Welcome to my Best Book Boyfriends List, where I give you a guide to the types of YA book boyfriends. To all young adult addicts out there: we all have our own “list” of book boyfriends. We all have a secret list of “harems’, dedicated to the guys that we love the most.
If you say you don’t, either you haven’t been in this genre long enough…or you’re just flat-out lying.
If you have read enough YA books, you’ll also start to notice certain recurring patterns within these guys, and sooner or later you’ll start to categorize them just like what I am doing right now). This list is basically a summarization of the “type” of book boyfriends I’ve encountered (so far). Tell me in the comments below if you agree!
The Guys That Are Allergic to Shirts (stop showing off your body. We get it, you’re hot.)
We all know that book boyfriends are always in great shape, and these guys are not afraid to show it. And when they are shoving it into people’s faces 24/7, it provides great comic relief when people call them out (still a great view though). But despite their great appearances, these guys have great personalities too. The inside counts just as much as the outside – the outside just…adds to it.
Come on Daemon, everyone can see it: you’re just taking those shirts off for Katy. Even she called you out for it (multiple times too). Oh well, I guess no one can complain about the view. If I am even remotely as fit as he is I would show it off too.
But to give Daemon credit, he doesn’t completely overdo it. He only takes it off when exercising or swimming, but even then he makes sure Katy sees it.
Although both Raffe and Daemon aren’t ashamed to “show off” themselves once in a while, unlike Daemon, Raffe has a legitimate reason for his shirt being off. Being an angel with giant wings, it’s arguably a lot more convenient with your shirt off than on. So to summarize this in Raffe’s own words: “I didn’t hear any complains”.
“The Darklings” (a.k.a the less-approachable villains)
In the anime world, we call these characters “Tsundere”. To summarize these type of characters, they are people who seem really cold and aloof on the outside but is actually anything but that on the inside. “Tsundere” can also be used to describe the character development of these initially cold characters to warmer, more open characters.
One of the reasons why these types of book boyfriends are so popular is because of how cool they are. They are incredibly attractive, incredibly badass, and have great in-depth personalities of a painful past that made them this way, making their character so much more interesting. And let’s just be honest here, it feels awesome to have a boyfriend who is completely cold to everyone except you).
Hideo is the epitome of a Tsundere. He was so cold and aloof in the beginning (even Emika didn’t like him in the beginning). But as we get to know him (work our way down that icy shield), we start to see glimpses of Hideo’s warm self and melting the ice in the process.
Hideo is one of the “darkling” characters because of how he has it all – he’s a genius programming and business prodigy who is incredibly attractive and in shape with an unbelievable sense of fashion (one that I would further elaborate upon later in this list).
The Darkling is a more controversial case – while all the other characters on this list are the legitimate end-game boyfriend (who temporarily had villainous roles), the Darkling is arguably the ultimate antagonist of the Shadow and Bone series. He’s handsome, powerful, manipulative, and definitely evil.
He’s also the least redeemable character on this list with a refreshing fact that he doesn’t have the cliche “tragic past” most of the other characters have.
Kaz is a thief, and he does his job well. Very well. He’s highly successful in the crime business, a genius in the art of thievery. He even dresses his part – he looks like a human grim reaper magician himself. He sometimes is also heartless and damn calculating – but is he though? He’s been through a lot of hardship, and when it comes to those he cares deeply about *cough* Inej *cough*…yeah, appearances don’t tell the whole story, does he?
The title summarizes these types of characters perfectly. These are characters who are deemed villainous in their respective worlds, but in reality, they are actually just misunderstood. They either are too nice to try and correct everyone, no one would believe them anyway, or enforce this facade to protect those who he cares about. This is why these characters definitely have a tragic backstory.
The reason Warner is “kind of” a misunderstood villain is that he is arguably one of the most messed up characters on this list – the only one that can even remotely compete with the Darkling in terms of evilness, but it’s not really his fault. Unlike the Darkling, Warner actually does have a legitimate reason to be the way he is a.k.a tragic past. Also, he has realized the wrong nature of his ways and is trying to change largely thanks to Juliette.
Rhysand – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin―and his world―forever.
Rhysand is such an embodiment of this trope – although he has a very villainous facade (one that I had previously elaborated upon earlier), he is also incredibly humorous. Remember how I said these types of characters love just trolling and teasing our heroines? It’s one of Rhysand’s behaviour trademarks as well. Even after they married he still does this
PERCY AND LEO – THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES BY RICK RIORDAN
JASON HAS A PROBLEM. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They’re all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids,” as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn’t know anything—except that everything seems very wrong.
