Female: Sorry, dudes, I have read and loved plenty of books about y'all, but I am really more interested in women's stories.
Smart: I like reading about smart people! They don't have to be book smart, but an intelligent character always get my attention.
Repressed: Repression has the potential to bleed into all kinds of juicy, interesting conflicts.
Confused: There are plenty of storylines with people who are sure about what they want only to have it derailed, but I find people who have conflicting motivations that are pushing them all over the place much more compelling.
Funny: Or at least, with a sense of humor. People who take themselves super seriously 100% of the time are boring in real life and to read about.
Curious: An occasional curmudgeon is delightful, but someone open and interested in the world is much more engaging to read about.
Loyal: Not to the point of being a doormat, but a character who's always there when it counts for the people that are important to them warms my heart.
Proactive: A character whose actions drive the plot, at least part of the time, is almost always more interesting to me than one who only reacts to the world around them.
Condescending: This one is for villains only! An antagonist who's basically the stereotype of a snooty aristocrat (especially if they toss off devastating one-liners) makes me cackle with glee.
Reliable: This applies specifically to characters who serve as narrators. An unreliable narrator can be executed well, but it's usually not.
I share your preference for reliable narrators.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
When executed poorly (which it often is), the unreliable narrator just feels cheap to me. Like, write a better book that doesn't need to add that for shock value!
DeleteI'm the same as you - preferring women's stories to men. Loyal & curious are great traits also.
ReplyDeleteI just feel really over most male stories at the moment. I'm still reading plenty of them, but I'm finding myself much more drawn into women's stories!
DeleteI love a smart sarcastic villain! Same about women's stories. I get bored when there're no girls - or when they're just there as mums/girlfriends.
ReplyDeleteRight? A sassy villain makes for a fun book! And UGH, it's honestly shocking how many books feature no women besides "support" roles!
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