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What Do You Think Of . . . (Book Club Challenge)
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It's time to start the discussions for this part of the challenge. Each initial reaction from you will earn you two points for the challenge (though I may change it down the line). You'll have a few days to share your thoughts on this topic and discuss it with other people (please feel free to do that)
Topic #1:What do you think of . . . annoying characters?
Here are some things you may comment about (but you're not limited to them):
-What makes a character annoying?
-How far can you tolerate the character?
-Does an annoying character heavily affect your rating of a book?
What makes a character annoying?To me, what makes a character annoying, is when they can't make up there mind. When they are confuse, about dating someone, or in other cases, going back and forth between two people, is a bit annoying.
Does an annoying character heavily affect your rating of a book?
No, I don't let an annoying character affect a rating I give to a book. If it is something small that I can handle, I don't really think about it to much.
What makes a character annoying?- I agree with Jackie on this I hate when a character can't make up their mind between two people or they simply go between them, it frustrates me completely and often lead me to stop reading.
- Those who don't seem to care for anyone but themselves, they think the world simply revolves around them (I suppose it does in a way but you know what I mean) and they basically expect to get their own way all the time.
Being honest I could probably list a load of things that annoy me but that's just me being picky and so I shall stop here for now.
How far can you tolerate the character?
- All the way in till they have a sudden split personality change at least that's how it appears to me for some and especially when its a girl who is strong then begins to get weak just for some guy. [I don't care if his the hottest guy you've seen, after all you're probably going to see someone else later on who you like too *Sigh* so stop whining]
- In till they start to alter personality I mean I can understand a few changes or development, but changing completely after a couple pages is not exactly great and I'd prefer if they stuck to how they were. [This is probably just because I get attached to how I first see a character and I guess I feel they're vanishing when they suddenly alter]
Does an annoying character heavily affect your rating of a book?
- Not really, its the ending and my overall enjoyment that affects my rating most often if I finish a book then it'll get 3 stars at the least and so if any character overly annoys me it is unlikely I finished the book anyway.
Well, they annoy me especially if they are a main character if it gets really bad I may leave the book or series like I did Halo.
-What makes a character annoying?Two things. If the character is perfect, I don't want to read it. I'm not perfect. I've yet to meet anyone who is. No thank you. Second, damsels in distress. It literally drives me crazy when a female character is dependent on a male character for everything. That's just a bad message to send out to women.
-How far can you tolerate the character?
Not very. If I'm halfway through the book and the character has no depth, I'm done reading the book.
-Does an annoying character heavily affect your rating of a book?
Yes. I want to fall in love with the characters and wonder about what happens to them when the book is finished. If I don't care about the characters, I don't care about the book.
-What makes a character annoying?
There's lots of different types of annoying for me. So in the book I'm reading now
there's this character called Jack, and he annoys Evie (the protagonist), by popping up everywhere, and just being irritating. But he doesn't annoy me, because he's written to be annoying. For me an annoying character is someone who depends on everyone else too much, or who can't make up their mind on anything. Also when the character is too quick to believe things, or too slowly, like in some paranormal romances. AND WHEN THEY FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. PLEASE. YOU'VE KNOWN THIS GUY FIVE MINUTES AND YOU WANT TO SACRIFICE THE WORLD FOR HIM YOU IDIOT.
-How far can you tolerate the character?
I'm generally good at tolerating things like this, and it is way easier if the annoying person is just a supporting character. if they're a main character, it's harder, but I can still finish the book. Like Twilight. I could finish the book because I wouldn't let Meyer get the better of me. But there were just moments were I wanted to slap her. Bella, not Meyer. Meyer too actually.
-Does an annoying character heavily affect your rating of a book?
No. I rate my books n the story usually, and how much I enjoy it. If I enjoyed it less because of an annoying character, it might get a lower rating. But probably not.
There's lots of different types of annoying for me. So in the book I'm reading now
there's this character called Jack, and he annoys Evie (the protagonist), by popping up everywhere, and just being irritating. But he doesn't annoy me, because he's written to be annoying. For me an annoying character is someone who depends on everyone else too much, or who can't make up their mind on anything. Also when the character is too quick to believe things, or too slowly, like in some paranormal romances. AND WHEN THEY FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. PLEASE. YOU'VE KNOWN THIS GUY FIVE MINUTES AND YOU WANT TO SACRIFICE THE WORLD FOR HIM YOU IDIOT.-How far can you tolerate the character?
