You all know I really enjoy giving lovey-dovey suggestions- but I wanted to change things up this year and give some utterly UNROMANTIC suggestions!
You– unless you consider stalking romantic… But seriously, I love how this twists the whole rom com genre on its head and shows you the dark side of obsession.
It’s Always the Husband– because no matter how good you think a marriage is, if you’re going to wind up as a murder victim in a thriller, then it’s always gonna be the husband. Till death us do part and all that jazz.
The Catch– speaking of “too good to be true”, this book will have you questioning every single squeaky clean great guy dating your loved ones…
Rock Paper Scissors– one of the best thrillers I read all year, you’ll be in for a wild ride and left to figure out if love is all a twisted game…
The Silent Patient– and if you need any more proof of unhealthy obsessions going too far, then look no further! Incorporating psychotherapy and Greek mythology, this book will have you questioning everything. In a good way 😉
Frankenstein– I mean, aside from the monster, this has a pretty wacked idea of romance.
The Picture of Dorian Gray– learn to love yourself… and no one else! 😉
Wilder Girls– this is gory and weird and it even has a hint of doomed sapphic romance- definitely one to add to your anti-Valentines TBR.
Horrorstor– but if you need something a bit more straight-up-spooky, then take a turn in a haunted (ripoff IKEA) furniture store. One things for certain, the only concern you’ll have for your heart by the end of the night is whether you’re going to need a bypass.
The Sociopath Next Door– and if you need to be even more creeped out, you can check out some non-fiction on the real-life terrors in our midst (should probably add that this is statistically very low, but still, I’m gonna go for the sensationalised stats, since this is the season for optimism 😉)
The Prince– I mean, he does teach “it’s better to be feared than loved, if one cannot be both”- so I guess that rounds off this list nicely! Why woo someone when you can terrify them? I always think sneaking up on someone, putting your hands over their eyes and saying “guess who” works nicely 😉
Great Expectations– sometimes great expectations don’t pay off 😉 and nothing screams bad romance more than a woman stuck in a wedding dress for eternity 😉
Okay that’s my anti-Valentines list! What do you think? Will these be sufficient to put you off romance? Or do you have more suggestions? Let me know in the comments!
the orang-utan librarian 
Love the fresh take on love. Frankenstein does have a love interest but its a rather odd one. But then the whole book is odd…
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Love this post!! Ah Miss Havisham, if only she had some friends to tell her to get a grip…Agree on Rock, paper, scissors – one of the best thrillers I’ve read in ages.
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Not sure if it’s just me, but that final picture doesn’t show up but instead shows a blank pix that says “view this post on instagram”
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Oh that’s annoying! I’ve tested it on a couple of things that don’t have Instagram and it’s coming up, so not sure what the problem is! Ah well, doesn’t really matter, it’s just a drawing of miss havisham
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It might very well be me. I recently switched over to another blocking software on my laptop, so that is the most suspect thing.
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Haha, such a fun post! And I love your artwork!
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Thank you!! 💕💖
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And if you read the original ending of “Great Expectations” (rather than the one the publishers forced on him) you get an extra anti-Valentines treat.
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I love that you mentioned that, cos to me that’s the real ending (it’s the one that works best for the book in my opinion!) and I was thinking about it when I wrote this list!
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Aah, I love The Silent Patient, it’s such an amazing book! And I’ve also heard a lot about Wilder Girls- it’s on my TBR!
This was a great post, loved your artwork!
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I love this post but I don’t think anything can ever make me not love romance!! 😊💕
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“The Woman Who Walked Into Doors.” Abused wife, set in Ireland. Amazing writing.
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Out of all of these I find Hardy’s the most disturbing, mostly because he’s based it on observed character. The Prince, I wonder that he had a sense of humour 🙂 Shelly’s is sad though.
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This post is hilarious and interesting at the same time. I do read romance novels but not that many anymore. It really depends on my mood. Horrorstör sounds amazing, I will take a look at that later.
The boyfriend and I usually don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day because we don’t really see a reason and our anniversary is in two weeks, so we’d rather do something nice then.
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Great list! I don’t like that Frankenstein cover.
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The Husbands Secret and Gone Girl
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Nice! I added a couple to my list. The only one I’ve read was The Silent Patient…
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Fun anti-romance list! If I were to make a similar list, I might add books like Every Last Secret by A.R. Torre and Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian.
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I love the list! My favorite inclusion is The Picture of Dorian Gray. As a huge Oscar Wilde fan, it’s a very worthy inclusion!
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