Image from We Heart It//Edited by Jen
Today I am happy to present to you guys the first Tea Party Blogger Interview! I'm going to be chatting with Keertana from Ivy Book Bindings about her opinions on romance and favorite couples. Without further ado, let's begin!
1. Who is your favorite geeky, adorable boy?
I'd have to say Rowan from Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard. I guess he isn't so much geeky as he is smart or adorable as he is drop-dead gorgeous, but I love that he reads obsessively and quotes books constantly. It's just so attractive. The same goes for Lucian Kiggs from Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. It may seem odd to some, but Kiggs's love for philosophy and discussion is simply so alluring! ;) I feel as if there's a shortage of truly geeky and adorable guys in literature, but another one I think fits the bill is Sean from The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna. Seriously, he completely stole my heart and I can't forget Fisher from And All the Stars by Andrea K. Host. Adorable!<3
2. What's your opinion on love triangles?
I'm one of those people who simply outright hates love triangles. I quite literally cannot stand them. For me, this is usually because love triangles are never written in a manner that I find believable. I either wind up instantly preferring one guy over the other, making the struggle between the two male characters seem very dull, and more often than not, I wind up hating the main character by the end of it since I can never understand why both guys are so enamored with her and I lose all respect for her since she oscillates between the two so frequently. It's a disaster in the making for me. However, that's not to say I don't appreciate them at times. Eona by Alison Goodman contains a slight love triangle that only adds to the plot line and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as well as the love triangle in The Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare. I also don't mind love triangles where the protagonist clearly favors one guy over the other and the other guy is there to further the plot line, like in Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest or Ilona Andrew's On the Edge. For the most part, however, I try to avoid love triangles as much as I can. (Confession: I also usually wind up picking the losing side, so this might just be another reason I chose to stay away from them all together!)
3. Do you prefer Young Adult romances or New Adult romances?
I think that's a tough one for me to answer, simply because I've read more Young Adult romances. I haven't enjoyed the New Adult romances that other readers seem to have enjoyed, such as Tammara Webber's Easy. I do, however, prefer my romances with older couples, like Fire and Brigan from Kristin Cashore's Fire, Sean and Puck from Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, or Red and Sorcha from Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest. I also think New Adult romance has a tendency to be more bittersweet, like Laura Buzo's Holier Than Thou which I really enjoyed, so I guess I do prefer New Adult romance a tad bit more after all.
4. Are there any romance pet peeves you have?
Plenty! I've already discussed love triangles, but insta-love is another pet peeve I can't get past. It also thoroughly irritates me when there is drama thrown into a romance just for the sake of prolonging the love story or when misunderstandings simply continue to escalate on an unrealistic level. For me to enjoy a romance, so much has to be just right or perfect, from the timing to the depth of the individuality of the characters to the extent that each changes one another. I tend to become easily annoyed with romances that move too quickly or simply fail to convince me and draw me into the couple, so lack of connection is another huge pet peeve of mine when reading a romance.
5. Have you ever liked an insta-love couple? If so, which one?
I'm sure we've all loved an insta-love couple at some point, but I truly can't remember one at all, so I guess I'd have to say no, I haven't. I tend to prefer slow-burn romances the best of all, so insta-love doesn't go too well with me.
1. Who is your favorite geeky, adorable boy?
I'd have to say Rowan from Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard. I guess he isn't so much geeky as he is smart or adorable as he is drop-dead gorgeous, but I love that he reads obsessively and quotes books constantly. It's just so attractive. The same goes for Lucian Kiggs from Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. It may seem odd to some, but Kiggs's love for philosophy and discussion is simply so alluring! ;) I feel as if there's a shortage of truly geeky and adorable guys in literature, but another one I think fits the bill is Sean from The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna. Seriously, he completely stole my heart and I can't forget Fisher from And All the Stars by Andrea K. Host. Adorable!<3
