Book Girls Don’t Cry is a feature where we will discuss/vent/advise on a bookish topic. This feature is co-hosted with the lovely Amy at Book Loving Mom.
We are back with yet another collaboration between myself and the lovely Stella from It’s Too Late To Apologize. This time around we are talking about unlikeable characters in books. I was reading a book recently and was talking to Stella about how much I hated the MC and how much I was loving the book overall and she was pretty floored by that whole concept so we had to vlog about it! Hope you enjoy!
Can you get down with a book even if you don’t like the main character?
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I love the video so much! This is such an interesting topic as well. For me, I can’t deal with unlikeable characters. But then again, for me, my definition of an “unlikeable character” is a bit different. I don’t mind bitchy characters but I hate it when the character’s bitchiness affects a boy. For example, if a girl is using a boy or if the girl is all “ew I hate him” even though she actually loves him. But in the case of Tease, even though I haven’t read it, I know that I’d love it. So it just depends on in what way they’re unlikeable and how quickly they develop. 😀
ailynk
love or hate.. any thing to make a book interesting
Katherine
For me, it depends on why I don’t like them. If it’s quite obvious that I’m not supposed to like the main character, then I’m okay with it. But if the main character is just annoying or a Mary Sue, then I probably won’t like the rest of the book, especially if it’s first person.
Maddy @ Symphony of Words
For me, it really depends. If the storyline of the book is amazing but I don’t like the MC, there’s usually another character that I latch on to. For example, when I was reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, I did NOT like Clary, the MC, at all, but I love the books very much.
Savannah
For me it depends. I might not like the character but the drama and storyline is pretty good so I ‘ll keep reading. Or maybe their a minor character who I like even more. Just depends.
Kristie
There’s one series that I keep reading where I really don’t like the MC and that is the House of Night series. The MC pisses me off to no end, to the point where I almost prefer the bitch over her. HAH! I’m still going to finish the series, eventually. But ya, I think I’ll try and finish a book where I don’t like the MC.
Courtney @ Storybook Slayers
Great video! Absolutely loved the discussion. And when it comes to MCc, I am a huge fan of the anti-hero and even the point where the main character becomes a villian in a sense–which is probably why I loved Breaking Bad so much. But while I read more and more nowadays, I still enjoy the characters that slowly change over time whether it be for the better or for worse. But if you throw me a Mary Sue like in the Halo books or a character who starts out spectacular but is droops in character development and lack of intellectual thought like in The Kiss of Deception, then I’m not going to like the MC. I enjoy smart MCs. I enjoy snarky MCs. Even the ones that make bad decisions thinking they’re good with a reason behind it. But if you give me plain, stupid, emotionless MCs, than I usually won’t continue the book unless the plot is really chalk full of good things.
Amber
It really depends why I don’t like them. Some qualities will turn me off more than others.
P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex
I don’t know about unlikable. I mean, there’s very few times where I will actively dislike a MC (I thought the MC in Before I Fall was okay) but when it happens, I usually end up not liking the book. I didn’t like Isadora in The Chaos of Stars, and considered her childish which did ruin the story for me. In the last few Nightshade books, I despised Calla, and I’m pretty sure Bloodrose is high on my list of most infuriating books ever. And, I’m actually often annoyed with Celaena, but the plot of Mass’ series is interesting enough that I’ll continue reading.
So if I dislike the MC, odds are I will dislike the book. But, I don’t often dislike characters. I was fine with Before I Fall’s MC for example.
Anyway, cool topic & video!
Quinn @ Quinn's Book Nook
When it comes to me, personally, and the books I enjoy – I almost never can like a book if I don’t like the main character. I completely understand why other people feel the other way, but that’s not me.
I’ve thought a lot about this, because sometimes people make me feel bad, or that I am not as good a reader as others, if I don’t like books where the MC is unlikable. Not everyone of course, but I’ve definitely seen other people give me a look about it.
I think it really depends on what people want from a book. I think it’s more than books that are entertaining and books that look at humanity. Reading is more than that. Or at least it is to me. Reading makes me look at myself. And it also gets me through all different kinds of things. More than escapism, although that is certainly part of it. And reading about unlikable people makes me miserable. I feel bad. It messes with my emotions dramatically. I don’t like it.
But, again, I can understand the other side. I think it’s sort of to each their own.
Kristin@Blood,Sweat and Books
Can I? yes. However, it has to be a damn fine story to pull it off and even if I do still like it my overall rating may still be affected depending on how much I loathed the MC. Great Vlog topic!
Sarah J.
I really like this video! It touches on a lot of good points about unlikable characters. Sometimes unlikable characters are so easy to hate you love them and others are just so hard to read because of them. It’s like a box chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. 😉
Alexa
If I don’t like a MC it is really hard to like the book. I guess a book series I do like even though the two MCs aren’t my thing would be the Mortal Instruments series. I like pretty much every secondary character and the concept of the world they live in. I just don’t love Clary and Jace. I am also reading The Iron King right now and I don’t love the MC but I do like the two guys in the story as well as some of the plot.
Idk I still think it is difficult to all out love a book if you don’t like the MC.
Rachel
I can also love books that have awful/hateful main characters, I love Gone Girl but I hate Amy and that ending, but I still love that book. But I did struggle with Tease. I could also appreciate that there are people who are bullies in school who don’t grow up/mature, and it was refreshing to read something so real and honest, but it made me uncomfortable too, and I didn’t stop thinking about it for days, months even. But I didn’t like it, but I think about it. Therefore, it was a great book. Like I said, I struggle with it lol