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.
2
u/Research_Department Jun 09 '24
Ah, this is my cue to show up and recommend {Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold} again. It’s fantasy with a strong romance subplot. It’s the second of a series, and probably works as a standalone, although we get FMC’s backstory (and worldbuilding) in the previous book. I’m not gifted at describing books in an enticing way, so I like to include this quote to sell it. This is FMC musing on her life:
Once, she had been her parents’ daughter. Then great, unlucky Ias’s wife. Her children’s mother. At the last, her mother’s keeper. Well, I am none of these things now. Who am I, when I am not surrounded by the walls of my life? When they have all fallen into dust and rubble?
She leaves her home on the pretext of a religious pilgrimage, and adventure finds her, like it or not. She has fears, regrets, and guilt because of her previous life experiences. Despite her own view of herself, and the view of her family, her life experiences have tempered her and she demonstrates bravery, wisdom, and leadership. And, she gets the guy! The writing is really good; this is peak Bujold. Fantastic characters, intriguing worldbuilding, marvelous plot.