Top 10 Tuesday is, as always, brought to you by The Broke and The Bookish. This week: Valentine's Themed!
I decided to do a twist on this topic and I'm going to talk about books where I think the romance should've been done differently!
We're going to start with these two together for a reason. Because both these books had love triangles in them that I thought should've been handled differently. Not that our main character necessarily ended up with the wrong person... but there was just such a missed opportunity here for some really compelling threesome stuff.
Okay, listen. I've talked about this on here before. And I am well aware that threesome will never be the solution to a love triangle in YA fiction. But I can dream, can't I?
The thing that makes it especially compelling to me in both these novels is that the two boys in question actually interact with each other frequently enough to make it plausible. There is definitely some chemistry and tension there that could be explored! Even if we're not going full throttle for threesomes, to have the love triangle occur because one of the boys is bisexual would work for me.
And full disclosure: I hated Matched, to be honest and I never continued on with the series. But I did enjoy Rebel Belle and plan to read the sequel.
These are also going together for a reason. Because both these books had romances that you were supposed to root for, but I found really gross.
Now, with Lies Beneath, we could've had it all. But what started off as a ploy turned into a genuine romance that I found really problematic. It would've been so much better if we'd actually stuck to the murderous mermaids premise and kept Calder villainous. It would've been a much more compelling story with more murder and less romance. (Seriously!) [Read my full review here.]
And Noggin is a recent read, but falls in the same traps. Travis wakes up after five years and basically stalks and harasses his former girlfriend--who is now 21 and engaged, thank you very much. Cate makes it very clear that she is not interested in getting back together with him and that maybe they could be friends. And despite some side characters calling Travis out on his behaviour, part of the book still plays it off as though you should be rooting for him? Ugh. No. I have a full spoilery review coming, so watch out for that.
All right, we're going to end with something completely different. I really enjoyed Witchlanders, much to my surprise. I didn't have a lot of expectations going in, but the world and magic system ended up being really cool.
And this doesn't have a romance. But it should.
This gets kind of spoilery, so if you don't want to be spoiled, turn back now! This is the last book on my list anyway.
Okay? Okay.
So Ryder and Falpian should've definitely kissed. Seriously. Brothers-in-spirit who are born enemies? Having to work together to harness powerful magic? Basically being soulbounded? And actual facts telepathy? COME ON YOU ARE KILLING ME HERE.
There's this wonderful build up and tension between them that I was convinced was going to lead to something more. I even checked the tags on Goodreads part way through the book hoping to find it tagged as LGBTQ, but alas. There's even a dramatic moment where Ryder needs to be silenced that I was positive was going to end with kissing. It was just such a missed opportunity and I CAN'T EVEN READ ANY FANFIC TO SATISFY MY NEED BECAUSE IT DOESN'T EXIST.
... Ahem.
I have strong feelings about this, as you might be able to tell.
Anyway, we're going to end the post here before it devolves into total chaos. So there you have it! Have you read any of these? Any romances you think should've been done differently? Link me to your TTT and let's chat in the comments!
