If you ask “Is this a kissing book?” while pointing to a YA novel, the answer is usually: yes.
Finding a YA book that doesn’t include romance AT ALL is pretty much like spotting a wild faun and convincing it to make tea for you and nOT sell your soul to a random witch. It happens. But only to a lucky few of us. The rest get sold to the witch. Smh. Look at the state of society today. Witches will buy anything.
Now the conversation about whether this is good or bad comes up a lot. Which is fair! We bloggers like to gloriously dissect everything (insert happy flail) but there are SO many valid points to both side of the argument. And so I’d like to present to you one of my very lovely INDECISIVE LISTS where I talk about both sides to the kissing books and also use the word “nomance” because no one said I can’t. And even if someone said to stop, I wouldn’t. Because NOMANCE IS A THING. LET ME LIVE.
I must that I, for one, am about as romantic as a piece of bread. So it pleases me greatly to find nomance books. Yet that saying I have TONS of ships I would fight to eternity for. I ship ships that shouldn’t be shipped ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and would angrily throw a fig in a lake if an author killed off my favourite couples. Let them kiss and be hAPPY, you coward.
But the trouble is the ratio fo YA with romance vs YA without romance is…unbalanced. To say the least.
WHY NOMANCE BOOKS ARE IMPORTANT
➸ not all readers want or even need romance (and it’s really important, especially for teens who don’t want sexual romantic relationships, to know there’s nothing wrong with that)
➸ it’s actually heckin’ annoying to read a book where tHE wOrLD is ending and now we’re caught up in a pointless love square with lots of hormones and tension. It makes the stakes of the book seem flippant.
➸ some teens?!?! don’t have time?!?! for romance. Between school + jobs + being a druid idk what kids do these days = it’s hard to find time to find a decent human you don’t want to hit with a fork.
➸ not everyone meets their soulmate in their teens. (I personally have no interest in romantic relationships, but seriously all the boys I knew in my teens were gross??? How do all these teens in books find Peter Kavinskys and Blue Sargents???)
➸ books that put friendship first and foremost instead are super special and needed!! Without complicating them with unnecessary romances!!
➸ the amount of times romance doesn’t even fit with the book is unbelievable. Don’t stuff in romance. No one likes bad stuffing okay. Not even dead turkeys.
➸ it’s super important to have characters who are whole and happy and fulfilled without finding a love interest. You’re not “alone” if you don’t fall in love!! FRIENDS. FAMILY. YOUR PET PYTHON IF YOU ARE SLYTHERIN. All are important.
➸ look I’ll say it…sometimes society has an unhealthy obsession with romance. It would be nice if we could CHILL on thinking it is The Everything Of Life™. (I just came back to add this after seeing a post of people shipping their three year olds. And hearing someone discuss a male/female friendship duo and how they were clearly “in love” because they spent so much time together. BOTH of these are super problematic but yet not uncommon. ARgh.)
WHY ROMANCE IS ALSO STILL IMPORTANT
➸ lots of people absolutely love reading it! adore it with every fibre of their being! I’d hazard a guess that more people like romance vs people don’t like romance in stories = and this would show up in publishing stats and book sales too (which pretty much rule what kind of books get published).
➸ diverse romance representation is sooo important. Because the world has coded the POC/queer/disabled/ill people as “undesirable” for so despicably long that we NEED to see these people falling in love too. In romcoms and fantasy worlds!
➸ look it is a good subplot…wondering who will get together and if they’ll kiss or stab each other. We don’t KNOW. Exciting. And when people list favourite tropes, you better believe ones like “there was only one bed!” come up super fast. Often romance sucks IRL because there are no Blue Sargents in your vicinity to love (seriously what is wrong with real life) so people actually want to see cute couples get together and be happy!
➸ it’s good that now a lot of problematic romance tropes are being dismantled! There are WAY less possessive and gross boys in YA. We neeeeeed books with healthy romances to model for readers (especially younger teens) and good discussion on boundaries and being safe and communication etc.
➸ it’s also good to show messy romances in books too, because most teens don’t stay with their lover from highschool. So reading about a breakup or working through a tough issue can be helpful. Also probably like opening a papercut and pouring lemon juice on it bUT ANYWAY.
