Saturday 31 August 2013

Book Talk Topic: He Likes Me, Too!



He likes me, too!

In this very first edition of Book Talk, I’d like to talk about something I’ve seen a lot – if not in every Young Adult book I’ve read. Because every time, every time, the main character sets her eyes on a boy, and she crushes on him, he likes her, too.


Now, I understand that readers like romance (I do too!). I understand that there’s even a whole genre that’s dedicated to relationships. But why can’t the heroine never ever be rejected? In my opinion, books are about a different experience. About creating a world or characters or friendships that are as realistic as possible, so that the reader can get carried away and forget that (s)he doesn’t live in the world of that book. So that the reader forms a bond with the book, feels for the characters and wishes that it was all real.

And then, I wonder, is it realistic for the main character to get anyone she wants? Is it realistic that she never gets turned down, that her crush always only has eyes for her? I don’t think so. Personally, I do not have any experience with dating or boys, but I’d bet that the majority of you who read this have been turned down at least once.

And it’s not that I think that it’s wrong for the main character to have her way. Not at all. I do, in fact, ship a lot of those characters out there, I do genuinely hope that they’ll end up together. If they broke up, I’d be so, so disappointed.

But.

But I think that, apart from the fact that it isn’t realistic, it creates the wrong expectations. There are a lot of insecure teenagers out there that are easily influenced, and they read these books in which the heroine always ends up with the boy. And it could make them believe that this is the way of life, that if they do nothing but daydream about their crush and occasionally glance at him, he’ll get madly in love with them, will go to them instead of the other way around, that a situation will be created in which they have to team up and from one thing comes another.

Sadly, I don’t think it works like that. There won’t always be this school project for which you team up. He won’t always go to you and say, “hey, I like you, let’s make out.” Sometimes, I think, you have to act. And maybe he or she will feel the same. But maybe they won’t. And I miss the books about that: about how the heroine says how she feels to a guy, about how maybe he’ll reject her because he simply doesn’t feel the same, about how she feels disappointed but knows that life goes on, always.

I don’t know any book that handles that, and it makes me sad. It can be that I just haven’t been looking in the right direction: if you know any YA book in which this happens, please tell me!


What do you think about this? Have you read any book in which the main character gets rejected (and then doesn’t end up with the love interest later in the book anyway)?

8 comments:

  1. I have been wondering the same question myself! Like they can't always both happen to love each other, right? eh.

    Awesome post, Celine! <33

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    1. Yes, I know! It's a bit too convenient that they ALWAYS end up together!

      Thank you <3

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  2. Hmm, this is a really interesting topic. I can't think of any YA books that don't end up with the girl and the guy she likes together in the end. Especially because so many have TWO guys interesting in the heroine (love triangle). The one sort of example I can think of (bu it's a boy MC, not a girl) is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He has that major crush on Cho Chang for a while.

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    1. Yes, love triangles are usually very annoying! They are just so unrealistic. How many girls do ACTUALLY have two boys fawning over her?

      And I can't believe I actually forgot about Harry Potter. I. Forgot. Harry Potter. Wow.

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  3. I honestly think the heroine should work a little harder to get her crush to like her. Not only is it more realistic but it's also a little more secretive until the end if they end up together, in most books it is clear from page 2 what the ending is going to be ;)

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    1. Yeah, I know! Usually I just go: "Aaaaand there's the love interest!" Haha. I'm always right too.

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  4. Well I guess it's true that the protagonists pretty much always end up with the love interest, but isn't that the point of stories? No one wants to see the main character get rejected by the main love interest! I mean, I have read books where the mc gets rejected by characters other than the main love interest, but don't you want the HEA to happen?

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    1. I do agree with you on that: I love seeing relationships develop and end with a HEA. I do! But sometimes I just get a bit tired of it all. I would love to see a story in which the heroine gets rejected but can deal with it properly. I also wouldn't mind a story in which the MC gets rejected by her crush and then she finds love somewhere else. So I agree with you on that, but sometimes I just want something different for once :)

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