What do you do when you dislike a character?

[Madalyn]

I started a book last night and there are two characters that I already strongly dislike. I'm going to keep going with the book in the hope that they don't succeed in their plan, but it got me thinking. Have you ever disliked a character so much that you stopped reading book? If you have, were there other factors? If you kept reading, did you end up liking the book?

[T. K. Elliott (Tiffany)]

Yes.

Twilight. I had a copy lent to me by a friend, who promised I would love it. I think I lasted about a chapter and a half before I couldn't stand reading about the nasty, whiny, spoilt, self-centred, entitled little bitch any longer.

On the other hand, you might think that Flashman (the bully from Tom Brown's Schooldays) who is the protagonist in George MacDonald Fraser's series starting with Flashman, would be a character whom you wouldn't want to follow through one book let alone a whole series. Apparently even Fraser was surprised by how much people liked the cowardly, venal, dishonest, womanising Flashy. But Flashy's redeeming feature is that he might (and does!) lie to other people, but he never lies to himself (or the reader). He's shatteringly honest about his own morality and actions, and although he always looks after number one, he doesn't do gratuitous harm to others, either.

I've read most of J.D. Robb's In Death books, and I don't really like either Eve Dallas (the heroine) or Roarke (her love-interest). I found Eve arrogant, rude, and unprofessional. I found Roarke arrogant, disrespectful, and creepy (if my husband treated me the way Roarke treats Eve, I'd be a widow with a new patio). For me, though, what kept me reading was the secondary characters, and engaging plots. For a challenge in another group, I'm re-listening to one of the books, and even though Eve and Roarke aren't characters I like, the whole package (at least in the current book) outweighs what I don't like.

[Colleen]

T. K. Elliott (Tiffany) wrote: "...I'd be a widow with a new patio)..."

Tiffany, I'm guessing you like reading mysteries?

I haven't yet read a book where I've disliked the main character(s), but when a secondary character isn't supposed to be disliked, but is by me, I usually just grimace when they show up, and find myself skimming through the story to get through that person's part faster. I also tend to roll my eyes a lot.

[T. K. Elliott (Tiffany)]

Colleen wrote: "I'm guessing you like reading mysteries?"

Yep. Or, as I call them, "instructional manuals".

:-)

Yeah, I skim/skip too. In the In Death books, I skip all the sex and most of the relationship stuff between Eve and Roarke. Weirdly, though, there is enough that I like to make the books a sort of guilty pleasure. It's like picking Brussels sprouts out of your popcorn.

[SSBSMS]

Yes! A couple of times I've stopped reading a book because of this but I eventually go back and finish it. Sometimes it can take me over a year to get back into it. Actually, I remember skipping a character's section in A Sisterhood of Traveling Pants years ago. I would only go back and read the section if it came up or was relevant to another character. This happens more often if I'm watching something though and can't stand the character rather than reading.

[Colleen]

SSBSMS wrote: "Yes! A couple of times I've stopped reading a book because of this but I eventually go back and finish it. Sometimes it can take me over a year to get back into it. Actually, I remember skipping a ..."

I'm the same with shows/movies. My mom was watching a show on Netflix, and I couldn't stand the acting of one person, so I now have no interest in watching the show - even though that character was killed off or left or whatever. No thanks.

[SSBSMS]

Colleen wrote: "SSBSMS wrote: "Yes! A couple of times I've stopped reading a book because of this but I eventually go back and finish it. Sometimes it can take me over a year to get back into it. Actually, I remem..."

Has this ever happened to you in reverse? Have you stopped reading a book or watching something because a character you love leaves for whatever reason?

[Andrea Thomas]

I actually put down the Black Dagger Brotherhood series for that reason. I read the first book, HATED the villain, and skimmed most of the parts where he was involved. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I forced myself to read half of the second book, hoping it was just a fluke that I disliked the first one. And I couldn't finish the book and left the series behind. I was told repeatedly I'd love the series. Yeah, no.

[Jessika]

It really depends. If we are talking about a main characters, sometimes I think an author can intend for a reader to dislike a character, for example, if they are trying to create an unreliable narrator. Or sometimes I think that even if a character bothers me, that it is intended to make a character seem more "human," if you will.

Then again, I'm just not really into some characters. I think it just depends on each book, at least for me.

[Colleen]

SSBSMS wrote: "...Has this ever happened to you in reverse? Have you stopped reading a book or watching something because a character you love leaves for whatever reason?"

This is the very reason my friend put down Game of Thrones only a quarter of the way through and hasn't picked it up since. Won't even watch the show. She hates getting attached to characters who end up dying, especially if it's near the beginning of the storyline, even more so if she knows it's going to continue to happen, as it does in GoT. I haven't run into it, yet, in a book/series that I can remember.

[Dorottya]

I am that kind of a masochist who is reading a book to the very end even if I hate it, except for special cases (like when I had an old book and the middle 60 pages fell out somewhere and I could not find them).

As for disliking a character, I usually don't give up on them until the end, because I don't mind dislikeable characters as long as they are realistic and I don't feel that the author is siding with them and wants to force us to like them. My rating is usually affected by that. If there is no reason for the bad traits of the character and I feel like they are treated as the norm, I am more likely to give the book a bad rating. If I find that the dislikeable nature of the character is giving something to my reading experience, it gets a positive rating (like Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan).

[Dima]

I'm reading now the Anita Blake series and I really dislike the MC. She is very conceited, childish, and obnoxious. Also everyone is in love with her. Yet I'm still reading the books for some reason. maybe I'm hoping that it'll get better at some point.

[Hiraya]

Dorottya wrote: "I am that kind of a masochist who is reading a book to the very end even if I hate it, except for special cases (like when I had an old book and the middle 60 pages fell out somewhere and I could n..."

Oh my gosh, I don't think I have ever met a lot of readers like me who stick with a book they don't like for the sake of reading it, just because they REALLY enjoy the act of reading.

In fact, I even finished an entire series once, holding on until the last minute for the author to prove me wrong - that those hours weren't just a waste of time.

As for disliked characters...I don't mind them much. I simply try to remember that no matter how annoying a character is, he, or she, or it, is still part of a grand plan that will help complete the story.