➸ sometimes? it just cute (seriously, I love reading soft cute and shy romances!!! I wrote one!)
also pet peeve?! I hate it when people ask for non-romance or very very mild romances, but phrase it as “i want clean books”… romance isn’t dirty. Can we lay that one to rest thanks. You can dislike reading romance or sex without making it sound evil.
But hey, since they’re hard to find…I’m going to merrily list some YA Books With NO Romance!
I did a list like this back in 2015 but we’re due for an update, right?! Also joining in the TTT prompt of: Platonic Relationships In Books.
All the covers link to goodreads too! Speaking of which, I have a goodreads shelf specifically for this.
NOMANCE
NOTE: there are some side romances in some of these, but not for the protagonist.
What about the ladies guide to petticoats and piracy!!!????
I thought about it…but ultimately decided no, because it’s a lot about exploring being interested in romance (or not) so it actually has quite a lot of (unrequited? or unreciprocated?) romance in it to be strictly accurate.
I love this list and I think it definitely covers both sides perfectly. I haven’t read too many books without romance— nomance books as you say (first time I have heard of this word and I love it) but I don’t think romance is necessary in a book. Sometimes friendships are my favourite to read about over the romantic relationship. I like a good romance in books but they don’t have to be in every book.
I think there should be a balance between romance and non-romance, probably tipping a little towards romance, since there are probably more readers that like romance than not.
Personally,I like a good romance free novel. As you said, there’s so many romances that do nothing for the plot, or even detract from it. But there are some genuinely good romance sideplots out there that I loved (Lunar Chronicles, for example!)
Mostly I lean toward non-romance, I write pretty much a balance of both.
Also, platonic friendships for the win 😛
Oh my gosh, YES.
Also I’d like to add Radio Silence to this list because oh man. It’s just such friendship.
I love reading romance, but I think I love reading about friendship more. Have you read Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O’Porter? Such amazing friendship.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
I love this post – nomance can be so refreshing!
BTW isn’t there a bit of romance in ‘Vassa in the Night’? That motor cycle dude? But then, it’s not a huge part of the story and could perhaps have been left out …
FINALLY I LOVE a good nomance book! while at the same time it’s important for readers to know about the nature of romantic relationships, healthy ones, to be able to look for red flags, to know that romance can be a part of your life but also not the END ALL, etc. ALSO I AM HERE FOR ROMANCES FOR PPL WITH DISABILITES YES!!
Cait, ALL the books that you’ve listed seem so so interesting ahh. This Savage Song is just (!!) and so is The Knife of Never Letting Go. I still haven’t read the third book tho. tbh i was pretty sure for so long that Todd and Viola were suplosed to grow into a romance?? I STILL LOVE IT REGARDLESS. There was this one line where he thinks to himself that Viola doesn’t smell like flowers ‘no more, but that’s okay’ and my heart melted.
Also one thing I’d like to add would be that books should really show different ethnic groups and their varied beliefs/views on romance in a way that is true, and shows where that group may be coming from, to show the good AND the bad. Too often I see Asians/Indo-Pak characters and their love lives being crushed beneath the idea of their families and their ‘respect’ in media (which is, unfortunately, a reality for many, and I do NOT support it) but no representation of the healthy romances within those cultures (which tho rare, ALSO EXIST!)or the reason that they are the way they are when it comes to romantic relationships, etc. I would like to see that, and maybe even write that, someday.
Was this comment too rambly? I hope not, I just wanted to express my thoughts, which I have a lot of haha. Lovely post.x
“Society’s obsessed with romance” AT LONG LAST SOMEONE SAYS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I actually have a heated passion for wanting more nomance books. Probably because I’m aromantic so unless you can really really convince me I’m not buying. I would personally love more nomance books and we leave the romance to authors who are capable with writing it. I actually don’t have many WIPs with romance (I think I might have one but it’s more of an anti-body shaming thing for guys because men get unrealistic expectations pushed on them too) so when I debut sometime in the future chances are it will be a nomance and my current NaNo book is dual narrated between a guy and a girl who . . . Get this . . . Have a platonic friendship after they quit stabbing each other
Some books I think didn’t need romance are Grace and Fury, The Belles, and The Kane Chronicles, the romance did not benefit any of those books and I kind of wish we replaced all the kisses with stabs.
