Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels

"Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels"

By Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan
    
     This isn't a "romance novel" per se, but a very self-aware celebration and critique of everything that typifies your standard romance novel. (It's all very tongue-in-cheek, but be advised: the authors admit that they love romance novels, though they do call them "trashy.") In the process, they create what they call the "Smart Bitch Laws" regarding how lovers of romance novels should address what they love.

     Neither Wendell nor Tan pull and punches in their analysis of the genre; their delivery and writing style is blunt, conversational, and often profanity-laden-which is part of its appeal to the tongue-in-cheek, been-there-done-that reader. They detail overused tropes that romance readers know, love, and love-to-hate, including: "My reputation is ruined!", "Pirates!", "Heroine is suddenly unfrumpified and suddenly magically self-confident," "Vampires and werewolves everywhere," and of course "The Big Misunderstanding," including a board-game chart of character archetypes, plot twists, and corny dialogue - with, as they put it, "a lot of humpin'."

     They ultimately dedicate a large portion of the book to defending the genre, saying that romance books celebrate happiness (and as they say very clearly "happiness is good") while subverting social expectations. They also make a convincing argument that one of the reasons why the romance genre gets such a bad reputation may be because of the intended audience (again, they don't sugar-coat their arguments.). If you are a lover of the romance genre, read this book-they go through every single straw-man argument that lovers of romance novels deal with.

     Interestingly enough, they also tackle problematic issues in romance novels (for example: the relatively common trope of sexual assault, racist stereotypes in stories) and offer some thoughts on why they're so persistent. Of the issues people bring up with the romance genre, I find these two in particular to carry the most merit, and I'm glad that Wendell and tan are aware enough to face these issues head-on.

     There is very blunt discussion of sex and sexuality in this book-enough so that I won't mention anything explicitly in the review, but I will say that I would not recommend this book to anyone under the age of 18. However, if you're reading this book, the authors assume you have most likely read at least one romance novel and assume you're aware of what happens in them. Be prepared to have quite a few laughs at how they address the topic.

     Finally, and most interestingly (for me) was that the book included an entire section lambasting romance covers, as well as providing several mad libs for readers to "write their own romance." The scripts are remarkable accurate, and wonderfully ridiculous when you read them completed.

     Overall, it's a remarkable analysis of the genre from two intelligent women. I would highly recommend this to the adult, seasoned reader who loves "trashy" romance novels, especially anyone who feels they have to defend their interest in them.

Marisa