Romance in Dystopia: Guest post and giveaway with Nazarea Andrews!
Sabah always knew where she belonged—with Berg—and what was expected of her—to care for the other children the Mistress took in.
But when a ban-wolf saves her life, things begin to change.
Arjun isn’t like the other ban-wolves, the savage creatures that are barely human. He’s gentle and furious and as Sabah spends time with him, she can’t seem to get him out of her mind. But in a world of darkness, control, and danger, is there a place for two outcasts?
A romantic retelling of Beauty and the Beast in a dark dystopia.
Romance in Dystopia
So I’ll admit it. I adore dystopian fiction. Like, it’s an unhealthy fascination. I grew up watching the original Planet of the Apes (and Star Trek and Stars Wars, which I *could* argue is dystopia, but I won’t.)
I adore a good ‘what if shit happened.’
I adore it almost as much as smexy tension and a good make out scene.
Here’s the thing. Dark stories are my thing. I like exploring the dark places in our minds, the dark spaces that humanity can go, the things we do to each other when our backs against the wall.
I’m not nice to my characters. I put them through hell and put them in an all-around crappy situations to see what happens. But everyone needs something to fight for, and for me—given my two loves—romance is essential. Because if you aren’t fighting for a happily ever after, what are you fighting for?
I don’t promise my characters or my readers neat tidy endings. This is dystopia, after all. But I always give them something to fight for. I think it’s really important, especially in dystopia. It’s a dark genre, for the most part. And if you have unrelenting darkness without a romance to fight for–to hope for–you end up with a pretty depressing story. And depressing? No one wants that–we read to see somewhere else and to be entertained.
I think that’s what romance does for me. It balances the darkness of dystopia and gives my characters something to fight for, to hope for.
Which, when you consider the crap I put them through and the world they live in, is essential.
Nazarea Andrews is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. She loves chocolate and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, and overgrown dog.
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