I adored this post! I’m also annoyed by how much romance is being included in YA books. It feels to me like it’s often being shoehorned into plots that don’t actually benefit from, and are sometimes actually harmed by, that type of storyline. (I should add that I have absolutely no problem with romantic plots/subplots when they actually make sense for the story. It’s simply that this isn’t what I’m seeing play out in a lot of YA novels).
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Ooh this list is really good!! There are some YA books I’ve read where the romance was just slapped into the middle of the story and just DIDNT WORK. Argggh it’s really frustrating. 😠😠
So I think it’s great to have books that don’t include romance or focus on friendship, and we definitely need more of them! Thanks so much for all the lovely recommendations- I’ll be trying some of them out for sure!!
I have so many feels about romance in YA-I wrote a whole post two years ago about why we needed to see more single characters in YA books and it’s honestly one of my most popular discussion posts ever, so I think there are more people that despair at the prolifity of romance in YA than publishing thinks there is! YA should absolutely feature more platonic relationships because they are SO important and are honestly more likely to last out of your teens than romantic relationships are-I’m still friends with two girls I met in school when I was 14 and one I met when I was 17. I actually didn’t date at all in my teens and none of my friends from school had boyfriends either, but granted I went to an all girls school, so it’s a slightly skewed sample but still, most of the girls I knew at school were way more focused on exams than they were on boys. It does teens a disservice, because it makes you feel like if you don’t have a boyfriend then you’re weird or you’re doing something wrong, and that’s not great.
You actually have a lot of the books I would have recommended anyway on here, This Savage Song, Challenger Deep, Demon Road, Rose Under Fire, Radio Silence, Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer are all books I’ve read and enjoyed.
I did a list like this one last year and as well as Magnus Chase, Challenger Deep and This Savage Song: I had: Code Name Verity, The Book Thief, A Darker Shade of Magic (since the Kell/Lila romance really starts in Book 2), Skulduggery Pleasant, Asking For It & A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was really hard to even come up with that list though, romance is so pervasive in fiction.
Ha ha I have definitely wished that-I actually did an entire list of books that would be better without the romance once too! Honestly it’s most of them, there are very few times where I’ve felt the romance is integral to the plot of the book. I think YA is doing better in terms of diverse romances, particularly LGBTQ+ ones.
This this this this is such a great post Cait, I love it so much! I have to agree with you that it is so important to have books without romance as well, and there’s nothing wrong with no romance or just not wanting it at all either. some of my favorite books feature incredible friendships first and foremost and I adore that SO MUCH. Alice Oseman’s books are perfect in that category, I loved both Radio Silence and I Was Born For This for that too! <3 <3
Thank you so much for all the wonderful recs! <3
I love nomance! Yes, YA (and all genres) should feature more platonic relationships. I loved This Savage Song, Challenger Deep, and The Curious Incident. I’m bookmarking this post for when I have time to research the books on your list. A few of them are already on my TBR, but I haven’t heard of some of the others.
You are the hero the world needs right now. I am checking out every single book on this list.
I’d add The Novice by Taran Matharu on the list! I’ve only read the first book so far but that one doesn’t have any romance. I personally don’t like to read six full pages describing sex, but I don’t mind a romance if it’s not doing bad things for the main storyline. I love finding books without them though! (Hence my surprise with Radio Silence and I Was Born For This)
I, for one, love bread and cake. 🍞🥖🥐🍰🍿🍩
OMG YES PLEASE MORE FRIENDSHIPS. Like yeah i like romance (though tend to avoid the more erotic side of things, give me a cute cinnamon roll ship plz with subtle flirting and some gentle kissing thrown in) but i think friendship is SO IMPORTANT and SO OVERLOOKED. One thing that was really important to me was that my MC in SlavicNovel didn’t have a love interest, more like… a friend interest? potential friend? (she’s not good at making friends lol)
So THANK YOU for the recommendation list because I will read all of them <3 (eventually when I'm not studying microbiology woo my reading is sooooo sloooow lately i hate it)
also i guess that’s the first time my full name has been out in public outside of facebook thanks autofill haha
This is such a nice list! Personally, I do love romance books so I don’t mind them actually. But yes, there should be a balance. If a book is about some specific issue, then unnecessary romance can really deviate the whole story from the main point.