2. What's your opinion on love triangles?
I'm one of those people who simply outright hates love triangles. I quite literally cannot stand them. For me, this is usually because love triangles are never written in a manner that I find believable. I either wind up instantly preferring one guy over the other, making the struggle between the two male characters seem very dull, and more often than not, I wind up hating the main character by the end of it since I can never understand why both guys are so enamored with her and I lose all respect for her since she oscillates between the two so frequently. It's a disaster in the making for me. However, that's not to say I don't appreciate them at times. Eona by Alison Goodman contains a slight love triangle that only adds to the plot line and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as well as the love triangle in The Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare. I also don't mind love triangles where the protagonist clearly favors one guy over the other and the other guy is there to further the plot line, like in Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest or Ilona Andrew's On the Edge. For the most part, however, I try to avoid love triangles as much as I can. (Confession: I also usually wind up picking the losing side, so this might just be another reason I chose to stay away from them all together!)
3. Do you prefer Young Adult romances or New Adult romances?
I think that's a tough one for me to answer, simply because I've read more Young Adult romances. I haven't enjoyed the New Adult romances that other readers seem to have enjoyed, such as Tammara Webber's Easy. I do, however, prefer my romances with older couples, like Fire and Brigan from Kristin Cashore's Fire, Sean and Puck from Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, or Red and Sorcha from Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest. I also think New Adult romance has a tendency to be more bittersweet, like Laura Buzo's Holier Than Thou which I really enjoyed, so I guess I do prefer New Adult romance a tad bit more after all.
4. Are there any romance pet peeves you have?
Plenty! I've already discussed love triangles, but insta-love is another pet peeve I can't get past. It also thoroughly irritates me when there is drama thrown into a romance just for the sake of prolonging the love story or when misunderstandings simply continue to escalate on an unrealistic level. For me to enjoy a romance, so much has to be just right or perfect, from the timing to the depth of the individuality of the characters to the extent that each changes one another. I tend to become easily annoyed with romances that move too quickly or simply fail to convince me and draw me into the couple, so lack of connection is another huge pet peeve of mine when reading a romance.
5. Have you ever liked an insta-love couple? If so, which one?
I'm sure we've all loved an insta-love couple at some point, but I truly can't remember one at all, so I guess I'd have to say no, I haven't. I tend to prefer slow-burn romances the best of all, so insta-love doesn't go too well with me.
Great responses, Keertana! I loved Rowan from Wanderlove, too! I definitely admire the fact that he is a book nerd as well! ;) I'm so glad to hear that you are able to find some love triangles that are like-able. Also, I totally agree with you about insta-love, as I think this is also many other people's pet peeve! Thanks so much for the lovely answers, Keertana!
Make sure you all go check out Keertana's blog!
What are YOUR responses to these questions?
Happy reading,
Jen xx
Posts
Totally agree on the love triangle and insta-love answers. Love triangles have to be extremely well done for me to like it. I usually just avoid the book altogether.
ReplyDeleteAwwww I have to agree with Keertana on Lucian Kiggs being the geeky and adorable boy we all love<3 heheeee
ReplyDeleteLOL I love the love triangle answer<3 I have to admit, I *usually* choose the "winning" side ( say 85% of the time) but I just hate it when the girl obviously likes one guy but then leads on the other because she can't be with guy #1. And I end up hating the girl because she's pretty much two timing.
Heheee Keertana, I find we are so alike :D I tend to enjoy books with older YA couples as well...so I'll probably go with liking New Adult a little bit more :P
OMGAWD. I FREAKING HATE INSTA-LOVE AS WELL. Although to be honest, i *did* love Edward/Bella back in the days....hahahaa<3
Great answers Keertana!<3
Awesome interview, guys! Keertana, I completely agree with you. Love triangles are my worst enemies!!!! Insta love isn't really my thing either... I much prefer an antagonistic romance, where they slowly start liking each other as its way more fun and realistic. I'm looking forward to more interviews/posts for this event, guys! It's really cool. :D
ReplyDeleteI love Keertana to pieces, so it's so fun to see her interview!! Apparently, she cheated a TON, haha, which is just so much like her. ;) We have so many similar likes/dislikes with romance, apparently! I absolutely detest love triangles and insta-love (so much to the point where I've done discussion posts disguised as rants for both of them). I can't say that I've ever liked an insta-love couple, honestly. But I do love romances that have an intellectual romantic interest, because that makes the romance SO much better. ;)
ReplyDeleteFabulous interview you two, and I'm so excited to read even more!
