Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favourite Couples in Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Born from a love of lists and a love of books each week there’s a new topic for bloggers to list their ‘top ten’.

Top Ten Favourite Couples in Books

When it comes to bookish OTPs I have a lot (honestly, who doesn’t?) and because I’ve taken part in Valentine’s themed Top Ten Tuesday posts for three years running now instead of focusing on my all-time favourite couples in books I’ve chosen my top ten from the books I read sometime in the past year. I tried to draw my focus away from re-reads, but there was one that ended up making the cut just because I couldn’t resist featuring this bookish couple.

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Jude and Cardan; The Wicked King by Holly Black

These two don’t have a typical relationship, and I’m not sure if they’ll end up in a relationship when the trilogy ends but I love their dynamic, and can’t wait to see where they go in the third book.

“I hate you,” I say, the words coming out like a caress. I say it again, over and over. A litany. An enchantment. A ward against what I really feel. “I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.”

He kisses me harder.

“I hate you,” I breathe into his mouth. “I hate you so much that sometimes I can’t think of anything else.”

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Vasya and Morozko; The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

The main thing I love about the relationship between Vasya and Morozko is that they’re equals. Vasya has a lot of spirit and independence; and she doesn’t need Morozko to complete her.

“Love is for those who know the grief’s of time, for it goes hand in hand with loss. An eternity, so burdened, would be a torment. And yet—” He broke off, drew breath. “Yet what else to call it, this terror and this joy?”

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Tina and Newt; Fantastic Beasts the Crimes of Grindelwald by J.K. Rowling

You already know Tina and Newt are going to end up together but it doesn’t make their developing relationship any less interesting to see grow. They’re both a little awkward, but so cute together.

“I got this—I mean, it’s just a picture of you from the paper, but it’s interesting because your eyes in newsprint…See, in reality they have this effect in them, Tina…It’s like fire in water, in dark water. I’ve only ever seen that—I’ve only ever seen that in—”

“Salamanders?”

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Andrew and Neil; The King’s Men by Nora Sakavic

Both Andrew and Neil are damaged, and they each go through so much in these books, but they understand one another. Their relationship is slow to develop but it’s built on trust and consent.

“Yes or no?”

“It’s always yes with you.”

“Except when it’s no.”

“If you have to keep asking because—I’ll answer it as many times as you ask. But this is always going to be yes.”

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Arthur and Ben; What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

There’s not a ‘conventional’ happy ending to Arthur’s and Ben’s story, it’s more of an open one but personally I like to imagine eventually Arthur and Ben got their ‘happily ever after’ ending.

“But maybe this isn’t how life works. Maybe it’s all about people coming into your life for a little while and you take what they give you and use it on your next friendship or relationship. And if you’re lucky, maybe some people pop back in after you thought they were gone for good.”

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Lyra and Will; The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

This is the one re-read that ended up on my list, and it should be obvious why I included it. I’ve always loved Lyra’s and Will’s relationship, and only appreciated it more the second time I read this book.

“I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again.”

“I’ll be looking for you, Will, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart.”

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Penny and Sam; Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

The relationship between Penny and Sam was slow to develop; both of them are hesitant but being friends first just meant when they did become something more there was a solid base for them to build on.

“Penny thought of this Korean saying for when you really, really liked something. You’d say it ‘fit your heart exactly.’ Sam fit her heart exactly.”

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Emi and Hideo; Wildcard by Marie Lu

I was a little let down by this book but I still loved the relationship between Emi and Hideo. Even with everything he’s done Emi still somewhat understands Hideo and she’s determined to save him.

“I refuse to believe that he’s nothing more than a monster. I can’t watch him sink like this. I keep going because I need to find that boy again, the beating heart buried underneath his lie. I have to stop him in order to save him. He was once the hand that pulled me up. Now I have to be his.”

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Nemesis and Tyrus; The Empress by S.J. Kincaid

After the way The Empress ended I have no clue where Nemesis’s and Tyrus’s relationship is going to go. I want to believe there’s going to be a happy ending for them but I feel like it’s unlikely.

“Whatever I do and whatever you see, don’t be worried. Trust me.”

I would trust him. I had to trust him.

“Once he closes his eyes,” Tyrus whispered, “I promise you, we will destroy him for this.”

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Blanca and Page; Blanca and Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

All the relationships in Blanca and Roja were wonderfully developed – the friendship Yearling and Page, the romance between Roja and Yearling, and the sibling bond between Blanca and Roja – but the soft and sweet development of Blanca’s and Page’s relationship was my favourite

“Page set her hand on the small of my back. She did it like it was only to guide me around rocks or fallen pinecones. But when she did it, I was that glass jar with a candle set inside. The heart of me was as soft as the wax of the tea light.”

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Did you take part in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday?

Have you read any of these books, and are any of the ten couples I featured this week an OTP of yours as well?

Who is your favourite couple from a book you’ve read in the past year? Do any of your OTPs have open endings that you think are going to end badly or do you have ‘happily ever after’ relationships only?