[Book Talk] What Makes a Bookish Romance Ship-worthy?

15:50 Cilla 14 Comments



It's been a while since my heart has been set aflutter by a bookish romantic pairing. The most recent one that I can think of is Cress and Thorne's scenes in The Lunar Chronicles, and that was well at the beginning of last year! It's not as if I haven't read any good novels with romantic pairings in it; they just haven't managed to turn me into a shipper.

It may simply be that I've gotten more cynical over the years (🖤), but it has made me think about what has me shipping fictional couples together. I came up with the following:

1. Knowing Each Half of the Ship as Individuals

Romance is about the relationship between two people, and if I don't care about those people, I wouldn't be invested in their relationship. Also, as much as I love happily ever after, I enjoy a story more where the characters have lives and goals outside of their romantic relationship. For this reason, I'm all for slow burn romance. Give me character growth, together and apart; give me characters who actually get to know each other first; and eventually, give me that "Oh" moment where the gears shift and they realise they're right for each other all along. 😍

 2. They're Good for Each Other

 Obviously, I'm not going to ship an abusive relationship. Apart from that, I find that lately I'm put off by love interests who repeatedly declare that they're no good for the other character and that they shouldn't be together. Sometimes, they're right. (A case that comes to mind is Christian Grey). I'm all for conflict and obstacles, but at the end of the day, I want the characters to raise each other up and bring out the best in each other.

3. Chemistry

 This is a hard one to talk about, because I haven't been able to put my finger on what makes up chemistry. Sometimes sparks just jump off the page whenever two characters are in a scene together, and that's it! I think maybe a huge part of it is dialogue, but even the wittiest dialogue would come up to nothing if the characters don't work together. Maybe it's the friction and collaboration of the two personalities? What do you think makes for chemistry?
Let's talk!
What makes you a shipper? 
What was the last bookish romance that made you swoon?
Shoot me some romance recommendations!


14 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[The List #3] Trying (and Failing) not to Multi-task

08:00 Cilla 2 Comments



The List is a feature where I hold myself accountable regarding my TBR. This (hopefully) stops me from picking up new books despite my a pile of unread books.

With the new semester kicking off, I haven't been reading much. 😩 I was also trying to stick to one (big) book, but I got bored, so...

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

The Story: It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men, who have met in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. A wealthy man has vanished, a whore has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky.

Why I'm Reading It: My friend and I had a little book swap, and she lend me this one. It turned out to be a brick of a book! It's much more dense than what I probably like, but I'm intrigued by its use of multiple point of views. It's a slog at times, but I've gotten halfway through the book so I'm not giving up now!

Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

The Story: Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full- time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else. Can she handle the taunts of "towel head," the prejudice of her classmates, and still attract the cutest boy in school?

Why I'm Reading It: I've heard about this book for a while, and I couldn't resist when I saw it in the library of the school I'm interning at. So far, it's interesting but also heavy-handed at times. 

The Romance Reader's Guide to Life by Sharon Pywell

The Story: Neave and Lilly Terhune couldn’t be more different. Lilly is a beauty who runs through men like water. Neave, having been told at an early age by their mother that she will not be able to get by on her looks, always has her head in a book. During WWII, when the men are gone, both sisters start working. But when the servicemen return and take back their jobs, Neave and Lilly are left with few options besides marriage. But they have other ideas. But just as their business is truly taking off, Lilly disappears and Neave must figure out what happened. Luckily, she has Lilly’s assistance helping from above, even if she doesn’t know it quite yet.

Why I'm Reading It: I saw it on NetGalley, and the synopsis piqued my interest. I'm not fully loving it at the moment, but I'm hoping it just gets better from here.

What are you reading, or are on your TBR right now?

2 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

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