Love Triangles - Good Guys and Bad Boys by Sophie from So Many Books, So Little Time

Today we have one of my favourite blogging buddies, Sophie from So Many Books, So Little Time here on the blog (Hello Sophie! *friendly wave*)

Sophie is here today talking about LOVE TRIANGLES. Do you love 'em, do you hate 'em, let us know in comments! Thanks Sophie, over to you...

To find out more about Sophie, please do visit the following links:

So Many Books, So Little Time ... Sophie on Twitter

If you read YA on a regular basis then you’ll be very familiar with the love triangle; in fact, you may even be hard pushed to find a popular YA novel without one. I’d been thinking about love triangles a little before the lovely Clover announced that she’d be hosting another brilliant Love Month and so when I received her email, I knew immediately that it’d have to be my topic.

I began thinking about how there is always the good guy who is possibly the sweetest person in the world and worships the ground the heroine walks on and then there is the bad/dangerous guy. He is disinterested, angsty, occasionally insulting and almost positively the cause of many tears. And usually, the bad boy walks away with the heroine. Not always, but very often, and I was just thinking about why that is because I usually end up shipping the bad guy, too...

There’s just something extremely attractive about them. They are often darkly beautiful with smouldering eyes and a deep voice as smooth as melted chocolate. And I want one. That’s what these characters do – they make you want to be a part of their world in a way that the sweet guys just don’t. These poor YA protagonists don’t have a chance really.

The first triangle to spring to mind is Clary, Jace and Simon from Cassandra Clare’s fantastic Mortal Instruments series. Simon feelings for Clary were obvious from the first time we see them together, and so is Clary’s purely platonic love for him. Though my heart ached for him, I wanted Clary to have Jace because he’s awesome. Actually, he’s incredibly damaged, removed, snarky and rude and yet I absolutely adore him, as does Clary. Clare does it again in the Infernal Devices with Tessa, Jem and Will. Once again, I’m in love with the bad boy. Will is very much like Jace; he has Romantic sensibilities and is very dark and damaged yet it’s he who captures me. Even in the beautiful face of the badly suffering, sensitive and funny Jem. But as there’s still one more book to go in the trilogy, we don't quite know which boy Tessa will choose...

All of the famous (in the YA world) love triangles are from paranormal series: The Hunger Games, Twilight, Vampire Academy. And don’t get me wrong, I was very invested in each of these and the protagonist chose the guy I wanted each time; and in these examples, not always the bad boy. I’m reluctant to be specific in case I give something away for those who haven’t finished/read the series yet! I struggled to think of triangles in contemporary YA and of the two I came up with, one fit the paranormal good/bad guy decision and the other was even more difficult for the protagonist because of them both being brilliant heroes.

The first is Jenny Han’s Summer trilogy; the book that began my thoughts about love triangles as with the first book I found it nearly impossible to reach a decision on which boy to champion by the end of the novel. I still couldn’t decide in It’s Not Summer Without You. Now, at the time of writing this, I’ve haven’t yet read book three, though the paperback is on pre-order, so I have no idea how the triangle plays out. I constantly switch between damaged, enigmatic Conrad and fun, loyal and completely besotted Jeremiah who is the reasonable choice, and yet I just can’t commit. I really do feel for Belly. This is perhaps the hardest love triangle I’ve ever come across.



This, however, is one of the easiest for me: Georgia, Dave and Massimo from Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. I began reading this series before I even knew what a love triangle was and as the later books came out and I remained a Georgia fan-girl, I began to take sides. First there was the gorgeous Sex God himself, Robbie, but I soon realised that was just too serious for Georgia. Then came the Italian-American Luuurve God, Massimo, but Georgia just confused him, to be honest. Who was left? Dave the Laugh, a boy funny and ridiculous that he had to be with Georgia (well, I think so, anyway!). unlike lots of YA love triangles, there wasn’t a bad guy. All three boys were awesome and I would quite happily go out with any of them. But I guess you’ll just have to read this painfully funny (seriously, you will have cramp from laughing) series to find out who she chooses.

As you can probably tell, I love a good love triangle whether the protagonist ends up with the good guy or the bad boy. The only thing that matters to me is that she gets the guy I want her to!

Thanks for having me, Clover!