Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Top Ten Tuesday: Character Traits I Love

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we're talking about the character traits we love. As a reader, I'm drawn to character-based books, so this was a great opportunity to really put some thought into the kinds of characters that really capture my interest!



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.

6 comments:

  1. I share your preference for reliable narrators.

    My TTT.

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    1. 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!

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  2. I'm the same as you - preferring women's stories to men. Loyal & curious are great traits also.

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    1. I 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!

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  3. I 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.

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    1. Right? 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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