Magnificent Misfits
Looking at the rather insane collection of books that line the shelves above my desk, it occurred to me that almost all of them have a good bit in common. One of those things is the use of that most relatable underdogs: the misfit. Be it the hero, heroine, or sidekick (especially when the sidekick gets their own book the next time around!!), a misunderstood protagonist makes for a yummy read. From John Matthew in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood to Nucking Futs Nix in Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark, and Mina Wentworth in Meljean Brook’s The Iron Seas, misfits rock.
Let’s chat… Who are your favorite literary misfits and why?
hmmm… Misfits… This is a tough one. Would Andrea from the KATE DANIELS series count? She kicks butt! And there is Tina, the teenage zombie semi-sidekick from Nancy Holzner’s DEADTOWN series! She more a comedic misfit, but she’s great!
Oh…. and Qhuinn. Definitely Qhuinn!!!
I think some of my favorite literary misfits are Zhadist (BDB) and **shhh…don’t tell anyone*** some of the Highlanders from the historicals I’ve read. I really like the ‘underdog’ in Historicals. Erin Quinn has written a couple that I lurve!
I haven’t read all of those, but I’ll have to now. You’re both KILLING my TBR pile. It’s going to fall over if I add any more to it. 🙂 But, there are a lot of great misfits in the BDB series, including the Blind Kind himself. It’s fun to read about alpha misfits, especially, when they’re challenged out of their “I’m an island” isolation by their potential HEA’s and don’t know what to do with themselves. Those are some of my favorites.
One thing I love is misfits! Qhuinn *swoon*, so cannot wait for his story! BDB is a series that is almost all about the misfit. No wonder it is a favorite of mine.
I agree, there is something about the misfit… the perpetual underdog. I’m reading about one now, Kalen from the Alpha Pack series.
But there is a series I love because it revolves around misfit women, instead of men. It’s the Heather Snow, Veiled Seduction series. It’s a historical romance series that is about atypical women, which is so different from most, it is so unique. I absolutely LOVE it!
Let’s not forget another great female misfit…Mercy Thompson.
Thanks, Una!! I love stories where the women carry the story as much as the men, too. Whatever qualities allow them to do so tend be what makes them misfits, but the more interesting characters of a story, too. (Now I’ve got two more to add!!)