Flawed characters lead to rounder books, but flawed characters do not necessarily mean lovable characters, not for me anyway. I’m not a fan, for instance, of the Count of Monte Cristo’s vigilante “hero” or the manipulative, controlling love interest in Austen’s Persuasion. There are certain character flaws that make me dislike characters, and others that make those characters and books much more lovable. These are my top ten on the lovable side.
1. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones: Howl – Yes, I fell 100% in love with Howl despite the fact that he’s a complete cad.
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: Rochester – Ditto. I think Rochester is my very favorite complex character in all of literature.
3. the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson: Vin – The poor girl is scarred and doesn’t trust anything/anyone, and it makes her all the more endearing.
4. the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater: Ronan – I could technically name many flawed characters from this series, but I’m choosing Ronan because I actually didn’t like him for the first 1.5 books. Then I came to love him.
5. Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: Eustacia – Self-centered, manipulative, yes, but for some reason I adore her. Don’t ask why.
6. The Awakening by Kate Chopin: Edna – People seem to love or hate her, but I’m on the love side.
7. the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins: Katniss – See #3 Vin above. And yes, I even loved her – loved her more, in fact – in Mockingjay.
8. the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo: Genya – She does many, many bad things, but I think she’s essentially good at heart and just wants to be loved. I feel for her.
9. The Painted Veil by William Somerset Maugham: Walter – He is by no means a nice human being, but I feel a connection with him for the things that lead him to those mean places.
10. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: Cath – I love that her flaws don’t make her a bad person, just a complicated one.
What are your favorite lovable flawed characters?
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
The Zen Leaf 
I love reading about flawed characters! Great topic 🙂 It’s hard not to fall in love with Howl though, he makes it so easy…
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Boy does he ever!!
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Great list! I absolutely agree that a flawed character can make for a better book. I did mine on books that feature redheads: my TTT. Happy reading!
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Ooh, fun topic!
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Flawed characters always make for a better story, and make us feel OK with our own flaws.
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Have a great week!
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Totally agree.
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Awesome topic and list! Flawed characters are are the most interesting characters. I love Howl, Ronan, and Genya on here!
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All so very good. 🙂
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Awesome List!! I’ve been meaning to start the Raven Cycle for a while and am glad that there are complex characters to get into/ Check out my Top Ten Tuesday
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They all start out seeming not to complex but the deeper you get, the more complex they get. It’s awesome.
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Great list! I love #1 & #2.
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Both very good ones to love. 😀
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Great list. I’ve read a lot of these, and I’m hoping to read Mistborn this summer. I’ve heard wonderful things about it.
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Mistborn is amazing! I hope you love it.
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I love reading flawed characters, I find characters are so much better if they have flaws. I agree with you on Ronan, I only really came to like him in the most recent Raven Cycle book. I also agree with you on Katniss, but wasn’t so keen on her in Mockingjay. Check out my TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/top-ten-tuesdays-2/
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She felt so real to me in Mockingjay, but I’m one of the few who adored that book, I suppose.
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Girl on the train (okay, I’m really bad at remembering names), but she is soooooo flawed yet you can’t help be on her side! What a great idea for this list 🙂
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I was kinda on the fence about her, but she was definitely very round.
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