Hi everyone! Today is day 15 for A Love for Books event! Now the reason I haven't included a name or anything in the title is because today I'll be doing a post! Woo! I'm going to be doing a quick post about what I look for in YA romance! Hope you enjoy!
I'm a helpless romantic, truly. I adore reading romances and secretly always hope that there is just a little bit in every book I read. I wouldn't call myself an expert on YA romances by any means but I certainly know what I like and what I dislike.
What I dislike is instalove. Now I'm sure everyone has heard this before (during this event a couple times) but I feel the need to have my say. I get why some people would like instalove and I'm certainly not going to stop reading a book just because there's instalove in it, in fact some books are actually able to do instalove pretty good. I just don't find instalove to be entirely realistic. Instalust? Of course. But love? No way. You cannot tell me that all you have to do is glance at a guy or a girl and suddenly you want to spend the rest of your life with them, you want to get married and have kids, you'd lay down your life to protect them. Instalove just doesn't always make sense to me. Especially in paranormal romances where lives are on the line so often or they have to face a very powerful foe. I've read books where the character didn't even know the guy's name yet she was so obsessed with him, he filled her thoughts constantly and she just loved him so much. Umm.. how can you possibly do that when you don't even know the guy's name? I just find this kind of romance to be unrealistic, fake, and unappealing (in most cases--some are able to do it right but it's very rare).
I love the romances that have build to them, that take time. I like the kind where they don't immediately start dating but just start hanging out. They don't necessarily have to be best friends for life or anything, but start off as friends to get to know each other. I like to watch the chemistry and the emotion flow between characters, sometimes without their knowledge. I'm not a huge fan when characters just jump into the relationship, I like the build up. Personally, I'd prefer a couple wait until the second half or even the last fourth of a book to get together because I love seeing their feelings grow for each other, to see them discover that they love each other and care deeply for each other. I'm not saying they have to wait several books before getting together because even I can admit that'll get irritating and boring, but I love seeing a relationship between characters grow from strangers, to acquaintances, to friends, to a relationship. It's like a relationship in real life. Wouldn't you much rather go through the journey of finding that special someone in such an amazing and heartfelt way rather than all of a sudden, "Hi! I just met you and I love you!" (heheh Up reference!) I know I would.
Love triangles are pretty iffy for me simply because sometimes they make no sense. I get you're going to love many people throughout your life but are you really going to be in love with two people at the exact same time? I doubt it. I don't mind love triangles that have a character struggling to see who he/she loves. An example being: a character has been really close with this best friend for awhile and may even believe he/she loves that friend on a romantic level. There's something there besides friendship but they aren't quite sure what it is. Then all of a sudden they meet someone else that makes them feel some deep and strong as well, something that they may think is love as well. They struggle with their feelings and try to decide which one of those feelings is romantic love and which is something else. I do not like the love triangles where a character claims to love someone yet goes off and makes out with someone else. I don't think I need an example for that one. It's like when you're married to someone and you decide to go off and cheat on them with someone else (now I get teen romance isn't the same as marriage but you get where I'm going with that). If you truly, truly loved the one your with on the level that you claim to, you wouldn't all of a sudden go make out with some hot guy/girl when your loved one's back is turned. That's not how things work. I think love triangles are all about trying to discover your feelings and finding out these bonds you have with two people, which is real and which isn't quite what you thought. It's not a plot device like some authors are making it out to be and it's not a way just to make up drama or include another hot person in a relationship. That is a big fat no.
While I can tolerate love triangles when done right I can't go beyond that. Seriously, anything beyond that is just beyond stupid and the person is (pardon my language) just being a whore. House of Night, sorry to bring in an actual example but I had to, has a god damn love hexagon at least! At least 6 people Zoey claims to be in love with. Yeah I don't think so! She either doesn't know how to say no when a guy comes on to her or she has some serious issues because there is no freaking way she is actually in love with 6 people at the same time. That is not how love like that works. Authors out there, love triangles are one thing. I can put up with those. But never ever go beyond that, especially not to a dang hexagon! That is beyond extreme and you are just digging your grave there. Harsh I know but true.
Romance in YA can be a complicated or very simple thing. They could all be exactly the same or there could be something there that sets them apart. Romance is, I think, in right now so you can find romance in a lot of novels and there's nothing wrong with that. Really there's not, I love romance, but writing a romance--whether it be a love triangle, instalove, relationship building, or whatever just as a plot device or because you think your book will sell better that way is not the way to go. Romance, to be good, has to be something you want and something you're willing to take the time to actually work on to make it seem real. If you just try and throw something together just for the sake of it, it won't work out for you and people will be disappointed. I know romance is popular right now, especially in YA, but it's not something you can spend like 2 seconds on and call it good enough. You may not think it, but romance takes time and effort to make it seem genuine to the readers and to the characters. Just my thoughts!
Hope you guys liked my post! It was kind of just something I put together and sorry if it makes no sense! What do you guys look for in romance? What do you like? Dislike? Want more of? What do you think of the rare and shocking love hexagon (not even kidding that is an actual thing in House of Night)? Let me know your thoughts!
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~Kayla~
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