Today’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is another really fun one: Protagonists that are generally deemed as unlikable by people who have read the books, that you actually don’t mind.
I can’t lie: I kind of love these types of characters. If they’re well written, they’re generally unlikable because they’re morally grey and oh so fun, so those are the ones I chose to focus on this week. I hope you enjoy!
{Top 5} Unlikable Characters I Love
{Kaz Brekker} Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
I feel like I could have picked any of the main cast of SoCs and been happy with my choice this week. That’s how layered and complex they all are as characters. Kaz is the quintessential morally gray anti-hero though. He’s suave and charming, and armed with a sharp tongue and attitude you could cut glass with. I started out disliking him because of the way he behaved and spoke to people around him. But in the usual Leigh Bardugo fashion, the layers get peeled back and suddenly you realize he’s not so bad after all!
{Victor} Vicious
by V.E. Schwab
Victor, where have you been all my life?! I will admit to loving this character a lot more than I disliked him. While you’re not really meant to totally agree with or emphatize with Victor at all times, Schwab does a wonderful job at making Victor’s passions and fears so easy to relate to. By the end of the book I was on the edge of my seat, praying that he’d make it out of the story alive.
{Chet Moran} – Lost Gods
by Brom
Brom is another author that is absolutely wonderful at crafting complex, layered charcters that you end up rooting for even if they’re not the type of person you’d usually find yourself rooting for. Fresh out of prison at the start of this novel, Chet makes all the wrong decisions, thinking they’re for the right reasons. When he is thrust into a horrific situation beyond earthly measure, Chet is forced to face his fears in order to save the lives of his wife and unborn child. That’s definitely a character you end up rooting for.
{Peter Pan} The Child Thief
by Brom
This is bar none, my favorite version of a retelling because Peter (Pan) in this book is so incredibly dark. You can pretty much tell right away by the title alone that this book is going to take you down a pretty bleak journey. While Peter isn’t technically the protagnist of this book, his association with Nic makes him close enough to count for me. He’s morally grey, erring a bit closer to bad as he struggles to save the world that he loves. He’ll stop at nothing, and sacrifice everything in order to win, but damn if I wasn’t rooting for him the entire way.
{Cersei Lannister} A Song of Ice and Fire series
by George RR Martin
Fan art by: Rux Dardiror
Now bear with me here. I know the topic is “protagonists” but I personally believe that in Game of Thrones, the human characters are ALL protagonists. They’re just varying shades of grey, doing what they think is best to survive in a harsh and dangerous world. This is especially true when you consider the threat of the White Walkers in the North, which will certainly unite those that survive in a war against them.
Cersei is certainly one of the darkest of the human characters in the show, I love her. She’s twisted by the roads her life has taken, and it has made her selfish and ruthless and so, so strong. In a world where her gender might have relegated her to that of a secondary citizen behind the men in her life, Cersei Lannister has found ways to ensure that her voice, and her choices, are heard.
What do you think about my choices? What are some of your favorites? Can an unlikable character ruin a book?
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
I absolutely ADORE Cersei. She’s one of my favorite characters in the series for sure. I’m only about 10% into Six of Crows but I already love Kaz!
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Nice! 🥂 a toast to our good taste! I hope you enjoy SoC! I’m reading Crooked Kingdom next week with a friend. Maybe we’ll read it around the same time and can dish about our thoughts!
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Oooh, sounds great! I have some catching up to do, but I have a feeling I’m going to love SoC once I have some proper time to devote to it. I’m hoping to make a good dent in it this weekend!
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I love my little Kaz! Great picks!
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Leigh Bardugo is a queen for making so many awesome characters.
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I think anyone who has read the Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom would totally agree with Kaz being on there.
I can see why you put Cersei on there. Her cunning would get her on the list for me as well.
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Yes! They are both so great! My sister gives me flack all the time because I love Cersei so much.
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Lord knows why. She is literally the perfect character. Strong, devious, wickedly intelligent, has her hands everywhere as far as ruling goes. And, as book four (I think) showed, she can be brought right down. Great character work.
