1). UGH. OH NO. NOT ANOTHER.
or
2). YAY!! Another team I can root for!! Another uncertain romance!! :D
I feel that love triangles are overused, but sometimes I still find myself enjoying them. It depends on a few things:
The Writing
If the writing is god-awful, the romance is probably going to be horrible too. I detest when books are focused solely around love triangles. Then again, I hate when the love triangle is just a little minuscule thing that's hardly touched upon and then quickly resolved. It needs to be balanced. I can not stand cheesy romance lines (basically all of TFIOS), so that's a game-changer as well.
The Characters
If I don't like the characters, then why would I want to read a love triangle? Why would I root for anyone? I hate when the protagonist goes back and forth between the two and spends the whole series trying to decide who she wants. MAKE UP YOUR MIND. I detest when the two guys in the love triangle become rude and hostile towards one another. I don't expect them to be best friends or anything but civility please!
The Romance
I like romances that develop, no insta-love. I want sweet and cutesy, I want a spark! I want passion and devotion and caring. I want never ending sexual tension. I want to swoon. Call me a romantic. If the romance is horrible well then *throws up hands and leaves*
The Feels
Love triangles bring out all the feels. It swings all over the place: Anger, sadness, bliss, confusion, agitation, dizziness... Love Triangles make us mercurial fools. Love triangles are responsible for making us readers have these emotions and do these things:
I try to stay open-minded when I realize a love triangle is forming, but it's hard. Sometimes love triangles can be a distraction and deviation from the actual plot. Sometimes the love triangle takes over and becomes the true focus of the plot. *cough* THE SELECTION *cough* Sometimes the love triangle can be intriguing and wonderful (The Infernal Devices). Sometimes the love triangle is fantastic.
Do you like love triangles? Which are your favorites? Least favorites?
I pretty much don't like love triangles at all. It usually takes so much focus from the plot. There are so many YA books with awesome world and societies and instead of more world-building I get a stupid love triangle, ugh.
ReplyDeleteIt does pull the focus which can get VERY irritating. Quite true! Thanks for stopping by :)
DeleteI never took much notice for the love triangle, but this year, it and I were over. I've had terrible "shipping" luck (as some may put it). I can't seem to get any right and it's made me a furious monster. Definitely a no in my book no (which is s unfortunate, because I remember how fun it was when I was young...)
ReplyDeleteAww sorry, my shipping sails have been pretty good. Still a few sore loses, but that's life! I still find them fun sometimes, but now it just annoys me and gives me anxiety. xD Thanks for stopping by, and I absolutely LOVE your blog!!
DeleteARGH, Love triangles. I HATE LOVE TRIANGLES! ...Well, most of the time. It really does depend on the writing & the feels & how the triangle started.
ReplyDeleteThere is one book where there isn't a love triangle but I actually want there to be- Pawn. GREAT book. I loved it! :)
Great post Rachel!
~Carissa Bookworm @ The Bookworm Insider
I hope to read Pawn soon! Yeah love triangles can be detestable... Thanks Carissa! :)
DeleteI actually don't mind love triangles as long as it's not done superficially. Like they all have a role in the story, they all have issues, and don't serve mainly to be THE relationship conflict for the MC. Series that come to mind are the Unearthly series and the Throne of Glass series. Those have seriously good love triangles!
ReplyDeleteFaye at The Social Potato
YES AND YES!! Faye, you rock!! I LOVE those two love triangles. :D Same, I don't mind them for the most part. I hate when the relationship takes over the plot though.
DeleteThere are certain factors needed when it comes to love triangles - and I definitely agree to yours :D Have you read Twilight? Obviously, the love triangle continued till the last book, but I wasn't really rooting for anyone haha. (I was okay with both Edward or Jacob.) Am I the only one who doesn't have a certain team in love triangles?? :< (probably.)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Might do this same discussion as well because now I just realized I have a lot to say about thing thing :P
Jillian @ Jillian's Books
Yup, I read Twilight. I hated that love triangle :P I wasn't rooting either xD I'm sure others are fine with either outcome. That's how I was about the Unearthly series. Yay!! Please do ;)
DeleteFantastic post, Rachel :)
ReplyDeleteI have a testy history with love triangles... I had a period where I was utterly and completely convinced that love triangles were the end of literature (pretty heavily influenced by Twilight, which I did not like), but then I realized how closed-minded I was being xD And THEN I read The Infernal Devices, which convinced me that triangles weren't so bad if well-executed.
I agree with you completely; it's absolutely irritating when the MC goes back and forth for the entire book, especially when the triangle takes place in a dystopia/fantasy world where things infinitely more awesome could be taking place :P
oh my gosh, same experience for me!! xD I hate the dilly-dallying. Just PICK darn it. I know right?? More things are important than your darn love life xD
DeleteI don't actually loathe love-triangles either! On one condition though...they HAVE to have 2 well developed boys. I think it's kind of stupid to have two dudes and except me as the reader to care about BOTH when the author is only developing one. Urghhhh that makes me so annoyed. I've read some epic love-triangles that really converted me. Like Shatter Me? That was intense and awesome. And Splintered!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by @ Notebook Sisters!
