“not part of the Romance Genre” and “no romance” are two different things.
To me “no romance” means there is 0 depiction of a romantic relationship, romantic attraction, or desire for those things from any main/POV character. There is no character who could conceivably be labelled a ‘love interest’ (in the allo sense of the word)
Because these things are often not black & white, I am also including some books that have less than average romance (especially if they’re often on ““no romance”” lists without any clarification) - because I figure those are also probably of interest; and also the occasional book that subverts romance expectations in some way. Read the notes for clarification! (I figure a more extensive list of things that might appeal regardless is helpful!)
I’d love to only include books that I’ve double checked for amatonormativity etc, but I don’t have time to reread them all, so some of these may have that. Feel free to add any notes you might have in the comments!
jjclaptonwrites // wirewalking // ninja-muse // my aro/ace book database // my tumblr post of no romance recs (to start you off)
check booktriggerwarnings if you need to, I have not mentioned CWs about any of these books. this is a bit of a work in progress still :)
These are all books I have read, but some of them it was years ago, notes and ‘level of romance’ tags are by memory and sometimes subjective depending on what I was expecting going into the book. Just take it as a vague indication on the most obvious things!
(remember to click load more to show the rest of the entries!)