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Ahh, trashy reads… When life gets messy – or virus- and lockdown-ridden – a trashy read is equivalent to eating an entire chocolate bar. There may not be lots of nutrients, but there’s plenty of yumminess (and that’s not because men are frequently described as ‘delicious’).
At least, that’s what I thought when I recently decided to read some trashy novels. It will be fun, I thought. Not too straining on my mind, I thought. Just a relaxing read, I thought.
I thought wrong. Because the trash made me so frustrated that I ended up having to re-evaluate what trashy reads are.
Maybe some definitions are needed… (Disclaimer: these are my own interpretations and not in-any-way researched.)
Definitions
Trashy reads
I’ve come to think of trashy reads as books with undeveloped characters and unrealistic tropes (some of which are pretty darn problematic but portrayed as ‘cute’ – awww). These tropes are, in my opinion, cringeworthy.
Trashy reads are most often romance novels, but there are plenty of romance novels that are not trashy.
Most of the trashy reads I know have plots centred around: mistakenly accusing someone of cheating; high school romances; best friends dating; pregnancies the father doesn’t know about; and dating a sibling’s friend. None of these plots immediately make a novel trashy, but they do feature commonly in trashy reads.
These plots can be done well, but the books that do them well are more likely to fit into the next category: lighthearted reads.
Lighthearted reads
A lighthearted read is what I should have gone looking for instead of trashy. These reads have tension that is realistic within the story context. They may be romance novels, like most trashy reads, but the characters have a stronger voice/personality. Often, the expected tropes are turned around and there’s more originality in the story.
Easy reads
An easy read is a book that doesn’t have overly complex language. This is not a sign of a bad writer, by the way – it’s a style choice. A trashy or lighthearted read is not necessarily an easy read, and an easy read is not necessarily a trashy or lighthearted read.
What makes them trashy?
I usually find at least some of the following tropes/scenes/characters in books that fit my definition of trashy reads:
- Excessive descriptions of what female characters are wearing and how their outfits make their boobs look.
- Overprotective brothers with unhealthy sibling relationships. Like seriously, your sister can make her own choices. The brother acts like he owns his sister until she gets a boyfriend and then another man owns her. No. Wrong. Incorrect, fictional brother.
- Male love interests that always pick the women up. And not like ‘she fell and he helped her up’ picking her up. Like ‘he picks her up every two seconds because she’s an object on a shelf’. It’s weird.
- Characters that are judgemental of everyone’s sexual experience except their own. Do I even need to explain why this is problematic?
- Tickling. I kid you not – everyone tickles each other. This is, apparently, a sign of a close relationship. Because no close relationship is allowed to have personal boundaries.
- Spin the bottle or truth or dare. Or that stupid cupboard game where they go in there to kiss.
- Lots of Mary Sue’s and Gary Stu’s.
- Little-to-no representation of any kind except white people.
I’ve just closed my eyes and breathed out slowly to calm myself cause all these things… all these things! I’m getting more worked up as this blog post goes on.
Do trashy reads belong in the trash?
If trashy reads have any of the above – yes, they belong in the trash. Please stop. Seriously. When a brother picks up his sister and she wraps her legs around his waist as he carries her around… it has gone too far. Just no. I can’t.
I think trashy reads have a reputation as being lighthearted and easy reads. This is not always so but, even when it is, there are other, better options.
Do we need trashy reads?
If we need a lighthearted and easy read, there are plenty out there that are not trashy. These are the ones we need to reach for on our shelves when we need something that’s not mentally taxing.
When I started writing this post I was expecting to end it with ‘yes – we need trashy reads because trashy reads are fun’ but actually, after reading a few too many trashy novels lately (even one is too many), I could not disagree more! I’ve lost many a brain cell. Maybe the polite way to say I didn’t like the trashy reads I read is to say that I had no trouble deciding whether I liked them or not, but I think I’ve passed politeness.
If a trashy read is a chocolate bar, that chocolate bar has gone off and melted in the wrapper. I love chocolate and chocolate bars do not deserve the comparison.