Discussion Post (#2) - Love Triangles

Welcome to our 2nd monthly discussion. Last month we discussed the ever growing genre of New Adult (You can find that post here), we received some great responses with this, so thank you to all who commented on the post.

This month we've decided to discuss something that can go either way, depending on the book or the reader themselves.......Love Triangles! 
Yup, the love/hate relationships that we as readers have for books with love triangles. We'll be discussing what we like, what we don't, why we think they work and why they don't always work. We'll take a look at some of the books that succeeded in using a love triangle and books that didn't succeed based on how the author may have handled it. 

Like last month, please respect all opinions, and if you're using spoilers in your comments, please use a ***SPOILER*** sign so we don't ruin it for others :)

Right! On with the discussion :D

What we love and hate about love triangles!

1) Love triangle stories;

Donna:  I love a good love triangle in a book. It bring so much suspense to the story that it has me sitting on the edge of my seat most of the time. However, the love triangle for me has to feature from the very start of the series for me to truly enjoy it. 

Jess: Ugh. I'm always on the fence when it comes to love triangles. I don't mind them, providing they're from book 1. The thing with love triangles is that as the reader I'll either settle on one team straight away (e.g Edward and Jacob) (I'm Team Edward btw) or I'll be going back and forth trying to make up my mind. Love triangles do bring a good dynamic to the story, because each boy will have their own personality different to that of the other but when it comes to them being included, I'd prefer it from the start instead of mid series, so I can settle on one team. Like Donna said, they sometimes fill like fillers in the book.

2) Love triangles being introduced in the sequel;

Donna:  I HATE this! Honestly, some authors really work their magic with love triangles but introducing love triangles in the sequel is so WRONG! It makes me feel as though it was just added as a filler. So many of my favourite authors have done this and it's really let the book down. 

Jess: Ah, this goes back to my first bit. It's quite annoying when it happens. It's not something that bothers me as much as Donna, but as I said, much preferred from the beginning so I can choose. Having them start mid series, although making the book exciting, can also feel forced and too much of a filler and I just get silly confused about who I prefer, especially if both boys are so different, but so hot. 

3) When our heroine can't choose:
Donna: This can go either way - it can be enjoyable or it can become frustrating. I like it when the heroine struggles with her feelings for the two guys but deep down she knows who she really wants to be with. Some love triangles are written very well but sometimes it's pretty clear who the heroine is suppose to be with - even though she might not see it at the time. 
Jess: Blahhh! This gets friggin annoying. I get that most love triangles are written to give the story some excitement and to make the reader understand that their heroine needs to make a choice and to try and make the heroine understand the consequences of making that choice, but when the heroine herself can't make up her mind. It just bugs me, especially if one boy turns out to be more of a best friend than a lover. It would seem an obvious choice, but no, it's not. Apparently.

4) Unrequited love triangles:
Donna: I've read a number of books where the best friend is in the running for lover but deep down, you know that's all he or she will be. This is the perfect example of an unrequited love triangle and mostly the bad boys always come out on top! 
Jess: Ah this is a different one. This will stem from our heroine having a guy best friend and bad boy new guy on the scene. The best friend loves her, but can't say anything. It's a hard one that most authors do well (***Spoiler***Clary and Simon for example in TMI). In the end though, the best friend is there for a reason, and it's not be a lover. So when it comes to our heroine making the choice, the bad boy will always win out over the best friend who couldn't admit his feelings. 

5) When one of our love triangle guys die:
Donna: Yes, this is one of the worst possible situations EVER! It's emotional and so highly frustrating when you become invested in a character - that your rooting for - and then the author KILLS him off! FOR NO REASON! I've rated books one star for this, not because I didn't like the book but how do you continue enjoying a book when this happens? It hard to move on from. I'm not saying all authors fail in this but almost every time it feels out of place, like the character was given the easy way out. Happy ever afters aren't hard to come by! 
Jess: ARRRRRRGGGGHHH!!! It's happened to a couple of books I've read. I hate it. To me when I get so emotionally invested in both lads, and then the author kills one...arrrrgggh! NO! It just feels like the author took an easy way out so that the heroine didn't have to choose between the two, or just making the choice for her. It's not the right way to do it, and I don't think there is any justification for doing it. Just...NO! The last thing I want (and the heroine) is to have a good guy die. It's just not fair or just. Some authors do it because they feel that's how the story needed to be written. Whatever! I don't think anyone in that story (except the bad guys) wanted to die. Silly moos.  

So here are the books that we believed succeeded in creating the perfect love triangle;
  
and here are the ones that didn't.
  

So love triangles...do you LOVE or HATE them? 
Leave your comments below.