Triple POV

As I recall, The Patron Saint of Liars has three POV characters.

I think it's occasionally used when the same basic story is told by three or more characters. Each has his or her own way of viewing the events.

If I recall correctly Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (#2 in the Shiver trilogy) was three POVs. It might have been four though. I don't remember if Isabel had her own POV or not.
Either way, it's more than just your average 2-POV novel

Oh, and Angel by L.A. Weatherly has three POVs! Willow, Alex and Raziel

I think LINGER had three and FOREVER had four (Isabelle and Cole). Having more than two POVs seems to be common in series.

You're fine, James. Multiple POVs can be hard to juggle as a writer (I tried five in my first book, oops) but they're definitely "allowed."

You don't see it all that often in YA, but three POV characters (or more) frequently show up in adult novels, especially in fantasy and science fiction.

The biggest issue you might have in YA is the generally lower word count expectations. It can be difficult to tell the stories of three characters in a shorter word count. Not impossible, but it's a challenge for many writers.

I remember the later Bartimaeus trilogy had 3 POVs, but that's MG and not YA. I don't know what the wordcount is on those, though.

Cress by Marissa Meyer is triple POV and maybe Scarlett is. That might just be double POV. I'm guessing Winter will be quadruple POV at least.

On a side note, my novel is triple POV and not one of my many betas have cited it as a problem. The book is mostly from my MC's POV, but every couple of chapters it's the POV of one of two characters. So the change isn't all the time, but enough to get the view of two other characters. Of course, it's not published, but it can be done. I personally see no reason not to try it. I wasn't sure if I would like it for my book, but it just kind of wrote itself that way.

It's been years since I read it, but I think Alan Garner's Red Shift has at least three POVs. But that covers three different time periods, which makes it easier to separate the threads. (Even if it's not directly applicable to this situation, it's worth a read.)

If I remember correctly, the third book in the MATCHED series had 3 POVs also.

Sage - I was thinking they had more POV's but was too lazy to get up and check the book. Meyer switches between all the main characters, though the girls, and specifically the girl for which the book is named, gets the main focus.

On a side note: My book is in 1st person present tense, just to add to what Sage was talking about POV. I was really worried about how it would be received and the only comment was from 2 of my 10 betas that I should head the chapter with the name of the character whose POV the chapter was in. I decided against that, because I felt that I made it very clear in each first para whose POV we were in. I don't make huge, strange jumps. But we'll see how agents/publishers feel about it. I found when I read books in alternating POV's that I didn't even read the chapter headings when they used them (Matched and The Kane Chronicles both use that method) It can be very annoying to read along and not understand who we are with. I feel the writer should make a concerted effort to make the POV clear when they switch, rather than just a chapter heading. When I first started my book it was in third past, and I started each chapter by using the name of the person in a sentence, ie. Will woke up, Joshua stepped out of the car, Nona ran through the woods, but honestly, I think that was lazy. When I switched to first present I couldn't do that and it forced me to really jump into the characters head and make them jump out of the page.

Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series has four (or possibly five, it's been a while) POV characters. It's hard to do this well, but he pulls it off.

If you're doing multiple POV characters in first-person, I think you should always put the character's name as a chapter heading. It might be clear to you whose POV you're in, but it won't be clear to the reader. Don't make the reader do unnecessary work.

Sort of off topic, but I hate series where each book accumulates more POV characters. Hate, hate, hate. I was sort of interested in the Lunar Chronicles but if each book gains more POVs, I couldn't do it. I'd way rather stick with the same characters beginning to end in a series. No additions, no subtractions.

One of my sig projects has three first-person narrators with alternating chapters. One MC is more prominent than the others in the first part of the book, and then the other two gradually gain more space. I have no idea if it'll ever be accepted for publishing, but I love writing it.
As several have mentioned above, my chapters start with chapter number and the name of that chapter's narrator, to make it easier on the reader. Two POVs are boys, one is a girl (and no, there's no love triangle between them!)

I've come to love multiple POVs more and more as a reader.

James, I think as long as you label each POV with the character's name, and each has a distinctive voice/personality, I think it would be fine. Depends on the writing, like everything else. I usually see two first-person POVs at the most, but I remember a MG/YA series that had a book or two with more first-person POVs in the same story. I think it was Animorphs?

Becca C. said:

Sort of off topic, but I hate series where each book accumulates more POV characters. Hate, hate, hate. I was sort of interested in the Lunar Chronicles but if each book gains more POVs, I couldn't do it. I'd way rather stick with the same characters beginning to end in a series. No additions, no subtractions.

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OT:
I'm the same way, though I'm extreme: I don't usually like more than two POV characters.

There are some series that I can't get into as much because of the multiple POV shifts.

It's why I prefer Percy Jackson series over the Heroes of Olympus series. I still enjoy Heroes of Olympus. But I just feel annoyed with the POV shifts, especially when I prefer a certain character over another, or if one character has a more interesting plot I enjoyed, only to get interrupted by another shift to the other characters, etc. I also like Percy Jackson better...

thejamesramos said:

Hey, thanks everyone for your responses. Sorry about this, but I think I should have specified before that I was talking about three first person POV's, if that makes a difference.

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I've never liked multiple first-person POVs, but that's just me. I don't think most readers would have a problem with it.