Top Ten Tuesday: Secondary Characters Who Deserve More Love

In: Blog Hops

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s topic was a little tricky for me, so I wasn’t able to come up with a full list of ten responses.

Interestingly enough, all of the answers I did think of were from the Young Adult genre!

I don’t know if that genre tends to have fabulous secondary characters in general or if we tend to remember them better if we first meet them as kids or teenagers. Then again, maybe there is another explanation for that entirely.

What do you all think? Have you noticed a similar pattern in your reading habits?

There are some mild spoilers in this post, so reader beware if you haven’t read any of these titles yet. I’m hoping they’re all old and well-known enough that you’ve all either read them or already know they’re not your preferred reading material.

Book: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Character: Haymitch Abernathy

Why I Loved Them: Physically, he survived a previous Hunger Games. I’d argue that his emotional survival of that event was an entirely different story due to how his alcoholism and harsh, self-imposed social isolation afterwards were described in this series. If only we could have a prequel that dug into his life in greater depth. Wouldn’t it have been fascinating to see how he survived and why his life turned out the way it did?

 

Book: The Giver by Lois Lowry

Character: Jonas’ father

Why I Loved Them: Jonas’ father worked as a Nurturer. That is to say, he took care of infants and young toddlers before they were assigned to permanent homes. Occasionally, he was expected to end the lives of infants who were disabled or otherwise didn’t meet the Community’s criteria for citizenship. I can’t imagine being expected to do that. What did he really think about his assigned occupation? Was he horrified by that portion of the position when he first began training for it?

 

Book: The Harry Potter series from J.K. Rowling. (I will always love this series, but have chosen not to include a link to it due to the author’s behaviour).

Character: Luna Lovegood

Why I Loved Them: She was an incredibly perceptive and hopeful character. I thought her quirkiness made her more memorable in many ways than the actual protagonist of this series.

 

Book: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Character: Uncle Carlos

Why I Loved Them: His perspective as a detective who was so emotionally connected to the key witness gave him a unique view into this case. While I totally understand why the story was told through Starr’s eyes instead due to her being the only witness of Khalil’s murder, it would have been cool to spend more time exploring how Uncle Carlos felt about all of it.

60 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Secondary Characters Who Deserve More Love

  1. I think there were a lot of characters in the hp series that deserved more love like Luna. But also Neville and some of the teachers. But even if she wrote about them now I’d never read it.

    Reply

  5. Ooh, such awesome and unique picks, Lydia! I’d definitely love to know more about Haymitch and Uncle Carlos but I didn’t even think of these characters when I made my post this week 😂 It was definitely a toughie but love your list!

    Reply

  6. These are such good choices — I’d want to read more about any or all of them! Haymitch is such a pathetic character most of the time, yet he survived and must have so many untold stories. I’d love to hear more about his earlier life!

    Reply

  11. Wow, what an amazing list you came up with! There is definitely something amazing about YA side characters that makes them so appealing. I was honestly hoping for the prequel to be about Haymitch – he was always the most intriguing side character for me. And I love the idea of learning more about Uncle Carlos and his perspective on what was going on. I kind of wish you had come up with more, because the ones that you listed were so amazing! Great job this week.

    Reply

  13. Great list! I also find that I often remember side characters from books I read in my childhood better than books I read as an adult—in my case at least, I think it’s because those are the characters I had self-insert daydreams about. (Now, as an adult, I’m more likely to be daydreaming about novels I’m planning instead of novels I’ve read.)

    Haymitch would have been a much better choice for a prequel book, I agree. Maybe we’ll still get that one. Though I agree with other commenters, even if Luna or one of the other awesome HP side characters were to get their own book, I’m not likely to read them. JKR burned too many bridges there.

    My post this week

    Reply

    • I daydreamed about side characters, too! That must be why they’re so memorable.

      And I totally agree with you on JKR burning too many bridges. It’s horrible to see what she’s become (or maybe always was?) 🙁

      Reply

  14. Great list! I’d love to see Haymitch in something again – I’d actually love to see him after The Hunger Games trilogy rather than a prequel, but that’s mostly because I love stories about how characters deal with trauma in the public eye.

    Reply

  20. Great list! Luna and Uncle Carlos are such great characters; I would love to know more about both of them.

    I twisted the topic some, as I have trouble remembering secondary characters.

    Thanks for stopping by my post earlier.

    Reply

  29. I think this is the first time I’ve read all the books on someone’s list! These are all great books and great characters that definitely deserve more love. I would love for Suzanne Collins to write a book from Haymitch’s perspective; he’s such an interesting character.

    Reply

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