Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. How it works is that each Tuesday the host assigns a topic and then posts their top ten list that fits the topic. Every blogger can create their own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well and link to the host’s. The topic for April 3rd, 2018 is: Characters I Liked That Were in Books I Didn’t Like. This was a really hard one, but I managed to fill all the spots this time. It’s going to be quite a short post, with me giving an overview of why I liked the character and not the book in one line each.
1. Kamala from The Star-Touched Queen
Why I liked the character: A sassy and bloodthirsty horse – need I go on?
Why I disliked the book: I didn’t hate this book by any means but the plot and the characters just didn’t work for me
2. Isabelle Lightwood from The Mortal Instruments series
Why I liked the character: Overall badass, gorgeous and soft on the inside – a true role model
Why I disliked the books: I found the lead characters annoying, the plot repetitive and the recurring incest theme was too off-putting
3. Mani from Poison’s Kiss
Why I liked the character: Non-whiny even in a bad situation and sweet to the core
Why I disliked the book: I didn’t like the representation of the Indian culture and didn’t connect with the main character at all
4. Saphira from The Inheritance Cycle series
Why I liked the character: This smart and capable blue-scaled dragon is the most amazing dragon in any book I’ve read so far
Why I disliked the books: I am a huge Tolkien fan, so this entire series was too much like The Lord of the Rings for me and it dragged way more than was necessary
5. Magnus Bane from The Infernal Devices series
Why I liked the character: Magical and sassy with a heart of pure gold
Why I disliked the books: It features a love triangle that I didn’t care for
6. Sikara from The Blazing Star
Why I liked the character: Again a badass female with an amazing skill-set and well-rounded personality
Why I disliked the book: The plot didn’t match the expectations the pretty cover gave me
7. Dustfinger from Inkheart trilogy
Why I liked the character: Literally plays with fire, has got both charisma and the smartness to charm one’s socks off
Why I disliked the book: This was a very long time ago, but I think it was because the series destroyed my feels with its ending or the direction that some of the characters’ arcs took
8. Audrey from Winter Tide
Why I liked the character: Young, vivacious, brilliant and a breath of fresh air that made me stick with the book till the end
Why I disliked the book: Paranormal fiction isn’t my cup of tea nd I didn’t know it was a derivative work before I requested it on NetGalley
9. Scorpius from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Why I liked the character: A precious cinnamon roll who brings out my protective side because he’s just so lovable!
Why I disliked the book: It honestly reads like fanfiction with a plot I was not too impressed by
10. Felicity from The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
Why I liked the character: She’s smart, resourceful, not interested in romance at all and voluntarily joins a bunch of pirates
Why I disliked the book: I think the hype ruined the book for me and I didn’t like Monty for majority of the book
Which character is #1 on this list for you? Do you place more importance to plot or the characters in any story? Let me know in the comments section below.
I cannot believe that someone nomintated Eragon or Inkheart series! Not because is strange but in this online place full of young adults, showing olde chilhood bookish memories feel almost surreal. I like Dustfinger too. I was also super interested toward the Black Prince (in Italian was translated with il Principe Nero, so who knows). But yes, also, if I look back I cannot say that I’m still so in lopve with the series? Please, I think that Inkheart series was the one that crushed my expectation of good endings. If those books aren’t full of deads I know nothing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like to cover a variety of books and middle grade was what I consumed most as a child, so I put them on here even though I don’t remember all the details in these books. Thank you for the appreciation! 😊
I have no memory of that character, I’m sorry. 🙈 Maybe a re-read should be planned soon. 😁 It did for me too! And I was wrecked for days and had a book hangover even though at the time I had no idea what it was. It’s all good though now because happy endings are quite unrealistic but it was a bit of a shock to see that in a middle grade book. 😅
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I pretty much hated Poison’s Kiss. I’m not exactly an expert on India here, but even I thought the representation seemed kind of superficial. I just wasn’t convinced the author knew that much about India either!
I also didn’t like The Star-Touched Queen, and it was so hyped! But A Crown of Wishes is so much better.
Also hated Inkheart, but it must be at least ten years since I’ve read it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I don’t think enough research was done by the author before she incorporated Indian culture, but I also didn’t like most of the characters or the plot, so I just didn’t care for the book at all.
I liked ACOW so much better than TSTQ too! I definitely think Roshani improved with her plotting after her first book because TSTQ had little to no plot with stupid characters and sometimes the writing would feel excessively flowery too. I feel like ACOW was more well-rounded and I actually liked the main characters in this one. I’m glad we agree on this! 🙂
I don’t remember much of it to exactly pin-point why I gave it 3 stars since it was so long ago and I rated it when I joined Goodreads. But the characters did stick with me, so it must have been the plot. I did read the entire series but I’ve forgotten most of it beyond what happens in the first book. 🙁
LikeLike
YASSS MAGNUS AND IZZY ♡
Ooh I loved Dustfinger too. I actually left it at the second book because I just couldn’t get into the third one- the plot was meh and the language kinda hard to read. But I loved the first book
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel like I cheated with them because technically Magnus appears in both TMI and TID, but who cares? 😅
I think it was something about his amazing fire-controlling abilities that really appealed to the child in me. And also because he had a precious animal of some sort as well?
Yeah, I remember being underwhelmed by the third book, so I guess it’s good you didn’t put yourself through that. 😅
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just love Magnus’ eccentric style and the fact that he still cares about everyone. Never has a character left such a huge impact on me. And who doesn’t look up to Izzy 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Magnus is probably my favorite character from both TMI and TID.
Lauren @ Always Me
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad we have that in common! 😁 Thanks for the comment. 🙂
LikeLike