This week’s prompt is “unlikeable characters I can’t help but love.” At first I was at a loss. I could think of plenty of unlikeable characters. Tons. But ones I actually loved? Hmmmm. Then I thought of one. Then another. And soon, I did in fact have an entire list. So here it is!
Cara Romero from How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is definitely not a likeable character, but the more time I spent with her, the more I felt I understood and cared about her. Lulu is… a difficult child. She definitely needs to hear the word “no” more, but there’s something about her spirit and determination I can’t help but adore. Ove is, as anyone who has read the book will know, a curmudgeon. But underneath the gruff exterior is a warm heart, and a thoroughly decent human. Aleisha, the teenaged librarian in The Reading List, is sullen, borderline rude and unhelpful to a widower who approaches her looking for book recommendations. I didn’t like her much at the beginning of the book, but as the story continued and she put in a significant amount of effort to right her wrongs, I came around to her.
I loved Hell of a Book. It’s one of my top books of the year. But the main character is a complete train wreck, and not always a stand up guy. The House in the Cerulean Sea has a few characters that are difficult, but by the end of the book I loved them all. Shuggie Bain is all about the relationship between a young boy and his alcoholic mother. She’s a completely terrible mother – neglectful, abusive, a terrible role model – but we see her through her son’s eyes and can’t help but feel mostly sad for her. She is broken, but not willfully a bad person. Razorblade Tears is about two fathers whose sons were murdered. They hadn’t been super supportive of their sons in life – they were gay and married to one another – but each come to regret their homophobia and try to make up in death for the love and support they didn’t give their sons in life.
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Both of the kids in The Secret Garden are deeply unlikeable – spoiled, willful, difficult and unpleasant. And yet we know (or learn) their backstories, and it’s impossible not to feel deeply affected by their circumstances. And, of course, as the book progresses they change drastically. There’s a reason this book is so beloved. Similarly there are several kids in Lonely Castle in the Mirror, and they’re not always that likeable. But again, we learn why they are how they are, what they’ve been through, and it’s hard not to care about them.
That’s all I can think of this week! What about you guys? Which was your top character for this week’s prompt? Did you choose any of my books?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
Ove is a brilliant choice! He’s so grumpy, but I understand why, so I can’t hate him.
Exactly!!!
What good choices! Ove is getting a lot of play today, yet I didn’t find him unlikable. A lot like my grandfather-lol. The Reading List was a great choice! I didn’t even think of her.
Yes, I agree. He isn’t unlikeable exactly, but he’s not one that is instantly pleasant – you have to spend some time getting to know him to see how awesome he really is. I think that’s kind of the grey area of this prompt – the characters that are actually horrid aren’t going to be ones that you like in the end! I almost passed over The Reading List, but I’m glad I remembered Aleisha! She fit the prompt fairly well too. Similar to Ove, actually!
I loved A man called ove good choice
My TTT.
https://seriesbooklover.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/__trashed/
Me too! Thank you!
I never thought about Ove being an unlikable character, and I guess it could be that the more you learn about him, the more he works his way into your heart. I won’t lie; I did tear up at the end of the book.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
http://readbakecreate.com/highest-rated-books-on-my-tbr/
Yes, several of these were a bit of a stretch because honestly there weren’t many that REALLY fit this prompt perfectly! I just thought about how at the beginning he alienates people a lot and his neighbours don’t really like him, and it takes some time for us and them to really get to see the side of him that’s soft. I also understood him from the beginning and got where his antisocial behaviour came from, so it didn’t make me dislike him, just felt bad for him because of what must have made him that way. So yeah, he wasn’t exactly unlikeable, more that he just needed to learn how to show his nicer side and for people to give him the opportunity. I totally teared up too!
I feel like the phrasing for this week’s topic didn’t help, because of course you don’t consider a character unlikeable if you like them but once I worked out what Jana was going for, I found it a lot easier!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/top-ten-tuesday-392/
Yes!!!! Like if I really truly find a character unlikeable, then they’re unlikeable. And I tend towards empathy (all the reading, I suppose!) even though I don’t generally like people as a whole, so if there’s even an inkling of good or potential good or an explanation for the bad in the character, I’ll find it and hold out hope. So it’s really hard to find any that weren’t likeable but I liked…. as I guess I kind of hate everyone but also like everyone? Or something? Ugh, this one felt so complicated!
A great list. I enjoyed your explanations.
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/top-ten-tuesday-unlikable-characters-you-cant-help-but-love/
Aw thank you! I felt like some did need a bit of justification!
Same for Klune’s book. I ended up loving them all in the end. Nice list!
Yes!! I mean I kind of had an inkling things would go that way with the main character from the beginning, but I had to make this a broader topic because I couldn’t think of that many characters I ACTUALLY hated and then ended up liking!
A Man Called Ove was on my list, too!
Yes! I don’t know if he really fits the brief, but technically he’s not super easy to feel warm and fuzzy about at the beginning of the book and I needed more options! I loved that book.