Discussion a good chunk of novels really dont have any grounding in reality

all these romance novels when one person does something unforgivable to the other party, such as raping them or killing their parents, and the other party forgives it in the end because of "true love!!!"
or those uber possessive/coddling ones who thinks what everything they're doing is good for their partner, even if the partner say not to do it
or those where someone says no, but the other person or someone thinks it just means theyre shy or would be with them if not for other reasons and keeps doggedly pursuing them

they dont consider the other party's will or boundaries at all, but its made by the author to be super sweet and cute.

dont get me started on the elders in romance novels; parents and grandparents. They really be holding things like shares or property over their kids' heads, forcing them to get together or split apart based on it. their adult children, which are most often 20‐30 years old.

and aside from romance novels, theres also just a lot of novels where the protagonist is very mary/ gary sue, and they can do nothing wrong and are always justified, though when u think about it a little bit, they are sometimes actually the one completely in the wrong or somewhat in the wrong.

like, sometimes the so called villains do something more or less minor, but very irritating, against them, like trash talking about them, but then the protagonist just kills or disables them. then somehow there are no repercussions.

to be honest, although its not very realistic or morally correct, these novels are very fun to read.

 

It is a long running problem with romance novels. I think that is why romance novels that have MCs who break that mold are so well liked. Since most books are wish fulfillment, it is fine for things to be realistic as long as it is what the reader wants. There are annoying people in our lives, and I am all for watching some annoying pos get his balls stomped on no matter how unrealistic it is.

 

Tbh. It might sound unrealistic. However, some of those things happening in novels do rlly happen in the real world...

Ive seen and experienced my share of crazy things...

 

When they say love conquers all, they really do mean ALL.

 

Crazy things do happen. And being a little crazy yourself and marriage to someone a bit yandere (not in the scary way) is the only way it works long term. More than half of all marriages end within 5 years. Almost none survive a lifetime. Ya gotta get someone who puts you first before everything else. Money, job, themselves, that means by traditional values they are a bit crazy. And a Mary Sue is much more likely to be narcissistic, lazy, and refuse to take responsibility for anything. That's not a good combo for a long term relationship. Someone that acknowledges their flaws and thinks you are way to good for them is a better bet.

I just wish someone could write a book about to people who can actually listen. Cus that's what it really takes to make things work. Just think about a book with over-communicators! Instead of the silent, figure it out on your own type!

 

so true. reading about an asshole getting his ball stomped on is pretty refreshing sometimes.

yea, i just feel like the unrealistic part is when both the parties get together and have a happily ever after. like, i dont think it really is possible to have a happy relationship when one party doesnt treat the other as a human being. or when the author tries to whitewash and justify the things the protagonist has done and all the characters in the story just accepts it.
+ a lot of those novels really dramaticizes the events, like getting kidnapped or blacklisted from an industry or getting bullied by the whole entire school to the point of suicide. well its true these things happen in real life, but many times, not as often or in the way the author portrays it.

no joke, when i find romance novels where the protagonists/side characters actually communicate and figure things out together, i feel a little bit of euphoria in my veins. feels like a lot of the novels these days rely way too much on misunderstandings after misunderstandings

 

Something I don’t like are IS novels. The one with two genders in one person type of trope. I don’t know why they’re always portrayed as feeble and can never stand up for themselves. Also they’re constantly being used by others and it’s like… ( it’s sad for me to read that their personality is almost nonexistent.

 

Reality sucks. Don't put any of it in my novels, please.

 

no joke, when i find romance novels where the protagonists/side characters actually communicate and figure things out together, i feel a li. feels like a lot of the novels these days rely way too much on misunderstandings after misunderstandings

whats an IS novel?

 

Many people live in toxic and abusive marriages. It's not as strange as you think... Sometimes you just don't realize how horrible what you're living through is.

The road to hell is filled with good intentions. This is also not that uncommon.

I started dating my 2nd ex after I pushed him away multiple times. He just kept pursuing me until I gave in... It was a wonderful relationship that lasted 8 months and I'm very glad he didn't give up after I told him the no. Because even though it didn't work out, I got some wonderful memories out of it.

While the line between them is murky, there is definitely a difference between a direct and clean "No." and a "Sorry, I don't think I'm ready for this right now... I can't..." Or anything like it. The former is a direct rejection, while the latter is more of a unclear rejection that gives space to the other party to keep on trying if they wish to, even though the person rejecting doesn't really want the other party to keep on trying... I did the latter, and I eventually gave in to his advances.

So yeah... It happens.

Also not that uncommon, especially when you don't know the other party that well yet. Proper conversation can solve this one though.

If it's on a medi-fantasy setting, this seems absolutely fine.

On a modern setting this is disgusting though.

But well, arranged marriages still happen to this day, so... Well, family still matters a lot when deciding romantic partners in some cultures.

Oh yeah, those are annoying alright~

That's pretty crazy... o.0

Well, I generally don't read novels with murderhobos on them, so I don't see this kind of thing happen usually. But I can imagine it being annoying for sure...