I'm generally good at tolerating things like this, and it is way easier if the annoying person is just a supporting character. if they're a main character, it's harder, but I can still finish the book. Like Twilight. I could finish the book because I wouldn't let Meyer get the better of me. But there were just moments were I wanted to slap her. Bella, not Meyer. Meyer too actually.
-Does an annoying character heavily affect your rating of a book?
No. I rate my books n the story usually, and how much I enjoy it. If I enjoyed it less because of an annoying character, it might get a lower rating. But probably not.
What makes a character annoying?There are three things that make a character annoying: stupidity, whining, and characters who are suppose to be perfect.
The first one, stupidity, mostly only applies to major characters. I don't like being around people who lack a basic level of knowledge, so I certainly don't want to waste three days reading about them. If its just a background character, whatever. They'll be gone after a few pages. But the protagonist? No. No way.
The second one, however, applies to all the characters. Do you like to listen to whining? No. So why would you want to read about it? (I just realized I might be sounding like a hypocrite. I'm whining about annoying characters that whine, haha.)
The third one is more about realism. Most people aren't perfect or have close to no flaws. So when I read about a wealthy, privileged girl/boy who has the looks, the clothes, the friends, etc. AND also get to be a hero with close to no trouble, well, that's just annoys me. I like to see characters who are pushed out of their comfort zone and/or learn something.
How far can you tolerate the character?
I rarely ever stop reading a book without finishing, so I suppose you can say I have a very high tolerance level. But the people around me are going to get an earful until I finish the book.
Does an annoying character heavily affect your rating of a book?
Of course it does! If the protagonist of a book is annoying, it could change the rating from five stars to one! I think a lot of my ratings are effected by annoying characters.
great challenge. Again. how do you think of them?what makes a character annoying?
One dimensionality - like The Hero with a Scar or Sulky Teenager Growing into a Werewolf.
I don't really care if the character has irritating traits (like an inexplicable compulsion to study) as long as these traits are part of who the character is. The best characters are flawed. Like Elizabeth Bennett is a really interesting heroine because she is so bossy. Her mother is really irritating but in a good way - irritating personality but a very compelling character.
How far can you tolerate the character?
Not very far. No-one is one dimensional. I might stick with it if the plot is good or if I want to check if the girl gets the vampire, or if the hero will return from dead...
Does an annoying character affect your enjoyment of the book?
Yes.
As a writer - the challenge with your hero/heroine is to keep them heroic but not perfect. Perfect is boring, but flawed protagonists are hard to handle, because their flaws dilute the classical idea of the perfect hero.
Another thought - why do we care if the character is annoying? He/she is imaginary! But we do. We care about Romeo and Juliet, or Odysseus, Anna Karenina, Katniss Everdean. It's amazing how these imaginary people become more immortal than people who lived and breathed....
Very deep, sorry. Again, great challenge
What makes a character annoying?Hmmm... If the character can't be loyal to his/her family, friends, etc. It's not really making them annoying, it's more like making me really dislike the character. Annoying I can deal with; backstabbing to get ahead and cheating I cannot. If a character does that, it would have to take a whole lot to make it right in my mind.
I also really dislike a strong character that suddenly handed the reins over and became weak.
How far can you tolerate the character?
If the character has little things I don't like, I'll ignore it. If the character was disloyal, I will probably hate that character, but I will finish the book. If s/he suddenly turned weak, the book will be going bye-bye.
Does an annoying person affect your enjoyment of the book?
Yes, absolutely. Especially if it is a main character. If I can't get into the characters, I can't get into the book and I end up not liking the book as much.
What makes a character annoying?Well, either the character was meant to be annoying (and they're usually side characters) such as Augustus from The Heroes of Olympus or they're unintentionally annoying such as Adam from Shatter Me. God, are they annoying. Augustus for instance does nothing but pretend he's the boss. He orders people around and does nothing himself.
The other type of annoying characters is the Adam-like type. They're liked for their looks and nothing else. Adam is SO shallow you practically can't find any adjective to describe him besides 'hot' and 'handsome'. He's also pretty useless; he does nothing but serve as the main character's love interest.
Topic #2:What do you think of . . . the following supernatural/mythical creatures?
-Vampires
-Werewolves
-Mermaids
-Fairies
-Angels
(Please pick at least two of the above to comment on.)
Note: You may still comment on the last topic if you would like. Just make sure that if you do, that response is clearly stated as for that topic.
