Hardcover Lover Confessions (13)

Hardcover Lover Confessions is one of two regularly posted discussion post features on The Hardcover Lover.

In the Hardcover Lover Confession posts, I confess bookish habits, thoughts, or other random things with my readers, and then I encourage everyone to start discussing the issue with everyone else. It's a really fun way to get some bookish confessions off your chest.

There really isn't an order as to when I post my Confessions - I kind of come up with them when an issue arises or a thought pops into my head. Sometimes, an issue just eats away at me until I finally decide to write a post. Ergo, there could be one a month or there could be a few a month. There could even be a month when I don't post a Hardcover Lovers Confessions at all. It just all depends on what's going on in the book community or how I feel.

HCL Confession on Love Triangles in YA

Whomp! There it is! The infamous love triangle issue! I'm sure you guys didn't think this one slipped my mind, did you? Well it didn't, and today, I'm here to confess my feelings on love triangles in young adult literature.

So now for my shocking opinion... I actually don't mind love triangles in YA. I don't know if this is because I spend a lot of time with middle and high school students, but I think that a love triangle is a very positive trope to include in a YA book if it's well done.

So why do I like love triangles in YA? Well the answer is really simple... I think it's a pretty accurate depiction of what a lot of teens, especially younger teens, go through in high school. I flip-flopped between crushes all the time in school, and I see a lot of teenagers go through the same thing today.  

Just think about it... Teenagers, both boys and girls, are literally a mess while in middle school and during their first few years of high school. They are either in puberty or have just finished it, and their hormones are pretty much all over the place. What was attractive yesterday might not be attractive today, and that's okay. I think it's a good thing for kids to go back and forth between crushes and partners (as long as there isn't cheating!) because it will help them prepare for a more adult relationship. When they are dating or crushing on different kinds of people, they are figuring out what they really want out of a partner. It's helping them form a more solid opinion about what kind of person they'd like to either be in a long-term relationship with or eventually marry.

Now, I'm not saying every love triangle is good or healthy, and there are a few books with love triangles that I've stopped reading just because they don't make any sense. It's all about the author finding the right balance. For a love triangle to really work for me, the two love interests have to be foils of one another because it just wouldn't make sense if they were too similar. Both have to find a way to be there for the main character but in different ways, and then eventually, one will become the sole love interest. Love triangles that don't work for me are ones that have two similar love interests or when you can really tell that the protagonist favors one early on in the book or series.

Your Confessions

I don't know if that was a lot of information to swallow, but if you stuck around to hear me out, I'd love to hear what you think. Do you agree with me? Do you disagree with me? Do you have a completely different opinion on love triangles? If you like them, what are some of your favorite and least favorites? If you don't like love triangles, let us know why. It's okay to let your opinion be heard, but keep in mind that any mudslinging comments or foul language will be deleted. Everyone has the right to his or her opinion, and no one is going to take that away from anyone here. (I like these posts to be a safe place for readers!)