Let’s Talk Bookish – Morally Grey Characters

Hey there! Welcome back to another Let’s Talk Bookish discussion. Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by me and Dani @ Literary Lion, where we discuss chosen topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.

Today’s topic is: What makes a great anti-hero/morally grey character?

It’s super ironic how I slept in on the day of my topic, yet I always try and post on time for everyone else. Sorry for the late post guys! Without further ado, let’s get started.

First of all, I absolutely love morally grey characters and anti-heroes. Absolutely love them. It’s so fascinating seeing them do terrible things, but also being good and kind at the same time. It’s so fascinating seeing them do terrible things, yet supporting them and understanding that it’s necessary.

I love the complicated emotions that arise when I read about a morally grey character. On one hand, I don’t necessarily agree with what they are doing, or they do something utterly horrifying and I’m shocked. But then five seconds later, I’m defending their actions while rationalizing them in my head.

I also love how they can delude you. For instance, they’ll be doing relatively good things, or things that aren’t totally bad that you don’t object to, and then out of nowhere they do something horrifyingly cold and you’re just sitting there in shock. (Kaz and Oomen? That was…something I wasn’t expecting…)

Basically, loving a morally grey character makes me feel super conflicted and I have so many different emotions while following their story.

To me, morally grey characters are the characters that have been hurt and broken and destroyed, and instead of turning out to be a total villain, they retain some goodness in them and sometimes do what’s right. And isn’t that better? Think about it. Would you rather have a morally grey Kaz, or a totally cold hearted one?

Yeah, I thought so.

Of course, you all know my favorites, and I honestly would like to add more favorites to that list, so if you have any suggestions for awesome books with morally grey MCs (especially female ones!!), I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

And now for the ultimate question:

Is loving morally grey characters wrong?

Honestly, I’m not really sure. I think that with some love, morally grey characters can become less morally grey and possibly do what’s right all the time. But when they do bad things, things that you disagree with, then no, you’re right to dislike them in those instance.

But let’s think about it this way. You can love the person or the character, but you don’t have to love everything that they do. That’s true for everyone in real life. They won’t always do things that you love or agree with, but that doesn’t stop you from loving and supporting them.

I love them because they aren’t black and white. They aren’t all good or all bad. They are honestly like most people, but more brash and loud about it. They don’t shy away from doing what they think is right, or getting what they want. And that is honorable in a way, but again, you don’t always have to love everything that they do.

So yeah. I love morally grey characters, even if they do bad things. Because doing bad things makes them more real and more imperfectly perfect.

This Week’s Participants:

Dani @ Literary Lion | Evelyn @ Evelyn Reads | Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea | Abby @ Beyond The Read | Rian @ Dogs and Books | Jane @ Blogger Books

Who are your favorite morally grey characters and anti-heroes? Do you know any female ones? Why do you love them? What do you think makes a morally grey character? What are you having/did you have for lunch i’m hungry? Chat with me in the comments below!