I'll post the next topic on either the 17th or the 18th.
Vampires: I like the dark vampires, the ones that live in coffins, and drink human blood. The ones That wander through the dark. I'm not a Big fan of the modern vampires, however I do like the fact that they have powers. But I like the older vampires more.Angels: I love angels in most books. They are the people that keep everyone grounded insane. When I think of angels, I have to think of demons. Because most angels are fighting demons and demons are fighting angels.
Mermaids: I have it read that many books with mermaids in them, but whenever I have, there always helping out people. Whenever I think of a mermaid, I think of the little mermaid movie!
I just read a book that was a retelling of The Little Mermaid. It was a little dark and twisted.
What is it called?
Deeper -->
I believe it's YA, and if it is, it's a mature one.
I think I will check it out thanks :-)
Vampires: Probably my favourite supernatural creature, I prefer when they drink human blood, can't stay in the sun and such you know the ones. Not as big a fan of the modern which are pretty much unstoppable, nothing affects them except their head being chopped off they'd got powers and can walk in the sun... o_OWerewolves: What can I say I've got lots of love for weres, pretty much every kind I'm fine with nothing bothers me with these xD I love when they include the hierarchy, Alpha and Omegas...
Mermaids: I haven't read many which includes these, but I do like the idea and the ones I've read have been great. Would like to see more where they're shown to be evil or tempting properly.
Fairies: Pretty much same situation as the mermaids, I haven't ready many and like the idea of them being dark alluring creatures. Maybe make you lose your mind or trap you in a fantasy, I can't explain what I mean.
Angels: I don't like angels much any more since I've sort of began to connect them with weak heroines and forbidden love O_o I think most of you will know the story's.
What do you think of . . . the following supernatural/mythical creatures?Vampires
Vampires are pretty cool. However, I've only read modern versions of vampires. I haven't even read Dracula yet (and I don't research vampires. I only know them as characters in books or as the five year-olds who run around with a cape and plastic fangs at Halloween).
Although I don't particularly like Twilight, I thought the author's interpretation of vampires was pretty interesting. But I don't like picturing them as the beautifulest people on Earth.
It's been a while since I've read the Vladimir Todd series, but I like how the vampires seemed more normal. I like the thought of vampires being just like normal people except for having an unusual craving for blood.
Now, my least favorite interpretation of vampires was in A House of Night series. What's up with the moons on the vampires' foreheads? Seems kind of tacky to me.
Werewolves
I know even less about werewolves than I do vampires. The changing thing seems very, very painful. But, hey, if they're cool enough to make it into Harry Potter, then they're cool enough for me.
Mermaids
YES! Mermaids!!! I love their pretty tails and how their hair floats around all prettily...and the mermen are pretty awesome too. But I don't like how some mermaids are naked on top. Please put on a clam bra (or something), mermaids!
Fairies
I love Tinker Bell! I remember watching Peter Pan...yesterday. Hehe.
But, besides Tinker Bell, I truly do love fairies. Especially the ones in Shadow Falls. Y'know, human sized fae.
Angels
I think I've only read two books so far on angels. One of them I read a while ago and one I've read just recently (Hush, Hush). After all the craziness of the vampire genre, it's refreshing to read about something a bit different. But from a religious standpoint... I have no commentary one that subject. I don't talk about religion.
Topic #3:What do you think of . . . bad language in books?
Does it bother you, how far can you tolerate it, etc.?
(By "bad language," I mean curse words.)
Note: You may still comment on the last topic if you would like. Just make sure that if you do, that response is clearly stated as for that topic.
No, it doesn't bother me. I read many different types of books, so I'm used to it. Now when taken To the extreme, that is when I put a book down. I'm not likely to return to that book because of it.
Supernatural Creatures
Vampires
I am getting sick of vampires. All I hear is vampires vampires vampires. When they're researched and actually done well, I love reading about them but sometimes it seems that authors are just jumping on the bandwagon :(
Especially romance vampires
One of my favourite vamp ideas is from Paranormalcy, where the vampires are literally rotting corpses, but they put glamour over themselves so they look human.
Werewolves
I would much rather read about werewolves than vampires, again especially if they're well researched. I also find the idea of human/werewolf relationships more realistic than with vampires. I mean, werewolves just turn into dogs, that's all.
I like how in City of Bones they live together as a pack, like wolves, but in the actual city, I thought that was smart.
