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What Makes an Appealing Character?

What makes a book character appealing to you? Is it how they look, from their hair color to their clothes? How they speak, their quick wit or quiet demeanor? Is it the way they joyfully interact with other characters, or perhaps they have an appealing, aloof manner?

Woman in a hat and braids holds a book in a medieval cobblestone street, lit by lanterns. Background shows people dining, warm ambiance.

Perhaps you have always been drawn to those who hide secrets behind their eyes. Those characters who seem to know more than they let on, whose silences speak louder than their words. You turn pages faster when they appear, your heart quickening at their cryptic remarks and half-smiles.

Or maybe it’s the brave ones who steal your heart—those fearless souls who leap before looking, who charge into danger with nothing but conviction and a questionable plan that’s bound to get them into trouble. You can’t help but cheer them on, even as you cringe at their recklessness.

But let’s be honest. Sometimes it’s the flawed characters who truly captivate you—the ones who stumble and fall, who make terrible decisions that have you shouting at the pages. “Don’t trust him!” you cry out, alone in your room at 2 AM, knowing full well they can’t hear you. Yet you love them all the more for their imperfections, for their humanity.

A man in a kilt with a dagger stands in a scenic valley with rolling hills and a river. The sky is overcast, creating a dramatic mood.

What makes this whole reading experience so magical is that you get to be part of their world without the real-world consequences. You can live a thousand lives through a thousand distinct characters, experiencing adventure, romance, and heartbreak, all from the safety of your favorite reading nook. One day you’re solving mysteries in Victorian London, the next you’re battling dragons in a realm where magic flows like water, or walking along a quiet beach hand-in-hand with your new favorite hero.

You’ve probably noticed how certain characters stay with you long after you’ve closed the book. They become your companions, their voices echoing in your mind during serene moments. You catch yourself wondering what they would do in your situation or imagining conversations you’d have with them if they were real.

And isn’t it wonderful how characters can surprise you? When you think you have them figured out, they reveal a hidden depth or make a choice that completely changes how you see them. The villain shows unexpected mercy. The hero admits their deepest fear. These moments of revelation make your pulse quicken with delight—there’s nothing quite like the thrill of discovering new layers to someone you thought you knew.

You might develop the most unexpected crushes on characters who, on paper, seem entirely wrong for you. That brooding antihero with questionable morals? Suddenly, you’re defending their every action to your book club. The shy librarian who only speaks in whispers? You’re hanging on their every soft-spoken word. It’s fascinating how fiction permits you to explore attractions and connections you’d never consider in real life.

And then there are those characters who feel like old friends from the very first page. You settle into their stories like slipping into a warm bath, instantly comfortable with their rhythms and quirks. These are the characters who make you smile before they’ve even done anything particularly amusing, simply because you’re so happy to spend time in their company again.

You know the feeling when you discover a new series and realize you get to spend not just one book, but potentially dozens of adventures with these beloved characters? Pure joy floods through you as you calculate just how many hours of happiness await you on your bookshelf.

The best part might be how these fictional friendships never disappoint you the way real-life relationships sometimes can. Your favorite character will never cancel plans at the last minute or forget your birthday. They’re always there, exactly as you left them, ready to pick up the conversation right where you left off. They’ll never judge you for reading their story for the fifth time this year, or for staying up until dawn because you couldn’t put their adventure down.

Of course, real life is still worth living, exploring, and cherishing. But that doesn’t mean we can’t also cherish the precious moments we get to spend with dear friends who exist only on the page—and in our minds and hearts.

Find your next favorite read today →

This post was edited with help from Grammarly. The images in this post were AI-generated by Wix.