Why I Read Chick-Lit

If you have read my blog for a while or just know me, you know that my favourite book genre is chick-lit/women’s fiction/romance.

Now, the reason I’m actually writing this post is the opinion certain people have about chick-lit. Especially in the beginning I had to listen to that constantly. People think that chick-lit is not serious, not deep and just fun. You also often hear that chick-lit destroys serious literature and that it only deals with typical clichés and stereotypes and portrays them in a overly exaggerated and dramatic way.

I can assure you that is not the case. Of course everyone is entitled to have their own opinion, but that also means to accept what the people around you think. We are all different and have different tastes, which is actually great, because otherwise life would be boring.

Well anyway, lets get back to the actual topic. Women’s fiction talks about individual women/characters and tells their story, that doesn’t always have to be in a fun way. I love a good romance or love story and I really enjoy reading them. I have discovered some wonderful authors over the years /Paige Toon, Holly Martin, Aven Ellis, Jane Costello, Rosie Blake, Lucy Robinson, Linsdey Kelk etc.) and they all give chick-lit their own special spark and also include deeper, emotional and touching elements. It’s all about women dealing with various issues like family, love, health, job, fears etc. They all have a positive as well as a negative side and I actually love the mixture. It makes the books more exciting. Some books might include more fun and romantic bits, others are deeper and include a lot of emotions. This is exactly what I look for in a book. It’s important to me to relate to the characters and in women’s fiction that’s just so easy.

Romance/Chick-Lit doesn’t mean that you don’t talk about deeper topics like family issues or illnesses, they are all included in the stories. I don’t agree with people saying that chick-lit doesn’t deal with real issues and only covers clichés in an exaggerated way. Some books can be like that, but I could list so many books, who deal with all these topics. There is family/friend/sibling rivalry, body issues, loss, mental health and much more. You can take your pick. I actually really adore this wide range, because there’s something of everything and the variety is big, that changes up my reading pile.

Chick-Lit allows me to escape into another world, forget everything around me and follow around the characters. I love being on an emotional journey with the characters, they feel so close and I would say it just makes me happy. And seriously, what’s bad about a light-hearted, romantic read?! I mean t would be the same, if you’re watching a romantic comedy and no one complains about that!

I agree that some chick-lit books can be over the top, but I just don’t read those. In the end it’s your choice and that’s different for each and everyone of us.