Mermaids
I haven't actually read many YA mermaid books, but I do like them to be mysterious and actually creepy. I hate the Disney version of The Little Mermaid because it's so different from the original story. The original story by the amazing Hans Christian Andersen was really good, it ended so sadly, I think she turned to sea foam because she realised the prince would never love her. I love sirens, luring people to their death. What I don't like as much is when a girl finds out she is half mermaid or whatever and whenever she goes in water she gets a tail, that is just really annoyingand how would a mermaid and a human have kids anyway.
Like I said, I haven't read any YA mermaid books but I read this series a while back, Ingo which was done quite well from what I can remember.
Faeries
What I hate, again, is sweet little fairies. With an I. I love the Fae however, the stories of the Seelie and Unseelie court, and I have read so many books with them and they never get old.
I especially loved The Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison, it is younger readers but they were really good, again from what I can remember because I read them ages ago. I gobbled up the whole series. Then there's The Iron King which gives them a whole new modern side, I love this series as well.
Angels
I must admit that this aspect I find waaaaaaay overused in YA lit, and it just gets boring, and cliché. I have never really liked angel stories, apart from City of Bones where it's done well and makes sense, but seriously half the books about angels either don't make sense, or they dive right into the whole Christianity religion, or they forget completely about he religion. As an atheist I don't like stories with religious themes apart from The Chronicles of Narnia or The Golden Compass because I loved both of those, and I don't much like angel stories because of that. On the other hand I need explanations and reasons for everything so if they don't even talk about why the angels are etc I won't like it either.
The exception of course would be City of Bones, I know some people don't find it to be so but I find the whole angels/demons thing is well done in these books.
Also there are so many angel books that people seem to either love or hate -
Fallen, Halo, Embrace, Hush, Hush... the list goes on but I have other stuff to do. I don't find myself wanting particularly to read any of these soon, instead I will stick to my list, and I know they're on my to read list but that list is really just a list of "I may try this book one day"
Swearing
Here we go. I happen to really dislike swearing in books. And yes, I know it happens all the time in real life, I must hear those words every single day at school. I don't like swearing and I personally have barely done it, ever. I'm not a typical teenager. I'll be able to stand swearing if it's rare in a book, eg The Night Circus had swearing on like the first page or something and truthfully I was not expecting it to be in that book, but that was the only swear word in the entire book. If swear words are dropped every now and then, I can stand it, but if there's swearing on every single page... well I probably won't give it up actually because I don't do that, but it will make me enjoy the book less. Especially, if it's high fantasy or dystopia or something. Contemporary books, I understand that other teenagers do swear so I guess it would make sense in that context but it really also depends on the genre.
Vampires
I am getting sick of vampires. All I hear is vampires vampires vampires. When they're researched and actually done well, I love reading about them but sometimes it seems that authors are just jumping on the bandwagon :(
Especially romance vampires
One of my favourite vamp ideas is from Paranormalcy, where the vampires are literally rotting corpses, but they put glamour over themselves so they look human.
Werewolves
I would much rather read about werewolves than vampires, again especially if they're well researched. I also find the idea of human/werewolf relationships more realistic than with vampires. I mean, werewolves just turn into dogs, that's all.
I like how in City of Bones they live together as a pack, like wolves, but in the actual city, I thought that was smart.
Mermaids
I haven't actually read many YA mermaid books, but I do like them to be mysterious and actually creepy. I hate the Disney version of The Little Mermaid because it's so different from the original story. The original story by the amazing Hans Christian Andersen was really good, it ended so sadly, I think she turned to sea foam because she realised the prince would never love her. I love sirens, luring people to their death. What I don't like as much is when a girl finds out she is half mermaid or whatever and whenever she goes in water she gets a tail, that is just really annoying
Like I said, I haven't read any YA mermaid books but I read this series a while back, Ingo which was done quite well from what I can remember.
Faeries
What I hate, again, is sweet little fairies. With an I. I love the Fae however, the stories of the Seelie and Unseelie court, and I have read so many books with them and they never get old.
I especially loved The Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison, it is younger readers but they were really good, again from what I can remember because I read them ages ago. I gobbled up the whole series. Then there's The Iron King which gives them a whole new modern side, I love this series as well.
Angels
I must admit that this aspect I find waaaaaaay overused in YA lit, and it just gets boring, and cliché. I have never really liked angel stories, apart from City of Bones where it's done well and makes sense, but seriously half the books about angels either don't make sense, or they dive right into the whole Christianity religion, or they forget completely about he religion. As an atheist I don't like stories with religious themes apart from The Chronicles of Narnia or The Golden Compass because I loved both of those, and I don't much like angel stories because of that. On the other hand I need explanations and reasons for everything so if they don't even talk about why the angels are etc I won't like it either.
