Every time I start to like a series….
Okay, I need to vent about something that’s been bothering me in so many books lately, especially in the fantasy romance genre: the lack of agency and intelligence in female main characters.
Like, I get it—slow-burn romance, enemies-to-lovers dynamics, all that. I’m here for it. But can we stop making these women so painfully oblivious? “He’s always staring at me, calls me pet names, sniffs my hair, tells me how beautiful I am… but WHY DOES HE HATE ME?” Girl, come on. At some point, it stops being endearing and just feels insulting to the reader’s intelligence.
And don’t get me started on the decision-making. I cannot stand the “holier-than-thou” nonsense where they refuse to kill the genocidal maniac because “I don’t kill people!” Or the “I can’t hurt this person who’s being mind-controlled, even though they’re actively murdering me and everyone I care about!” Like, where is the survival instinct? Where is the logic? You’re in a WAR. This is not the time for moral gymnastics.
Then there’s the tired “innocent village girl” trope. These FMCs are supposed to rise to greatness, become powerful rulers or warriors, yet they’re so distracted by a powerful, controlling man who has a thing for them that they can’t even focus on basic survival. One chapter, they’re masterminding a political betrayal with military strategy, and the next, they’re too busy crying over their love interest or forgetting to eat until a “big, strong man” reminds them. Really? This is the fate-chosen ruler?
It’s just so unrealistic. If you’re in a war, you don’t have time to daydream about whether your brooding enemy-turned-lover secretly likes you. You have priorities—like not dying, for instance.
Anyway, I just want to see more FMCs with consistent agency and intelligence. Yes, give me romance, give me angst, give me emotional depth—but also give me a protagonist who acts like a person who knows what’s at stake. Is that really so much to ask?
Anyone else feel this way? Or am I just shouting into the void?