Romance Novels Ruined Me

Summary:

When nine-year-old Nichole Perkins picks up her first romance novel, she knows she’s onto something good. Thus begins a lifelong affair with a genre she tries to emulate in her real life relationships, often with disastrous results. Yet even after Nichole realizes she’ll never become the women in her books—and that that’s not necessarily a bad thing—she fears the love she yearns for is only found between pages. Romance Novels Ruined Me is a reader’s journey that takes us through the stages of a typical long-term relationship: early infatuation that gives way to disillusionment and ends in enlightened commitment—with lots of growth along the way, and heroes found in the most unexpected of places.

Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Nichole Perkins writes about the intersections of pop culture, race, sex, gender, and relationships. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

Part of the problem with my pick up of this was that I thought it was going to be an actual book.   While I was expecting chick lit, I received an extremely short biographical essay that attempted to disprove the concept of romance novels being bad.  I do think books can influence our outlooks in life and that is one of the wonderful features about them.  There are clearly some good points about feminism including recognizing and acting on interests without shame.  I appreciate the celebration of the romance genre’s development and becoming more modern.  Romance novels often do get a lot of judgement when it is unnecessary.  I appreciate the sentiment, while also being disappointed in the execution.

Rating: 1 star!

Who should read it? Folks who would judge romance novels, but if you’re looking for a book I don’t think it should be considered as one.