Same! There needs to be two well-developed guys!! That's a MUST. It's unfair and annoying when only one is developed... Anytime, Cait ;)
DeleteI also feel dizzy with love triangles. It irks me when the main protagonist jumps off from one boy to the other because she knows that she mean something to them etc. It irritates me more when since the very beginning there's already the main love interest but the third wheel comes barreling in to spice up the romance! The third wheel is always always at the disadvantage - IT HURTS ME!!!! I like a love triangle that involves characters with independent personality. They develop on their own and not just because of the romance. And I especially like a love triangle that has a closure and maturity.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite love triangle would be Jem - Tessa - Will (SUPER DUPER FAVE!). Currently read Splintered and I must say that the love triangle there is exciting though I still don't know who to root for. I like the characters the way they are without the jarring romance. :D
Great discussion, Rachel!
I know right?? Poor third wheel, always being used. Same!! I'd like to see development for the sake of development on its own. Not because of the romance... I love love triangles with cutesy closure ;) JEM WILL AND TESSA ARE PERFECTION. Hmmm, I need to read Splinter!! Thanks Abby :)
DeleteI don't HATE triangles. They're pretty interesting sometimes and it's nice seeing the "drama". What I detest is when there's clearly a winner in the triangle but then the drama is dragged along the whole book (or series). I also dislike when the triangle takes priority over everything else.
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing your thoughts on this!
Gotta love the drama ;) Same, I hate when we can tell who the winner's going to be from the beginning. I want to be surprised, I want to see how things play out. I want to be entertained!! It shouldn't take priority, yet it seems to a lot. Thanks, Marianne! :)
DeleteNever ending sexual tension? Euhhh, I don't know if that's even possible lol. Is it?? Maybe in The Lux series. XDD I agree that slow romances are the best. I don't necessarily MIND the idea of love-triangles but they often turn out to be pretty sucky. :P
ReplyDeleteoh it's possible ;) haha definitely in the Lux series. Slow romances are wonderful <3 Haha yes they do.
DeleteI only hate a love triangle if it gets dragged on for too long or if the one caught in the middle can't decide which love interest to choose, don't be greedy!! Hahaha :P T
ReplyDeleteThe love triangle is exactly the reason why I don't think I'll be reading The Selection series. I heard it plays a pretty big part and I don't think I can stand it :(
It seems that lots of people who use love triangles tend to drag them out forever. Yeah it does play a pretty big part. The romance is cute though ;)
DeleteHi, Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI've recently nominated you for the Liebster Award on my blog. Check out the details at http://thebibliophilism.blogspot.com/ :)
Aww thank you!
DeleteLove triangles do depend an awful lot on how it is executed, and therein lies how I take the love triangles. And agreed, I detest in when the two love interest act like jealous monkeys, but love it when they are friends who won't let anything stand between them! And I know right!? The love triangle in Selection was so annoying.
ReplyDeleteI do love the friendship route. Jem and Will :D I HATED the love triangle in The Selection.
DeleteSee, exactly! I have a love/hate relationship with love triangles, I don't detest them but they vary from each book. Definitely depends on the writing and how you like the characters. And mainly just how it's written too, if it has any significance to the plot other than just being a love triangle, if that makes sense. It's all about the execution. I really did like the love triangle in the VA series, and I've hated so many I can't even remember one, haha.
ReplyDeleteI liked the VA love triangle because it was small and off to the side. It didn't take over the whole series.
DeleteI don't like them eighter! every book has one ugh -.-
ReplyDeleteI think they're okay :/
DeleteI am not really a fan of love triangles, I think they are used far too often now. And a lot of the time they become the main focus of the book, which I absolutely hate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the last bit! They are used far too often as a technique to use as part of the romance. I think it takes away from the romance though because of the jealousy and the confusion that comes with the love triangle and the splitting romance between two guys...
DeleteI wrote my own love triangles post not too long ago, and what it basically boiled down to for me was that they have to serve a purpose. Like in The Grisha Trilogy, the two different guys brought out different sides to the MC (not just romantically, and never annoyingly two-faced).
ReplyDeleteQuite true, they need to serve a purpose!! none of this unnecessary nonsense ;)
DeleteI usually hate love triangles since sometimes it would be set up as one guy/girl is portrayed negatively while the other is portrayed positively. It just doesn't seem fair to anyone when that happens.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind love triangles usually. Yeah I always feel bad for the guy who loses :(
DeleteI think I'm pretty much on the same page as you when it comes to love triangles. It depends on how they're done. I pretty much always end up liking the person the MC likes/ends up with in the triangle automatically so I don't always think about it actively when reading, unless the MC ends up with the other person. Then I get pretty frustrated. Loved this post, btw! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jessica! I usually like the person the MC ends up with too, so I'm okay with it even if my team loses. ;)
DeleteI prefer to not read about love triangles mostly because the protagonist NEVER falls for the love interest I root for. It makes me wonder if I'm flawed because apparently, the least desirable of the two love interests sends my heart into a-flutter.
ReplyDelete- Jackie
Yeah it's annoying when your ship doesn't win :( Haha don't worry, that happens to me too ;) Nah, you're not flawed!
DeleteI'm not crazy for love triangles, because I love happy endings; but they do make stories interesting.
ReplyDeleteI Really Really Think That Kaden is Going to Win HA!
ReplyDelete