Skip to main content

TTT: Unreliable Narrators


This Week's TTT Topic: Books When You're in the Mood for X

My X=Unreliable Narrators

I do love a good unreliable narrator. These are my favorite books whose narrators are unreliable either because they are being denied information, they are too consumed by themselves, they are confused, their minds work differently, or they're liars. Some of them are a combination of these. A couple of the books have multiple unreliable narrators.









 Do you enjoy unreliable narrators or do you find them frustrating? If you enjoy them, who are some of your favorite unreliable narrators?
Labels:

Comments

Brenda said…
I really liked The Thief, have to check out some of the others you mentioned. I tend to like unreliable narrators, even if sometimes they can be frustrating. Most often they tend to be humorous too. My TTT link
March 1, 2016 at 12:57 PM
Kim Aippersbach said…
Ha! When I saw your post title, I immediately thought of The Thief. And then as I was wracking my brain for more examples, I saw everything I thought of listed in your post! Excellent books, all. I guess I really do like unreliable narrators!

(Ancillary Justice might apply: she's not exactly unreliable, but she certainly doesn't tell us everything. Which I guess is the definition of an unreliable narrator!)
March 1, 2016 at 6:17 PM
Ava said…
I am in no doubt that The Thief has one of the BEST examples of an unreliable narrator. I'm not sure I'm always a fan, but I like The Thief's style.

March 2, 2016 at 10:17 AM
MeezCarrie said…
this is a very intriguing topic - I didn't realize that Code Name Verity had an unreliable narrator! My TTT
March 2, 2016 at 3:14 PM
Brandy said…
Yes, they can be humorous but I think it depends on why they are unreliable. They can also be heartbreaking.
March 2, 2016 at 3:36 PM
Brandy said…
You know, I actually wavered on The Thief. Gen feels like an unreliable narrator on the first read, but on rereads I realized it is more that the reader is unreliable. Which is part of the brilliance in how Megan Whalen Turner manipulated narrative expectations. But if you read it the second time as Gen's written account for Helen, he isn't unreliable at all. He just didn't waste time telling her things she already knew.

I still haven't read the Ancillary books but I WILL. SOON. Hopefully.
March 2, 2016 at 3:39 PM
Brandy said…
As I said above, I think the reader is more unreliable but you only notice that on a reread.

Megan Whalen Turner is a master writer. Her style is unparalleled.
March 2, 2016 at 3:42 PM
Brandy said…
On a first read, that first half of the book is very questionable. How much can you trust what this girl is saying? Who is she anyway? What is real and what is a lie? It's very gripping.
March 2, 2016 at 3:43 PM
Rachel Neumeier said…
I wonder if maybe I prefer unreliable secondary characters? In The Country of Ice Cream Star and Archivist Wasp both have reliable protagonists but VERY unreliable secondary characters, so you get these whiplash moments where the protagonist (and you) suddenly realize that Something Is Not What It Seemed.

Andrea K Host's And All the Stars is like that too, come to think of it.
March 4, 2016 at 12:00 PM
Kim Aippersbach said…
Oh, my goodness: I just finished rereading it for The Book Wars' readalong, and I can't believe it never even occurred to me to think of it as Gen talking to Helen! Of course! I want to immediately read it again and see how that works! (You're completely right: it's not the narration that's unreliable, it's Gen's actions.) Mind blown yet again by MWT.
March 11, 2016 at 1:27 AM
Post a Comment

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
42 comments
Read more

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
4 comments
Read more

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
11 comments
Read more

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
4 comments
Read more

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
1 comment
Read more