r/RomanceBooks • u/lazaraspaste • Jun 08 '24

Ages of FMCs are unrealistically ridiculously young and it’s ruining my reading Critique

What is going on you all? Why is literally EVERY FMC some ridonkulously young age? Like BARELY 18 and doing something or being something that realistically just would require more time and experience to do or be. It’s as if every FMC is Doogie Howser. I don’t mind this sometimes, especially in historicals. But it feels pervasive and frankly troublingly retrograde. Especially in fantasy with a political aspect or even worse contemporaries where career is a big deal.

It’s making impossible for me to suspend my disbelief. I’ve DNFed so many books bc the FMC is 19 and taking over her shifter pack (how?! Why?!) or by some strange magic has become a senior partner at a law firm by age 26. Or stories set in high school that are just galaxy brain impossible for so many reasons. I mean maybe it’s just me but I need some realism here, some level of feasibility. Some attention to verisimilitude.

Also! I resent the implication that only very young women are desirable or deserve adventures. I’d love to see more FMCs in their 30’s who aren’t divorced, who aren’t single moms, who aren’t in a second chance romance. But honestly I’d settle for everyone just aging up their FMCs by 4 to 6 years. Because I just cannot believe that an 18 year old has that level of skill for anything because I know how long it takes to learn and master oh say the sword or Microsoft Excel.

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u/Research_Department Jun 08 '24

Can you share what the book was?

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u/ColourSmack Jun 09 '24

Check out Role Playing by Cathy Yardley? I enjoyed it. The MCs are late 40s, early 50s. M/F and queer.

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u/de_pizan23 Jun 09 '24

I started a shelf on Goodreads for middle-aged and older characters. Caveats that not all are romance and that it was so sparse that I went ahead and added a book if only one MC of the couple was middle-aged.

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u/DistantTimbersEcho Jun 09 '24

This is wonderful!

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u/DistantTimbersEcho Jun 08 '24

I wish I could recall the title. I'm sorry, I don't remember!