Awesome Characters in Books I Didn’t Like

“The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts.”

First line in Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

So you’re reading a book that you can tell isn’t your thing, but you keep going anyway because there’s this one side-character you want to read more about, so you pray they turn up more often. Who hasn’t experienced this? I figured I would write a post about this very specific scenario and share some of the great characters from books I ultimately didn’t end up loving. It’s really not the characters’ fault that they were in bad books, and therefore don’t get the amount of attention they deserve, at least not here on my blog. I’ll keep this as spoiler-free as I possibly can, but if you don’t want to know anything about the characters before going into your books, maybe proceed with caution or stop reading altogether.

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Will Herondale – The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

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Despite this trilogy being a fan-favorite, it was the one that almost made me quit Cassandra Clare and her Shadowhunters. But how do you stop reading when you know Will Herondale might show up on the next page?
With his quick wit and tendency to use sarcasm, he provides a lot of life to the scenes he is in. He’s also incredibly affectionate towards the people around him, even though he hides it behind moodiness and arrogance. I still see it, though, and his friendship with Jem where he really shows his caring side, is ultimately what carried me through this trilogy.

Geralt of Rivia – The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

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I’ve only read the first three books in this series, and I stopped because the last book, Blood of Elves, had very little Geralt in it. I quickly realized that he was the only thing that kept me reading these books. And the funny thing is that he’s not at all the type of character I typically like. He’s quite brutish and cynical, but so is the world he lives in. What makes him compelling anyway is that he has morals and often questions if what he does in his line of work is right. My own personal interpretation of this is that Geralt actually has a very soft side that’s just buried very, very deep inside somewhere (and now he has Henry Cavill’s face, so how do you not love him?)

Princess Amari – Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Amari was by far the most interesting character in this book. Her story is that of the timid, sheltered princess who is forced to face the brutal real world and through that, realize what potential she holds. The character development she goes through is both fascinating and inspiring, and I still believe she should have been the main character of this book.

Nikolai Lantsov – Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

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I’m very glad that Leigh Bardugo realized the potential in Nikolai so much that she gave him his own duology. He is someone who appears to be extremely cocky which means he provides some truly brilliant one-liners. The character development he goes through across the books also takes some of the obnoxiousness away and ultimately portrays him as a confident and intelligent ruler.

Enrique – The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

Enrique is one of the many intriguing main characters in this very confusing book, but he was a very clear favorite of mine right from the start. He’s a historian and generally quite smart, which is a trait that is sure to make me love a character. Add in the fact that he’s bisexual and also of Filipino and Spanish descent, and you have a highly interesting character I would have loved to read more about had I known what was going on with the rest of the story. I should say that I haven’t made a final decision on whether to read the sequel or not, but it is unlikely that I will.

Darlington – Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

I know I’m not the only one who wanted Darlington to feature more heavily in this book. And he’s really not in this one very much, so it’s actually hard to do a characterization of him other than it was so obvious that he had a more interesting personality than the main character, Alex. I also really wanted more of his backstory, but maybe I have to read the sequel when that comes out to learn more.

It was great to talk about some books I don’t usually feature here on the blog, and then even in a more positive light. Now, of course, I’m very curious to know what you thought about these books and characters if you’ve read them. Otherwise, tell me about some other amazing characters in books you didn’t like.