General Books / Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday: Falling in Love with Book Characters

Dini @ dinipandareads45 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: character traits I love to see in book characters/things that make me love a book character (submitted by Hannah @ Books Life and Other Oddities). and the minute I read the prompt, my mind drew a straight blank. Had I actually read any books with numbers in the title? Thankfully I have my awesome buddy that’s known as Goodreads to help me figure this out! I found a few titles but I’m not sure if there are enough to amount to ten, so let’s see how it goes!

Book Lover/Reader. This one doesn’t really need explaining right? I’m a sucker for someone who loves all thing bookish on the page, as much as I love finding them in real life too!

Not afraid to show their nerd. This might sound similar to the bookish trait, but it goes beyond just books. I love when a character isn’t afraid to nerd out about something they’re really passionate about, especially when I least expect it of a character!

Sassy/Sarcastic/Humorous. Give me all the sass, sarcasm and humor. Any character who can make me laugh already has me halfway to rooting for them — whether they’re main characters, side characters or even on the rare occasion, the villain!

Cinnamon rolls. When I think of characters who are cinnamon rolls, I always immediately think of Tanner from Autoboyography first. He’s such a pure sweetheart of a character who deserves so much and I love characters who make me want to scoop them up, hug them forever and keep them in my pocket wherever I go!

Grumpy/gruff exterior but a softy at heart. For the most part I’m thinking about the male leads of my favorite romances for this trait. I’m a total sucker for that grumpy bear of a lead whose walls slowly come down the more we get to know them, and who end up being total softies. Swoon! 😍

Sticks to their guns. I love a character who will basically stick to their convictions. Practice what they preach. Whatever you wanna call it. Wishy-washy characters give me a headache and drive me absolutely insane!

Acknowledging past mistakes and proving their maturity. I often read about characters who have ‘changed/grown up’ but their actions never speak to that growth. Give me a character who actively acknowledges what a spoiled, immature idiot they’ve been when they were younger, and who actually shows that they’ve matured through their actions!

Loyalty. Maybe it’s a little cliche but it’s such an important trait to me in real life and adds an incredible amount to the respect and attraction I feel for a person, so it obviously makes sense that I’d find this attractive in a fictional character too.

Kind. Plain, simple, kindness. I feel like being kind is underrated in a lot of books but give me a character who shows genuine kindness to others and I’ll be a definite fan.

What are some traits that make you love a character?
If you’ve done a TTT for today, please leave your links in the comments so I can mosey over to your blog and check it out! 🙂

45 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: Falling in Love with Book Characters”

  4. Bookish characters are for sure super fun! And I always get excited when I realize a character is a nerd, because yeeeees, my people. ❤ The gruff exterior with a soft heart are totally some of my favorites! Like Ove from A Man Called Ove. :3 So many great traits on your list!

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    • Right!? MY PEOPLES 💜I’m always already half-way to loving a book when it’s about bookish or nerdy characters haha it’s so cliche but it’s truuuue! Oh mans, I still really need to read Ove. I’m just so scared I won’t like it?! I’ve tried some of Backman before and… I mean, I enjoyed it but it wasn’t head over heels love? I will give it a try though! Everyone seems to love it 😊

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      • Hmmm … which Backman did you read? Was it Beartown? Because I LOVE me some Backman, but I had to set aside Beartown when I tried to pick it up. I plan on returning to it eventually, but it really didn’t read like his other books to me, all of which just sucked me in immediately.

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  5. Aww yes!! I love your chosen traits 👏Nothing makes me happier in a romance than having a grumpy character! Especially… a nerdy grumpy character 💙 that gif of Hunnam… YES. Nen and I have a *slight* obsession with him and his level of gruffness is perfect! 💙 Jen

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    • Hehe thanks Jen! 💜Ugh, romances with grumpy characters are also like… almost a total win for me. Unless they’re too asshole-ish for their own good then no, thanks. BUT most of the time it’s perfection! And not even gonna get started on how much I love nerdy grumpy characters. GAME OVER! Hahaha so love 😍😍😍 Also, yaas, I’m on the same level with Hunnam. His face was the first I thought of writing this haha

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  6. Aww yes!! I love your chosen traits 👏👏Nothing makes me happier in a romance than having a grumpy character! Especially… a nerdy grumpy character 💙 Also… that gif of Hunnam… YES. Nen and I have a *slight* obsession with him and his level of gruffness is perfect! 💙 Jen

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  9. Do you know what irks me… The expression cinnamon roll. See I hate cinnamon and every time someone describes a cute character as being a cinnamon roll I wanna be like nooooooo!!! That’s an insult cos cinnamon sucks 😂😂😂😂😂 So there’s my random musing of the day 😂😂😂😂😂 love the list Dini <333333

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  12. Great list! Secret softies are always fun – I particularly love these characters if there’s one other character in particular that they’re a softie for. Doesn’t matter if it’s romantic or platonic, I love me some Slytherin and Hufflepuff vibes.

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  20. I agree with all of these traits! I love so many book characters- that’s why I can never choose a favourite book! Great Post, it certainly made me smile- book characters are the best, especially grumpy/gruff cinnamon rolls and nerds ❤ 🙂

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