Diary Of A Romance Anti-Fan
I’ve never liked reading romance
I’ve never liked reading romance.
Even though I love books, the one genre I’ve always avoided like a plague is romance.
To me, there were always more important books and genres to explore.
I wanted to read more about philosophy, more of self-help, sometimes ancient scriptures, and even quantum physics.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love fiction. It is how I got into reading in the first place. I read thrillers, suspense, fantasy, literary fiction, historical fiction, and mythological fiction; Basically every genre except romance.
And even though I relished the tiny bit of romance that appeared in those books, my worldview was mostly the same. ‘I should learn something from the book.’
Despite knowing that most of the fiction books I read didn’t really have any substantial educational revelation.
Yet I continued to justify my beliefs, thinking romance was a waste of time.
I always thought I understood my emotions well, and that there was nothing I didn’t know about myself. But deep below the surface, what I was doing was running away from myself.
It was easier to avoid romance than to admit I was scared of the idea of falling in love and having to settle down. Of facing the traumas that made me run away from love, to open the box of ugliness I’d tucked away in a corner of my mind.
Cut to three books from Emily Henry, I am now, converted.
It took me three books from her to understand that romance is much more than sizzling hot climaxes.
They require introspection. They make us face some of our deepest fears and irrational beliefs head-on.
They require challenging the worldview we live our lives on.
