Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I liked in books I disliked

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. This week’s theme is:

April 3: Characters I liked That Were In Non-Favorite/Disliked Books

There may be a few unpopular opinions for this week’s choices, but these are all books I was either indifferent to or didn’t enjoy, yet still had at least one character I liked.

The Beast’s Heart – I found the plot slow and non-existent and most of the characters dull, aside from Marie, who was fun and intellectual.

Everless – I found the plot of this book pretty predictable, but I liked the main character, Jules, and her perspective was the main reason I kept me reading.

The Fandom – I found most of the character in The Fandom either odious or untrustworth, but there were two characters I did like – Katie with her fiery temper and zest for survival, and Ash with his selflessness and compassion.

A Shiver of Snow and Sky – both the writing and characterisation were a lot weaker than I’d hoped for in this novel, and the main character was so bland (she also made really stupid decisions, which I just couldn’t get on board with). But the saving grace was Ivar, one of the secondary characters, who was just interesting enough to keep the story moving.

Stranger – I didn’t dislike this novel per se (in parts it was actually very good), but I had some issues with a white male author writing a POC female protagonist; however, said protagonist, Iso, was so easy to emphathise with that I found myself rooting for her the whole way.

The Raven King – I found this book massively problematic in its treatment of sexual abuse, and the slurs that the characters use, but Dan was the one character that kept this afloat for me. She’s captain of the team, confident, physically strong, and knows how to control a room.

We Were Liars –  Gat was the only character who I really warmed to in this novel; he had his flaws, but was also thoughtful and romantic. He was often on the receiving end of racial discrimination from Cadence’s older family members, which was uncomfortable to read and made me root for him harder.

Lorali – The character I liked most in this novel was the titular character, Lorali, as she was so innocent and clueless at times, but also had a fresh way of seeing the world.

The Elfstones of Shannara – I found this book much less exciting and dramatic than the TV series (for once) and most of the characters were pretty one dimensional, aside from Eretria who was fiery and headstrong. (In the TV show she’s also bisexual <3)

Everything Everything – I had problems with the ending of this book, because it invalidated a lot of the experiences and feelings of people with SCID by giving Maddy a ‘way out’ of her situation, but I loved the character of Carla, Maddy’s nurse, as she was always sensitive to Maddy’s needs.

Which characters do you find yourself disliking? Do you usually dislike a book because of the characters or plot? Or something completely different?