I’ve been noticing lately that I’ll happily follow certain unlikable or outright terrible protagonists for hundreds of pages, but in other books a character makes one mildly annoying choice and I’m immediately out. It made me wonder what actually tips the balance. Is it the writing, the character’s voice, the pacing, or just whether they’re “compelling” in some hard‑to-define way? The contrast hit me after finishing a novel where the main character was a complete disaster of a person, yet I couldn’t stop reading because the author made their spiral strangely fascinating. Then I picked up another book with a much milder “messy” lead and found myself getting irrationally irritated two chapters in. I’m trying to figure out what the difference was. Well, Curious how other people think about this. What makes you stick with (or give up on) an unlikable protagonist?
by throwawayjaaay
1 Comment
I think it helps a lot to know their tragic backstory, the WHY to why they act that way.
“Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about”
We’ve heard this saying. Well if you do know it, and know how it informs their choices, that means you can empathize with them.