Polls for Our Souls discussion

I'm looking specifically for books where the main character isn't considered the typical protagonist. He/she is in sort of in a grey area, but they're not necessarily a bad guy or a villain. Do any of you have good book recommendations for that trope?

Interesting question! Two books that I have read recently came to mind.

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham - The main character is struggling to find his moral/spiritual identity. I found that my opinion of the morality of the main character, as well as several of the supporting characters, changed drastically as I read the novel.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (who was just awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature) - This book is almost ALL character development! It is about a man approaching the end of his career and looking back on whether his life has been "worthwhile." It's not for everyone, as it is less plot-driven than most novels, but the morality question is really the driving force of this book.

The Lies of Locke Lamora. Excellent light fantasy Venice meets Ocean's Eleven... But darker. Loved it.
And A Song of Ice and Fire, of course.

Try Vicious by Victoria Schwab... Or The young elites series by Marie Lu...

Nyla wrote: "Interesting question! Two books that I have read recently came to mind.

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham - The main character is struggling to find his moral/spiritual identity. I found th..."

I'm going to check out The Razor's Edge, it sounds interesting. And I haven't read The Remains of the Day, but I've read Never Let Me Go by the same author which I really enjoyed. So I'm gonna check that out as well!

Thank you for the recs!!!

Ninosy wrote: "Try Vicious by Victoria Schwab... Or The young elites series by Marie Lu..."

I've read The Young Elites a long time ago, but never finished the series. I don't think I hated the first book, but kind of just forgot about it. So I'll pick them up again.

I told myself I'll read Vicious right after I finish A Conjuring of Light by Schwab. So that is a book I will definitely read for sure!

Thank you!!

i've gotta second vicious. i think it's schwab's best book but it gets so much less attention than her others, i guess because it's currently a standalone? although sequel next year! so excited

jane steele by lyndsay faye is a good one about a murderess that works as a governess, its blurb says its a retelling of jane eyre but it's more that jane eyre is referenced a lot in the book itself

shallow graves by kali wallace and bones & all by camille deangelis both have nonhuman protagonists, not necessarily monsters but along that line?? but they're definitely in a grey area as opposed to being heroes, bones & all leans a bit more towards villain than hero.

Nevernight - Jay Kristoff
+ I completely agree on Vicious! :)

I've heard great things about Vicious and Nevernight. I'll defeintely be moving them to the top of my TBR list.

Thank you all!

The Riyria series by Michael J. Sullivan. The two main characters are thieves/swords for hire types. The one has a good heart but has been a mercenary and thief since his teens, the other cares about literally two people, has been a thief all his life and doesn't bat an eye at killing. But they end up doing a lot of good things too.

The Young Elites!

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
The Crimson Empire Trilogy by Alex Marshall

the conqueror's sage by kiersten white, the young elites by marie lu

Vicious or the secret history, both amazing

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, and I've heard that Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao is another good one (haven't read it yet). I'd also recommend The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee and the Monstress graphic novels by Marjorie Liu.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu & Prince of thorns by Mark Lawrence.

The Reader is also amazing.

I liked Prince of Thorns a lot, I thought Jorg was a lot of fun (in a sadistic kind of way), and very refreshing.

That's the only one I can recall right now, but I'll be sure to come back if I remember another title.

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
I won't say much because there's some serious character development throughout the book and I really don't want to spoil you anything.

Everybody already named it, but Vicious was what came immediately to my mind as well: The bad guy you love, and the good guy you hate. Perfection. Her best book. (And that's from someone who adores the London books!)

Danna wrote: "I liked Prince of Thorns a lot, I thought Jorg was a lot of fun (in a sadistic kind of way), and very refreshing.

That's the only one I can recall right now, but I'll be sure to come back if I re..."

Jorg is the best anti-hero everrrrrrrrrrr!

The catcher in the rye by J D Salinger

Anne Rice- An Interview with the Vampire and Vampire Lestat has the best anti-hero. Also Riyria Chronicles and Riyria Revelations.
Six of Crows Duology and The Falling Kingdom Series in YA.

Thank you all for the recommendations! I'm going to check them all out!

Danna wrote: "I liked Prince of Thorns a lot, I thought Jorg was a lot of fun (in a sadistic kind of way), and very refreshing.

That's the only one I can recall right now, but I'll be sure to come back if I re..."

I've heard really great things about that! I'll put it on my TBR!!!

The Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison is a great book for this. The main character, Milkman, is the main character, but he's easy to hate because he is a misogynist and is violent, but it's still a story about him finding his African American heritage. So, great book but easy character to hate. Actually, I didn't like any of the characters, I think partly because they were so real and just had all those complicated facets of a true human being.

The Young Elites.

I could only think of Gone Girl and its mindblowing.

Sana wrote: "Anne Rice- An Interview with the Vampire and Vampire Lestat has the best anti-hero. Also Riyria Chronicles and Riyria Revelations.
Six of Crows Duology and The Falling Kingdom Series in YA."

Riyria was my suggestion too!

Sunny's Books wrote: "I'm looking specifically for books where the main character isn't considered the typical protagonist. He/she is in sort of in a grey area, but they're not necessarily a bad guy or a villain. Do any..."

Try The Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman? The main character does some good things but he also does some very, very bad things. You'll still love him for it though. He definitely isn't a villain but he's not out to save the world for the sake of others.

I also thought of After the Golden Age and Dreams of the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. The people in them aren't exactly antiheroes, but they are very uncomfortable with their superpowers and make some bad decisions along the way.

Sunny's Books wrote: "I'm looking specifically for books where the main character isn't considered the typical protagonist. He/she is in sort of in a grey area, but they're not necessarily a bad guy or a villain. Do any..."

i also need a book like that and i m crazy for them. but i cannot find any. any suggestion

The Female of the Species!

Submarine! I love Oliver Tate but he can be kind of selfish and definitely isn't a hero

I also had to think of Young Elites :)

For me it's (just finished it) and i think that Mare's moral is quite questionable in this book...

This is one that I don't think many people have heard of, but the main charter is kind of in a grey area plus the book as a whole is really wonderful in my opinion and one that others should hear about. The Collector

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Try: The Bad Ones and Church by Stylo Fantome

"The Wheel of Time" Fantasy Book Series by Robert Jordan

"Richard III" by William Shakespeare

"Hellsing" Manga series by Kouta Hirano

"Tokyo Ghoul" Manga series by Sui Ishida

"The Odyssey" Ancient Greek Mythology Epic Poem by Homer

"The Children of Húrin" by J.R.R. Tolkien

"The Tale of Kullervo" by J.R.R. Tolkien

"Russian Roulette" by Anthony Horowitz

"Moby Dick" by Herman Melville

"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

"The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer

"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare

"Death Note" Manga series by Tsugumi Ohba

"Black Butler" ("Kuroshitsuji") Manga Series by Yana Toboso

if you're a fan of fantasy, The Poppy Wars trilogy by RF Kuang has just a cast of morally gray characters, especially the protagonist. Be wary of trigger warnings, because it does get very dark and very graphic, but this was the best trilogy I've ever read.

The Nevernight Chronicle by Jay Kristoff is another fantasy series with an extremely ambiguous protagonist in terms of motivations and actions. And it's similarly extremely dark and graphic.

The poppy war by RF Kuang. I'm currently reading the first book in the trilogy and wow does it have amazingly developed morally gray characters! I am absolutely loving it so far!!

The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo :)