When Opposites Attract

I love a good "opposites attract" romance. Sometimes this includes one of my other favorite tropes, hate-to-love, since opposite people tend to play off each other quite fabulously. There's something about very different people discovering what they have in common and learning how they compliment each other that thrills me. I suppose you can blame my lifelong adoration of Pride and Prejudice for that. I once heard someone sum up an opposite attract relationship like this:

You complete what I am not.

And that says it all, really. I love reading about characters who fit together like opposite puzzles pieces, filling and balancing out their respective personalities.

I decided to do a roundup of a few of my favorite Opposites Attract romances and explain what makes these couples so different but so perfect.

He's a sexinating playboy. She's a cynical single girl (cyngle girl? cynigle? Almost) who doesn't believe that teenagers can be in love. Every word out of his mouth is either charming or insulting, while she's generally cranky or insulted. Basically, they're perfect for each other.

She is a prodigy and a soldier for the Republic. He's a wanted criminal and despises the Republic. She is methodical, lethal, brilliant, and detail-oriented. He's a passionate, one-man rebellion. She comes from privelege and status. He comes from the slums. He's wanted for killing her brother. It's her job to track him down. Naturally, love blooms.

He's sensitive, giving, and easy to like. He has a way with words and very strong principles. She's prickly, resentful, and full of feeling. He's the boy with the bread. She's the girl on fire. These two are totally complimentary, like yin and yang.

He's funny but sometimes incredibly stupid, insensitive, and immature. She is anything but stupid and is hugely compassionate. She's a Muggle born. He doesn't even understand how Muggle money works. She has a cat. He has a rat. They fight like cats and dogs. But ultimately, they're both loyal friends and brave Gryffindors.

He's a wretched conversationalist. She sparkles with wit. He doesn't particularly care to dance. She adores it. He's rich and distinguished. She is poor and on the brink of genteel poverty. He is proud, and she is prejudiced. He is prejudiced, and she is proud. They're perfection personified.

 He's a science, math, and computer geek. She's flunking algebra. He's your average New York City teenager. She's a princess. He has a dog named Pavlov. She has a cat named Fat Louie. They both are really, really dumb when it comes to romance, but they're made for each other. It just, you know, takes them ten books to get everything settled.

 He's the town golden boy, a star baseball player and a closet writer. She's the town bad girl, with a troubled home life and a spiky attitude. He just wants to be loved, and she's hiding behind armor. They are the cutest ever. (My review)

 He's a guitar player, playin' in a rock and roll ba-and. She's a classically trained cellist. They call them Groovy and the Geek, and they have the saddest love story ever and it hurts. (My review)

 He's the steadfast, stalwart Captain of the King's Guard. She's a deadly assassin who's been imprisoned for the last year. She's tempestuous, vain, and full of presence. He's quiet, calm, and my future husband. I mean, um. Yeah. What were we talking about? (My review)

He's shy, nerdy, and blushes a lot. She's colorful, bold, and adventurously dressed. If she's the moon, then Cricket Bell is the stars. (My review)

He's rich, rich, rich. She is not. He is pleasant, charming, and many different people. She's slightly grumpy, practical, and always herself. They make my soul ache. (My review)

He's a tortured American bad boy with the worst family and magical powers. She's a plucky British-Japanese amateur detective made of unicorns and sunshine and glitter. They're too halves of a whole. (My review)

I'm going to quote directly from the synopsis here, since it sums it up way better than I would have: "Jesse cuts her own hair with a Swiss Army knife. She wears big green fisherman's boots. She's the founding (and only) member of NOLAW, the National Organization to Liberate All Weirdos. Emily wears sweaters with faux pearl buttons. She's vice president of the student council. She has a boyfriend. These two girls have nothing in common, except the passionate "private time" they share every Tuesday afternoon. Jesse wishes their relationship could be out in the open, but Emily feels she has too much to lose."

Blurb, again (since I haven't actually read this book): "Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common."


More examples: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay, Alienated by Melissa Landers, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Meant to Be by Lauren Morill, The Distance Between Us by Kasie West, Cress by Marissa Meyer, These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund. Not to mention both of Katie McGarry's other novels: Pushing the Limits and Crash Into You.

Do you love when opposite attract? Why or why not? And can you think of any bookish couples left off the list?