Queering the Classic YA Love Triangle, a guest post by Alicia Jasinska

I know I’m not the only reader who has a love/hate relationship with love triangles. They’re literally everywhere in YA fiction and are one of the most divisive romance tropes.

I like love triangles because they can add an extra pinch of romantic tension to a story. I love the passion they inspire in readers cheering for a certain pairing to end up together. I love, from a writer’s perspective, how love triangles can be used as a literary device with each suitor representing a different cause or way of looking at the world. The protagonist’s final choice then becomes a part of their character arc and has more to do with the person they want to be than the person they want to be with.

But I also hate love triangles—though probably not for any of the reasons you might expect. I hate love triangles because I am that reader who almost always finds themselves rooting for the character who misses out at the end.

I can’t help it. I don’t know what it is. I just get instantly attached to the suitor who is simply not the right fit for the protagonist. The suitor who gets shoved into the arms of a convenient side character or ends up alone or is doomed by the narrative to become the villain.

And because I’m an incurable romantic at heart, when I’m reading these stories, I can’t help but think… Wouldn’t it be nice if all these characters could just end up together somehow?

And really, why can’t they?

That was the question I asked myself when I sat down to write This Fatal Kiss. My cozy, queer romantasy about a rusałka (a water nymph from Slavic folklore) who desperately wants to regain her humanity so that she can return to the mortal world and her human family. In order to do so, she has to receive a kiss from a mortal, so she blackmails the local brooding exorcist who’s been trying to get rid of her, to instead play matchmaker for her.

However, her brilliant plan goes awry when our brooding exorcist also starts to develop romantic feelings for the charming boy that he agrees to set her up with, and for the female protagonist.

Sitting at my desk, I gave a lot of serious thought to which pairing would be endgame.

I thought back to all the love triangles I’d both loved and hated — because that’s why we keep returning to these tropes, isn’t it? Because we love them so much we want to write them ourselves or we want to see them done differently — and I realized my characters didn’t have to choose to be with just one person.

Readers are hungry for more diverse YA romantasy. I’m hungry for more diverse YA romantasy. There are so many love stories that have yet to be explored.

Still, some might say it’s risky choosing to reimagine such a pervasive and maligned trope, and certainly there’s always that fear at the back of my mind. I know there are readers who are tired of love triangles, and I don’t blame them. But I’m also a firm believer that no trope is overdone until everyone has had an equal chance to play with it, especially authors from marginalized backgrounds.

We bring new perspectives to the table. We can breathe life into these classic tropes. You might think you know where a story is going but then… *gasp* we surprise you.

Most importantly though, we give readers who’ve historically been overlooked the chance to see themselves and their experiences reflected in the pages of our books. As a queer writer it’s incredibly important to me to write stories starring characters of all sexual orientations and gender identities. I want to write about these characters falling fiercely and messily in love and having all kinds of magical adventures.

Simply put, I want to write the stories I desperately needed as a teen.

There wasn’t much queer representation (and certainly not any poly rep) in the books available to me when I was younger. If there had been, if characters like me had been included in the fictional worlds I so often sought comfort in, I know I would’ve had a much easier time coming to terms with my own sexuality.

By queering one of YA’s classic tropes I hope teen readers today will feel their stories are worthy of inclusion in the large canon of YA literature. I hope they might find comfort in this story and come to realize, as the characters do, that sometimes a love triangle can end with a throuple—and that’s okay. There is nothing shameful about having many or multiple partners. Your perfect relationship doesn’t have to look like your parents’ relationship or your grandparents’ relationship or even the relationships of your peers. Love is love.

And I hope if you’re reading this post, whether you love, hate, or love and hate love triangles, that you give the one in this story a chance!

Meet the author

Alicia Jasinska hails from Sydney, Australia, and is the author of acclaimed YA novels The Dark Tide and The Midnight Girls. A library technician by day, she spends her nights writing and hanging upside down from the aerial hoop.

Visit her on the web at AliciaJasinska.com.

Follow her on Instagram @aliciamja

About This Fatal Kiss

Spirit away with a whimsical fantasy filled with dark magic and flirty, polyamorous romance.

Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal… but everyone sees her as a monster.

And then there’s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He’s determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela’s exorcism, she strikes up a deal. She won’t tell the other spirits that he’s losing his magic, if he agrees to play matchmaker and helps her get a kiss.

But Gisela’s plan goes awry when Kazik also falls for the devilishly handsome young man that she sets her heart on – someone who could be linked to Gisela’s troubled past.

This delectable quest through the spirit world is cozily crafted with a hauntingly opulent atmosphere and a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers story told in multiple perspectives. Young adult readers are sure to kick their feet and squeal with glee at flirtatious banter, scrumptious culinary delights, and endearing sisterhood and found family. An enchanting read for fairy tale enthusiasts and fans of queer romance!

ISBN-13: 9781682637364
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication date: 09/24/2024
Age Range: 14 – 17 Years

Filed under: Guest Post