Top Ten Tuesday: Five Characters Who Deserved Better and Five Characters Who Got What they Deserved

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week there is a new topic for bloggers to choose and list their top ten. This week’s theme is Top Ten Characters I Liked that Were in Books I Disliked.

So it turns out I don’t have enough characters I liked in books I disliked to make a top ten list, in fact I don’t think I have enough books I disliked full stop. So instead for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post I’m featuring five characters who deserved better than they got – writing this post has made me realise I’m not quite over what happened to some of them – and five characters who got exactly what they deserved.

*Please be warned this post will include spoilers for a lot, if not all, of the books I picked this week.*

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Five Characters Who Deserved Better

Jacob Banks
The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr

While I was reading this book I thought Jacob would be more present considering how big a part he played in Flora’s journey. His support of her was part of the reason she made it to Svalbard; he loved her and nurtured her adventurous spirit but he was hardly in the book at all. It just made no sense.

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Wesley James
Wesley James Ruined my Life by Jennifer Honeybourn

We’re told from the very beginning that Wesley did something unforgiveable but when we discover what it was it felt like nothing, certainly not enough to justify Quinn’s actions. I couldn’t root for her and Wesley as a couple because he deserved better than someone who would try to wreck his life and not apologise for any of her actions afterwards.

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Vincent
Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

Granted Vincent kept a lot of secrets from Aly which put both their lives at risk, but I still think he deserved better than a friend who is more willing to trust a girl he just met (there was a fair bit of insta-love in this book) than a close friend he’s known for years.

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Shade
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

He came back from the dead only to die again, this time for good I’m assuming, in Glass Sword. It wasn’t even a notable death, Shade wasn’t the one who was supposed to die he was just caught in the crossfire which kind of makes it worse in my opinion.

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Katarina
Roseblood by A.G. Howard

This book had an extreme case of girl-hate, which I hated. Katarina is the ‘bad guy’, the one we’re supposed to want to see knocked down a few pegs. Honestly though I’m siding with her; Rune comes out of nowhere, has no training, and manages to land a role Katarina has been working towards for years.

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Five Characters Who Got What they Deserved

Thiago
Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

If Karou hadn’t killed him I would have wanted to. It wasn’t just Thiago’s actions against Karou I hated, but how he led the Chimaera and what he ordered them to do. When it comes down to it Ziri was a much better leader than Thiago could have ever dreamed of being.

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Burton Mansfield
Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray

After everything he did in Defy the Stars to try and beat death, everything he put in place in both books to get Abel to deliver himself to Mansfield, he still ended up running out of time in the end.

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Jan Van Eck
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

I don’t think there was anything more satisfying than the ending to Crooked Kingdom when all of Kaz’s plans fell into place and Van Eck realised he’d lost everything.

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Eli
Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Part of his characterisation was that Eli wholeheartedly believed what he was doing was right, that he was the ‘good guy’ in the battle between himself and Victor. I didn’t see it that way, and I loved when Victor’s plan was revealed because that was masterful, almost in line with Kaz Brekker.

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Tamlin
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

After what he did I don’t think Tamlin got everything he deserved in this book, although I did love seeing Feyre mess with him and his Court at the very beginning. I am glad that Tamlin’s story wasn’t a case of redemption though death because that’s a trope I’m not a fan of at all.

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So what do you think? Did you take part in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, if so let me know what characters you liked in books you disliked. Also are there any characters you can think of that deserved better than they got, or any characters who got what they deserved?