Thursday, September 05, 2013

Book Girls Don’t Cry: My Favorite Villains

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Book Girls Don’t Cry is a weekly feature where we each discuss/vent/advise on the chosen weekly bookish topic. Don’t miss Jenni on Mondays, and Amy on Saturdays:

Topic suggestion by Kelsey over at Calliope Reads.


The Best of the Evil!

We all love a good, well crafted villain. Well I do, anyways. On this week’s Book Girls Don’t Cry we’re talking about fictional villains, and which ones are in our list of favorites.

—The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins [President Snow]: Really! Who didn’t love to hate this man? I mean, his fixation on Katniss is nothing if not completely creepy. And his control over her makes it all the worse. I wanted nothing more than to see him go down!

—Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo [The Darkling]: The Darkling is quite possibly the most atmospheric villain I’ve ever read. He exerts this mysterious allure that makes him both dangerous and charming. His character is very well built, and kept so cryptic you can’t help but want to know more about him. I just love how Leigh built him up with such a grand aura.

—Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryan [Ashleigh]: Ashleigh is one of my favorite characters in this series and one the reasons I loved it – especially this first book. Ashleigh is the kind of villain that truly gets under your skin. You come to hate her so much. You’re also terrified of her, especially when you get to really see who she is and how far she will go to get her way. She’s manipulative and truly evil, with a plan to rule the world. Sound familiar?


—Renegade by J.A. Souders [Mother]: Mother is what this villain is called in this book, and she’s not immediately obvious as a villain, we get details as we go along turning her from an annoyance to an absolute evil. From sickening experiments, to brainwashing, to altering memories; this woman is the twisted leader of a whole underwater universe and let’s just say she’s got all kinds of disturbing ideals. *shudders*

—Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake [Anna]: This one is different from all the others mentioned because Anna is both the villain, and the victim, so I’m not even 100% sure this is the right list to put her in as I didn’t “love to hate” her, we grow to like her, actually, but with that said she’s horrific and gory and I loved it! So there you have it. She is portrayed as a villain at the start, but her story turns things around which I think is kind of great storytelling. There is a true hate-worthy villain in this book – but Anna is by far the star of this horror show!

—Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling [Voldemort, Snape, Draco, Bellatrix, Dolores Umbridge…]: Dude this series is the MASTER of epically awesome villains! I’m not even sure I could decide who I would call my favorite. The one who got under my skin the most was by far Dolores Umbridge. Oh gawd that &!@?#!&@#. Voldemort is, of course, the most powerfully disturbing villain and hardly needs any explanation on why he’s on this list. Snape, from the start, was one of my favorite character overall, not just from the villains. I found him to be so complex and very thickly layered. I also loved where JK brought him as a character. Bellatrix is one I loved to hate throughout. I also think the actress portrayed her especially well in the movies. Draco is another one I loved to hate, though more so at the beginning of the series. Overall this series is just amazingly character driver – definitely one of the best I’ve ever read but you’ve all read these too so no need for me to go on praising it. 🙂


Do you have favorite fictional villains?
Who did you love to hate?

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XOXO, Book Girl

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Giselle

Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

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39 Responses to “Book Girls Don’t Cry: My Favorite Villains”

  1. Mary @ BookSwarm

    Oh, NICE list (um, relatively speaking, that is. They are villains, after all.). Loved to hate President Snow and Dolores Umbridge. I think those were two of my favorite. That pink-wearing, stick-up-her-booty cat lover was even worse than Voldemort in many ways!

  4. Nick @ Nick's Book Blog

    I pretty much agree with all your choices, Giselle!
    President Snow was one creepy dude!
    Also, the Darkling is one of my favorite villains. He gives off so many negative vibes. I love all the scenes that he’s in because he has this way of capturing your attention. However, I don’t like how some readers want him to be a love interest. He makes a perfect villain, but love interest? Nopes.
    And yes! Mother! OMG! That woman was crazy evil and so damn manipulative. She was definitely one character I loved to hate.
    I’m trying to think of other villains who were memorable, but I can’t think of any at the moment.
    Anyways, great list, Giselle! 🙂

  6. Penny Yoke

    Have u ever read shattered me? Warner is the coolest villain ever! Like I don’t even know whether to hate or like him.
    The Darkling is really creepy, I’m really scared of him, but I wished we knew some thing about his past 🙁
    And Voldemort is like the most classic one 🙂

  7. Andrea @ Beauty but a Funny Girl

    I really need to get started on reading Shadow and Bone. I’ve been seeing it a lot lately and I’m taking that as a sign.

    Of all the Harry Potter villains, Bellatrix has got to be my favorite. She’s completely unstable and it’s just so evil that I can’t even!

  8. Kezia D

    Haha when I read the post title for the first time, I immediately thought of the Darkling too! Been wanting to read Anna too!

