TOP 5 WEDNESDAY IS BACK! This week Alexandra and Chelsey talk about their favourite couples from books and the traps that fictional couples tend to fall into.
Chelsey explained it best when we were discussing this topic. She’s both surprised and not surprised that it took us this long to attempt this list. We’re both not super big on romance novels, and don’t tend to read books searching for the perfect romantic sub plot.
We did manage to come up with five. This list is in no particular order.
GingerReadsLainey is the founder of the Top Five Wednesday Tag. Join the goodreads group to get each week’s topic and participate yourselves!
1. MAGNUS BANE AND ALEC LIGHTWOOD – THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS SERIES BY CASSANDRA CLARE
This one is rather obvious if you have watched any of our videos. Magnus Bane is one of my favourite characters of all time. He’s spontaneous, he’s catty, he’s silly and he’s genuine. You want him in your corner and you want him to be your best friend. Then there is Alec who is super serious and composed. The first time that these characters met, I sat there and thought: if these two characters don’t get together then I will never read another novel by Cassandra Clare. Ever. Turns out I was in luck.
Magnus and Alec balance each other out so well. Their romance is very cute and sweet and at the end of the day feels very real.
2. ARKARIAN AND ISABEL FROM THE GUARDIANS OF TIME BY MARIANNE CURLEY
This was a relationship that was alluded to in the first book of the trilogy. Our main characters are locked in an eternal conflict against the Order of Chaos. To stop the forces of Chaos from taking over they travel back in time to stop their enemies from changing events to make the future more favourable for them. During one of these missions Isabel dies, her friend Ethan and his mentor Arkarian go into the realm of the dead to rescue her. During this mission it is revealed that Arkarian and Isabel are soul mates.
Arkarian is a four hundred year old immortal and Isabel is a mortal teenager. Arkarian has no hope for their romance ever working out. The age difference and the fact that Isabel will die puts a bit of a damper on things. He decides to keep the soul mate thing a secret, saving her from the constant “what if” question.
Then the second book happens.
Arkarian is kidnapped and Isabel decides they have to save him. We don’t want to spoil much more of this series. So if you’re looking for something with a twist of time travel, check out The Guardians of Time. You won’t be disappointed.
I wrote a review about the first book in the series The Named you can read it here.
3. EVIE AND JERICHO FROM THE DIVINERS BY LIBBA BRAY
Chelsey has a soft spot for dark horse characters and Jericho is the ultimate dark horse. Jericho is calm, thoughtful academic who manages to settle down the firecraker that is is Evie. We love Evie who is a hurricane of energy, fun and parties. Jericho manages to balance her out sensibly. This is unlike Sam, the other point of the love triangle who just adds fuel to the fire that is Evie’s manic energy.
The relationship between Jericho and Evie is shy and sweet. The two characters are learning to rely on each other. Chelsey hopes that at some point in the series these two will fill sideways into love with each other.
There has been an interesting twist in events with the release of Lair of Dreams. Turns out Sam might not be as bad of a romantic match as we originally thought. Watch our review on the second Diviners book here.
LET’S BE REAL HERE FOR A MOMENT
Why do main characters always end up with the first guy that they see? It’s the default. Here at Death of the Author we’ve always hated this. Chelsey thinks that this is why she always goes for the dark horse character, she wants to see the pattern broken.
Come on guys, we have options, why not go for option number two for once? Change it up a bit? Rebel against the stereotype. Burn down Big Brother etc etc etc.
You get the idea.
4. BUTTERCUP AND WESLEY FROM THE PRINCESS BRIDE BY: WILLIAM GOLDMAN
I think everyone in our generation has this soft spot for The Princess Bride, be it the book or the movie. The thing about The Princess Bride, if you go back and reread it or rewatch it you start to notice a few things. Buttercup and Wesley are going through the motions of romantic leads, they’re saying and doing the right things… it’s just that there is nothing there. There is no emotional intensity, the majority of their lines are delivered deadpan. I absolutely adore it.
The Princess Bride is a love letter to a genre, but that doesn’t mean it won’t poke fun at it. Princess Bride parodies what we have come to expect from our romantic story line by taking the romance and showing us exactly what it is: a story.
5. JULIA AND WARNER FROM SHATTER ME – TAHEREH MAFI
With the Shatter Me series Tahereh Mafi addresses these two issues. Her main character Julia doesn’t want to end up with a guy by default. When Chelsey started this series she was glad to find someone else addressing this problem that she has had for so long. I still haven’t gotten around to reading the Shatter Me Series, but after going to a Q+A with the author, I’m tempted to bump it up higher on my list.
Check out our vlog about our Tahereh Mafi, Veronica Roth book signing adventure here!
There are a lot of stereotypes when it comes to couples in books. Now that both of us are older, it’s something that we pick up on more and more. When authors play with our expectations we love them more. Go back to Queen of the Tearling and the Fetch. He’s a dashing, mysterious, beautiful man who our main character can’t help but be attracted too. The usual pattern would have our main character end up with him. But wouldn’t it be more interesting if she ends up with the Mace?
Who are your favourite book couples? Tell us about them in the comments below! Until next week and next Top 5 Wednesday, Happy Reading!
