Tag | T10T: Unlikable Characters

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly prompt by The Broke and the Bookish and The Artsy Reader Girl. The list is 400+ strong — so, not wanting to miss anything, I started at prompt #1. This week’s prompt is “Unlikable Characters”

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• Severus Snape, Harry Potter – This one might earn me some dislikes — and, yeah, I know Snape’s story comes together in Deathly Hallows … but he’s just so unpleasant for so much of the series
• Gellert Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – *yawn*
• Rielle, Furyborn – Hungry for power, admiration, and attention … and a hopeless Mary-Sue. [Image Credit]
• Bella Swan, Twilight – Does this count as a cop-out? Bella is passive and personality-less, and completely defined by the men around her.

• Nesta, A Court of Thorns and Roses – While Nesta is intentionally tough-as-nails, I found her excessively cruel and grating. That said: Maas’s depiction of PTSD in Frost and Starlight isn’t the worst I’ve seen.
• Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre – whine whine whine complain complain complain drama drama drama. Jane is the Bella of 19th-century literature.
• Romeo & Juliet, Romeo & Juliet – Shakespeare’s brilliance aside, the play is about two hormonal teenagers with awful executive functioning. If only Juliet had a sassy gay friend … yes, really.

• Harry Dresden, The Dresden Files – Harry Dresden was written to be a cool manly-man … powerful; leather duster and cowboy boots; sarcastic; chauvinistic yet irresistible to women. Um – gag? He’s an immature, dorky, walking cliché.
• Celaena Sardothien, Throne of Glass – I. Am. A. Strong. Kick-Ass. Woman. OK, I haven’t read too far into the Throne of Glass series, but – the little that I’ve seen – Celaena is just a reiteration of the increasingly-tired bad-ass woman trope. The series is on my TBR list … so, I might reappraise after a couple books. [Image Credit]
• Alanna of Trebond, Song of the Lioness – Alanna is such a frustratingly one-dimensional character: she likes to fight, she wants to be as good as the boys, and she has red hair. That’s about it. [Image Credit]