depth. Can a story have no romance? Absolutely, and it can be good too! However, if that story takes place over a long period of time, the lack of relationships between characters feels unnatural. To the point where you start doubting the reality of those characters.

*edit* Also, I refuse to answer your biased poll.

 

To be fair, I can think of a number of Romance novels which would be better if there were no romance!

I mostly agree. Outside of the books where romance wouldn't fit it's a lot better to have at least some degree of it. It adds a human touch to the story and can generate a lot of nice tension. The problem though is that the books that need this the most tend also to be the books that are least able to pull this off. I've even seen writers outright admit that they don't have the ability to write romantic relationships so they just don't!

 

I don't see mc lacking in romance makes them less human, I'd rank having no emotions make them less human

 

Well I’d understand if it’s a romance story and there’s no romance (well I’m pretty sure that never happens). I don’t really find no romance a con well it depends on the story . Some stories are better without romance imo. I guess it just depends on the story if it’s a con .

 

There are so many differences that I can't say "no romance" is a negative to a story, but neither can I say that having "romance" wouldn't be a plus.

For example, most power fantasy's have "romance" in the form of the male MC gaining a harem, but the number of times that the "harem" characters lose all personality after joining said harem easily outnumbers the power fantasy's that either do the harem comparatively well, don't have a harem, or just don't have a harem, combined.

I can easily see an author who's writing an otherwise good story refusing to add "romance" into the story simply because they know they wouldn't write the romance well, or simply because it wouldn't actually add to the story that they're trying to tell. I can EQUALLY see people getting upset about the story not having romance, particularly when it's a power fantasy story and the reader wants their imagination to be able to spank it while they're pretending they could be the story's MC. I can even easily imagine people criticizing stories with an outright asexual MC for not "having enough romance", simply because the MC never ends up in a relationship (because asexual). I haven't seen it, mostly because I don't go looking for these things, but I can very easily see people doing that.

Basically, the people who complain about it are either complaining because the story doesn't have any romance, so they like the story but decided that their ship should be a part of the story, and are upset at the fact that the author never did so, or because they want to w*nk to the story but dislike stories that don't have an actual pair to w*nk to.


Edit: Changed the first line, from having "but neither can I say that having "romance" would be a plus" to "but neither can I say that having "romance" wouldn't be a plus". I changed the word "would" to "wouldn't" to be clearer in what I was actually trying to say (that is, it could go either way depending on the story and the writer). Two people liked this before the clarification and edit, so thanks to both of you.

 

There are more people than you think out there who calls themselves "cultured" that like harem and r18 stuff. And without romance means no harem and r18. Ig? Or their just people that lack romance... (Like me)

 

Can I take that as a diss on voluntary "wizards" or those who decided to be celibate all their lives? NOT needing romance doesn't make a character less human. If a character is likened to a song, will a song suck because it talks about anything but romance? No, I doubt it.

And about the poll, it isn't biased; again, please don't read too much into it. The first option is just somehow liking something to the point that you can never get enough of it. Besides, I didn't make the choices arbitrarily based on my preconceived notions, I read a lot, like a lot; and that's not limited to novels. Peace.

I agree and understand that. However, doesn't it rub the wrong way when a decent story gets a terrible rating just because it doesn't have romance? Some stories get buried just because someone who prefers romance read a story that doesn't have any. Readers who value their time will most likely check the ratings and reviews before deciding to pick up a novel to read, and I can't help be disappointed for novels that don't get picked because... sigh~.

Poll update: For those who think that the poll is biased, I'll just another option.

 

Ooof sad