Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.
OCTOBER 29: WHAT MAKES YOU LIKE A CHARACTER? (SUGGESTED BY RACHEL @ A BOOKWORM’S PARADISE)
Prompts: Are there any physical qualities you look for in a character? What personalities tend to draw you to characters? Are there any archetypes you prefer, are you always falling for the villain? What makes you like characters?
Welcome to the final LTB in October, everyone! Honestly time flies way too quickly. It’s almost Halloween – any of you have any plans for it this year? Anyway, before I get too off track, let’s dive into this week’s topic.
First of all, I don’t think I really look for any physical qualities in a character. After all, I am reading a book, so I just imagine basically whatever I want. I think sometimes I prefer the ambiguity of the physical features. Obviously some defining features will help me remember a character, but I don’t need absolutely everything described to me in detail.
Now for the money question, what personalities tend to draw me to characters. I’d say in a protagonist, definitely a strong will. As I think I’ve mentioned before, characters who can struggle through the face of adversity and overcome/fight with their best, tend to be my favourite kind of protagonists. In general though, I like when characters are consistent to their core character – little deviations are okay – but if I can’t even understand the motivation of why they’d do something, it’s probably too much.
There are definitely many archetypes I prefer, too many to list out. I rarely fall for a villain, but I do enjoy really well-written ones. I think the morally ambiguous, is he good is he bad, types are really good. Stories where you finish the whole book wondering who was actually the villain really makes me ponder the power of perspective.
What kind of characters do you all like? When choosing books, do you look for any types of characters in particular, or leave it all as a surprise? Let me know in the comments below!
Down the Rabbit Hole 
Morally ambiguous characters are the BEST. I love strong willed characters too!
Honestly, out of most of the books I’ve read, the protagonists are always… ugh, how do I explain this?? They’re emotional. They want to save everyone, they never take instructions, they always do what’s “humane” and “correct”. They make rash, impulsive decisions. They’re slower, and nearly always lagging behind everybody else. And I don’t mean the “not like other girls” trope- I just mean that this character is always innocent, and not a c t u a l l y dangerous, yadda yadda yadda. I think you get what I mean???
I would l o v e to read about a protag who is cool, calm, collected. No rash decisions. No idiotic “boldness”. Just intellect, a tendency to be snarkier than required, and a bunch of realistic flaws.
It’s this reason why SoC drew me in- Kaz, and to some extent, the rest of the crew, were a very different YA protagonist type. It was great!!
Cool post- and apologies for the extra long comment…
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Not at all, I love your long comment! I also really enjoyed Kaz as a protagonist, these kinds of mastermind types I always tend to root for, despite their sometimes morally dubious ways. The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo had one of the best protagonists ever (but warning: it’s not YA), if you’re looking for someone who is deeply human yet somehow so impressive in everything she does. Thank you so much for sharing!
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Cool- thanks so much!! I’ve just added it to my TBR (:
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Great answers, the physical descriptions don’t matter to me either. I also love a morally grey character, they can add real depth and texture to a story.
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Totally agree, Louise! It really forces us to think about perspectives of morals and how little shifts can really change our perception of right and wrong
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