PIPER HAS A SECRET. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out, whether she wants to or not.
LEO HAS A WAY WITH TOOLS. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason’s amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?
Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Best-selling author Rick Riordan has pumped up the action, humor, suspense, and mystery in an epic adventure that will leave readers panting for the next installment.
Oh my god, this pair. If they combined their respective level of sassiness they would make the world explode. I legit get third-degree burns when they get just a bit too savage. Well, maybe the world didn’t explode yet because of how Annabeth and Calypso’s respective badass-ness themselves are balancing it out.
The Nice Guys
The above categories can all fall under the “bad-boy” generalized category, but the category “nice guys” unfortunately is just one category because it’s such a minority (I am so sorry). It’s just that the above types of characters are so much more interesting and fun to read (and so much more shippable). But as readers, we should still acknowledge these “good guys”, they’re nice people too.
For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.
Yes, Maxon is charismatic, charming, and incredibly attractive, but if you really think about it, he’s not really a bad boy. You could say that he is one of the few examples of a book boyfriend who is not a bad boy and is genuinely still beloved and popular with the fandom. That is so much more than what I can say for Mal from the Grisha Trilogy.
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Both Maxon and Mal can fall under the “nice guy” category, but that’s where the similarities end. While Maxon is charismatic, loveable, interesting, and popular with the fandom, Mal is anything but that. Mal is annoying, enraging, boring, and unpopular with the Grisha trilogy fans. Listen, we (the fans) are not irrational – we know the Darkling is not good for Alina. But the alternative choice could’ve been made so much better. It’s such a shame.
Rhysand – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin―and his world―forever.
Rhysand is completely misunderstood, it’s not controversial. It’s just a fact. Everyone thinks he is this evil man – the villain of the story – and he enforces this facade in order to protect the things he cares about. But he is anything but that. I really can’t discuss more because it involves heavy spoilers, but anyone who has read this series knows exactly what I’m talking about. Go read this series. You will not regret it.
A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…
The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.
Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world.
Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.
Aldrik was labelled the black sheep of the imperial empire’s royal family, and it’s not just because he’s the only person who wears black. Despite being the legitimate heir, nobody accepts him and either hates or fears him because of his dark – arguably villainous – appearance and aloof characteristics.
However, after opening up to Vhalla, he learned to open up to the world and start to heal from the wounds of being alone that accumulated all those years. He was truly misunderstood.
Bully Turned Romanic Interest
These characters can be even more controversial than the Darklings because it’s a thin line between “bad boys” and abusive relationships. Authors need to be aware of the dangers of romanticizing bullying, it is not okay and a lot of times it’s not forgivable. Lines should be carefully set for characters like these.
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
Cardan was really drawing the line I just mentioned earlier in this book. He humiliated and bullied Jude despite the fact that he cannot help but be attracted to her. What he has done is really close to crossing the line, but Cardan’s popularity definitely sets an example for this type of book boyfriend and how likable they are.
Before the age of seventeen the young men and women of Jerar are given a choice –follow tradition, or pursue a trial year in one of the realm’s three war schools to study as a soldier, knight or mage…For 15-year-old Ryiah the choice has always been easy. Become a warrior and leave the boring confines of her lowborn life behind. Set to enroll in the School of Knighthood on the eve of her next birthday, plans suddenly shift when her twin brother discovers powers. Hoping that hers will soon follow, she enrolls with Alex at the Academy instead –the realm’s most notorious war school for those with magic.
Yet when she arrives Ry finds herself competing against friend and foe for one of the exalted apprenticeships. Every “first-year” is given a trial year to prove their worth –and no amount of hard work and drive will guarantee them a spot. It seems like everyone is rooting for her to fail –and first and foremost among them Prince Darren, the school prodigy who has done nothing but make life miserable since she arrived.
When an accidental encounter leads Ryiah and Darren to an unlikely friendship she is convinced nothing good will come of it. But the lines become blurred when she begins to improve –and soon she is a key competitor for the faction of Combat… Still, nothing is ever as it seems –and when the world comes crashing down around her, Ry is forced to place faith in the one thing she can believe in –herself. Will it be enough?
Darren, unlike Cardan, is not controversial at all. He doesn’t push the line as much as Cardan. Yes, he had a shaky beginning with Ryiah, but even then their relationship was not even a quarter as toxic as Jude and Cardan’s. But he is a good example of this trope.
