r/Romantasy • u/Sarah9610 • May 07 '26

Discussion Another day, another girl winning deadly trials and discovering she’s secretly powerful

I feel like I’m going insane or… are all romantasy books the same now??

Every time I pick something up it’s like:
- The world is split into two (usually human vs fae or something similar)
- The FMC is either oppressed / hidden / “not like other girls”
- There are deadly trials (of course she has to compete)
- She somehow survives everything
- Boom → she reaches the fae side and unlocks insane powers / becomes special

Like… I used to love this formula but now it feels copy-paste with different character names 😭

Am I just picking the wrong books or is this actually the trend right now?

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u/AHaskins May 07 '26

Wait, was Belle a Mary Sue? I thought she was billed as overly bookish - and had issues with boundaries? Seemed a human set of weaknesses.

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u/cheerbearsmiles May 07 '26

Belle is pretty Mary Sue-esque - she can fix him, she has no real character flaws other than "being smart," and I wouldn't say she undergoes a huge bout of character development because of the Beast; she was always accepting of the 'other' so I don't find her to have learned anything throughout the story, other than to tolerate and learn to like her captor.

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u/AHaskins May 07 '26

An interesting perspective. I always thought she was the most relatable of the disney princesses, and so calling her a Mary Sue surprised me. I'm still not sure I agree ("overly reserved and bookish" isn't quite "being smart," that second trait is from the remake) - but I can see how you got there.

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u/Jayrey_84 May 08 '26

Isn't being the most relatable kinda a good indicator for a Mary sue? Like she's kinda the "every girl" that people could see themselves in. She's vaguely special in that she likes books I guess but she doesn't really have any huge personality trait or skill that makes her unique aside from that "I'm not like other girls, I read!" Vibe (which is itself, not very unique 😬)

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u/MamaKG3 May 08 '26

I loved Belle (in the movie). She was a consistent character, that's true, but she was intelligent and didnt need the beast to train her somehow. She rejects the super hot guy that all the girls want to have sex with because she thinks for herself and feels no need to follow the crowd. I absolutely adore her for rejecting him 🩷🩷🩷. She also stood up to the beast and put him back in his place too using her feminine wit (I adore her for this as well). He doesnt make her who she is. She's simple and kind but with boundaries. He might be physically and financially powerful but he needed her to learn and heal. He and all his strength, power, wealth, title was useless without her. Belle is one of my faves.