If it was a TRUE love triangle, then the solution would be obvious.

Threesome time.

But, since romance seems like an especially strong subplot in YA, I doubt that either true triangles nor threesomes will appear. One of these days, someone needs to write an actual love triangle. Most of what I see is either a V or a polygon that got punched in a face and cracked a few times.

Stories require conflict, or else most of the audience will wander off. Love triangles are one way of providing such, with the extra added benefit of a potential, "Boy, I wish that were me!" reader insert.

While some genres (such as romance and chick lit) are built around this trope, and others (e.g. supernatural fantasy and space opera) have been willing to embrace it, how well it works ultimately depends on striking the right balance between the reader's expectations and the writer's skill.

I don't like them, and I have a feeling the people that do love to indulge in real-life petty drama as well. Then again, I don't really like romance in the books I read in the first place. If it's there, I would prefer it to be minimal and not a huge component of the narrative.

:$ I don't like them; I think they're WAY overused, and pretty boring, especially in YA. You know, the girl is always caught between Mr. Snarky Mysterious Smirker and Mr. Nice But Boring...the triangle is never approached from any other angle. (Like, what if the main character was one of the 2 points? or, you know, if the two guys had actual personalities? Or if it was an actual triangle and not a V? grrr.)

But then again, I don't really like romance in general, so maybe I'm biased?

I personally don't think books are bought just for the love triangles, but for the "bigger" picture: what came before that. Like Hunger Games. Though I can't stand the series (don't ask me why), it was a success because of the general idea. Then came Peeta vs. Gale over Katniss. According to the reviews, people hated this triangle, mostly because it was a distraction from the plot (but the plot became watered down towards the end of the series anyway) - it had very little purpose in the series.

If there is going to be relationships in books, I think it would be better to tread it as it would in a real life sinario. If you fall in love with someone and he/she turnes out not to be the one, you move on to the next till the right person comes along, not bounce back and forth and toy with two people like a mad dog in heat. Overall, the love triangle is terribly overrated on a personal note; I will never read a book, or future books of a series, if a love triangle is installed. It just ruins the story for me.

ehh.. I like them, adds a little drama to it, but a lot of books use them and it gets too predictable after a while.. -_-

I hate them because they're usually love V's, because all the characters are usually straight.

And I haven't found one that's written well.

Why do we always have to have the "love triangle"? Seriously? Every time? Like the hero isn't facing enough adversity he/she also has to contend with a rival lover as well? It is SO overdone.

Cliche love triangles are annoying.

When it's two hot guys that go for a cute girl who can't imagine why she's pursued by two hot guys, it's just plain unrealistic yet very predictable. She goes for the charismatic knight-in-shining armor guy who treats her nicer who she properly met FIRST (if she's the nice girl type), even though she's darkly attracted to the bad guy which every female reader seems to prefer. And who reads about two hot girls fighting over a cute guy? That'd be a terrible read. Just watch The Bachelor.

What I would love to read about is an LGBT love triangle between just girls or just guys, or maybe with a transgender thrown in there. Not just a girl and a guy fighting over a girl (or guy), with the person of the same sex successfully seducing the poor sap caught up in the conflict. Hopefully that would NOT be predictable in the slightest.

~Nenril-Tf is right in saying that love-triangles are overused, however; I'd like to point out that it's only now that they're overdone.

In my opinion, love-triangles are a great story-telling element. When a hero and/or heroine has the chance to love one or the other it gets the reader more involved because suddenly they have a choice... "Who do I want he or she to end up with?"

The best example of this is Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera. My mother has a HUGE thing for Raoul. She thinks he's simply perfect with his goody-two shoes attitude. She thinks the Phantom is evil for his trickery & overall mistreatment of Christine.

My argument always plays out to where I eventually scream, "BUT HE DID EVERYTHING FOR HER!"

I like them if they are well written and interesting. But, we don't see that very often anymore. Darn Twilight ruined romance for us all.