Where's the Love? Week: Why YA Gives Me High Expectations of Love

First of all, Happy Valentine’s Day my lovelies! Go and tell someone you love them.

One of the things I love the most about reading a YA romance is the fact that in most cases, everything works out for the best. This is totally unrealistic but I lap it up.

Regardless of what happens to the heroines in a YA novel, they pretty much always end up with The Guy. He might lose his soul but then she’ll get it back for him and they’ll live happily ever after. She might go in to a coma and then finish with him but then they’ll be reunited and everything falls back in to place.

If The Guy happens to be The Wrong Guy, the Right Guy is always waiting on the sidelines and I’m usually sitting there, book clutched in my hands yelling at the heroine open her eyes and see the awesome guy right in front of her nose. All I can say is: where’s my Right Guy? I don't see him anywhere...

But the main one: where on Earth are these guys?! I’ve never even seen a beautifully sharp, messy-haired art boy or a 6”4 Russian god or an English French American Boy Masterpiece. If they’re out there, I will find one and as a YA reader, I’ll know him when I see him. That sounds a little crazy and stalker-ish didn’t it? Oh well.

This may seem like a rather anti-Valentines post, but although they give me unrealistic expectations, they also bolster my belief in love and a happy ending. I think I might be a little bitter about love and romance without a healthy dose of incredibly lucky heroines who find their soul mates in their teens.

I may wonder why I don’t bump into a beautifully tall blonde boy in a coffee shop or discover that the boy I’ve been crushing on for months has been harbouring a crush on me too, but I have hope because these girls I spend hours getting to know can have it, so can I.

So there you go. YA may give me incredibly high expectations of love with boys that are bordering on perfection but it also gives me hope that it’s possible.

Sophie