The exception of course would be City of Bones, I know some people don't find it to be so but I find the whole angels/demons thing is well done in these books.
Also there are so many angel books that people seem to either love or hate -
Fallen, Halo, Embrace, Hush, Hush... the list goes on but I have other stuff to do. I don't find myself wanting particularly to read any of these soon, instead I will stick to my list, and I know they're on my to read list but that list is really just a list of "I may try this book one day"
Swearing
Here we go. I happen to really dislike swearing in books. And yes, I know it happens all the time in real life, I must hear those words every single day at school. I don't like swearing and I personally have barely done it, ever. I'm not a typical teenager. I'll be able to stand swearing if it's rare in a book, eg The Night Circus had swearing on like the first page or something and truthfully I was not expecting it to be in that book, but that was the only swear word in the entire book. If swear words are dropped every now and then, I can stand it, but if there's swearing on every single page... well I probably won't give it up actually because I don't do that, but it will make me enjoy the book less. Especially, if it's high fantasy or dystopia or something. Contemporary books, I understand that other teenagers do swear so I guess it would make sense in that context but it really also depends on the genre.
I myself don't curse at all. Ever. Still I don't mind any swearing in books.
What do you think of . . . bad language in books?I don't mind it as much as I used to. If its occasional and the words are on the milder side (the d word, the s word, etc.) then I don't care that much. But the author is constantly dropping the f-bomb on me, I don't appreciate that. If its happens once or twice, I can tolerate it.
I learned to tolerate cussing in books because I realized its just a way some authors use to express emotions (etc). Of course, there ARE better ways that people (real or not) can express themselves. But cussing has become part of society/life, so bad language in books might making it seem more realistic.
I don't usually cuss. But I seem to always be surround by people who do (my friends). So it's not that big a deal anymore.
I'm going to go from two perspectives here.As a reader, it only offends me if the author uses swear words so much that I am upset by the lack of actual other words. Also, I really do not like a ton of the upper level swear words in books (f-bomb, c-word, etc). The lower tier words don't bother me as much unless they are way overused. With that said, I do swear in real life, but I can honestly say there are some words I've never uttered because they are so offensive to women or other groups of people.
As an author, I stick to the lower tier of swear words. First, I don't want to rely on them as a crutch. There are other ways to depict emotion. Second, I don't want to offend readers or degrade myself in the process. I don't know. I'm very self-aware of how I'm presenting characters in my writing. I love characters with flaws. I hate characters that lack a vocabulary.
Topic #4What do you think of . . . the different perspectives?
First person, third person, third person omniscient, alternating POVs, etc.
I like first person the best, I feel I can relate more to the character but I hate reading if it's a character I don't like, first person also works well for emotional books like The Fault in Our Stars or action books like Divergent
Third person I think you need to have a particular style of writing and it works extremely well in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or The Night Circus they both have a way of writing it's very... I don't know how to explain it but they're both very beautiful writers
Third person omniscient?
Alternating POVs can work quite well, but sometimes I feel like some of them aren't needed, and then there's the ones where I'm speeding through the people I don't like reading to get to the POVs I like reading, like The Red Pyramid I preferred Sadie's voice so I read Carter's quite quickly.
Third person I think you need to have a particular style of writing and it works extremely well in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or The Night Circus they both have a way of writing it's very... I don't know how to explain it but they're both very beautiful writers
Third person omniscient?
Alternating POVs can work quite well, but sometimes I feel like some of them aren't needed, and then there's the ones where I'm speeding through the people I don't like reading to get to the POVs I like reading, like The Red Pyramid I preferred Sadie's voice so I read Carter's quite quickly.
I prefer alternating POVS, that way I know what all of them are thinking instead of just one.
! YA Heroines !
Books mentioned in this topic
Divergent (other topics)The Fault in Our Stars (other topics)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (other topics)
The Night Circus (other topics)
The Red Pyramid (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Hans Christian Andersen (other topics)Michelle Harrison (other topics)
This will be an opportunity to share your thoughts on certain book-related subjects. I'll give you a subject and ask what you think of it. I'll then leave that subject up for a few days, then give you another one to comment about. All of my questions and your responses will take place in this thread.
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