,
Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book

The idea of radical romance was inspired by the reading I've been doing this year and by a call to action issued by author Adriana Herrera @ladrianaherrera:
"I would say this in addition to read romance. I would say come into romance with a critical eye. I would also say, WE NEED TO DECOLONIZE ROMANCE. Because what we have as canon leaves a whole lot out..."

To me decolonized romance is intersectionally feminist romantic fiction that cultivates social justice. These stories model and/or advocate for equality with regard to race, gender and sexuality, and ability; masculinity without toxicity; and a multicultural society without the hierarchy. Last, but definitely not least, these are emotionally satisfying romantic narratives that never lose sight of the happy ever after.

Read anything that fits the bill? I NEED YOUR INPUT. THIS LIST ONLY WORKS IF IT'S INCLUSIVE. Please add, vote, comment, like and share! #RadicalRomance #Decolonizeromance
1

by
4.04 avg rating — 1,291,252 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.86 avg rating — 516,677 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
3.78 avg rating — 214,010 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.80 avg rating — 187,237 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.97 avg rating — 477,792 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.98 avg rating — 113,412 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.82 avg rating — 10,730 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.85 avg rating — 28,653 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.97 avg rating — 15,514 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.39 avg rating — 4,493,402 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
3.81 avg rating — 13,214 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.02 avg rating — 2,088 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.28 avg rating — 697,543 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.26 avg rating — 214 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.87 avg rating — 9,485 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.06 avg rating — 9,529 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.05 avg rating — 3,379 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.06 avg rating — 104,198 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6,038 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.69 avg rating — 11,319 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.28 avg rating — 6,399 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.92 avg rating — 98,426 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.63 avg rating — 25,416 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.78 avg rating — 16,375 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.60 avg rating — 35,973 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
3.96 avg rating — 2,641 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.03 avg rating — 4,576 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.30 avg rating — 6,875 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.75 avg rating — 5,719 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.53 avg rating — 139,016 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.01 avg rating — 6,378 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.16 avg rating — 85,083 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.02 avg rating — 26,342 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.16 avg rating — 982 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.91 avg rating — 16,199 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
3.67 avg rating — 19,343 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.90 avg rating — 5,359 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.78 avg rating — 5,615 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.20 avg rating — 29,488 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.91 avg rating — 565,474 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.22 avg rating — 8,626 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.82 avg rating — 29,196 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.76 avg rating — 57,917 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.69 avg rating — 5,429 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.95 avg rating — 1,811,337 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.73 avg rating — 10,594 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.31 avg rating — 804 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.93 avg rating — 4,029 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.02 avg rating — 27,558 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.05 avg rating — 12,194 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.10 avg rating — 4,080 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.68 avg rating — 21,616 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.60 avg rating — 575 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.82 avg rating — 379,734 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.97 avg rating — 168,128 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,358 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.03 avg rating — 4,621 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.28 avg rating — 5,320 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.78 avg rating — 853,322 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.89 avg rating — 76 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.99 avg rating — 1,172 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.92 avg rating — 7,342 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,995 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.37 avg rating — 16,461 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.91 avg rating — 133,705 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.25 avg rating — 6,073 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.71 avg rating — 2,029 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.01 avg rating — 610,801 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.91 avg rating — 569 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.93 avg rating — 3,950 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.91 avg rating — 13,566 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.98 avg rating — 1,044 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.70 avg rating — 7,751 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,280 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.08 avg rating — 1,836 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.14 avg rating — 5,423 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.98 avg rating — 7,216 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.57 avg rating — 192 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.04 avg rating — 18,304 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.05 avg rating — 7,271 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.61 avg rating — 432 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.88 avg rating — 10,964 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.89 avg rating — 1,218 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.75 avg rating — 3,274 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.81 avg rating — 2,324 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.14 avg rating — 1,407 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.90 avg rating — 707,061 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.65 avg rating — 11,253 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.07 avg rating — 8,926 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.86 avg rating — 43,470 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.88 avg rating — 300,143 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.68 avg rating — 4,023 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.77 avg rating — 133 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.17 avg rating — 1,524 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.89 avg rating — 1,199,958 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.96 avg rating — 2,176 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.07 avg rating — 16,737 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.95 avg rating — 828 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.85 avg rating — 65,047 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.97 avg rating — 23,260 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
293 books · 199 voters · list created December 12th, 2019 by Carole Bell (votes) .
124 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Carole 3930 books
385 friends
Barbara 521 books
13 friends
Sue 2577 books
200 friends
Jessica 1828 books
335 friends
Kelly 3352 books
67 friends
Suzanne 5155 books
91 friends
Valentine 1109 books
85 friends
Allie 1849 books
75 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Mary (new)

Mary While Brokeback Mountain is an incredibly moving love story, it would not be considered a romance based on genre definition (no HEA).


message 2: by Carole (last edited Dec 17, 2019 04:13PM) (new)

Carole Bell Mary wrote: "While Brokeback Mountain is an incredibly moving love story, it would not be considered a romance based on genre definition (no HEA)."
I agree. It doesn't fit the genre. I have a soft spot for it because I think it tells an important story. But you're right. My fault. I violated my own rules. Will remove.


message 3: by N.J. (new)

N.J. Lysk I'm so excited to have found this list! Brilliant idea! <3


message 4: by Carole (last edited Jul 01, 2020 12:42PM) (new)

Carole Bell Amber wrote: "I love the idea of this list but I would encourage the rethinking of the word 'decolonize', specifically, when it comes to putting any romance books that have pro-royal/aristocracy/monarchy messagi..."

I hear you and I tend to err on the side of avoiding anything that glorifies monarchy and colonialism for that very reason. The thing about the list criteria is that it's a guideline but the list is crowd sourced. I wouldn't remove the charge to "decolonize" romance from the criteria I listed because its the direction I want the list to go in. That's the aim of the list and the call to arms. Rather than water that down I'd rather reiterate the purpose behind the list and challenge people to keep it in mind!

That said, RWRB has an explicit critique of England's colonial history and the racism and homophobia of the present day monarchy as well so that made it more palatable for me personally even though of course it also has a prince as a hero. But in general I don't nominate or vote for anything that focuses on aristocracy or the monarchy or billionaires to take the modern equivalent.


message 5: by Sally (new)

Sally "Policing women's sexual and romantic fantasy for ideological purity is Woke, actually!"


back to top



Related News

Happy Pride Month, fellow Goodreaders! And behold! To mark this annual celebration, we’ve gathered together a collection of brand-new LGBTQ+...

Anyone can add books to this list.