9/01/2015

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday!

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Hello Dear Readers!

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by:
 The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is:
 "Ten Characters You Just Didn't Click With"


In no particular order, my Top 10 Wankers are:

1. From Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series: both Lissa & Rose (a tie!). I know YA fans who swear by this series but after the second one, I was completely apathetic to the dramatic circumstances surrounding the two girls/ the entire academy. Lissa was too much the "delicate flower" and Rose's tough act was a little "tough" to buy.

2. From Garth Nix's Sabriel... Sabriel! - I don't know why! This won tons of awards, and my friends and hero-authors all gave it 5/5 stars, but I just kinda felt "meh" at her plight. I appreciate why people like it, it just didn't hit me right. Maybe I'll give it another shot down the road...

3. From Donna Tart's The Secret History: ANY of the "clever, eccentric misfits" at an "elite New England college." Again, my best friend (my BEST FRIEND!) LOVED this book, and has even read it a few times. I wanted to kill myself. I couldn't sympathize with any of this ramshackle group, and sort of "angry-read" almost the entire book.

4. Leonard Cohen's Beautiful Losers: First I have to say that I am Canadian, and I LOVE Leonard Cohen's poetry/ songs. One review of this book stated that "Cohen's not a master storyteller. He is a master wordsmith." Okay, fine. AND this was an "experimental" book from the '60's, but I was creeped out. What was meant to be erotic was "filthy" and "crass." The main unnamed character is just a LOSER. I think I'm still traumatized...

5. From Jean M. Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series: Ayla! In Clan of the Cave Bear Ayla was a pretty intriguing character because she was an outsider among the cavemen that rescued her. Continuing along in the series, Ayla "discovers": shampoo, [fired] clay bowls, taming a horse and learning to ride it, how to raise a cave lion cub, improvises stitching a mans wounds up to save his life (and on and on...). After the third book you basically just start saying out loud, "really? Really?!"

6. Elphaba from Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. So this book spawned a Broadway musical hit! I don't get it. Maguire's attempt to make Elphaba more sympathetic didn't work for me! But I'm a pretty big hard-ass.

7. Richard Mayhew in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Here's another book that I think people put on a pedestal. I love Gaiman's writing style and world building, no question. But Richard is whiny and passively stands by while his entire world is destroyed. A reviewer on goodreads.com pointed out that the supporting characters were VERY interesting, and they would have much rather read more about any of them rather than have Richard as the protagonist. Sorry, Neverwhere'ers! Gaiman has way more interesting reads out there.

8. Winston Smith in George Orwell's 1984. I realize that Winston is the product of the Big Brother world he lives in, and I didn't exactly hate the BOOK, I just felt exhausted by Winston's blandness.

9. Anne & Mary Boleyn (another tie!) in Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl. I love historical fiction/ historical romance, but found the "characters"/ historical figures so one-dimensional I was bored and actually only made it half-way. I found the idea of Mary interesting, but once Anne came into the picture I was completely put off. I thought I'd catch the movie to see how it ended (I'm assuming with a beheading...), but they cast Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman - two actresses I LOVE, but they're AMERICAN and I just couldn't buy it. Which is too bad, because it's a fascinating story/ period from England's history.

10. Susie Salmon in Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. Here's another book which has won a CRAZY amount of awards, and I just felt uncomfortable reading it. Maybe it's because the premise (based on a murder) was just depressing in general, and then there wasn't a satisfying conclusion (that I recall). 

So! There they are! Do you agree with my picks? Have I angered you by disparaging a favourite book or character? Do we need to take this outside? (I must warn you, I'm pretty scrappy!!) Leave a comment below!

Thanks for reading!
- Spinning Jenny

Edited September 3, 2015
I HAVE to stop reading other Top 10's, as they're reminding me of characters that drove me nuts: Here are some [dis]honorable mentions: creepy Christian from 50 Shades of Grey; Clary & Jace from The Mortal Instruments series; Bella (BELLA!) from Twilight; Daisy AND Gatsby, The Great Gatsby; and Amy from Little Women

There, that's it. C'est tout!

6 comments:

  1. I actually love all the characters in Secret History but especially Henry. Not sure what that says about me. We shall forever have to agree to disagree on this one!

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  2. Haha! I knew your ears would prick up at someone dissing The Secret History!! I just don't think I was smart enough to "get it" man. Hey! They were like the original hipsters!! Mystery solved...

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  3. Elphaba in the musical is SO different to Elphaba in the book, who I didn't really like either. In fact I didn't really connect with that book as a whole but I love the musical (I just got back from seeing it for the second time actually)!!

    Check out my Top Ten Tuesday list!

    Also, last chance to enter my giveaway!

    Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination

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    1. I do like the Wicked soundtrack, so I won't write off the musical! Thanks for commenting, Katrina!

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  4. I didn't think of Amy from Little Women - but I've seen her listed quite a few times. She was my least favorite sister.

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  5. Is it weird that I feel a little guilty for adding her? Maybe it's a little sister thing...

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