In Her Shoes is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Vanya at YA Story Teller.
To participate, simply put yourself in the shoes of a heroine you've
recently read about, and then talk about what you would do in her place,
or what you've learned from her.
Featuring this week:
Ginger from Sweet Evil
Ginger is a character in the YA paranormal romance Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins. She is a nephilim (half demon-half human) and because her father is the demon in charge of inciting adultery on earth, she as his daughter has the task in breaking up relationships. And unlike my previous choices for this meme, Ginger is not all very likeable right off the bat. Nevertheless, I don't believe a character has to be likeable to be great. I think readers most often learn more from unlikeable characters compared to ones they can relate to immediately precisely because they are so different to them. A character that is unlikeable and different to you often makes you think of things that you might have never considered before.
Ginger in Sweet Evil at first glance is an arrogant, superficial, mean, stuck up, and distant girl. She treats Anna (the main character in the book) with a cold shoulder and through out the story I thought that there was no way in hell that I was gonna like her. That is, until the story unfolded and I got to learn more about her and her family dynamic. Thing is, Ginger has a twin sister named Marna. Marna is more sweet, more innocent and more light hearted. And Ginger is super protective of her and I loved seeing that side to her because it seemed to me that maybe Ginger put up a strong cold front w/ the world because she wanted to protect her sister since their father is so ruthless and harsh with them, as he is a demon who doesn't give a rats about them.
That protective side to Ginger made me like her because it felt real. It made her a more three dimensional character and it allowed me to not write her off as a villain because things are never just black or white. There are shades of gray in every situation. Not everyone who seems evil may be completely evil. There is sometimes more to people and Ginger definitely had that quality. Granted, she continued being a meanie till the end of the book except in that one spot in her life, her relationship with her sister. Her love for her sister showed that she had a softer, vulnerable and admirable side to her and it did make her seem real and not a typical 'mean girl caricature' so to speak. And because of those things I would say that there is not a thing I would change about her. She was interesting and authentic as a character.
Yay for evil girls! ^^ I ususally side with the bad guys - ok, most of the times because bad ass boys are just so hot, but I also like mean girls if they're the cool kind of mean and not barbie mean. You still with me? x)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to like her, once I get around to reading this book, probably for the exact same reason you described. =)
My Shoes this week
I hear you. I can be okay with a mean girl but she has to have some depth to her and some dimensionality. She can't be a typical mean girl. That is why I thought Ginger was pretty cool. There was more to her than what you saw in the surface.
Delete*high fives* You get her!! :)
ReplyDeleteYay :)
DeleteThis is a very interesting meme. I think I want to try this one on for size. I have Sweet Evil in my queue and your insight on her character just made me want to read more about her. Bumping it up my TbR!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like it. It's a fun meme.
DeleteAnd I'm so happy to hear that. It was a really great book so if you get the chance definitely check it out. :)
Hmm, you've done several posts on this book, and that alone makes me want to read it even more :) I'm gonna have to push it up my TBR list :)
ReplyDeleteSo, Ginger, huh? I think I'm gonna like her, the way you describe her character :)
My In her shoes
I'm glad to hear that :) It's a great read.
DeleteI thought this book had a really great cast of characters and I really wanted to talk about several of them since they impressed me in several ways. Ginger was definitely very interesting and layered.
OOO I love this post!!!! And those shoes... although I might not be able to walk in them .. lool! And I agree with you she was a very interesting character!
ReplyDeleteYay, Danny! So glad you liked it and that you thought Ginger was interesting, too :)
DeleteHaha, I'm with you on the shoes. So pretty but they probably are not the easiest to walk with :D
I found her character interesting, too. And the fact that they're twins!! <3 But yes, first I really did think she was just cold, and overall not a highly likable character. But when I read that... I couldn't help warming up to her.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? I thought the twins were really interesting, as well. I warmed up to her, too, as I kept on learning more about her story.
Delete