For the most part, I agree with Keertina but I'm not a hater of love triangles! Maybe because those that I've read are done so well I never took an easy stand... It's a conflict that rages inside me while I read that makes the book so much more exciting haha! Though insta-love do irk me... And I have to read those books with the geeky, adorable guys because they sound SO CUTE. :D
ReplyDeleteAlicia @ Book a World
It really depends for me in the whole Love Triangle argument. I don't mind a few but then I think sometimes I just prefer a romance novel with no triangle. I don't really like a book though based fully on the love triangle but books I do love with love triangles in are The Hunger Games! If you take away the love triangle there is so much left of the story-it doesn't just build it. Great interview!
ReplyDeleteSophie @ http://a-day-dreamers-world.blogspot.co.uk/
Love triangles are one of my pet peeves in YA, too, closely followed by insta-love. I completely agree with Keertana and think very few authors can actually justify the use of a love triangle. Some many are poorly written and completely unnecessary. And I definitely end up losing some respect for the main character too if she is constantly go back and forth between the love interests. :/ In fact, Cassandra Clare's love triangle is probably the only one that I can really accept!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, before I start to rant, brilliant interview ladies! :) Keertana is one of my favourite bloggers so it's great to read her responses.
This is a lovely themed interview!
ReplyDeleteI feel exactly the same way about love triangles for all the reasons stated here. I did like the one in Unearthly by Cynthia Hand because both male interests seemed so believable and I could understand why she might have two guys fighting over her; she basically has two separate lives and one boy from each makes sense.
Haha, I always have the same problems with love-triangles: Most of the time I end up picking the losing side too.. And that makes me so annoyed, that I dislike the complete love-triangle. Some do work out for me, but that's because the author made them believable. Like Everneath and the Iron Fey :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big love triangle fan either, because there's usually one boy who is obviously right for the girl, and then the other one totally isn't, but they're still hanging around, and I feel like just shouting 'go away!' at them... <- physcho alert... ;D
ReplyDeleteI love this post ladies! For geeky adorable boy I totally forgot about Lucian and Sean, I absolutely loved them too especially Sean! I also can't stand love triangles, but like Keertana there's a few that I don't mind, like Clara-Christian-Tucker. I haven't read the books that Keertana mentioned, so I will have to check them out soon! I adored your answers Keertana! )
ReplyDeleteFab interview! I used to be a big fan whenever a love triangle appeared in a book but now they are getting a bit old... I still like them though :) Urgh, I hate insta-love too.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to read Wanderlove now! Purely for reading about the cute and geeky boy, Rowan ;)
Thanks for posting! <3
There are some love triangles that work for me, but for the most part I'm just tired of them now. I groan inwardly every time I see another love triangle crop up somewhere; I'd much prefer a relationship between two people and watch that develop. I also hate insta-love. Unless the circumstances are exceptional, I don't see any place for it. I don't actually recall reading about any geeky boys, and I love both YA and NA! I love Keertana, so I really enjoyed seeing her answers. <3 Fabulous interview, ladies! :)
ReplyDeleteI hate love triangles and instalove too, AND I adore most of those books Keertana mentioned. Why aren't we friends? Oh, wait... :D
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you girls invited Keertana for a chat, I never get tired of reading her thoughts. She is one amazing girl, our Keertana.
The tea party continues and I'm totally having fun. <3
I would love to have a tea party with you both and Keertana, girls! Now I need to get a move on and read Wanderlove!
ReplyDeleteLove this interview! I detest love-triangles as well. I'm sick to death of them. The exception, like Keertana said is when the protag clearly prefers one over the other. The ones where the protag is going back and forth just makes me want to slap her/him and I have a hard time liking them after that. :)
ReplyDelete