Bookish Relationships (#2) - Love Triangles

This is a new feature on Wonderous Reviews! While writing a Top Ten Tuesday post on what I like and dislike about relationships in books I realized that I wanted to write more about what makes me swoon and what breaks my heart in bookish relationships. These discussions will be randomly posted, and they will each have a specific topic such as best friends to relationship romance or love triangles. 

These are meant to be discussions so I want to know what you guys think too, so please comment and/or feel free to write your own post! This is meant to be fun and full of opinions and discussion (it's okay to disagree, just be polite)!

Love triangles are a very popular trend in books, especially YA books. A girl likes two guys, takes forever to decide which one she likes the most or to decide the one she should like the most, often changes her mind multiple times, goes back and forth, etc (of course that's just the extremely simple basics, though). Everyone seems to have a very strong opinion about love triangles and books, and some people are just completely over them and feel that if they ever lay eyes on another one it will be to soon!

I have mixed feelings about love triangles. I often finding them quite annoying. but if done correctly love triangles can be really good in books. They can create meaning and intrigue the reader instead of drive them insane. But most of the time love triangles drive me insane. "Quit leading them on, and choose already, you know which one you are in love with, just work it out" - are my thoughts for most love triangles.

In most of the love triangles I have read, the center point of the triangle usually knows which adjacent point they are in love with, but something is keeping them apart. They don't think they're good enough, they don't want to hurt the other person, they are trying to convince themselves that they should love the other person instead, are afraid of getting hurt, or there is an misunderstanding. I can't stand those! They totally break my heart. If you know what person you are truly in love with, and they are the one for you, then work it out already for goodness sake!

But, occasionally there will be a book with an acceptable love triangle. The love triangle still drives me insane (all love triangles do), but I understand and see their confusion and point. There was something about it that grounded the story, something that was overall beautiful about it, and at the end as long as everything worked out the way I wanted it to, it was maybe, just maybe, swoonworthy
read.

Love isn't easy, but you do deserve to be with someone who makes you happy! As long as a book/series ends up with being with the person that is their the one, then I'm usually happy. Sometimes, though a love triangle will frustrate me to no end! Most of the time I'm okay, then I feel infuriated, then I'm okay, then I want to just throw the book, then all is happy ever after! If a love triangle is fantastic it will make me feel those things and I'll be fine with it being a love triangle, sometimes it makes me feel those things and I still don't like it. I guess it just depends on the characters, circumstances, and behaviors!

Here are books with love triangles that I Love

So, I knew and Kate knew who her true the one was, but there were circumstances that made the eventual love triangle acceptable. I knew who I wanted her to end up with, and the book drove me slightly insane until the end. I could feel her emotions so clearly! It was beautifully written, the message was great, and overall it really worked.

This is not your typical Beauty and the Beast story, and I was totally shocked, and a little disappointed at first when I finally found out what was going to happen. But, after finishing it, sitting on it, and pondering, it was beautiful and she did end up with her true the one, even though it wasn't who it at first appeared to be. (I hope that doesn't spoil anything)!

The Bound Heart can't even completely be considered as a love triangle. It's more of a triangle with a girl, a love interest, and an ex love interest that she doesn't love but thinks she should be with. This book was so well written and I really liked Meredith, Lowry, and the messages in this book. Her the one was such a wonderful man, so kind and patient!

Love triangles I have mixed feelings about
  
I have mixed feelings about the love triangle in The Selection series. Don't get me wrong, I love the series as a whole, but the love triangle had its good and bad moments for me. In The Selection (as in book 1) I thought that the triangle was very well played and I could understand her confusion and feelings. Then as time went by and by it was getting worse. There were quite a few times when I just wanted her to choose the one that I knew was her true the one already! I'm not a huge fan of drama most of the time, and at times that was exactly what it felt like - drama! I loved the end and the journey though!

   

I love this series so much! I do have to be honest though, and say that there were times when I hated the love triangle! I mean that one guy was so wonderful and Kelsey's the one the entire time, and she spent so much time trying to deny it! I mean, a little love triangle is okay, but I when I spend the whole time she's with the opposite guy wishing she was with her the one, it really is infuriating! I loved the first book and completely understood what she did at the end because in that circumstance I could imagine me doing the same thing. Then I loved the beginning of the second book and every moment she spent with her true the one, and the end was fantastic! (Honestly, I'm trying so hard not to spoil things here)!

More complicated than a love triangle

Now, if you get into a love square or even larger sided shapes, that is just ridiculous and unacceptable, and just NO! (If this picture is from a book, I haven't read it, so I'm not judging. I just wanted to use this pic)! That is just to much drama for me, and is pretty much never acceptable in the books I read.

This book sounded good when I went to read, but it just wasn't exactly my kind of book. There was a love square, I wasn't a fan and thought it was a bit much. The book was okay, just not for me.
Of course there are more love triangles I could go into, but these are it for now! So I'm not going to refuse to give a book a chance if it has a love triangle in it, but I might be a little more cautious about my decision. Sometimes I wonder if it would help if I had a way to discuss/vent my feelings about love triangles while I'm reading them!


Now it's your turn! Tell me your thoughts on love triangles. Do they make you tick or do you enjoy them? Which ones do you have a love or hate relationship with?