Top Ten Tuesday: Characters at My Lunch Table

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

It's school season! Yay? No. The only way school would be AWESOME is if I had these people as friends in school. So far I've been making good connections, but come on, who wouldn't want these fictional characters at their lunch table? I made half of my list about people I want with me and the other half about characters I want far, FAR away. 

Who I want: 

Tina from The Princess Diaries
Tina is the best. She's supportive, slightly delusional, and unintentionally funny. The girl is a hopeless romantic and her ideas are chuckle-worthy. Who wouldn't want some entertainment at lunch during usual school drudgery.

Peeta from The Hunger Games
He would be our yummy food supplier. Yay for homemade bread!

Victoria from Audrey, Wait! 
Most of you are probably going "huh?" But I just reread this gem and she's hilarious. Quips and wittiness galore. I'd include Audrey too, but I'd want to be Audrey in this scenario so Victoria can be my best friend.

Katsa from Graceling
No one will try to mess with us.

Cress from Cress

The cutest person ever. She made me giggle so much when I was reading because of how much she geeked out. I need her sitting by me.

Who needs to stay away:

Dee-Dee from Gallagher Girls
She's a super nice person, but I think after a while she'd get on my nerves. Too perky?

Allyson from Just One Day
She seems too...wish-washy? I haven't read it in a while, but I remember feeling like pre-adventure that she was easily manipulated and bossed around. And then complains about it. Get control!

Jason from Meant to Be
I KNOW SOMEONE LIKE HIM. He was my mortal enemy until I knew him better and then we became kinda friends. But still. Don't sit with me.

Cady from We Were Liars
It'd be really nice to have a rich friend, but this girl is annoying, has no personality, and just too much. Too much of nothing for me.

Lia from The Naturals
I love and value honesty, but I'd feel too self-conscious with her at my table. She's good at lying AND detecting them. No thanks.

Who do you want at your table? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I'd Like in My Fictional Family

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Imagine yourself being able to pick who's in your family. Now imagine that you get to pick fictional characters. What a plethora of choices. I love my family, but it is fun to imagine being related to my favorite characters.

The Hubermanns from The Book Thief

Role: Grandparents

How cute would these two be as grandparents? Sure, they're not that old, but Hans is so sweet with Liesel and underneath her tough exterior, Rose is too. I can picture visiting them and having him play the accordion while she cooks. 

Matthew from Anne of Green Gables

Role: Great uncle

MATTHEW! Sweetest old man ever. Of course, when you get Matthew, you get Marilla. Fine by me. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster from The Fault in Our Stars

Role: Parents

One of the best examples of PRESENT parents. Not absent, dead, or dealing with problems of their own. They rock.

Finnick from Catching Fire

Role: Uncle

Let's just forget about how swoon-worthy Finnick is and focus on the fact that he'd make one awesome uncle (or even brother). Plus, I'd get sugar.

Celaena from Throne of Glass

Role: Cousin (source)

She's killer (literally), but is also in touch with her feminine side. We'd have fun hanging out, that's for sure. And Chaol would be a great inclusion to the family as well.

Anne from Anne of Green Gables

Role: Cousin

Oh, the adventures we'd have. But I want Gil.

Roar from Under the Never Sky

Role: Brother

Totally stole this picture from my sister who fan-casted Matt Bomer as Roar (perfect). Another fictional guy I have a crush on, but he'd be an amazing brother. 

Jane from Pride and Prejudice

Role: Sister

I initially went with Elizabeth, but then thought 1. Mr. Darcy is mine and 2. Mr. Bingley would be a GREAT brother-in-law. Caroline Bingley can go die somewhere.

Jo from Little Women

Role: Sister

Or the whole March family except Amy. But mainly, I think Jo and I would have fun together if we don't clash. 

Liz from Gallagher Girls

Role: Sister (source)

LIZ IS SO CUTE. She'd make an adorable little sister. One that I might feel too over protective of or jealous of her smarts, but adorable nonetheless.

Kat's family/crew from Heist Society

Role: Extended family (source)

I just want all of Kat's family and crew to be in my extended family somewhere. Italian families seem fun. Crazy, but fun.

But no matter how awesome these fictional characters are, I do love my family. 

Who would you like in your fictional family?

The Likability of Characters

I've been running into what seems like a trend lately and I'm really questioning it. Authors seem to be making their main characters a little more unlikable. Why? To create complexity or because they don't realize that their character is off-putting? Really, this question can't be solved unless we were to talk to every author who has created an unlikable character. Even then, it'd be a little awkward to ask them why their character is asking for a death wish and they didn't even mean for that to happen.

So my real question is if you all like more complex characters. For me, I think there can be a range of the likability or unlikability of a character. 

Universally Liked

I'm not saying that everyone who has read this book has liked Alina. Or that she doesn't do wrong or does wrong in later books. But from what I've heard, everyone likes Alina. She's insecure, but becomes stronger. She has to deal with problems and crushes and evil. You can't help liking her. 

