Weekly Discussion: Romantic Tropes in Books

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Hope you’ll all have a wonderful day today, whether you spend it with a special someone or with family, friends or pets! Since today it’s a special day, I decided that this week’s discussion should be something fitting. And I figured it would be a good idea to talk about my favorite romantic tropes. Now, I’ve noticed that tropes in general are quite the controversial matter in the bookish community. Especially those that have been done again and again. There are some readers who dig those tropes but there are also many others that simply don’t like them. Personally, I’m somewhere in between. There are some tropes that just don’t work for me – especially those who have been overdone like I said earlier. But there are also some tropes that I can’t help but like. So here are some of those romantic tropes that I usually enjoy in books.

• Best friends falling in love: The best example I can think of is Ron and Hermione. I’ve always loved the idea of two people that are already friends ending up together and I believe the fact they’ve known each other for a long time makes their bond stronger, even though it can be a bit awkward.
• Arranged marriage: I don’t know why I like this trope so much (because let’s face it, arragned marriage doesn’t always prove to be the best thing) but I’ve always loved the idea of two people who are forced to be together against their will, learning how to love each other. I have to bring The Wrath and the Dawn as an example to this. Reading about how Khalid and Shahrzad slowly but surely fell for one another was one of my favorite aspects of this book and one of the reasons I loved their story so much. You can read more about my opinion on The Wrath and the Dawn here.
• Love that transcends space and time: I don’t know about you but I’ve always been a sucker for people from different times or universes falling in love. And let’s face it. Time travel or dimensional travel is always a cool subject in books. The best example I can think of for this is Paul and Marguerite from A Thousand Pieces of you, who seem to always fall for each other in any alternate dimension they exist. And of course I have to mention Passenger and Outlander even though I haven’t read those yet.
• Enemies that fall in love: This has always been my favorite romantic trope in books and movies. I should probably blame it on Romeo and Juliet but there is something about two people who are supposed to hate each other but end up falling in love instead, that I’ve always found fascinating. A few bookish examples include Day and June from Legend, Sam and Celaena in The Assassin’s Blade (they did constantly fight with each other in the beginning) and of course, Nina and Matthias from Six of Crows. I adore these two together and I couldn’t help but laugh at their constant bickering throughout the whole book.
• Girl falls in love with bad boy/mysterious guy: I realize this is a little cliche (or a lot) but what can I say? I’ve always had a soft spot for bad boys with mysterious pasts. I think that this obsession started with Cam from the Fallen series and Christian from Vampire Academy (yeah, I’m not a big fan of Dimitri and always liked Christian more) but a few other examples I can think of are Violet and Finch (All The Bright Places), Kaz and Inej (Six of Crows), Daemon and Kat (Obsidian) and Khalid and Shahrzad (it always comes back to them apparently).
• Love between different species: You already know that fantasy is my favorite genre and one of my favorite things about it is that many of the characters in fantasy books are not human. Throw in a romantic relationship between characters that belong to different species and I’m hooked! The list of examples I can come up with for this is too long but for now I’ll go with these: Scarlet and Wolf (The Lunar Chronicles), Ember and Garrett (Talon), Cara and Aelyx (Alienated) and once again Kat and Daemon. The Night World series by Lisa. J. Smith also focuses a lot on relationships between different species and it’s one of the things I have loved about this series the most.
• Female bodyguard: This one is not done very often but I love the idea of a girl protecting a boy instead of the other way around. And this kind of relationships always seem to have tension which I love in a story. The best example of this trope I can think of is Mae and Justin from Gameboard of the Gods. This book was honestly amazing and it’s a pity it’s not as popular as other books by Richelle Mead.
• Disguise. One or both pretend to be something they’re not: This always makes for an intriguing story since you’re compelled to read further to find out what the person in disguise is hiding and how that is going to affect their relationship with the other. And of course I have to use The Kiss of Deception as an example!
• Fairytale: I love fairytale retellings! Especially those that include epic romances One of my favorite ones ever is Beauty and the Beast which is why I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses so much. And of course I have to mention The Lunar Chronicles for this. Such a brilliant way to rewrite fairytales!
• Forbidden love: I guess that can include other tropes as well, like the ‘love between species’ trope and the ‘enemies that fall in love’ trope. And it’s probably the most cliche romantic trope of all times but I can’t help but love the idea of two people who fight for their love and find a way to be together against all odds.
• Revenge: I’m not sure how much that qualifies as a romantic trope but there are many instances of main characters that are determined to take revenge on someone at the beginning of the book but end up falling in love with that someone instead. And in my opinion these books are always extremely interesting to read because of the conflict that always makes for a captivating story. Some examples I can think of include A Thousand Pieces of You, Legend and of course The Wrath and the Dawn. This book featured so many of my favorite romantic tropes that it’s no surprise I liked it so much.
• Royalty: I always love it when a love story is set in a luxurious setting (preferably a castle) or when one of the two involved is royalty. And if it’s a prince even better. I mean, who doesn’t want to fall in love with a prince? And I have to mention Maxon and America for this. I haven’t mentioned The Selection at all in this blog post and Maxon is truly swoon worthy isn’t he? And what a surprise? The Wrath and the Dawn featured this as well. But seriously, who can resist the King of Kings?

