Top ten doomed romances in YA fiction

Catherine Doyle lives in the west of Ireland. She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's degree in English from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her latest book, Inferno, is the second part of the Blood for Blood series.

For the Guardian she tagged her ten top doomed romances in YA fiction, including:

Katniss and Gale in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This is a controversial choice, but you can’t root for Katniss and Peeta without also understanding the dissolution of the love (and more importantly, all the potential) she had with her best friend Gale, aka Hot Hemsworth. Perhaps Katniss and Gale would have ended up together had she not been reaped, had she not had to kill a bunch of other people and dismantle her entire problematic society from within. People change, especially teenagers. They drift apart, and the woman that Katniss became was no longer suited to the man that Gale grew into. In the end, Peeta is more than a worthy choice – kind and loyal, and true, but a part of me will always mourn Revolutionary Gale, just a little, every now and then.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Hunger Games also appears on Ryan Britt's list of six of the best Scout Finches -- "headstrong, stalwart, and true" young characters -- from science fiction and fantasy, Natasha Carthew's top ten list of revenge reads, Anna Bradley ten best list of literary quotes in a crisis, Laura Jarratt's top ten list of YA thrillers with sisters, Jeff Somers's top eight list of revolutionary SF/F novels, Tina Connolly's top five list of books where the girl saves the boy, Sarah Alderson's top ten list of feminist icons in children's and teen books, Jonathan Meres's top ten list of books that are so unfair, SF Said's top ten list of unlikely heroes, Rebecca Jane Stokes's top ten list of fictional families you could probably abide during holiday season and top eight list of books perfect for reality TV fiends, Chrissie Gruebel's list of favorite fictional fashion icons, Lucy Christopher's top ten list of literary woods, Robert McCrum's list of the ten best books with teenage narrators, Sophie McKenzie's top ten list of teen thrillers, Gregg Olsen's top ten list of deadly YA books, Annalee Newitz's list of ten great American dystopias, Philip Webb's top ten list of pulse-racing adventure books, Charlie Higson's top ten list of fantasy books for children, and Megan Wasson's list of five fantasy series geared towards teens that adults will love too.

--Marshal Zeringue