Then all is well, isn't it!? xD

But really, most of the things you highlighted don't seem that strange to me... At most, some of them might be problematic behaviors that either need a break up, or a proper conversation to be solved.

 

yea with this section, im not saying its unrealistic to be exact, just that its weird and completely unhinged for the author to keep insisting that all of what is happening is sweet and fluffy, and for all the side characters of the story to be okay with what's happening yk?

problem with this is that im talking about when the person makes a clean and direct rejection and they still keep pursuing and harassing them. (although it is true that most of these confessions are made by side characters and non protagonists) completely and utterly brain damaged, and you will get people like this in real life too

yea with romance I basically exclusively read modern settings. and my problem with it is, the most dogblooded things happen because those elders are forcing people to get together.

i just read a lot of romance novels, and especially on jjwxc. and for the sake of drama, a lot of authors write the most whack things to keep their audience captive. so u tend to get a lot of extreme things happening. pursuing a person, and they say no? keep them captive for a bit, rape them a little, clear up some misunderstandings, and theres somehow a happy ending. ton of authors somehow justify anything, its crazy.

 

Yeah, okay, this is very messed up.

I don't mind seeing Stockhome Symdrome on novels, but it being something kinda generalized and treated as "true love" instead of a super messed up thingy is... Incredibly wild to say the least.

 

They dooo, sometimes questions such as "where's the author's moral?" will really cross your mind, really. Just like what you have stated, there are a bunch of novels where ml just straight up kidnaps the mc and locks them in a house and when ml realizes his wrong and ask forgiveness to the mc, mc is quick to accept ml's apology.

Worse that I've read is ml raped the mc multiple times and even have the guts to blackmail mc with their picture doing the did so mc have no choice but to comply to them, when mc became pregnant, they did not even tell to mc and even go as far as move to a new apartment without noticing mc.

However, I think those absurd things really make individual to read them even more, to entice readers even more. Just my opinion, but if author does not keep the story as extreme as that or as thrilling as that, then their reads will go down. Though there are readers that really can't stand those type of stories, admit it or not, there are also plenty of readers that are enticed by those.

I'll admit that sometimes, they don't really bother me that much, as I keep thinking that they aren't real however, of course, I'd like to keep them on novels only and not on real life, because obviously, no one in a right mind will be happy if that will happen to them, what's more, fell in love to their perpetrator.

 

While I'm not a fan of romance novels, I'm not a fan of reality either, so meh.

 

Because people are obsessed with being able to change a bad boy and made them feel like an exception, feel special that they are able to make a toxic bad person be nice and devoted to them because of love.

Look at fifty shades is romanticized and how many women wants to be done like that.

 

Too much and too little realism are both not good.
Sometimes unrealistic novels make the reader think "Is the author serious? Isn't this too unrealistic? This is just a published author's projection fan work right?" but then realistic novels make the reader think "I read fiction so I can escape reality, why would I read something that is so dead set on common sense? This does not work for me."

Romance novels especially are unable to avoid the issue on realism because romantic relationships are a difficult subject in real world, and fiction is only a reflection of reality. "Its not realistic because no one with a brain would go back to XXX character." or "Its too realistic and taking away from my fantasies, just let my CP get together ! ! "
Even though I like to complain, as you say, though not realistic, they are fun to read. I guess this is my actions saying one thing while my words mean the other.

 

Original Poster Meloonseed makes a great point - Novels are fun to read.

Certainly a lot of novels aren’t grounded in reality, but a lot of times that’s a major advantage.

The real issue is absolutely when novels begin to contradict their own logic or start to become boring/not fun.

I could read endless illogical copy novels about Mc having unbeatable summoning powers, but what makes the story great is the journey and all the events along the way. Why do face slapping novels and thrillers work so well? Because the audience is waiting for the hype train to actually land the finish. If the story manages to have lasting consequences on the world or progress the Mc’s relationships then it’s a mostly successful novel. The goal isn’t defeating endless cannon fodder - it’s defeating endless cannon fodder with style and purpose.

Sometimes even a dramatic romance with no logic becomes more fun the more outlandish the setting.
Mc fell in love with a beautiful girl but (audible gasp) they turn out to be (insert shocking trait) that nobody expected! Or perhaps the story is set in a parody world where everyone already knows how things should go and (gasp) it doesn’t!

Mainly there are huge risks in terms of illogical stories in that it can either go too far or not enough but there’s a definite sweet spot of crazy ridiculousness inbetween.

But yeah, it’s also fun to poke holes in novels and stare at the empty plot inside.

 

I don't think this is really the case. Romance novels aren't realistic; not because it's hard to tell that kind of story, but because the writers don't care about being realistic. Or more accurately, most of them are meant to cater to specific fantasies so they don't want to be realistic. Think of it this way, in one of the early transmigration Romance novels, one of its most prominent features is that it talks about the difference between life in the modern world versus life in Qing China. The differences are stark and there's a lot of emphasis put on how much living in the past sucks. Think back on the historical(-ish) Romance novels you've read, and see how rare it is that they do that.