Ah love. It betrays us, thrills us, and occasionally causes us to behave in morally deplorable ways. Yet it is such an integral part of growing up. Personally, without some sort of love element in a book or movie, I often find myself bored with the story. Love creates plot twists and jealousy, and ups the stakes on any tale. After all, who cares if the hero/heroine accomplishes their task if they have no one by their side at the end? Conversely, some of the best stories are about love lost. I can never decide which I prefer.

Love differs greatly between boys and girls. For girls, the devil’s in the details. Sure, he kissed you, but how and where, and what were the circumstances? For boys the feelings run just as deep, but expressing them is sort of taboo. Which, however, reigns supreme in YA literature? You might be tempted to say Girl Romance, but I think a strong case can be made for Guy Romance, simply because it points out their unique perspective on a traditionally female-dominated topic.

So, without further ado, today’s head to head: Guy Romance v. Girl Romance.

GIRL ROMANCE:

Flowers and candy and boys, usually with mysterious eyes, OH MY!  However, not all romance is filled with pink and white clichés. After all, Katsa and Prince Po use fighting as foreplay in Kristin Cashore’s Graceling . Mostly I notice long passages detailing every breath, every touch. Girl romance plays into a lot of teenage girls’ fantasies. One of the most popular tropes is that a teenage boy will fight for you and stay with you no matter what. This, of course, was not my experience in high school. Boys had the attention span of gnats, and their feelings changed as quickly as the seasons. But this is fiction, so not only will there be one devoted boy fighting for a girl, but there will be multiple boys, and they will be fighting over her. Especially if she isn’t “traditionally” beautiful, or is quiet or unusual. There will be a misunderstanding that eventually leads to undying love, and by the end of the novel everyone will have a nice little path to follow.

There is also another side of Girl Romance, which usually occurs in Dystopian novels. Although the intense plots make it seem absurd to worry about who likes who, the relationships can be just as intense, if not more so—think of Tris and Four in Divergent, or the Katniss/Peeta/Gale love triangle in The Hunger Games. Some readers care more about who Katniss will end up with than they do about the games, because who she chooses not only represents her romantic preferences, but also the kind of life she will lead, the kind of world she will live in, and, ultimately, who she is as a character. The stakes are higher in a novel like The Hunger Games versus a novel like Anna and the French Kiss, where the protagonist’s choice in men isn’t really a life or death decision.

GUY ROMANCE:

I’ll admit I don’t have personal experience with romance from the male perspective, since I’m not a guy. There’s also not as much of it out there. But I feel like the Guy Romance books I’ve read are very well written. The characters in such novels as Unwind, I am Number Four, and An Abundance of Katherines are very introspective. Conner from Unwind and John from I am Number Four are fighting for survival, and Colin from An Abundance of Katherines is trying to figure out who he is as a person. However, in the midst of their journeys, each character manages to meet and fall in love with someone. The romance is different than in Girl Romance, but it is just as passionate. These books can be very tense. Usually the action-heavy situations create many missed opportunities, which can be very bittersweet. I love them! The feeling of two people ALMOST getting together is frustrating and exhilarating at the same time. It makes that first kiss really satisfying. However, in Guy Romance, the descriptions are usually very brief. You sense more of an emotional connection than a physical one. The reader feels how exciting it is to fall in love for the first time. I’m not ashamed to admit: what attracts me to these stories is most likely that I’m a girl. I love to think that under their sometimes-brooding, always-hard-to-read expressions, guys feel just as deeply about the girl they love as she does.

THE VERDICT:

I think I’m going to have to give this one to the guys. The unique perspective Guy Romance presents is interesting, and it shows the side of a relationship you don’t see as much in fiction. As a girl, I’m always prone to wondering how a guy feels about me. Guy Romance lets me imagine that IRL guys are just as confused as I am, trying desperately to find the words to express how they truly feel.

Romance in any form is wonderful, especially in YA. The reader feels the excitement of dating for the first time, a feeling that we sometimes lose when we grow up. I’ve mentioned some of my favorites, but do you have any suggestions? Tell me in the comments!