Dark Romance Vk
Socorro Henson
Dark romance is a subgenre of romance novels with darker themes and mature content. These stories often come with content warnings, morally-gray characters and plots riddled with trauma and violence. Popular tropes that make up a chunk of these novels include mafia, stalking and kidnappings.
If you love your horror with a questionable, intense, and gory romance, then Butcher & Blackbird is the ideal read for you. Usually I am turned off by romance novels, but this one really set the bar high for both the horror and romance genres. It was one of a kind, and I cannot wait for the rest of the trilogy!
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Emotionally understanding the world of the Hunger Games is a lot harder than you would expect for a series about teenagers killing each other. This is the disorienting part of the first four Hunger Games films. I was rarely engaged with the world but a spectator, watching the supposed sad backstories of wooden statues before the meat of the movie (The Games) began. The flourishes of the films cover this up to make it less torturous to sit through. And then, the movie starts to wrap up, and the characters lament how oppressive their world is. However, I rarely get the dominant oppressive feeling the film suggests because I cannot believe these are real people and not actors on elaborately designed sets.
My fleeting interest in "The Hunger Games" (2012) was lost by the end of the second, third, and fourth movies. The low expectations and lack of knowledge of the characters' backgrounds in the Katniss Hunger Games stories made "Songbirds & Snakes" much more interesting to experience. This is a monumental success compared to the first four movies, and it has the most unique presence and story.
How "Songbirds & Snakes" surprises is an exciting, morally complex character like Snow and a love interest in Gray to care about. The duo provides a view of the world's darkness more clearly. We watch the origins of Snow's psychopathic acts, and the love and care that is plentiful at the beginning fade into a controlling and idealistic desire for comfort and power. What is deemed beneficial by a twisted mind often aligns with what the most powerful want for themselves.
There is enough validity to the character to understand why Snow and Lucy have a strong connection. The world and its control design the romance, so the disconnect causing the characters to attract one another makes sense when considering how different each culture is.
The lunacy found in the clothing common of the series has been replaced with the performances. Tom Blyth's unhinged and slowly psychotic Snow is engaging to watch. Rather than a man replicating other people's emotions like a sociopath, we see Snow feel genuinely, and they drive him in a direction that only he can go down. Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Jason Schwartzman also turn in equally charismatic and radical supporting roles.
This truth is in Gray for the first hour. Her spunky, anti-establishment, folksy southern flair (shotty accent included) is redeeming. Her immense kindness to people makes sense, up until a point. The "rebellious" side of her setup at the film's beginning is tested multiple times, and whenever this happens, she is more likely to flee than to stand up to the system. Gray explains what could be a terrifying revelation that the force of the Capitol is too great for her to take on, as if she lacks ambition and is without a goal.
The previously mentioned lack of backbone takes to the central issue that all the Hunger Games films have: the dialogue. The gripping final third of "Songbirds & Snakes" is let down by the fact that the dialogue is blunt and often obnoxious. Characters start talking about the world in a way that makes it feel like they are looking at the audience to ensure they are taking notes. Dystopian young adult movies get some leeway, but I can only give so much, and the film expects a lot of your willingness to believe in the flimsy answers it provides. It is less noticeable thanks to the fast pacing; lines blow past you to get to the next climactic moment, so you can quickly forget the horrible ones.
I appreciate that most of the secondary characters see the idea of The Games ending like a pipe dream, something unchangeable, and that scares them. It gives the oppressive world more weight. The other tributes cannot add to this conversation like the mentors can. When fighting in the arena, they have a line at most to describe who they are, and that redirected screen time gives Gray and Snow more time for theatrical moments of astonishment. The POV of the Capitol is present rather than the citizens of the nation, like in the other films.
The brutal yet modelesque movie is supported by how it is shot. Clearly influenced by Terrence Malick, the action scenes are shot with ultrawide angle lenses and in shallow focus, making the viewer pay attention to particular objects and facial expressions to make the panic come through loud and clear. It is visceral and gorgeous, and the lenses narrow in the quieter moments, giving the character moments strength.
