Finding Happiness in the Unconventional Ever After
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What makes a HEA? What makes a HFN? What if a book is neither? Some books we read, especially in the dark romance and horror erotica realm, lie in another grey area often branded as an unconventional ending. What does that mean and why does it matter? Well, that’s what I’m here to talk about.
Once upon a time, there was a girl who had a great life or so she thought, but she was in a psychologically and emotionally abusive marriage, overworking herself just to make ends meet. This, in due time, made her numb to every emotion under the sun. Not happy, not sad, just numb. She didn’t feel anything, so she turned to the only thing that gave her solace. Books. In books, you could escape from your own life for a while and live someone else’s. So this girl, desperate to feel anything at all, started seeking out emotional books, sad books, depressing books. Anything that would make her feel something, feel alive. That girl is me.
For a time, I sought out lots of emotional reads and books that I was told would make me cry. I sobbed over fictional characters, over their lives and what they endured. I cried at red lights days later thinking about what they went through. But for some reason, I was actually happy because that meant I could finally feel something, even if it wasn’t for myself. Now I could go on and on about emotional reads, but I especially wanted to bring attention to unconventional endings.
What makes an unconventional ending? Sometimes it means a character leaves in some manner, temporarily or permanently. Sometimes it means they end up together, but not in the way you’d have thought. And sometimes it means they end up together but there’s something looming in some distant future that you just know will tear them apart. I’ve read books with all of these and some of them have just made me sad, others have made me stare at the wall for an hour after finishing them.
It’s not often nowadays that you wander into a book with an unconventional HEA or a non-HEA without being properly warned, thanks to trigger and content warnings. Readers often mistake these endings as tragic, which sometimes they are, but a lot of the time you can tell that’s how the story was meant to play out all along. And sometimes you’ll find that the unconventional ending is what you never knew you needed.
Stock Photo from Photographer Celso Osch on Pexels
I will not spoil any books or endings, but there are several books I love where all the signs were there on how it was going to end, but usually in those cases, you just hope you were wrong when you saw them. With horror erotica growing in popularity, I’ve noticed a lot more foreshadowing and tiny twisty details that you can easily go back to after finishing and realize that’s what was happening. I’ve also found I’ve become more suspicious, even if I know going in that it’s going to be a wild ride. The unconventional HEA and non-HEA seem to be growing more popular and I am here for it every single time.
Like most other topics within the romance community, it comes into question whether or not a non-HEA or an unconventional HEA can be considered a romance. I know that the romance genre in general requires a HEA, or at minimum a HFN. My bookish hot take on the topic is that an unconventional HEA and non-HEA can be, at least in some part, a romance. Love is messy and complicated. I’m not saying each and every one belongs in the romance genre and I think that is why we have started to see things shift in the genre, especially where erotic horror is concerned. While most erotic horror tends to say it’s horror with romantic elements, many of the ones I’ve read still seem to have a strong romantic plot line. Is that just my opinion? Absolutely. I’m sure it’s an unpopular one and we are each entitled to our own. But I think writing off a non-HEA or unconventional HEA, or even HFN as “not a love story” is really limiting your options. Tragic love stories exist and have existed for a long time. That unconventional HEA might just be the best book you read all year. I understand why the label might not read romance, but I still believe these stories are worth your time. Keep in mind, this is absolutely my opinion and everything you read is at YOUR discretion.
Why do I think you should read books with non HEA’s or unconventional HEA’s? Because not every story will have a happy ending with a wedding, a white picket fence, and a baby. Some love stories end with a character happy and alone. And that’s ok. If you need a HEA with a baby, that’s absolutely your prerogative and as always, read what YOU want. However, I find that books with unconventional endings tend to be more angst filled and grittier, which is why I love them. I also have found through my own journey that I love to feel and I love to be sad. Reading books offers safe spaces for many reasons and books like these became my safe space to feel my own emotions. In times like these, I feel like some of us need that safe space to let those tears fall. Just put the book in the corner to make it think about what it did, or throw it in the freezer if it gets to be too much. And then recommend it and let it emotionally devastate your friends.