Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I Dislike


Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.  Today I am revealing all the characters everyone else loves but I...didn't.


1.  Tessa Gray
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare


Okay, okay, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I want to clarify:  I do like Tessa.  It's just that, compared to all the others, she can be so...bland.

2.  Chaol Westfall
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas


I just...he is made out to be so noble and righteous, but is somehow also so infuriating.

3.  Cinder
Cinder by Marissa Meyer


This entire book to me, in part due to Cinder herself, is so blah.  To me, there is nothing about her that gripped me, only frustrated me.

4.  Augustus Waters
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green


I think I have mentioned this somewhere before, but Augustus Waters, the reason behind so many teens crushes, is pretentious to no end, and I can't stand that.

5.  Adam Parish trb
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater


Adam has such a stubborn pride, which is understandable, but gets him in such bad spots.

6.  Hannah Baker
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher


While I can appreciate the message this book was attempting to send, I did not appreciate the fact that Hannah blamed everyone else for her suicide.  People don't kill themselves because their first kiss went awry, or because a boy was mean to them.  They do it because they see no other choice, and that was not represented in her character.

7.  Dimitri Belikov
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead


Such brooding.  Much cliche.

8.  Anna
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins


Maybe I'm one of those people to buy into the trope of the chosen one and such, since I apparently complain so often about boring characters, of which Anna is no exception.

9.  Noah
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson


It isn't that I don't like Noah.  It's just that he unfortunately paled in comparison to his twin sister, Jude.

10.  Jeb
Splintered by A.G. Howard


Jeb--and this entire book, really--made me cringe.  He is possessive in a way that reminds me of stalkers and serial killers on TV shows like Bones and Criminal Minds.

20 comments:

  1. I agree with Augustus, he's just so pretentious! I mean he's sweet, but the way he acts and talks... ugh just no! And anyways, that's Morpheus picture you're using, not Jeb :D I do dislike Jeb though. He's kind of holding Alysa back from her potential.

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    1. Everything he said just made me shake my head. No teenage boy says those things! And really, the fact that I didn't even realize that was Morpheus makes it clear how much I disliked Jeb and the book in general. Oh well. Thanks for commenting, Tasya! ❤

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  2. I couldn't stand the character of Anna. She was naive, boring, ditzy and so utterly cliche. She couldn't do anything without St.Clair sticking in her backside. Despite many people, I actually love th character of Augustus though! Yeah I get that the way he talks is unrelatable to the average teen, but he was a little cutie.

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    1. Exactly! All the assumptions she made especially annoyed me. Although, we must disagree about Augustus! But I suppose I CAN concede that he was a little cutie, albeit a pretentious one. Thanks for commenting! ❤

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  3. YES. I completely agree with all of these 110%. I never really felt the appeal of Augustus, Chaol, or Tessa either. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous choices! ♥

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    1. YAY! I do like being agreed with XD Some characters just aren't as good as everyone makes them out to be, huh? Thanks for commenting, Zoe! ❤

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  4. Love your list, even if I personally disagree with it a bit! *sheepish grin* I totally fell for Dimitri myself, but I can see how his character could be seen as a bit cliched. I also really loved Tessa because of her initial ordinariness and how she used that to grew into a better version of herself. But definitely agree with Cinder. I found her such a boring, bland protagonist - and I wasn't a fan of Kai either. I also really disliked the entire TFIOS cast. I wasn't a fan of Gus, but I did enjoy his character a smidge more than Hazel.

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    1. Haha, disagreement is fun! If everyone just agreed all the time, life would lack that certain sparkle. And even if we disagree about Tessa and Dimitri, Cinder and all of TFIOS for sure are just...well, annoying. Thanks for commenting, Rachel! ❤

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  5. When I first saw Tessa on your list, I was like "HOW???", but after you explained it, yeah, that makes sense - she is a pretty bland character when you have Henry, Will, Jem and even Jessamine!
    AUGUSTUS IS THE MOST PRETENTIOUS GUY OUT THERE OMG - you are so on point with that!! I never was able to resonate with him...
    AHAH and same with Dimitri - I ended up loving Bloodlines a lot more, because we had Adrian, who was just so much more interesting than Dimitri xD

    Awesome, AWESOME answers, Erin! :D

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    1. I mean, I DO love her really, but next to Will and Jem and Cecily...she's little more than a shadow! BUT SERIOUSLY, AUGUSTUS. Everything he said is so cringe worthy. No one, especially not a teenager, speaks like that in real life. And I haven't read Bloodlines, but I DEFINITELY liked Adrian more. It's the sass, I swear. Thanks for commenting, Geraldine! ❤

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  6. Gosh, I really loved Cinder! HAHA. But I understand how she came out as frustrating to you! :) I also didn't really like Anna from Anna and the French Kiss because she just came off as really annoying and whiny in the book for me, so the book partially failed to intrigue me entirely - mostly because of Anna herself :( :(