The speed and the intensity of "Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" keep it one step ahead of the viewer. Fans of the previous movies will adore this, and it has enough new and different about it to win over those who had middling interest in the first four movies. Because this prequel certainly won me over. It is a deeply flawed but wonderfully engaging tragic romance that is efficiently replaced by a villain origin story, with emotion getting in the way of what is beneficial to our lead. Snow is consumed by himself and his surroundings, and an origin story on Snow is not something I wanted, but now I am sure it is justified. Welcome to the Capitol, relax and enjoy, but we have one small thing we request of you.
I'm a very visual writer, which means that I do storyboards for all my books. Readers have asked to see them but I've been reluctant because they contain spoilers. But the requests keep coming so I decided to edit the storyboard for my next dark romance, the FALLING/RISING duo so that it would give a taste of the characters and the emotional flow of the story while at least hinting at the conflicts. Here's the result along with an excerpt from FALLING. Please note: the storyboard ends where FALLING does, as the stage is set for the conclusion in RISING. The two books will be published one month apart in 2020.
There was ample space in the room not only for the king-sized canopy bed where I lay but also for a writing desk, built-in bookshelves and a seating area--a couch, two wing chairs and a low table--all arranged near a marble-mantled fireplace. Above the mantle hung a Paul Gauguin from his Tahitian period. On the opposite wall near the door was a Cezanne landscape. Both looked like originals.
I sat up slowly and swung my legs over the side of the bed. The effort took all my strength. Long minutes passed before I tried to stand only to have to sit right back down. Slowly, I persevered, clutching an arm around my chest to ease the pain in my ribs.
A young woman looked out at me. She was pale with bruises on her face, mahogany hair with hints of red and gold, hazel green eyes, a straight nose and a full mouth. I supposed she would be considered pretty without the bruises, maybe even beautiful.
I turned to see my younger brother standing at the open double doors to the gym. He had one shoulder propped against the wall and his arms crossed comfortably over his chest in a pose of indolent ease.
Royce hesitated, his long fingers pulling a roll apart and letting the pieces drop discarded onto his plate. Not much in this world challenged my brother. Finding something--or someone--who did was bound to focus his interest.
I knew he was kidding; neither my brother or I went in for that kind of shit. In fact, the idea of anyone being broken and brainwashed into doing something they otherwise never would was about the biggest turn-off I could think of.
Leaving my brother on the terrace, I went inside. As per my instructions, the girl was in the guest suite closest to the medical facility. By the time I got there, a nurse was hovering outside the door, apparently alerted by Hawsley.
I shrugged past her and stepped into the room. Light streaming through the windows shone on the canopied bed that looked far too large for the slender form in it. Her hair--a mass of deep, rich mahogany with hints of red and gold--fell over her shoulder. She was turned on her side, facing me. Her lips were slightly parted; she was breathing deeply.
My gaze was drawn to the pillowy softness of her mouth. I found myself imagining parting those inviting lips with my own, thrusting my tongue into her even as I slipped a hand down between her legs and--
What the hell? Where was that coming from? She was in my home, under my roof, hurt and vulnerable and I was getting hard off that? Granted, I liked it rough but that also meant strictly consensual with a partner who knew exactly what she wanted. Not anything at all like Sleeping Beauty here.
I caught the edge of desperation in her voice and realized right then that I wanted what she was telling me to be true, however improbable it might be. I wanted her to be exactly what she seemed--a beautiful, innocent young woman wrapped in a mystery. Dependent on me; under my control; for me to unravel to my own satisfaction.
The rise of dark romance on social media has not only gained the attention of many within the online book community but also the scrutiny of many outside of it. Dark romance is characterized by the exploration of complex romantic relationships, which showcase themes of power dynamics, intense emotions, moral uncertainty, and sometimes violence.
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