    Oh, and don’t laugh but I have never read HP!! 😛

  11. Megan

    I love a good villian. I agree that the villians in HP are awesomely hate-able! I’ve always loved great villians, sometimes to the point where I cheer for them over the hero.

  12. Tiffany

    Great list! I personally hated Umbridge more than I hated Voldemort too. At least I felt like Voldemort I could understand but that woman was freaking evil!

  14. Laureen

    Umbridge! Man, that woman still gives me the chills. She was absolutely terrifying and I hated her so much. I may have cheered in the movie theater when she was taken away.

  15. Christianna

    I need to read more of these books! I love a good bad guy! I have to agree 100% with you on SNOW! He was so terrible in this really dignified, low key sort of way and it just made you hate him even more.

  19. Eileen @ Singing and Reading in the Rain

    I need to read Anna Dressed in Blood soon, I’ve been hearing fantastic things about it and also I have it and it’s just sitting all lonely-like on my shelf at this point. But I agree, Mother from Renegade was intense that you just needed to love to hate her. I so agree with what you said about Darkling, too, I actually loved him so much better than Mal because he had that whole mysterious vibe going on. And we can all agree that JK Rowling is a genius at developing her characters? *dies from her amazingness*

    Thanks for sharing, Giselle! <33

  24. Sheena-kay Graham

    Eric from the Divergent series.He’s one twisted &%@#. HP had wonderful villains and glad to meet a fellow Snape fan and agree with you on Umbridge. Great list and you’ve reminded me that I need to get Anna Dressed in Blood.

  25. Jennifer @ Some Like It Paranormal

    Dolores Umbridge! I think everyone hated her more than Voldemort. Draco was pretty awesome too. I LOVE The Darkling. Not as a love interest or anything but I think he is one of the best villains. Anna was pretty awesome! It was funny once her curse was removed though and then she was just chillin and drivin around with them LOL I like the villain in the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent.

  26. Charlotte

    Yes! I totally agree with Hunger Games and Harry Potter. That &%$&%& Dolores Umbridge, she could be the death of me. HP villains FTW! Maybe I should start shelving all the other books that you’ve mentioned on my Want-to-read list, Giselle. Me always want to read a book that has a well-acted villain. 😀

  27. Aman

    Oh, yes! The Darkling is most certainly my favorite villain. I love the mysteriousness around him and I haven’t read the second book, but I’m so sad to hear that he’s not present that much. Oh and I would add Warner to that list, but I don’t hate him. I love him!

  28. Jasmine @ Flip That Page

    WOOHOO for The Darkling and all the HP and THG villains! This is so cool, since they’re my favorites too! 😀 I usually love villains that I can sympathize with, but some of the inherently evil ones make the books more exciting 🙂

  29. Pili

    What a great post! I agree with all your villains! Dolores Umbridge I think was the one I loved to hate the most and Snape… I really disliked him in the books but oh dear how I cried in book seven and I couldn’t help but love him, that was an absolutely fantastic character arc there!

    Another great villain is the King from Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight, sometimes he’s a closer menace that others, but his shadow is always there!

  34. Michelle

    Umbridge was definitely the one I hated the most in HP. I know Voldemort is the ultimate villain in that series, but that woman was just nasty!! I am with you on Draco too. I hated his guts in the beginning, but then as the series went on I just felt sorry for him. Another “villain” that infuriated me was Peter Van Houten from TFIOS. Who treats kids with cancer like that?

  35. Nereyda @Mostly YA Book Obsessed

    The best/worst villain I’ve read is this evil bitch named Leah from the Love Me With Lies series by Tarryn Fisher. We get to read one of the books in her POV which shows just how fucked up she is and just makes you hate her more. I’ve never read a book with a POV of a person I hated. Good times!

  37. Sabeen

    I love the Darkling and used to have a crush on Tom Riddle (before he became Voldemort). I guess the evil ones are more fun. Well, they’re more interesting, anyway.

  38. Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows

    Awesome list of villains chick! Voldemort is horrifying and an obvious choice but yeah Bellatrix, Snape, Umbridge (UGH!) and Malfoy are all worthy of this list. Snape is so layered and conflicting but still really terrible at times. Bellatrix is almost as terrible as Voldemort himself and I agree HBC made me love her even more, she’s amazing as Bella! I loathe the very core of Umbridge though, it’s not even funny. *twitch* Malfoy was really terrible but at the end he kind of crumbles under the pressure as opposed to Harry who rises up. Makes you feel sorry for Malfoy and it’s harder to hate him LOL >.<

    Oh and YES: President Snow! That man was creepy and blood-chilling O.O Bleh!

    PS-the fact that you've read the Grisha books -a FANTASY series, and I HAVEN'T?! Every time I think about it I die a little. LOL I can't believe I haven't even gotten my hands on book 1 yet! *dies a little inside*