It is a truth universally acknowledged that the only trope more maligned than the love triangle is insta-love, aka love at first sight. OK, maybe it’s not universal, but when’s the last time you ever heard someone go, “OMG, you need to read this book, it’s got insta-love!” The insta-love moniker applied to Love at First Sight was meant to be disparaging, because it was ridiculous that two people who just met, like, yesterday were already declaring their undying love for each other. Right? Well, you didn’t click on this article for me to agree with that.
The fact that love at first sight is such a universal part of the childhood experience often goes unrecognized. It starts when you’re young, and the crush you’ve never once spoken to glances your way and you’re so sure he can see into your soul. Then he gets a different haircut, and you’re over that. So you move on to the girl in your class who shared her crayons with you one time and then she smiled and all of a sudden you understood all those songs on the radio. But then she moves away and you forget she ever existed, because you’re now really into this person from Band who’s decorated their cello case with little stickers of cats and you love cats so obviously it’s meant to be.
All romantics have all been there. So why does it grate so much when it happens in fiction?
The answer there is simple: cynicism. Because we know in hindsight that our crush on the boy who can see into our souls and the girl who shared her crayons and the person with their cat stickers probably won’t work. The most self-aware among us might even know, mid-crush, that this can’t be love because you’ve barely ever spoken. But a young adult novel is meant to tell a story, a narrative, which means, most times, those insta-love crushes are painted as true love and totally work out. And it’s just not realistic, because are you married to soul-eyed boy right now? No. You don’t even remember his name. That wasn’t love, and neither is the relationship between these two characters.
But the question I want you to ask yourself is who gets to define love? Eight Taylor Swift albums have been devoted to finding the answer, her assessment changing as she has different experiences. Shakespeare wrote a bunch of sonnets that present a very different idea of love than Lord Byron or even Edgar Allen Poe. Love is a nuanced, complicated, impossible to define thing that you only really know when you experience it, and denying teen characters their right to know what they’re feeling despite the short time or their young ages is unfair.
If Bella from Twilight wants to say she’s in love with Edward after talking to him maybe four times, that’s her right. If Jack from Opposite of Always wants to be trapped in a time loop where he’s in a race against tragedy to save Kate’s life after maybe dating for a month, that’s his right. And if Mare from Red Queen wants to hinge the entire success of the rebellion on her faith that Cal’s feelings for her after a couple of months are stronger than his loyalty to his family and the system he benefits from, then that’s her right.
Love is a many splendored thing, and whether it’s a flash in the pan, the greatest heartbreak of your young life, the stepping stone to something bigger and better, or the start of a relationship that will last beyond the pages of your adventure, those feelings are valid. Insta-love is valid. Love at first sight is valid. And every book that gets their teens together quicker than my old, cynical mind might like is absolutely valid. Every relationship you’re in — or relationship you wish you were in — can and sometimes should feel like the most significant romantic relationship you’ve ever had. Because eventually, when you find the right person, it will be.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, and check out these books that prove I’m absolutely right.
12 Books With Love at First Sight
THAT WILL MAKE YOUR HEART RELIVE YOUR OWN WILD CRUSHES
1. Anna K by Jenny Lee
Anna K and Alexia Vronsky literally met each other one time, and all of a sudden they were obsessed with one another with a passion that would set the New York social scene on fire. And — is it a spoiler if it’s based on Anna Karenina? — then go down in flames. But does that mean it wasn’t real?
📚 Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee
Meet Anna K. At seventeen, she is at the top of Manhattan and Greenwich society (even if she prefers the company of her horses and Newfoundland dogs); she has the perfect (if perfectly boring) boyfriend, Alexander W.; and she has always made her Korean-American father proud (even if he can be a little controlling). Meanwhile, Anna’s brother, Steven, and his girlfriend, Lolly, are trying to weather a sexting scandal; Lolly’s little sister, Kimmie, is struggling to recalibrate to normal life after an injury derails her ice dancing career; and Steven’s best friend, Dustin, is madly (and one-sidedly) in love with Kimmie.
As her friends struggle with the pitfalls of ordinary teenage life, Anna always seems to be able to sail gracefully above it all. That is…until the night she meets Alexia “Count” Vronsky at Grand Central. A notorious playboy who has bounced around boarding schools and who lives for his own pleasure, Alexia is everything Anna is not. But he has never been in love until he meets Anna, and maybe she hasn’t, either. As Alexia and Anna are pulled irresistibly together, she has to decide how much of her life she is willing to let go for the chance to be with him. And when a shocking revelation threatens to shatter their relationship, she is forced to question if she has ever known herself at all.
2. Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
When Jack meets Kate, he wasn’t expecting what a huge part of his life she’d become. But isn’t that just the way with love at first sight? It bowls you over until you can’t imagine your life without this person, and, if you’re as lucky (in a manner of speaking…) as Jack, sometimes they even feel the same way.
📚 Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling — hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack.
But then Kate dies. And their story should end there.
Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind.
Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do to save the people he loves.
3. All The Things We Never Knew by Liara Tamani
The course of first love never did run smooth, and Carli and Rex learn that the hard way. But the moment they saw each other and fell in love across a basketball court, it was over, their courses set, and their lives forever changed. Beautiful.
📚 All The Things We Never Knew by Liara Tamani
From the moment Carli and Rex first locked eyes on a Texas high school basketball court, they both knew it was destiny. But can you truly love someone else if you don’t love yourself?
Acclaimed author Liara Tamani’s luminous second novel explores love, family, heartbreak, betrayal, and the power of healing, in gorgeous prose that will appeal to readers of Nicola Yoon and Jacqueline Woodson.
A glance was all it took. That kind of connection, the immediate and raw understanding of another person, just doesn’t come along very often. And as rising stars on their Texas high schools’ respective basketball teams, destined for bright futures in college and beyond, it seems like a match made in heaven. But Carli and Rex have secrets. As do their families.
4. Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith
Pony and Georgia both had very good reasons for not getting into a new relationship this school year, reasons they completely forgot as soon as they met each other. That magnetic, all-consuming attraction between them is EVERYTHING.
📚 Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith
Pony just wants to fly under the radar during senior year. Tired from all the attention he got at his old school after coming out as transgender, he’s looking for a fresh start at Hillcrest High. But it’s hard to live your best life when the threat of exposure lurks down every hallway and in every bathroom.
Georgia is beginning to think there’s more to life than cheerleading. She plans on keeping a low profile until graduation…which is why she promised herself that dating was officially a no-go this year.
Then, on the very first day of school, the new guy and the cheerleader lock eyes. How is Pony supposed to stay stealth when he wants to get close to a girl like Georgia? How is Georgia supposed to keep her promise when sparks start flying with a boy like Pony?
5. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
When the universe is telling you to get together (or stay away from each other? whatever, the universe needs to be more clear with its signs), then you basically have to listen. Arthur and Ben may not have really known each other, but they changed each other’s lives in one breathtaking summer of love.
📚 What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
ARTHUR is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
BEN thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.
But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them…?
Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.
Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.
But what if they can’t nail a first date even after three do-overs?
What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?
What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?
But what if it is?
What if it’s us?
6. Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
In Call Down the Hawk, we find out for the first time in The Raven Cycle that Ronan, in fact, fell in love with Adam before they ever formally met, before he ever even accepted his sexuality, before he ever even really knew what he was feeling. And they’re still going strong, so when you know you know.
📚 Call Down The Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.
Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.
Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer… and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed…
7. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The immediate attraction between Jace and Clary is so legendary it turned their trilogy into a hextalogy. All that witty banter couldn’t hide their love for each other for very long, and they’re still going strong.
📚 City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing ― not even a smear of blood ― to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…
8. In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
When Elliot first saw Serene in the Borderlands, it was a wrap. His heart was done. Finished. Destined to walk with hers. Or so he thought. Sometimes your first love is your first heartache, and sometimes the right one for you was right beside you all along, just behind the beautiful elven warrior you fell in love with first.
📚 In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
The Borderlands aren’t like anywhere else. Don’t try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border—unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and—best of all as far as Elliot is concerned—mermaids.
Elliot? Who’s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He’s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands.
It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there’s Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there’s her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There’s even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world.
9. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Prince Kance was the first person to be kind to Tea after she became a bonewitch, and she tripped and fell into love with him right away. If only she could get him to notice. Not that they could be together if she did. But he’s so charming. Relatable AF.
📚 The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.
In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a powerful choice.
10. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Lazlo met the girl of his dreams… literally. Like, in a dream. And he and Sarai had a passionate romance while their individual worlds collided in ways that had the potential to tear the young lovers apart.
📚 Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around — and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
11. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
By her own admission, Mare fell in love with both Calore brothers over the course of the first book, after not knowing either of them for very long. But it was love at first sight for her and Cal in particular, and their relationship would go on to some pretty high highs and even lower lows.
📚 Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood — those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.
To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard — a growing Red rebellion — even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction.
One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.
What do you think of love at first sight? Do you love or hate insta-love? Tell us in the comments below and get more summer fling book recs here!