    Jillian @ Jillian's Books

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    1. Yeah, I'm definitely in the minority there--with that entire series it seems! But Anna definitely got on my nerves. Lola from Lola and the Boy Next Door is much more interesting if you would give that a try. Thanks for commenting, Jillian! ❤

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  7. YES YES YES to Hannah Baker. I won't judge her for committing suicide because I can't speak for where she was mentally at the time, but I do think it was selfish of her to not only blame so many other people, but to send tapes containing other people's secrets around for everyone to hear. And that setup might have even worked if the author had made me understand why she felt like all these people caused her to commit suicide or why she thought the tapes were necessary, but he didn't. :(

    I do have to admit that I have a strong affinity for Augustus, though, despite his character being a bit unrealistic. Haha.

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    1. I KNOW. I just think that, no matter what you're going through, you cannot blame other people. Even if she was depressed, even if that pain was contributed to by others, it was her own decision to commit suicide and you cannot put that on anyone else. It was a good message that what you say and do affects others, but was presented in the wrong manner. Thanks for commenting, Emily! ❤

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  8. OH NOO, I LOVE CINDER!! I know that lots of people had problems with her, though, and I can even understand that. :D
    Augustus Waters... probably the most unrealistic character I've ever read about + arrogant and irritating.
    Adam is my least favorite raven boy - on some levels I can understand him, but I hope he grows up in the final novel to understand that accepting a friend's help is NOT a bad thing, at all!
    I might be the minority, but I kinda LOVED the way Thirteen Reasons Why was written, even though I had some problems with it. I was really annoyed by Hannah by the end, because she caused lots of her problems herself, but I loved that she recorded all these 'stories'. Maybe it's just the part of my that loves revenge, but I do think that most of these kids deserved what they got. It taught them (and the reader) that even the smallest thing you do can influence a person's life.
    I really liked Dimitri (she's no Adrian, though) and Anna was an okaaaay narrator, even though she annoyed me to no ends sometimes.
    I wasn't a fan of Tessa, tbh, maybe that's why it was so easy for me to NOT read the third book. I usually dislike love triangles, so that's probably part of my problem with her.
    Wonderful list!! <3

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    1. I KNOW! I'm in such a minority there. But apparently not about Augustus! A lot of you guys are agreeing about how pretentious and unrealistic he was. And, as for Adam, he is also my least favorite. I did like him better in BLLB, though. But I will have to disagree about Hannah. I love revenge, but this didn't seem like it. It seemed, to me, like blaming others for her pain and her suicide, which is not fair. Not that what happened to her was fair, but still, and that message IS a nice one, just not delivered the way I liked. And I can't believe you're not reading Clockwork Princess! It is SO good, but I suppose not for everyone. Anyway, thanks for commenting, Veronika! ❤

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  9. I respect your opinions, Erin but NO WAYYYY. GIRL NO. I loved Cinder, Adam Parrish (!!!! ERIN HOW), Anna and Noah. BUT I agree with your opinion on Augustus Waters. Ugh get out of my face boy.

    anna

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    1. I LOVE ADAM, I DO. He just also happens to annoy me, too. As did Augustus, I mean how pretentious can you get. Thanks for commenting, Anna! ❤

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  10. YES. SO MANY GOOD CHOICES ON THIS LIST. Augustus Waters just no. I mean, I haven't read The Fault in our Stars but I saw the film and I just kinda wanted him to shut up. It's like he was trying to be sassy but it wasn't working. Like, in a sassiness competition against Jace Herondale, Jace would win hands down, y'know? Which leads me nicely onto my next point: Tessa did feel a little bit too... perfect? And that was intimidating and I think it led to her lack of personality, since the faults of the other characters made them all the more endearing, only that didn't quite work for her character. Chaol Westfall and Adam Parrish are kinda similar in the way you want to love their characters but they can be proud and stubborn to the point of annoyance. Which can make the pride/stubborness seem a little exaggerated. I don't really remember much about Noah and Jude, but I do remember Noah's POV felt a bit lackibg in some way. Aw, I'm sorry you didn't like Anna and I can see why she might not appeal, but I really love her... aw Anna XD
    FABULOUS list, Erin, like always!! ♥

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    1. THANKS, REBEKAH! And I would have to say the TFIOS movie accurately portrayed his book character, so go ahead and judge! He was just so pretentious. I mean, Jace is arrogant, but at least he's FUNNY and has OTHER personality traits. Speaking of, I don't think Tessa HAD much of a personality, really, which is why I felt kind of disconnected from her. I'm SO happy you agree. Characters are so hard to like sometimes, and I feel a bit picky. So if I love a character, it's for good reason! Thanks so much for commenting! ❤

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