The misunderstood bad boy
When I think about this trope all that comes to mind is Wattpad fanfics, which I won’t lie, I read a lot of as a teenager, but the idea of this trope makes me cringe now. I did love it when I was younger though. I would have loved to end up with one of the ‘bad boys’ from those stories, which is hilarious as my actual partner of almost 10 years is a pure golden retriever – he’s a youth worker and has his own dog walking business, so quite literally the opposite of this trope.
I personally think this trope can be done well but it does depend on how the character is written. I’m a fan of ‘hates everyone, but is nice to one specific character’ as this can create a nice dynamic, especially in romance books. However, this is more grumpy x sunshine, in my opinion.
My biggest issue with this trope is reinforcing the idea that the woman needs to ‘fix’ him. Because let’s be honest, this trope mostly exists in hetero romance. It’s a terrible message for young people. Let’s not encourage people to stay in bad relationships because they think they can change them – this is an extreme example, I am aware that this trope is used in contemporary romance with a guy that’s just naughty at school.
I do also think liking this trope depends on the type of reader you are. A bad boy in fantasy feels much more fitting as I do love a good villain, but contemporary books with men that are just plain abusive are not it. It’s all about the context.
Character who doesn’t believe in love
As an avid romance reader I can’t tell you how annoying I find this trope. Obviously this doesn’t refer to a-romantic characters and also not necessarily romantic love. No, I’m talking about the workaholic ‘I don’t have time for anything but spreadsheets’ or ‘I don’t want to let anyone close to me’ type of characters. I rarely find these types of characters very likeable unless they go through a great deal of development to realise that they need people in their lives. You know?
If they have a genuine reason for not believing in love, a-romantic or trauma of some kind, I can forgive it. However, even then I would avoid a book with this trope. When it comes to reading romance, I’m a fan of fluff. You won’t catch me reading dark romance. So you can imagine such cynical characters are not my cup of tea.
I thought I’d have much more of a rant for this trope but I can see the pros and cons. It has the ability to create really great character growth and development. However, it’s all a little too negative for me. Ironic considering the whole point of this post is to be negative.
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