Reasonably Flawed

Katniss has her demons. You can't blame her. She lives in an oppressive, dystopian society in which she's picked to fight to the death with 23 other kids her age. During the series, friends die and she's forced to mingle among privileged citizens and her resentment has built up to the point of most likely murder. She's flawed. But in the same way, you sympathize with her and if you're like me, you root for her until your voice gives out. 

Plain Annoying

There are enough annoying people in the world already, I don't need to read a narrative of one. Depending on the annoyance level, I might stick through it, it might not even bother me, or I might DNF it. In the example above, if you saw my review you'd know that I DNF'd it. Yes, ain't nobody got time for that. 

Not-Detrimentally Unlikable

I didn't know if I should put this subcategory before or after the annoying one. Like I said, it depends on the annoyance level. For these kinds of books, usually the character is overall unlikable, not just doing annoying things. My review of Side Effects May Vary will be up soon, but for me, the main character Alice was unlikable, but not horribly so. I didn't root for her, but I didn't hate her. Which leads to...

Hated

I'm still so confused on the book above. My review of this one will be up in the coming weeks as well and I just don't understand. It seems as if the author wanted her character to be unlikable, but hated? I doubt any author would want that. When a character is in the hated subcategory, he/she is doomed. She has probably done repeated (most likely severe) offenses, grated on your nerves, made you cringe more than nails on a chalkboard, or made you feel disgusted. All you have to do after reading a character like the one in Tease is go take a shower. Cleanse yourself from her.

The examples above are only my opinions. I know some people think drastically different, which is why I push you to comment below on what you would put in these subcategories of likability.

Why I actually wrote this post was to see if you liked it when your characters have major flaws. I think every main character has some flaw in their life. The insecurity of Mia in The Princess Diaries, the stubbornness of Celaena in Throne of Glass, or the somewhat snobbiness of Lilac in These Broken Stars. Flaws create dimension and realism. Realistic characters are always needed. But when it comes to repeated offenses or "major" flaws, I wondered how much is too much for all of you?

Note: I'll be at basketball State Championships from today until late Tuesday night. Hopefully, I might be able to check Twitter now and then. But in all likeliness, I won't be able to socialize much until Wednesday (maybe even later if the results turn out depressing). But I'd love to see comments when I return *winks.* Adios! 

Top Ten Tuesday - Worst Worlds/Characters

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This is the week where dystopian and fantasy books come in handy. Hurray! The lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish gave us the option of picking the worst worlds to live in or the characters you'd NEVER want to be or switch places with. I decided to do five of each, so in no particular order:

Worlds:

Panem from The Hunger Games

This will probably be a popular pick this week considering it hosts an annual event in which 24 kids die to the death until one is left. It's a horribly realistic, dystopian society and run by a manipulative "leader" with mindless subjects. So if you're not mindless, you're overworked and suppressed. No thank you.

Luna & New Beijing from Cinder
I couldn't pick between the two considering they seem equally bad. In Luna, you have a dictator of a queen and these mind-controlling abilities. If you have a "shell" for a child, they're killed. But then in New Beijing, you feel helpless because the previously mentioned Lunar queen is trying to take over your world. 

Middluns & Monsea from Graceling

I think the Middluns sounded worse through Katsa's eyes and Monsea is horrible for Bitterblue. But basically, the Seven Kingdoms are bad for girls in general. What makes it worse is Katsa's uncle, the king and tyrant of Middluns.

Reverie & Death Shop from Under the Never Sky

Aria is from Reverie, which keeps their citizens blind and dependent on them. But then the Death Shop hosts cannibals and questionable woods. Of course, it doesn't matter for either of them because everyone has to escape to the Still Blue (hence the title of the third book). 

Dystopian Chicago from Divergent

There is no way I could survive in this city. I could never be ALL one type of personality and of course, I'd have the luck of being in the faction of selflessness. I can be pretty generous and selfless, but don't force me to be that way. 

People: 

Annie Cresta from Mockingjay

I think most people would consider another character in this series, like Katniss, but really, Annie has it rough. We're told she went insane when her partner was graphically murdered in the Games and then...well, Mockingjay was not kind to her.

Tarver Merendsen from These Broken Stars
I can't even say anything because it's spoilery, but I pity the man.

Mia Hall from If I Stay

The whole book is about her deciding if she should live or succumb to death as she's in a coma after HER WHOLE FAMILY DIED. Whole. Family. I can't even comprehend the grief.

Nikki Beckett from Everbound
I usually don't sympathize with girls in love triangles, but I can't help it. Things happen in the first book that I probably shouldn't reveal, but the second book is where I sympathized with her the most. 

Sybella d'Albret from Dark Triumph

Who would I NOT want to switch places with in a million years? Sybella is an understatement. Cringe-worthy happenings in her life. She does have Beast as a love interest, granted, but I'd rather live alone forever than have her past. 

What worlds would you never want to live in? Who would you never switch places with?