Skip to main content

TTT: Character Driven Novels


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.
Brandy said…
I always want to reread The Perilous Gard and Fire and Hemlock during October, but the Cybils makes that hard.
Brandy said…
I love that it switched to her too. And feel it does such a great job of showing her struggle.

Popular posts from this blog

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

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t

Favorite Kissing Scenes

When thinking of a favorite things post I could do for February I decided it would have to be kissing. I've already done couples and I was feeling in the mood to do something fluffy and Valentine's related. So kisses it is. I read more MG than YA, and the YA I read tends to not focus on romance so this was actually harder than I expected it to be though a few jumped into my head right away. (And one of my choices does actually come from a MG book. One is adult. Gasp!) The actual scene from the book is quoted followed by my thoughts. The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day . - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Turner doesn't write the

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

The Field Guide to the North American Teeanager

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe is a book I picked up on a whim at the bookstore when it first came out. I liked the cover. I thought it had an engaging premise. I went into it with a healthy does of trepidation because the execution could have gone so terribly wrong. Fortunately, Philippe is an excellent character writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent reading about Norris's adventures in Texas and high school. High school junior Norris Kaplan's life is ruined by his mother when she takes a job that requires them to leave the only home he has ever known in Montreal, Quebec. Moving is always hard, but Norris knows for him it will be harder than it's ever been for anyone else. Norris is moving to Texas. He will be a Canadian living in Texas. Not just a Canadian. A French Canadian who speaks fluent French. And not just your average run-of-the-mill French Canadian. A black son of Haitian immigrant parents French Canadian. If Norris has