On every romance bestseller list in the UK right now (and, indeed, in plenty of countries worldwide) you find After You, Jojo Moyes’ sequel to her internationally bestselling Me Before You.

Although Me Before You has been out – and raved about – for some years now, I have only just read it. As readers we cannot chase every trend, but the popularity of the book, together with the publicity drive for an upcoming movie release, made me sufficiently curious to buy it and try it. Here is the trailer for what looks to be a warm, funny and moving film:

Now, I have a confession to make. I did not know a great deal about Me Before You before reading it, other than that it was a romance novel about a quadriplegic and the young lady hired to be his carer. Often, I prefer to read a book without examining too closely material such as reviews that may contain spoilers. I like to come to a book as a blank slate, ready to be pulled into an entirely new story that will captivate and surprise me.

I was captivated for so much of the book. Then, towards the end, came the surprise when the truth dawned on me: the ending of the book was not, as I had assumed, going to be happy. It was going to be terribly sad.

Was it naive of me to assume the ending would have been happier, a future for the main characters – love and togetherness? Perhaps. Or perhaps not, given that the book is marketing as romance. As Dr. Laura Vivanco, an independent scholar of popular romance fiction, told the Huffington Post: ‘as far as regular readers of novels which are marketed as “romance novels” are concerned, the definition of “a romance novel” does include a happy ending.’

In recent years there has been a move toward more transparency in the ever-growing romance genre in terms of content. Cover art for books with erotic content make clear that the story is sensual. Some imprints promise happy endings; some, like Clean Teen Publishing, promise stories with no bad language or sexual content.

I wonder: should there also be transparency concerning romances with unhappy endings? Here is why:

1. Many readers view romance as intrinsically escapist and uplifting, and therefore expect a happy-ever-after of some sort in a book marketed as romance.
2. Readers who expect a happy ending but encounter a sad one may be disappointed or, worse, upset.

Do you think it would be beneficial to readers to introduce a categorisation system, much like the film industry uses, to allow readers to know at a glance the basic content of a book? Or do you think readers must accept that unless they want to research a book before reading it (thereby knowing the ending before beginning to read), they will sometimes be left upset by an ending? I would love to hear your thoughts.