I like books with romance sometimes, but I LOVE reading books with no romance! What a great list of books you have here! I loved Every Heart A Doorway (and it’s sequels) so, so much.
Ohhhh this was so much fun to read! I seriously love reading YA books with a good ol’ romance in but sometimes a romantic relationship is not necessary AT ALL in the story and completely unrepresentative (big word oof) of real life! Not everyone meets their soulmate in their teens, not everyone has twelve different gorgeous single boys/girls to fall in love with at the school and not everyone has time for all that lovey dovey stuff! I would love to see more YA books where the character is busy with their friends, family, school and weekend job (relateable things) rather than this out-of-reach burning romance that is supposed to be true love! WHEN YOU’RE FLIPPING 16 YOU DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE YET LET ALONE DOING ALL THE FALLING IN LOVE STUFF ammiright?
Okay sorry for the ramble, kinda spiralled a wee bit there 🙂
Gorgeous post as always Hun I love all your points!! x
Yes exactly!! I think there’s SO much self-discovery to be done in your teens (well, in your 20s too 😂but like since we’re specifically mentioning YA here) and that takes up a lot of your time?! I am very much for teens finding love if they can, but also I just reeeeally think some people don’t have time.😂 And they should get to be featured in books too!!
Aw never be sorry for rambling! My entire blog is one big ramble, so you’re in good company.😂
I’ve got to admit, it’s starting to amuse me all these fictional teens finding their soulmates at, like, sixteen, when I’m twenty one and I don’t even think I’ve really had a crush before. BUT but but, I know people who’ve been in the same relationship since they were thirteen, so it happens to some, I guess? Whilst I love platonic relationships and found family a lot more than I like romance nowadays, I think it’s nice to have a balance of all three in books. I’m a “WHY NOT BOTH?” person. 😉
Omg how can people even know they LIKE someone at 13?! I wasn’t even sure I was a fan of the human species back then and preferred writing Narnia fanfic alone in my room. (NORMAL CHILDHOOD.)😂😂 But yeah, why not both <– the thing we all want to ask 😂
Ugh I love shy and awkward romance. So much. Ah the awkward levels! Honestly I really hate those books that hint at romance then oops never mind they don’t get together. Like really. If you’re going to hunt at it just let it be. Especially the really cute shy couples. I’m not even a romantic, I promise.
Oh yeah I totally hate the ones that HINT but don’t go through with it. Especially if it could’ve been a queer couple, but then they backpedal fast *gets mad*
Ugh comments can’t be edited so I’ll say it here. I love slight romances like Ron and Hermione’s. Yknow they save the world and stuff but they happen to like each other. No big deal. Those are the best kind. Especially the ones with awkward starts. I just like awkward love alright!
Nomance books are fabulous too, as long as they don’t hint at it. (So annoying bc my ship sinks)
So I’m in the like Snowmance section of things. (Snow)mance as in occasional is fun but too much is just too much and it should be shoveled out and melted to non existence. Yknow, some is alright, just don’t go overboard.
Okay so you made so many good points here that really resonated with me!!! I’d really like to see more stories that don’t equate fulfillment with romance, ESPECIALLY not for teens, but just for people in general, too . . . cause idk man, I’m almost 25 and haven’t found my Sean Kendrick yet. He’s nowhere to be found 😉 But do I feel ‘unfulfilled’ and ‘lonely’ and ‘incomplete’ because of that? NO, MATE, I DO NOT.
At the same time??? Books are really the only place where I’ve found examples of what /good solid romance/ looks like, and I’d never want to give that up. If done right, it encourages you not to settle for a lackluster romance in real life, but instead, to be happy with YOURSELF unless/until you find The Real Thing.
Best romance in YA: Cath and Levi in Fangirl. All the heart eyes. <3333333
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Sean Kendrick is a MYTH and Maggie Stiefvater lied to us *sobs* But yeah I hate this whole “You need a partner to feel complete!” line of thinking, because that can end thanks.😂 But yeah I’m with you in that sometimes I want to see a really nice and wholesome romance! Goodness knows the ones IRL are so dysfunctional. Let us live in our delusions.😂
CATH AND LEVI WERE ADORABLE.
Have you read Archivist Wasp? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23282249-archivist-wasp
I haven’t managed to get a copy yet but it’s meant to be all about the platonic relationships and no romance!
