Monday 20 May 2013

Choosing Sides

My friend and I have this ongoing thing where we never like the same love interest in a book. I was Team Gale, she was Team Peeta. I was Team Edward, she was Team Jacob (DISCLAIMER: This was before the movie came out because Taylor Lautner is hot and Robert Pattinson is... well, not!). She shipped Stelena and I shipped Delena. In Enna Burning by Shannon Hale I even fell for Sileph but she knew all along that (spoiler alert!) he was evil.

Once, just once, we agreed on the same character. That was in the Host, and just to be clear, we both loved Ian (duh).

But why are love triangles so popular?  

I get that they create conflict but sometimes I feel like they take over too much of the plot (cough! Twilight). And ultimately, it just sucks when the main character chooses the wrong love interest you weren't rooting for. And right there the author looses half of their fan base!


There are usually five possible situations:


1. You like the 'right' guy. Congratulations! You fell for the same guy the author had in mind the entire time. Unfortunately, you were forced to put up with the main character's relentless debating and cringe through 'romantic' scenes with the other guy. But in the end it wont matter because you will be happy... until the author decides to make the love doves terminally insane, switch point of views, or make a movie out of it and cast only one good looking actor. 


Some examples of books where I experienced this situation are Twilight, the Host, and Vampire Academy.


2. You like the 'wrong' guy (and you didn't see it coming). Sucks to be you because now you have to put up with tons of romance between the main character and the guy you don't like. And what happens to your guy once he's been rejected? You'll never find out. If you're lucky, there will be some offhand comment mentioning he ended up in district three, he's finishing his education at Stanford, or he's off "finding himself" somewhere. Might as well put the book down now and save yourself boat loads of frustration. 


A (huge) example of where this happened to me was while reading the Hunger Games.


3. You like the wrong guy, but you see it coming. By this I don't mean that you're friend already spoiled the ending for you or you saw the movie before reading the book. I mean, you're rooting for the guy who's practically the antagonist. Yikes, I know. 


This happened to me with Shatter Me. I just think Warner and Juliette bring out the best in each other. They need each other. Of course, the series hasn't ended yet so there's still a chance. But I'm like 99.9% convinced she will end up with Adam.


3. The author jerks you in every direction. You go from liking one guy, then he does something stupid and you like the other guy, but then the this guy leaves the picture and you go back to liking the first guy, and just when you think she'll finally settle down, BAM the other guy reenters and steals the main character's heart right back. What just happened? I'm confused...


Unearthly did this to me big time! At first I liked Christian then Tucker then Christian again, and then Tucker again and GAH! I couldn't even remember who I was rooting for by the end of it, I was just happy she picked someone and stuck with it! 


4. You like a guy who's not even in the running. Awkward. 


This happened to me in Legacy. London was just so amazing and it was that far of a stretch to imagine him and Alera ending up together.


5. You don't even like the main character. Um, Twilight. Just saying...


So that's why I don't really like love triangles. They cause more frustration than good and when done incorrectly, they can completely overpower the plot. And yes, by saying that I am implying there is correct way to pull off a love triangle. Take Hourglass by Myra McEntire or Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead for example. Both of the authors managed to create some tension in the form of a love triangle, while not letting it take over the entire storyline. They also didn't conveniently brush off the other love interest. In fact, Myra McEntire switched to Keith's POV for the second book and gave him his own love interest. And Richelle Mead even put Adrian in her spin off series, Bloodlines, which is about Sydney Sage (AH! I ship Adrian and Sydney so hard!). Although I admit to being sceptical at first, I found it to be an excellent tactic for everyone because now people who liked Adrian/Keith get more of them and people who didn't like them at first (i.e. me) get to see them grow and develop as characters and learn to love them too.


Here's a list of some more of the love interests I liked for popular books:



Twilight - Edward 
Hunger Games - Gale
The Host - Ian
Delirium - Alex
Throne of Glass - Dorian
Starcrossed - Lucas
Shatter Me - Warner
The Selection - Maxon
Hourglass - Michael
Vampire Academy - Dimitri
Unearthly - Tucker
Airhead - Christopher
Heist Society - Hale
The Tiger Saga - Kishan
The Diviners - Sam
Firelight - Will
Legacy - London
Clarity - Gabriel
The Steampunk Chronicles - Griffin
Fire - Brigan
Die For Me - Vincent
Bloodlines - Adrian
Mortal Instruments - Jace
The Infernal Devices - Will
And I will forever be:



- Dare ;)

5 comments:

  1. Love triangles and I don't mix. I've never been able to enjoy them, because I feel bad for the one who is turned down. (And usually I end up liking the one who is turned down. Christy is the main one for me. The doctor was so much cooler.) Anyhow, in a strange kind of way, I do enjoy reading other people's rants about which guy is better 8-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol, then you would be the first person I've met who would like listening to me rant! I can put up an argument for hours! :)
      I've started to steer clear of books that have love triangles but I used to read those types a lot and the odd one is actually pretty decent.

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  2. following, can you follow back please?

    (loved the post :)

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    1. Hi :) Thanks for the follow!
      I'd love to follow you back, but unfortunately it wont load :(
      If you could paste a link to your blog in the reply, that would be very helpful! :)
      Thanks :)

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  3. Heyas, remember meee? I haven't been writing for a while, but I FINALLY wrote a short story!!! Do you think you could read it, and tell me what you think?
    http://writtenpaintings.blogspot.ca/2013/06/pink-umbrella.html
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