BOOK REVIEWS / DISCUSSION: My Brilliant Friend, The Good People & Unlikeable Characters

My book reviews of My Brilliant Friend and The Good People, as well as a discussion on unlikeable characters and how they affect my enjoyment of the book.

Books Mentioned:

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The Good People by Hannah Kent

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[ClaireReadsBooks]

I'm really late on this, but what a great video/discussion! I especially loved your thoughts on the girls in My Brilliant Friend—they are so complicated and feel like *real* people (which includes all their ugly sides!). I also like that it's a depiction of female friendship that feels very specific to the relationship between those two girls—not every female friendship is that competitive or that fraught, but I appreciated that Elena Ferrante wasn't afraid to explore the unlikable sides of her two main characters and also wasn't afraid to explore the ugliness and intense feelings that can sometimes exist between two people who have been so close for so long.

[paraplyen]

I think unlikeable characters are so important when they are multidimentional. Characters can have bad feelings and make wrong decisicions without being bad people. I think that's what true to life. I think with the Ferrante books was that for me it was so relatable. Sometimes it was uncomfortable because it felt so close to home. And seeing it written down was an incredible feeling.

[thisisyrrobotfriend]

I love how you approached this video! And I totally agree Elena (and Lila) can be so awful to each other, but their relationship sings so true to me. That, plus the insight the book gave me into 50’s Italy socio political landscape really sucked me in

[splitreads]

I loved this video and your approach! I agree I enjoy reading unlikable characters as long as they are three dimensional and have facets to their personality that I could relate to or sympathize with.

[timeforbooks]

My number one most unlikeable character is the character that never learns from their experiences. Especially when they have created their own obstacles in the first place.

I feel like I don't like characters in books that I wouldn't like in my real life. Would you say that it's similar with characters that you don't like?

[ThatsWhatSheRead]

Love the discussion! I hated Elena so much and their friendship seemed so toxic but real and lived in. It was complicated. Lol

[TheNovelSanctuary]

HAAA omg that is so funny I literally just finished both of these and had the complete opposite reaction you had. I was also thinking about my approach to unlikeable characters after reading these two! I really enjoyed your discussion! It's funny how vastly different people's opinions about both of these books are. Would have loved to sit in a coffee shop and discussed these with you! Need to plan a trip to AZ ;D