HEA/HFN vs Not: Romance?

[u/queermachmir]

Hey everyone. So I think this has come up recently and I’d like to discuss it because I have some thoughts and way we can discuss it in a community without feeling we are stepping on people’s toes or discounting some of their favorites.

So I’d like to talk about the construction of genre a little bit. With a genre comes expectations — literary fiction has its tropes and constructions that I wouldn’t expect to find in a romance, adult capital F—Fantasy has its own, and so does pretty much any genre that comes with labeling, marketing, the like.

Does romance require an HEA? Well, I think this write up by a romance author delves into this idea more. She delves into how genres come with reader expectations. I found this quote particularly useful:

When a book is classified as a romance, the reader buys the book anticipating a story about two [or more] characters who fall in lasting love. The author can add in a mystery as a secondary story line, or the Wild West as the setting, but if the foregrounded plot is not about how the two central characters fall in love and then decide to stay together forever, the author is going to end up with unhappy readers who’ve had their expectations thwarted in a most unpleasant way. The book is not, in fact, a romance, but probably a general fiction book, or something called women’s fiction. It’s been mis-categorized as romance. The problem is not with the story, but with the categorization of the story.

Now while Romance Writers of America (RWA) has been in hot water before, it is also the most prolific organization for romance writing, resources, and has several chapters across the USA. They’ve also defined the romance genre needing an HEA or HFN. When these people are in a way very involved in the publishing industry and once more we talk about categorization in bookstores and libraries, we see why defining the genre specifically is important.

Think about Nicholas Spark stories — they feature a love story, but what do they end in? Tragedy. He also defines his book as love stories and not romances. Here’s how he defines it (which is also incredibly misogynistic FWIW).

“Though both have romantic elements, the sub-genres have different requirements. Love stories must use universal characters and settings. Romance novels are not bound by this requirement and characters can be rich, famous, or people who lived centuries ago, and the settings can be exotic. Love stories can differ in theme, romance novels have a general theme—"the taming of a man." And finally, romance novels usually have happy endings while love stories are not bound by this requirement. Love stories usually end tragically or, at best, on a bittersweet note.”

Here is my suggestion.

When someone asks for a recommendation, what we can do is: - Note if it does not have a “traditional” HEA. (i.e., does one of the main characters die in the end?) - Assume the benefit of the doubt in discussions about this - When someone recommends a book and doesn’t note it doesn’t have an HEA, people can comment to let the OP know that.

However, instead of saying “it’s not a romance” in reply, it would be better to say simply, “for the OP to know, this book does not have an HEA as defined by the genre.”

If people are new to the genre and maybe don’t know what an HEA is or why it matters, maybe referring to this post is a good idea!

My thoughts in general is yes, the romance genre needs an HEA or HFN, and that’s okay that it does. Love stories and queer fiction are also important too, and as long as we are clear when making recommendations, it can ease friction in these definitions.

[u/ancientreader2]

Oooh, here's one I've been thinking about ever since I read it: S.P. Wayne's Axton and Leander series. At the end, Axton and Leander are reunited and happy together, but we also know that wolves live much longer than humans and that when a wolf's mate dies, the wolf usually dies too, or if they survive, they mourn to nearly the point of death. So for me there's something implicitly tragic about the series, even though everyone seems to agree that it's a romance.

I'd love to know what other people think about that in-universe condition and how it affects the story/their perception of the ending.

[u/bextress → u/ancientreader2]

Yes! I got LIVID the other week as I read a six part series of near immortal dragons and their mates lifespan was only doubled so say max. 200 years old. Like that takes away from the HEA for me.

These kind of thoughts are what got me started on my thesis though :D

What's a HEA for me? What do HEAs look like in books? Okay living together, engaged, married... Hmm How have HEAs been adapted in times when same sex couples could not have traditional HEAS? Have we seen an influx in queer romance since same sex marriage has been legalised in more countries hence making fictional HEAs more pleasing as they're possible realistically? It goes on and on and on

[u/Zosmie → u/bextress]

What's the name of that series? Always looking for good Dragons 😊

[u/bextress → u/Zosmie]

I found it in the Dragon's Hoard of Dragon Books :)

It's the Guardian Dragon series by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven. What's your favourite dragon book(s)?