These are some of the tropes that I like. But I also have to mention a few that I don’t like.

• Love triangle: I find these extremely annoying in most cases. I’m gonna have to mention The Selection again for this. Even though I liked Aspen, I really didn’t like the love triangle between him, Maxon and America. I was a Maxon girl right from the start and I would have been seriously upset if America hadn’t ended up with him. Of course there are always exceptions to that rule and the best one I can think of is Will, Tessa and Jem in The Infernal Devices. This is probably the only love triangle that didn’t annoy me at all. And I can honestly say that I loved the relationship between these three.
• Billionaire: I should probably blame that on Fifty Shades of Gray but I really hate it when a girl falls for a guy with a lot of money because of the allure of living a luxurious life with him. I guess I don’t mind it as much if she falls in love with him without knowing he’s a billionaire and only discovers it later because I know that in this case she loves him for who he is and not for his money. But I don’t know. I think there are much more epic romances than this.
• Marriage of convenience: If an arranged marriage is something I love, a marriage of convenience is something I absolutely hate. In this case the two parties involved are the ones arranging the marriage because it benefits one or both of them in one or more ways. Like in the case of arranged marriage this can turn to love later on, but I’m really not a fan of the idea of marrying someone because it gives you an advantage.
• Matchmaker: I’m not sure why but I just don’t like the idea of someone playing matchmaker for two other people. I believe that we’re all capable of finding the right someone to love on our own and this makes the relationship much more magical. Because you know you chose him and he chose you despite the interferance of third parties. I can’t think of an example of this right now but I’m sure there are a few books that include this out there.
• Love at first sight: Sorry guys, but I just don’t believe in love at first sight. I believe that you have to get to know someone – truly get to know them – in order for you to truly love them. I’m gonna have to use Claudia Gray’s words in A Thousand Pieces of You for this:“I meant it when I said I didn’t believe in love at first sight. It takes time to really, truly fall for someone. Yet I believe in a moment. A moment when you glimpse the truth within someone, and they glimpse the truth within you. In that moment, you don’t belong to yourself any longer, not completely. Part of you belongs to him; part of him belongs to you. After that, you can’t take it back, no matter how much you want to, no matter how hard you try.” I think this covers what I’m trying to say perfectly.
• The boy always saves the girl: The idea that the girl is incapable of doing anything by herself and always depends on the boy to save her, has always been one of my least favorites. Girls can be quite strong too and is come cases they can achieve a lot more than boys. Why can’t the girl save the boy for once? And yes, I’m talking about Bella and Edward here. This is something that really bothered me in Twilight.

That’s a wrap! Thank you all for reading and I hope you’ll enjoy your day! And don’t forget to share your favorite romantic tropes with me in the comments!