If you aren't a fan of the romantic subplot, look away now.
Ah, the spark between two people. They meet and bing! Everything suddenly begins to make more sense.
Reading well-written chemistry between two characters, well, there's little better in this world.
But reading poorly written chemistry? Is there anything worse?
Do you ever read a book and characters get together, and you find yourself looking at the coupling sideways, thinking "really? They like each other?" 'Cause I do. All the time. I used to think maybe I was just a cynic who didn't believe in love, but that's wildly untrue. I clearly just read a lot of bad romantic subplots.
So. What makes for good chemistry, and more importantly, what makes for bad chemistry? What's the best and worst you've ever read?
I'll start with saying that Blue and Gansey from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is one of the best slow-burn relationships I think I've ever read. The whole transition of Blue's feelings from prejudiced hatred to unease to wow, I think I'm in love, is so believable and honest to me. Slow-burns are my absolute favourite.
A couple that never rang true to me, for instance, was Jace and Clary from the Shadowhunters series. Even before the whole incest storyline. She liked him because he was generic bad-boy hero and he liked her because she was generic girl-next-door heroine? Puh-lease.
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