This Week’s Topic:
A minor character, who NEEDS their own story
A minor character, who NEEDS their own story
Dani at Perspective of a Writer hosts the meme I Heart Characters, which is a way for people to feature their favorite characters. I often fall in love with minor characters, and couldn't wait to share one I believe needs her own story.
Any book worth its salt has a great cast of characters. Authors understand that strong supporting characters increase the readers' enjoyment, and will often create many, who have the ability to hold center stage.
I have to admit, I frequently wish an author would write books starring some of their auxiliary characters. Among the reasons why I want this to happen:
- I love the character! This character stood out and won me over, and I want to know more about them.
- I want to stay in their world. This usually happens more with series, but I grow attached to the people and the places, and I just want to spend more time there. Companion books are the perfect way to satisfy my desires.
- If that character gets their own book, the chances are good, that I will get updates on the characters from the original book, and you know, I always want to know what happened to them.
Like I said, I believe there are certain sidekicks, who could carry their own books. One I am constantly screaming about is Kitty (Song) Covey from the To All the Boys I've Loved Before series by Jenny Han.
I had a special attachment to Kitty. As the youngest Song sister, she never really knew her mother, and was therefore, deeply affected when Margo left home. The final book of the series had Lara Jean heading to college, and though I was very happy when she formed a bond with their neighbor, I was stilled worried about her.
I would love it, if Han wrote a spinoff series starring Kitty, and I think it would be a success. Why?
- Kitty was a scene stealer. You think it's just because she was little and cute, but it had a lot more to do with what she would do or say. She was precocious, engaging, and I was drawn to her. My heart ached for all she lost and would never know, but her sisters and father did a good job filling that mother-shaped void.
- We care about Kitty, and want to see her grow up. We knew Margo did well, and Lara Jean was off to the university of her heart's choosing, but we have no idea what the future holds for Kitty, and I must know these things.
- We could get some answers about other characters. If Han aged Kitty up, we would also get to catch up with Margo, Dad, and especially, Lara Jean. I don't care what people say, that final book left me with NO closure! I was totally invested in LJ's romance, and I need to know if Peter K and Lara Jean survived college.
Jenny Han:
Now it's your turn!
What minor characters should have their own books?
Let us know in the comments!
There are definitely some side characters I would love to have a whole book about! But also like you said in #3, I love getting to see what's happening with the MCs I love after their series has ended too, closure for certain things, etc. Kitty sounds like a great character!
ReplyDeleteThere are some characters I can never get enough of, and maybe my greediness is due to reading so many companion series. I don't know, I never have enough closure.
DeleteInteresting discussion. I want a book about Harry Potter’s parents and their friends. From the details we got in the series, it sounds like they had a lot of dangerous adventures. I want to read about those!
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
A HP prequel would appeal to so many. I am kind of surprised it hasn't happened yet.
DeleteI love so many minor characters! I always want the ones I love to have their own stories. I agree that I hope to also get an update on the other characters.
ReplyDeleteI never have enough closure, so you know I love that.
DeleteOMG -there are so many! I recently read an arc where the protaganist's brother had a small pov and all I wanted was his story and HEA. I didn't care at all about the sister anymore lol
ReplyDeleteKaren @ For What It's Worth
That is one fantastically written side character
DeleteOh man! I hadn’t really thought about it but a series or even one book on Kitty would be wonderful! Let’s start a petition! ;)
ReplyDeleteEvery time I talk about that series I mention it.
DeleteI agree that there is certainly some characters that I would love to see full stories for! I have been lucky enough for a few that I have read that ended up in a sequel. But there are so many dynamic stories that I would loveeeeee to see more!! Fingers crossed more appear! Wonderful post, Sam! :)
ReplyDeleteRev from Letters to the Lost is a great example of a side character, who got his own book. He was so magnetic and I was so curious to know more about it. That was a great gift from Kemmerer.
DeleteYES! I would be so so here for a Kitty book!! She is the actual best and so cynical and adorable and like a book 5 or so years after the end of Always and Forever Lara Jean would work so so well?! I want to seeeee what happens next to my favourite Covey family.😍😍
ReplyDeleteI think it would be sol interesting to see her go to high school. I want to see her evolve and grow, because I think she will grow to be an incredible young woman. And YES!! I want to age Kitty up. Follow her through the same years of high school we shared with Lara Jean. It would be an interesting contrast, and perhaps we could even attend another wedding at some point. I'm just saying.