I hadn’t heard of it! I’ll definitely look it up, thanks!
I NEED more books without romance. At the very least books where people don’t get silly and ignore the world ENDING because OH MY GOD I’M IN LOVE.
So yay for this list.
I actually have no issue with romance if its diverse. So more of that too.
I’ve just read the first magnus chase and it was so good. I always assumed jackabe had romance in so stayed away but I’ll definitely be checking that out now!
I don’t know if the Jackaby books get romantic later, but I’m like 98% sure there was none in the first.😂 And omg wouldn’t it be nice if people focused on saving the world for once lmao.😂
I too am as romantic as a piece of bread. Although, for me, I’m not sure if it’s that I’M not romantic, or that I AM romantic, but just not about MYSELF. Or in real life. At all. But when it comes to fiction I am all for that romance.
Like for me, I’m all “I’m way too busy; I don’t need that in my life.” But in books/movies/anime/what have you I’m like “KISS KISS KISS” unless the story is actually trying to make them kiss (you know, the obligatory cishetero romance) and then I’m like “NO.”
I guess I’m just contrary…?
I think my favorite is when the characters start out as strangers, become friends (or maybe become enemies and then slowly become friends), and THEN become lovers. Basically I like it to built up like one of those animes that teases at shipping these guys…and then I like it to ACTUALLY SHIP THESE GUYS. Or gals. Or nonbinary pals.
This isn’t just for YA romance, but I think a really good movement that I’ve noticed in just storytelling in general is that shipping and people finally publishing works featuring LGBTQA+ couples has actually raised the bar for romance in general. Like, now we know what good buildup and healthy relationships look like, so we’re less willing to settle for the canned cishetero stuff. In fact, if I find myself actually shipping a cishetero couple that the story is actively pushing, that’s when I’m usually like “Wow, this is written really really well.” If that makes sense.
Omg I relate to that so much. 😂 I can get hella romantic for my little fictional ships, like YES you sail that ship, you adorable stupid characters, and I will fight for u forever. But me, personally? Lmao, no thank you. We can just be our contrary selves here.😂 LIVIN OUR BEST LIFE.
And I do like it when it’s friendships FIRST and then romance. I feel like those are more likely to keep on going?!
And I think I do get what you mean. I think we’ve definitely had years of being thrown really crappy romances in media, often featuring questionable or gross problematic elements (like aggressive alpha males and bullying to show affection etc etc). But now we’re being given really GOOD romances. Not always perfect and often messy. But like not inherently problematic and actually featuring people with great chemistry (there are so many girl friendships I’d ship, or boy ones! But then it’s like media panics and ruins it so they don’t have to fall in love *eyeroll*). So we want MORE of that and aren’t settling for the crappy stuff we used to have.😂 I’m rambling. Yes. BUT ANYWAY.
*casually adds all these nomance titles to my list of books I need to read* BUT FOR REAL, there needs to be more Nomance in YA. BUT especially in the books that deal with life or death situations like the world is ending? Who sees a big ball of death hurtling at them and thinks, “QUICK! STICK YOUR TONGUE DOWN MY THROAT!” Okay, okay, fair, some people probably do react that way and that’s cool but we need variety and more representation and oh you get my point!!
“it’s hard to find time to find a decent human you don’t want to hit with a fork” just may be my new favourite statement. I feel like it’s hard to even find a decent human that you don’t wanna poke with a spoon, even, so, like, I feel this on a spiritual level. Do the kids still say that? I’m saying it. I’m not like other mom’s, I’m a cool mom* okay?
*I am not a mom unless you want to refer to me as the mother of… I got nothing. I’m not a mom, even in sarcasm!
We definitely do just need more variation here lmao. Like part of me does *sort of* understand that in those life-death situations, they use romance as a coping mechanism. Like SURE your feels probably aren’t sustainable, but the world is ending, so you’re kissing your little hearts out before you probably die. But that’s still not the last thing I’d personally want to be doing.😂 BUT ANYWAY.
And omg where are all the dECENT HUMANS AT. Come out come out wherever you are *looks around in vain for them*
(Tbh I’ll happily claim the Mother Of Typos title if anyone wants to give it to me).
The first book that comes to mind is Plain Kate by Erin Bow. Great story. Awesome setting. No romance. I generally gravitate toward romances (well, books with elements of romance in them; I don’t really read what would be considered “romance novels”), but this book made me forget that there wasn’t any romance in it.
