Do you like the boy next door or the the bad boy? Insta love or slow burn?
YA has grown immensely since the 2000s and there is a little something for everyone. One shared quality in YA is the romance. The romance is an important aspect which will make the book a hit or a miss for me. This doesn't have to be specifically YA, but I've noticed a lot of similar tropes when it comes to romance and the love interests.
Here are the some of qualities that make me squee over a love story.
- Emotionally closed off
- Excellent sense of humor
- A certain level of brooding
- Mysterious
- Misunderstood/complex
- Snarky
- Kickass
- Somewhat nerdy
- Defiant
- down to Earth
- Boy and girl initially hate/don't trust each other
- Boy and girl are forced to work together on a project/do business together and spend time together
- LOADS OF SEXUAL TENSION
- Boy and girl come from different worlds
- Forbidden love
(Real or otherwise)
- Tarver and Lilac These Broken Stars (opposites attract)
- Kitty and Knox Pawn (Complex characters)
- Alina and the Darkling Shadow and Bone (Complex characters)
- Nyx and Ignifex Cruel Beauty (dark and complex characters)
- Merit and Ethan Some Girls Bite (humorous and complex characters)
- Penryn and Raffe Angelfall (complex)
- Karou and Akiva Daughter of Smoke and Bone (complex)
- Lara Jean and Peter To All the Boys I've Loved Before (opposites attract)
- Arin and Kestrel The Winner's Curse (dark complex characters who come from different worlds)
After going through my fave goodreads list, I can deduct that I'm a sucker for complex characters with dark pasts, or love stories where the characters seem to come from different worlds.
What tropes in romance do you enjoy? Have you read all of my favorites? Who are your favorite couples and why?
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