E67: Kill Your Alpha Holes - The Rise of the Dark Romance Antihero from Pages and Prejudice

Ella Dawson (@brosandprose on bsky and instagram) is an NYC-based sex and culture critic and the author of But How Are You, Really, a romance novel about college reunions and millennial angst. She is also the host of the Rebel Ever After podcast about progressive romance novels.

If I’m going to suffer at the hands of a man, I would at least like a little narrative consistency.

Hosts Adrie and Stitch explore the history of the romance hero — from bodice-ripping pirates to soft cinnamon rolls — and why the sociopath anti-hero is making a loud, alarming comeback. Then they sit down with Ella Dawson (Rebel Ever After podcast, But How Are You Really?) to talk about why readers are drawn to these narratives, what the rise of dark romance says about hetero pessimism and the modern dating landscape, the genre collapse between erotica and romance, and why asking "why do you like what you like?" shouldn't be a threat.

Topics: dark romance, alpha heroes, romance tropes, genre criticism, consent in fiction, BookTok, feminist theory

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

The Songs of Submission series by CD Reiss
The Right to Bear Arms by Vivienne Savage
To Conquer a Highlander by Mary Wine
The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning
Devoured: The Serpent and the Pomegranate by Eunren and Gamjajeon
One Night Only by seowoo
Love is an Illusion: the Queen by Fargo
Steel Under Silk by snob
The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Pot Shot by Laura Piper Lee
Willing Prey by Allie Oleander
Back for Seconds by Betty Corello

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

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