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Victor & Kaz – yes yes yes! I also included Victor
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Awesome! Great minds think alike!
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It’s probably a little unhealthy how much I love Kaz Brekker. Do people not like him? I can’t comprehend that lol.
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I’ve heard rumblings from people who dislike him because of how ruthless/cold he can be, but I think it all makes sense given his past and by the end of SoCs I was pulling for him.
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That’s what I love about him haha. When I went to a Bardugo signing she said one of her favorite parts with Kaz is the boat scene with the eyeballs…and how she thought it was romantic. And I was like, “Exactly! That’s when I really fell in love with him” haha.
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That was a great scene! It’s so funny that she thinks of that as one of her favorite Kaz moments! Thank you for sharing that. 🙂
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OKay tho but who in their right mind would hate Kaz Brekker??? He’s PRECIOUS.
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Crazy people! Or people who DNFed it like 15% in – also crazy people.
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okay not going to lie, when I first read the series I wasn’t too fond of Kaz but I reread the series this year and I couldn’t help but loving him xD
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I agree with Kaz but I never really warmed to him that much for some reason… hmm… completely agree with Victor… Vicious is one helluva great book! 🙂
Cersei- yep! Totally… I was even a fan for Joffrey because his evilness, while vile, created some heartstopping moments!
Great list! 🙂
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I absolutely LOVE Kaz, and I completely agree with your choice. I will be adding some of these books to my TBR list because these characters sound amazing! Love the post!
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I was going to add exactly the same as Rachel. I love Cersei.
Also a huge fan of the snow queen in Narnia!
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I need to catch up on the Narnia series! It’s one of those ones I somehow missed in my childhood. I read the first 2 last year but need to keep going.
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Cersei is one of the worst humans ever – but I can’t help but love her as well!! She’s one of the most smart, sneaky and successful villains and can get herself out of any situation. Great list!
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I haven’t read Six of Crows or Vicious but they’re both on my TBR and I definitely want to meet these characters now! 🙂
I think that sometimes, yes, an unlikeable character can ruin a book for me, since I pay a lot of attention to the characters in stories. I have to find something to root for in the book, if the character seems unlikeable but, just like you said it happened for Six of Crows, you get to peel back the layers and find out more about the character, then it’s all good. If, for some reason, I just can’t have this something more, it really does alter my reading experience 🙂
Great post! 🙂
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Omg I hope you love both books once you read them! With SoC, make sure you read the Grisha Trilogy first, (starts with Shadow and Bone). It supplies a lot of background information that’s important to SoC.
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Oh thank you for the info! I heard some people got into SoC without having read this series beforehand. I wasn’t really sure if I should do it this way as well ahah. I think I’ll do as you say, I’d be too confused otherwise 🙂
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You’re welcome! I actually read SoCs first and was lost for a large percentage of it, so I like to warn people to go back and start with Shadow and Bone.
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Well I’m glad I’ve been warned for sure. Being so confused whenever starting a book makes me want to give it up, and I wouldn’t want that to happen with SoC 🙂
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KAZ AND VICTOR ❤ both of them are such great characters and I like both of them. a lot 🙂
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They are my babies for sure! 😍
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Nice choices! 🙂
I really want to read The Child Thief, and I’d never even heard of Lost Gods, so that’s going right on my TBR list! I love Brom’s artwork, but I’m pretty new to his writing. So far I’ve just read Krampus: The Yule Lord by him. My mom has a copy of The Plucker though, so I plan on borrowing that soon. 🙂
Excellent post!
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Brom’s work (both his art and his writing) are some of my favorites. I’ve yet to read the Plucker though! I hope you enjoy it.
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I am thrilled to see Peter Pan from The Child Thief made the list! You are the only person I know of that read this book. It has been on my kindle for a while. I am eager to start it 🙂
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Seriously, I feel like no one I know has read this book! I love it though. It’s one of the most imaginative retellings (re-imagining, really) I’ve ever come across.
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Oh you are twisting my arm haha. I am so behind, but itching to jump into. Bad influence you are 😉
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