The last month has been an amazing experience for me. For that matter, this year was a year of reading outside the box and I am thankful for it.
Yes, I have been reading a lot more New Adult Contemporary Romance in the last month or so and it has been quite an experience.
As most of you know, these books are written in first person POV and often, it is written in the heroine’s POV. To be honest, it has left me wanting MORE! Because man, do I want to read the hero’s POV so. FREAKING. bad.
I admit to a fascination with knowing what the hero is thinking. I mean, up the angst a little, right? But honestly, though, I want to get in the hero’s head!
Let me illustrate my point with a few examples
I read Wait for You by Jennifer L. Armentrout and this was written in the heroine’s POV only. And let me tell, you the heroine Avery, was so off-putting that I didn’t really understand why the hero, Cam kept asking her out! I mean, this was one of the best slow-burn books that I read and I understood Avery’s issue BUT the story just felt lacking.
Fortunately, Trust in Me was published and it is in Cam’s POV. This is basically every scene (with a few extras) in Wait for You but in Cam’s POV and I totally get it! The problem with this is that it was pretty hard to get into the story because I already knew what happened. Cam’s POV would have had the best impact if it was written within the story, you know?
The next example is Sweet Filthy Boy by Christina Lauren. Again. This is written in only the heroine Mia’s POV and it drove me nuts! I wanted to find out more about what Ansel was thinking! And Ansel was being VERY MYSTERIOUS – he was driving me nuts! Admittedly, that was his allure so it may have been the right choice not to have his POV.
But we DO have a short novella in Ansel’s POV! Sweet Filthy Morning After is written from Ansel’s POV and it is a couple of scenes the day after he married Mia. This gave me a quick glimpse into what he was thinking which helped me understand him better.
Young Adult Fiction has a lot of books written in 2 (or more) POVs and that is something that I like and this is more commonly seen in this genre.
The third book I want to talk about is The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. I would have enjoyed this book EVEN MORE if this was written in dual POV because I want to know what is going through Josh’s head. I can only hear Lucy’s POV and she annoyed me at times.
Awesome Books with Dual POVs
As I’ve said before, I WANT to get in the hero’s head so badly, and when I read a book that features dual POVs I am on cloud nine!
These books feature a dual POV that I think made this book better than it would have been had it only been written in single POVs.
One of the reasons why I like dual POVs is when the hero is the characteristic douche. I mean, I know these heroes usually have a lot of baggage but they are usually unlikeable which is why it is best if we get their own POV, right?
I never thought about how the story could be saved by employing duel POVs. I have had very few cases where I didn’t like one of the MCs, but I know this has happened to other people. Flipping POVs would definitely save the story in that instance. I am a fan, because I want to be in both their heads, and I agree, I would have loved Josh’s POV, at least at some point, in The Hating Game. I am not a fan of authors rehashing a successful book from the other POV, but one I did like was Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover. It added enough to the original story to make it worth the read, and then it gave us that peek ahead, so it won me over.
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Definitely! That is one of my issues with some of the romances that I read when one character was unlikeable or one who I can’t connect with.
I also why you hate a rehash of books in the other character’s POV like what EL James is doing for Fifty Shades. I honestly think this is just another money grab, you know? I never really got into FSG so I don’t really care for it.
I always love the dual POV the most as well because I want to see the hero’s side of things. Its why if I had to choose between 1st POV from the heroines view or third person I will take 3rd because I like to see both sides to their lives. Not just the one side POV.
Great topic.
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That is why historical romance is a perfect third person POV because I think it wouldn’t really work if it was written in the first person. 🙂
I am with you, I LOVE dual points of view! You are so right about not knowing what to think with how mysterious Ansel was being in Sweet, Filthy Boy. It made me not sure whether to like him or not. This is a great discussion post! I heard someone say in a bookstore the other day that they didn’t like the dual point of views because it took them out of the story. For me, it helps me get into the story much easier. Although sometimes I get irritated if it isn’t equally done. I know the authors do it to increase the dramatic tension sometimes, and we often get more of the heroine’s side than the hero’s, but that annoys me. Another example is that I loved how the first and third books in the Pucked series by Helena Hunting had both sides, but the second one only had the male point of view, and again, it makes you wonder what is really going on with the other half of the couple.
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I do like it if the 1st person POV is alternated between the heroine and the hero. I think it gives a good balance. I personally don’t feel taken out of the story is the POVs alternate. I think it actually takes me INTO the story!
I love dual povs too and I agree that they add more to the story. Especially in romance books. In ya contemporary I dont mind only one pov.
I’m not a fan of YA contemporary because it is just too young for me so I haven’t read a lot of YA romance. The few I read were one POV and it seemed to work well.
I enjoy dual point of view romances, I’ve read quite a lot of Melissa Foster’s writing, the style works well in her books.
I haven’t really read Melissa Foster’s books yet but I’ll definitely check her out!
I LOVED The Hating Game, but would have SUPER LOVED to get into Josh’s head!! Doesn’t it have an afterward or something with some Josh POV stuff? Geekerella is another one that’s told from the female lead’s POV, but then there’s an afterward that has basically snippets of the story from the guy’s POV, so you get to see that while she loved him since they were 9 (or something like that), he actually noticed her the first day they met in Kindergarten. Awwww. I really appreciated getting to see where he was coming from, especially when he acted in ways that seemed a little weird or off-putting, there were some reasons behind it that you just don’t get from the first person POV of the other character!
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I have Geekerella on my TBR for the longest and actually recommended it to my IRL friends because I thought it was interesting. Need to get into that ASAP, then! I’m not sure if there was a Josh POV in there… hmmmm but I honestly love the alternate dual POVs ☺️
I agree that dual POV’s are better than single in most cases, and I much prefer when it’s interspersed in one book instead of having a book from the other perspective.
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I agree that it is frustrating when there is a second book just for the male POV.. ughh!
I definitely agree! So many times, the heroine is plain irritating or gets annoying at times, especially if the guy is super sweet/super bad and we have no idea what’s going on his mind. Dual POVs make contemporary romances so much better 😀 Romance is the genre that’s resting completely on the relationship the characters are sharing (or will share) and I think both of their perspectives makes it reading all the more fun. I usually prefer single POVs when the story is about this single persona and their journey but of course, romance has to be both ways <3
Definitely! I think with romance, it really is a focus on the couple and relationship building. Also, I really love getting into the guys head. Makes it more emotional, I think! ?
I actually hate myself, I couldn’t like dual POV books. For me it spoils the story if I get on the hero’s head. I prolly like torturing myself especially when the heroine is so naive and frustrating. Books like The Simple Wild by KA Tucker, Wooing Caddie McCaffrey by Bethany Turner and similar as Katherine Center’s writing. These books actually made me cry a river. But yeah if I read dual POV im struggling to finish the book which is so hateful.