Romance is in the air this month, but even the chubby-cheeked cherubs of February can’t keep us from thinking about all the messy ships lurking out there. While we adore some good, uplifting (and sometimes spicy) romance, there’s an unfortunate number of couples in the literary world that feel like they were thrown together through pure circumstance! So today, we’re taking a look at five ships we just know broke up after the book ended!
Jean & Zach (Jinx)
This one, dear readers, hurts. Jinx by Meg Cabot is one of my favorite books, so it comes as a personal defeat to me to admit that while Jean and Zach are totally adorable… there’s no way they make it past the next two years of high school. After overcoming Jean’s insanely jealous cousin Tori, romance should be a walk in the park, right? Well, there’s some reservations.
After all, they’re just teenagers, and even if they might end up together in the future again (I hope!), it’s more than likely they’ll break up at least once if only to figure out what they both want! It’s only natural and healthy that way.
Nova & Adrian (Renegades)
While many people out there probably would call these two their favorites from Renegades by Marissa Meyer, something about them has always been a little off-putting. Perhaps it’s the way Adrian seemed to always view Nova like something of a commodity, or the way she came into his like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but were they ever going to last beyond the last few pages of the series? Often, especially in high-intensity epic books like this series, you also have to wonder if the relationship is rich enough to survive when the drama and action peters out and the couple is left to navigate regular problems.
It also certainly doesn’t help that the entire relationship between Adrian and Nova is built on a lie regarding who Nova actually is. You could argue that they get past it, but… really, who wants to be lied to?
Jacob & Renesmee (The Twilight Saga)
Now, this is just a couple that shouldn’t have happened (or been implied to happen) from the very beginning. Between Twilight’s questionable age difference, power dynamics, and the creepiness of imprinting on a child… there are so many reasons to pray that Jacob and Renesmee break up after the books. Taking a moment to inspect all the other implications of their dynamic unearths so many worms that are borderline impossible to shove back into the proverbial can.
If they’re always bound together, it’s unlikely that Renesmee will ever have the chance to date anyone her age or test out what kind of relationship she’s looking for. So, she may as well have been born into an arranged marriage! So we hope and pray that after the series ends, these two will as well.
Meredith & Wit (The Summer of Broken Rules)
The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther is a gorgeously fun and romantic summer romp… but Meredith and Wit’s relationship is really only made for the summer. It is incredibly difficult to believe these two college-aged individuals are going to be fully committed to one another forever. Much as with Nova and Adrian above, it is safe to say that Meredith and Wit only see each other within the liminal glow of summer. Wishing them the best is a pipe dream when, most likely, they’re not made to last forever.
Still, if there’s anything YA romance has taught us, it’s that something doesn’t need to last forever to mean a lot. And while Wit and Meredith may not be made to last, that doesn’t make them any worse of a couple together.
Merit & Tevin (Curses)
As cute as they were in Curses by Lish McBride, Merit and Tevin barely had a chance to deeply know one another. There were elements of their romance that made sense and felt natural, while there were others that progressed too fast and felt quite a bit like a stretch. Rooting for them felt like the right move, but considering they never really took too much time to get to know each other, a lot of the novel felt like the author taking leaps of faith and asking us to jump with her. In the end, when Merit and Tevin got together (spoiler alert!), it didn’t feel as earned as it would have otherwise been.
Sadly, that makes them all the more likely to end up splitting up or, at the very least, taking a well-needed break after the book ends. They probably really need it once they realize they don’t know that much about each other.
For more questionable couples, click here!