The Personal Trainers
These are the guys who are usually assigned to our bad-ass protagonists to help improve their physical fighting skills. Usually, our heroines would be really sassy and feisty girls and these guys would initially dislike the girl’s attitude, but eventually, be drawn toward her as well.
EVERY INDIE BOOK EVER
I am not kidding, this trope is literally in every single indie book ever, especially in those paranormal/young adult books. The reason these kinds of book boyfriends are so reassuring in genres like this is because of how these paranormal young-adult books usually involve the trope of our heroine being dragged (usually unwillingly) into a supernatural world, and they need to train.
Chances are, they already met these guys and hate them – they are arrogant and rude. But since they are forced to work together to train together, they develop a relationship as they get to know each other.
Say what you want, this trope is insanely popular for a reason. I personally love this trope as well.
Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies…
Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth’s magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires—the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa’s best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.
After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir’s Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger… and the Strigoi are always close by.
Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…
Dimitri originally hated Rose’s guts. I adore Rose’s sassy don’t-give-a-crap attitude, and I find it incredibly entertaining to watch Rose purposely make Dimitri suffer knowing how much he hates her messing with him with her sassiness. This made some great character dynamics, so their romance is so satisfying and cute.
One choice can transform you. Beatrice Prior’s society is divided into five factions—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions.
Her choice will shock her community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she’s determined to keep hidden, because in this world, what makes you different makes you dangerous.
Although Vampire Academy does have a more cliche scenario (it is a YA paranormal series) with the classic dynamic between the bad-ass heroine and aloof hero, Divergent was a little bit more different in this dynamic. The setting is different too (maybe that contributed to the differences), Divergent is a dystopian world, making the atmosphere more…depressing. Which perfectly fit Tris’s more shy and timid nature – while still making her incredibly badass – and still throwing her together with the personal trainer.
Now Four is just like Dimitri. Although he doesn’t really dislike Tris in the way that Dimitri initially disliked Rose, he definitely had to come to like her, he was not very approachable initially. Another reason why he fits this trope is that he is in the mentor/trainer position for this.
The Unbelievably Sassy (and lovable) Ones
This trait overlaps with a lot of book boyfriends. It’s not either you have it or don’t have it – it’s a scale. The scale of sassiness the guy has. These types of book boyfriends are not as aloof, and they often tease/flirt with the heroine as comic relief, but of course, they genuinely feel that way for the heroine. Often times these guys hid their painful past behind this humorous shield, which gives such meaningful depths to their character, making them even more lovable than they already are. Thanks to their humour, they are also incredibly charismatic.
Rhysand – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin―and his world―forever.
Rhysand is such an embodiment of this trope – although he has a very villainous facade (one that I had previously elaborated upon earlier), he is also incredibly humorous. Remember how I said these types of characters love just trolling and teasing our heroines? It’s one of Rhysand’s behaviour trademarks as well. Even after they married he still does this
PERCY AND LEO – THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES BY RICK RIORDAN
JASON HAS A PROBLEM. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They’re all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids,” as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn’t know anything—except that everything seems very wrong.
PIPER HAS A SECRET. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out, whether she wants to or not.
LEO HAS A WAY WITH TOOLS. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason’s amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?
Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Best-selling author Rick Riordan has pumped up the action, humor, suspense, and mystery in an epic adventure that will leave readers panting for the next installment.
Oh my god, this pair. If they combined their respective level of sassiness they would make the world explode. I legit get third-degree burns when they get just a bit too savage. Well, maybe the world didn’t explode yet because of how Annabeth and Calypso’s respective badass-ness themselves are balancing it out.
The Nice Guys
The above categories can all fall under the “bad-boy” generalized category, but the category “nice guys” unfortunately is just one category because it’s such a minority (I am so sorry). It’s just that the above types of characters are so much more interesting and fun to read (and so much more shippable). But as readers, we should still acknowledge these “good guys”, they’re nice people too.
For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.
Yes, Maxon is charismatic, charming, and incredibly attractive, but if you really think about it, he’s not really a bad boy. You could say that he is one of the few examples of a book boyfriend who is not a bad boy and is genuinely still beloved and popular with the fandom. That is so much more than what I can say for Mal from the Grisha Trilogy.
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Both Maxon and Mal can fall under the “nice guy” category, but that’s where the similarities end. While Maxon is charismatic, loveable, interesting, and popular with the fandom, Mal is anything but that. Mal is annoying, enraging, boring, and unpopular with the Grisha trilogy fans. Listen, we (the fans) are not irrational – we know the Darkling is not good for Alina. But the alternative choice could’ve been made so much better. It’s such a shame.