DeleteThere are some books I read that make the secondary characters shine! I love it when authors writing spin-offs or even novellas in a secondary character POV. I'm a fairly forgetful person, so no characters come to mind right now, but there have definitely been a few that I've come across that deserve a story dedicated to them :)
ReplyDeleteI don't read a ton of novellas, but I love companions and spin-offs. Sometimes I even like the spinoffs more than the original series.
DeleteThere are so many I'd love to see take the reigns - Eowyn from LOTR, Finnick and Johanna from The Hunger Games, the Marauders from HP, Thorne from The Lunar Chronicles, and The Will and Lying Cat from Saga all come to mind! :)
ReplyDeleteFinnick and Johanna would be interesting, and I think there are tons of people, who would be on board for more stories set in the world of Harry Potter.
DeleteI do get attached to side characters and wish for a book for them for the reasons you've stated above: I get to stay in the world I've grown to love, and I get updates for previous beloved characters. The Virgin River series by Robyn Carr was a perfect example and fortunately there were a lot of books! If I could I'd move to a town like Virgin River. Wonderful post, Sam! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's something I love about romance books. There are so many companion series, and the authors tend to write tons of books in that world. I have to check out Carr's series. I am pretty sure I have seen it at the library.
DeleteI have not read Jenny Han so I don't know Kitty but I love spin off books that feature different characters. The Kate Daniels series is one of my all time favorites and Ilona Andrews has given us some books featuring other characters and it is such a fun way to view the world and people in it.
ReplyDeleteIt really is the best way to stay in a world we love. I am all about spinoffs. If an author creates a magnificent world filled with fantastic characters, you know I will try to stay there as long as possible.
DeleteYESSS KITTTTYYYY. This needs to happen honestly. It could be very fun, and also really different since Kitty was so different from LJ. I would love to see a spinoff of Kenji from Shatter Me. Radar from Paper Towns. Iko from Cinder. Basically all the funny characters hah. Love this topic!
ReplyDeleteI keep lobbying for Kitty book, I just need Jenny Han to commit. Kenji was another character, who popped in to my head along with Roslyn from Daughter of the Siren Queen and Hassan from An Abundance of Katherines. Radar could definitely carry his now book. I would love to know more about his family and their dynamic. Why can't we go to college with Radar!!!
DeleteI haven't read the book you're referring to, but I've heard wonderful things about it! I also agree with what you said... giving secondary characters their own story, even if it's short, allows you to see how other characters are doing. Did the HEA stick? What's going on in everyone's lives?! It would be great to know, especially from someone else's perspective. I think that's one reason I enjoyed the Stage Dive series by Kylie Scott so much. Each book was about a different band member, but we get to see other characters from previous books that we fell in love with.
ReplyDeleteL @ Do You Dog-ear?
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DeleteI recently finished Silver Silence by Nalini Singh, and there are a ton of secondary characters I would love to read about. First, all of Valentin's sisters, and then Silver's brother Arwen and his maybe relationship with Pavel (one of the twin bears in Val's clan). I want to know if their romance bloomed! <3
DeleteThe follow-up to an HEA is a dream of mine. Though, usually authors like to blow it up (and then write a book where they fix it, lol). I love companion series like Stage Dive for just that reason, and the best part of romance companion series is that some authors keep them going for many, many books, which is the best when you fall in love with the group and setting. There are a few books, where a romance sort of started or was hinted at, and I am curious. Like, why do authors start something they have no intention of finishing!!
DeleteI always end up loving secondary characters more than main characters. I'm so glad that Lunar Chronicles switches between the couples because then Wolf and Scarlet could get their own book and scenes too! I really would read an Adam Parrish centric book, although admittedly a good 50% of The Raven Cycle seems to be his perspective already xD I also really would read a book centered around Dekka and Edilio from the Gone series by Michael Grant. Or Jasper and Carlisle Cullen from Twilight.
ReplyDeleteParrish was intersting, and I think there is a lot more to his story. I never read Twilight, but I Carlisle was the "dad", right? He had a lot of history and a prequel could work with him.
DeleteI hear so many good things about To All The Boys I've Loved Before... I'm unsure whether to read the book but (looks around all shifty) I'll watch the movie when it hits.
ReplyDeleteI love sweet contemporaries with a family focus, and that's what Han gave me. I am so watching that movie when it's on Netflix. If the rest of the film is as good as the clips I have seen, it will be fabulous!
DeleteI think I'm one of the only person that didn't love To All the Boys, for some reason. So I don't really remember Kitty all that much. Who knows, though, maybe you could get your Kitty book someday. :-)
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Different books for different readers. I was shocked when we got a third TAtBILB, so why not a spinoff? I'm gonna keep that dream alive.
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