I don’t think I’ve read a book that I wished didn’t have romance. Well, not a book I liked. I could’ve done without the implied future romance between Jacob and Renesmee in Breaking Dawn. *shudder*
Based on what I’m seeing on my Goodreads feed, with people squealing about YA romances featuring POC, sexuality/gender other than cishet, disabilities, etc., I’d say that representation for marginalized groups is definitely getting better. Now, whether all those representations are good ones remains to be seen. (Quantity doesn’t necessarily equal quality; I’ve also started to see a bit of a backlash, with readers pointing out that some books are getting hype simply because they seem to tick boxes on some diversity checklist, and not because they’re actually decent reads. I guess we have to start somewhere, though.)
Is Plain Kate YA? I thought it was MG haha, but maybe I’m thinking of a different book…(is there possibly a book called Plain Sarah?! omg my brain is fuzzy today haha). And I never got that far with the Twilight books but wooooow yeah that’s super creepy.
I think it’s difficult to say if something is “good” or not. Like yeah lots of books seem badly written or whatever, but the more I read (and also write) the more I think we all have to remember tastes factor so much into this!! But yeah I’ve read books where the representation was good but that didn’t make the book wonderful.😂
You know, this is a really interesting topic. I have obviously been super vocal about being a romance lover, but I can totally see the opposite side of the fence as well, and definitely the best thing is if there are heaps of both types of books because it would totally suck if you don’t like romance in books but just can’t get away from it. I think books are special and there should be a million types, something for everyone 🙂
Yes exactly! We do need books for everyone and also just books that value platonic bonds as highly and awesomely as romantic ones!
Totally snickered at your proclamation of all the boys you knew as a teenager being gross. I look back now at the boys I crushed on – and not a single one is anyone now that I would even look twice at. *shudder * Like WHAT did I see in them?!?
It’s so true though right??? Like all these boys in books are GORGEOUS and boys IRL when they’re teens, they just are…I don’t even know. 😂 Awkward and annoying. Lmao.
You are 100% right, these perfect soulmates do not exist outside of the fictional world, so therefor I have to live vicariously through books. xD
OMG, though, I’ve run into the same problem of adults incessantly shipping boys and girls together simply because they’re boys and girls. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had adults ask me if my best friend and I like each other because he’s a guy and we couldn’t possibly be that close as “just friends.” It’s super annoying and makes both of us incredibly uncomfortable, but still they insist.
My critique partners are also convinced that the female protagonist in my novel is going to get together with her male best friend. Even though I’ve repeatedly told them that she’s a lesbian. Many, many times. xD
Exactly *throws up hands* the world is cruel because fictional people are just better to want to love omg.
And yes ugh, I really hate that “OH YOU MUST BE IN LOVE” if you stand anywhere near someone of the opposite gender. Like even aside from the blatant fact not everyone is straight asfaohgsrsr it is fully ok to be straight AND FRIENDS with a boy/girl. I think it puts such pressure on teens too?
Eeek it is also a worry when people erase though 🙈 I see that happen in books with asexual characters. It’s like…no let them be friends ok, let them live.
I agree that both types of book are equally valid, but there’s definitely an imbalance. Whenever I sit down to write my own books, I always pledge to myself that I won’t write any romantic subplots. That I’ll prove to myself I don’t need them, and I can write a good book without them. AND THEN I’LL END UP SHIPPING TWO OF MY CHARACTERS SO MUCH I JUST HAVE TO MAKE THEM GET TOGETHER. This happens every. single. time. That’s one of the perks of being a writer, though, I suppose. You can make whatever you ship canon.
Some of my favorite non-romance YA: Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic books, aaaand….that’s all I got. Yikes. I am planning on reading Sadie soon, though, so I’ll at least have one other. XD
Eleanor | On the Other Side of Reality
omggg IF THIS ISN’T ME 😂😂 I totally do this with nomance books too though? Like I will 1000% support them as platonic friends…but like y’know if they kiss that’s ok too.😂 But I do want to write some nomance books myself at some point. I think it’s definitely important to have more of a balance.
SADIE IS BRUTAL AND AMAZING. I CRY.
I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this series, but I will recommend The Medoran Chronicles by Lynette Noni any day and to anyone who would listen. There’s a background romance between two of the main characters best friends and later in the series for the main character herself. There’s the whole ‘oh god why can’t I stop my pulse from racing when I see you’ thing, but it’s not focused on that feeling. It’s all about her having to save the entire human race from some evil dude. It’s so full of twists and turns and things that will blow your f***ing mind and make you cry. Not only that, but Lynette Noni is an Australian author and I fully love supporting the homegrown authors. Her book Whisper is epic too. Maybe a little more romance in there than The Medoran Chronicles, but still really good.
Oh I’ll look it up! I have read something from that author I thiiink. The name rings a bell? but honestly I do actually erad series all the time where romance IS there, but just a quiet background subplot. I’m glad so many exist!!
(Omg maybe Whisper is the one I’ve read?! I LOVED that.)
I love your reasons for both sides! I’m on the nomance side [totally going to call it that now] and not because romance is “dirty” [soooo shallow when people label every and any romance “dirty” *rolls eyes*]. When I was a teen, I very rarely thought about boys. And now? I don’t know. Most guys are I know do not appeal to me. At all. Not to be mean, but yeah, I have other worries. And it’s nice to read a book where the characters aren’t making bad decisions for romantic reasons, aka my top pet peeve with romance. I do like seeing the healthy romances though. They’re another breath of fresh air,
I know right?! I hate it when people are like “Oh I only read CLEAN books” and that means characters can’t kiss or have sex or anything arghgh. Look if it’s not for a reader, that’s FINE, but it’s such a holier-than-thou attitude and kinda problematic. But that’s a rant for another day.😂😂 But yas let’s make NOMANCE a thing though. I mean, normal people say “platonic” but pfft.
THE PRINCESS BRIDE!!!! and Chronicles of Narnia! It is officially a wonderful day! A wonderful review as always!
ALL THE REFERENCES 😂😂
This is quite fascinating because you’re absolutely right about society being high key obsessed with romance. And I have always wondered like- is the media obsessed with it because humans often are, or are humans often obsessed because the media claims we should be? Perhaps a combination? I definitely am the kind of person who feels like I am going to be lonely because I am Forever Alone™. And like- I do get the whole family and friends thing, but it is hard for me to accept I guess. For me personally, I do enjoy romance in books but I ALSO fully agree about not shoving a romance in just for the sake of having one. It is just wasting everyone’s time!
I do think YA is doing much better in showcasing diverse relationships. Obviously there’s still work to be done, but compared to even 5 years ago, it’s SO much better. And seriously, not only are the heartthrobs of YA unrealistic, they always look like 30 years old too in adaptations (GLARING at you, Theo James). So weird and confusing. (Also the shipping 3 year old thing is gross wow.)
THIS IS WHAT THE HUNGER GAMES WAS ASKING 😂😂 But yeah I agree! Are humans naturally obsessed with romance, or has media escalated it so much that it’s absolutely ridiculous. And I know we put a lot of emphasis on “you don’t need a partner to be happy!” but I think it goes the other way too? It’s ok if someone really DOES want a partner and it would make them 1000 x happier. So I don’t diss books where they get really happy because they fall in love. I just…don’t understand it always.😂
but agreed! Compared to 5 years ago, we’ve made HUGE steps. Like multiple queer books have hit the bestseller list this year!!
omg Four in the movie still makes me laugh. That was so gross he was SO OLD.😂
While romance is an important factor in young adult books, I always think it’s nice to step away from that and read something with romance that isn’t present! Great post! I think it’s such an interesting topic that isn’t discussed much in the bookish community! Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Jared! I think it’s definitely interesting to discuss, with a LOT of sides to it!
but like Magnus Chase and The Maze Runner does have romance? Or wait you mean that specific book then yeah, no it doesn’t.
I mean the specific books because these don’t. Later in the series maybe. But not the first books.
I usually really like romances in YA novels. Sometimes I’m a bit ugh with the love and stuff, but most times I’m all hecking for it!! I haven’t read many without romances in it, although that’s more about me not knowing many, so thanks for the list I shall most likely be adding a many of them to my to be read list! ^_^
Oh I really need to get the ebook of Gap Year in Ghost Town. It just sounds all kinds of epic.
