TTT: Character Driven Novels

Top Ten Tuesday is a Meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's TTT topic: Books for Readers Who Like Character Driven Novels

I love all the characters in the Queen's Thief but the titular character of The Queen of Attolia is my favorite character of all time. And even though all these books have quite a lot of action, it is the characters that drive the story.

Briony is one of the most complex and fascinating characters to read about. Being inside her head while reading Chime is like wandering through a maze blindfolded, but man is every wall you smack into worth it.

Fire and Hemlock is probably the novel Diana Wynne Jones wrote that is the most difficult to recommend. It has to go to the right sort of reader, and a reader who loves character is certainly the right sort.

I love all of Melina Marchetta's contemporaries, but Saving Francesca is my favorite. This book is wholly driven by Francesca's character arc and her relationships with the people around her and I adore all of it.

Seraphina is an epic fantasy about dragons and music and tricky politics. Books like this are usually all about the plot or the world building. Those things are certainly mighty important, but it is Seraphina herself who is the most pivotal part of this story. Her thoughts, her emotions, her music, her loyalties, her brokeness, and her embracing who she is are what made me love this book.

Till We Have Faces is one of C.S. Lewis's lesser read books. This is a shame because it is my favorite. It is a retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche from the perspective of Psyche's sister. It is a beautiful and haunting story about the relationship between the human and the divine.

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my earliest reads (in an abridged version) and therefore one of my most reread favorites. Looking back, I can see how it formed my love for the character driven narrative. The reason all the movie adaptations of this are so awful is because it is impossible to convey the complexity of Edmond's journey and the impact he has and others have on him in so short a period. Therefore his arc gets butchered and the story loses its power. Read the book.

Dorothy Sayers writes character driven mysteries. The mystery plotting in them is excellent, but when it comes down to it her books are all about the character's journeys, most especially Lord Peter's journey. But Gaudy Night is all about Harriet Vane. She is coming to terms with her past, what she wants for her future, and how she is going to manage use her present circumstances to make it happen. The mystery in this novel takes a back seat to her thoughts on life, her own and the lives of those around her, and figuring out a woman can possibly have both passion for lover and passion for work.

What are some of your favorite character driven stories?

Comments

Anonymous said…

Ooh, Fire and Hemlock. Yes. Also, I want to re-read all the Tam Lin retellings SO MUCH right now.

We have several books in common, which isn't surprising.

October 7, 2014 at 11:16 AM

Brandy said…

I always want to reread The Perilous Gard and Fire and Hemlock during October, but the Cybils makes that hard.

October 7, 2014 at 9:23 PM

Brandy said…

I love that it switched to her too. And feel it does such a great job of showing her struggle.

October 7, 2014 at 9:23 PM

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein...

A Tale of Two Castles

Gail Carson Levine is a great spinner of tales of magic. I will say that I have not liked her subsequent novels nearly as much as I love Ella Enchanted , but when I read them I always enjoy them. Her latest novel, A Tale of Two Castles , I enjoyed quite a bit. It still comes in a distant second to Ella but it was an enjoyable read. Any enthusiast of girl and dragon companion books will have a great deal of fun with this one. Summary (from Amazon ): Newly arrived in the town of Two Castles, Elodie unexpectedly becomes the assistant to a brilliant dragon named Meenore, and together they solve mysteries. Their most important case concerns the town’s shape-shifting ogre, Count Jonty Um: Someone is plotting against him. Elodie must disguise herself to discover the source of the threat amid a cast of characters that includes a greedy king, a giddy princess, and a handsome cat trainer. Readers who loved Ella Enchanted and Fairest will delight in this t...

Piecing Me Together

A couple years ago This Side of Home was one of my favorite reads so when I found out we were getting a new Renée Watson book this year it automatically became one of my most anticipated reads. Piecing Me Together lived up to all my expectations and then some. Jade lives in north Portland but goes to the fancy private school St. Francis on a scholarship. She knows this is her greatest opportunity to go to school and get out of Oregon. It can make her feel like she is living a dual life though. Her first two years there were successful academically, but she didn't make many friends. As her junior year begins, Jade is asked to join a mentor/mentee program for "at risk" girls called Woman to Woman. She's not really sure she needs it. She doesn't feel at risk, and she definitely doesn't feel like her mentor, Maxine, is going to be very helpful in teaching her about the real world. But as the year continues to go less the way Jade expected, the more she lea...

The Penderwicks at Last

The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall is the fifth and final installment of the series that began with The Penderwicks: The Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy back in 2005. I awaited its release with equal parts excitement and trepidation. It's always hard to face the end of a favorite series, especially when one has developed Opinions about the characters and their destinies. I'm happy to report I was quite satisfied with the way Birdsall wrapped everything up. It is not anywhere close to my favorite book in the series, but it fulfills its purpose as a final volume well and is still quite excellent. Most of the Penderwick children are grown and out of the house. Rosy and Jane both have apartments in their hometown. Skye is in Californian working on her post graduate degree. Batty is finishing up her first year at college in Boston. Honorary Penderwick Jeffrey has spent the last few years in Germany working on his music. Ben and Lydia...

Shadowshaper

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older is everywhere. Best of lists. Award buzz. Blogs everywhere. It's one of those books everyone is reading and talking about. I had it on my TBR but decided I definitely needed to read it before the year was out just so I could weigh in on one of the most talked about books of 2015 if asked. It is deserving of every good thing said about it. Every. One. Sierra was looking forward to a relaxing summer break. Her plans involved hanging out with her friends and painting. They did not involve being chased by zombie like creatures and threatened by a magical power connected to her family's heritage she has never heard of. When murals begin fading all over her Brooklyn neighborhood, Sierra is perplexed. When her grandfather, who had a stroke, begins to apologize and starts repeating strange phases and insisting Sierra get the help of a boy she barely knows to help her finish her mural, Sierra is concerned but mostly about her grandfather. Then at a...

Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Search This Blog