Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is “All About Romance Tropes/Types — top ten favorite hate-to-love romances (from books or movies or tv), top ten favorite (or least favorite) instalove romances, favorite slow-burn romances, favorite starcrossed lovers, etc. etc. Can go so many ways with this one).”
Okay, so I actually groaned a little bit when I read this week’s topic since romance isn’t really my thing when it comes to reading. I don’t like love triangles, instalove, or basically any romantic situation that I see as a distraction from the main storyline of a book.
That said, what I do very much enjoy are realistic portrayals of relationships – the slow build from strangers to friends to lovers, or maybe even from hate at first sight to friendship to something more. I love witty banter, fights, going through tough times together and coming out stronger than ever, or maybe even a couple drifting apart and eventually finding their way back to each other. I even love reading just the evolution of an established relationship over time. So yeah, realism is definitely my thing when it comes to romance. So what I went with for this week’s special Valentine’s Day Top 10 edition are my Top Ten Favorite Realistic Couples in Literature. I think each of my selections in some way embodies what I’ve just described in terms of a realistic relationship. As you’ll see, Jane Austen’s novels figure prominently in my list as I consider her to be one of the masters of creating a realistic relationship.
MY TOP 10 FAVORITE REALISTIC COUPLES IN LITERATURE
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1. BENEDICT AND BEATRICE
from Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
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2. ELIZABETH BENNETT AND FITZWILLIAM DARCY
from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
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3. RON WEASLEY AND HERMIONE GRANGER
from the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
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4. AUGUSTUS AND HAZEL
from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
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5. ELINOR DASHWOOD AND EDWARD FERRARS
from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
* * * * *
6. WILL TRAYNOR AND LOUISA CLARK
from Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
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7. IFEMULU AND OBINZE
from Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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8. ANNE ELLIOTT AND FREDERICK WENTWORTH
from Persuasion by Jane Austen
* * * * *
9. CINDER AND KAI
from Cinder by Marissa Meyer
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10. ELEANOR AND PARK
from Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
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Question: What literary couples do you find to be the most realistic?