Honestly, I love romance to death but I also find it refreshing when I read a book with no romance, as well. It means that I’m not focussing on the will they/won’t they and I’m actually focussing on other important stuff that’s going on. I think no romance books are good for the same reasons you said they are. Some people don’t want it, so they don’t want it to be thrust in their faces every time why open a book! And also friendships are important as well, so life can be complete with just those so YEAH.
I do think that the need for diverse romances is still high, though! There are so many variations of these that we need and we have only exposed the tip of the iceberg here, to be honest.
A book I read recently with no romance for one of the narrators (there was romance for the other one) was Black Wings Beating by Alex London. Even though I didn’t really like the book it was great to see the girl MC not be forced into a romance! I mean, someone has a crush on her but she was mainly like ‘ew’ about that, haha. I actually thought she was pretty aro-coded but there was no actual ID-ing on page, boo.
Hm, that actually might be one of the reasons I rarely read YA. I am sensitive to most kinds of romance (in a bad way xD) and it is pretty much only either puppy love that works for me, or when it’s a humor novel. Otherwise it’s not going to work for me xD so… that gets complicated 😀
But I guess it makes sense. For a lot of us, teens are made up of thoughts about romance xD cause we’re trying to figure it out. I know mine certainly were. Maybe that’s why I don’t like to read about it and remember it xD
And YES!!! I agree! Ugh, the love interests in teen books are SO unrealistic! It makes me so angry!! Like, there was one contemporary YA that I nearly through around the room because suddenly there was a 15 year old boy that was acting like a wise 40 year old. What the hell!! Girls shouldn’t be made to think that happens, because they’re blame themselves when it doesn’t (because it so never will when they’re 15. Jaysus.) That was the last time I ever requested a contemporary YA because I was that salty 😀
And yeah, I also get annoyed about people staying with their highschool sweethearts in book. Or worse, their MIDDLE GRADE sweethearts. I don’t think I know ANYONE in my life who’s had that happen to them. ANYONE. I think that’s a baby boomer sort of thing, cause they were supposed to get married to live together. (And then ended up divorced in a huge mess anyway, but you know.)
Anyway, I have so many of your posts to catch up with!
Yes omg yes this post speaks to my soul because esometines I get sick of reading about romance romance romance. I’m a shy and quiet teen and there are no freaking decent guys here.
YES ROMANCE IS NOT WHAT OUR LIVES REVOLVE AROUND
Also omg NOMANCE I LOVE THAT!!!
Thanks for the list! <3
I love a good romance and I am sucker for some tropes and I love to ship couples. BUT. But. Romance really is in too many YA books and we need more non romance books because sometimes I am sick and tired of romantic drama taking over the story. I loved This Savage Song for that reason in particular! You’re really expecting a romance but then it didn’t happen and it made me so happy you’d think I wanted everyone in the world to end up alone xD I have Beautiful Broken Things, Demon Road and The Knife of Never Letting Go on my shelves waiting for me and that makes me so excited to read them 😀
wAIT OMG Cait this is actually the best thing ever!!! I love reading YA, but sometimes I’m just,,,really not in the mood for a romance book??? BUT ROMANCE IS EVERYWHERE ICK
this list is amazing and I’m definitely going to check some of them out IMMEDIATELY
I may be one of those that say “clean romance”. What I mean is that I like romance that isn’t sensualized. I used to say I didn’t like romances, but eventually said I didn’t like romance unless it was realistic or basically not all of the plot. I do like it now. But I like it to fit the story. And if it’s not there and the story is still good then I’m very happy. I do write romance, but it doesn’t manipulate my story. Even my fairy tales are so much more. My most recent novel is mostly about a girl dealing with depression after a breakup – so, not your typical romance 😉 But yeah, I agree with most of your points for romance and “nomance” ;D Clever word, nomance, btw. Love it.
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I get why romance is important (and sometimes it can be cuuuute or heart wrenching), but also whyyyyy. I relate wholeheartedly to that kid from The Princess Bride.
One: Thank you for the nomance book suggestions!
Two:The thing is romance almost always kills a book for me. There are some books that romance fits wonderfully, but more often than not it feels forced. Plus at my current place in life, I value work and time with friends more than looking for a life partner. J feel supremely underrepresented. That always made me feel like I was weird for not actively wanting a romantic relationship.