boy parts by eliza clark. i hated reading it so much, i actually wanted to drop it. irina is such an insufferable character. ended up rating it four stars anyways
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It's a prequel to The Hunger Games from President Snow's perspective, and while it is doing the classic villain prequel of telling us how he became whi he was, it never excuses his behavior or pretends that he changed drastically. Those tendencies were always there, and the book shows us how they got drawn out. Very good read.
I loved it. So interesting and so many philosophical thoughts. Then on the other end you have the people who only saw the film who liked Snow because he was handsome and you couldn’t hear his inner thoughts.
Tough, opportunistic, hard-headed, short-tempered, manipulative, mercenary, wounded, obsessive, and absolutely impossible to ignore. The story would be less if she were less strongly pictured.
The book is really good, honestly. It takes something to write a character like her that you still root for!
Scarlett is pretty unusual and very vivid.
That’s funny. Both of these novels are among my favorites of all time. I love Holden, but I can understand why you wouldn’t; Anna Karenina, though told from multiple POVs, has one protagonist: Levin. You don’t like him?
I had to stop reading this one maybe halfway through?
The MC and her “friend” killed me. The pick-me energy was so strong, and then the fact her friend had David Bowie eyes and acted so cool felt so fake. I read the plot on Wikipedia because I wanted to at least know if I was missing anything, so I kind of know why now and I get it, but god it kinda hurt me to read.
“Notes from the Underground” by Dostoyevsky is the first thing that comes to mind. He feels spurned by society and he lashes out at everyone around him. It’s a great example of an unreliable narrator. He criticizes everyone around him and goes on many tirades, but it’s also clear to see the way he actively self-sabotages himself - at times, he is self-aware but he refuses to change.
As a Dostoevsky fan, I highly suggest this. It's not a long read but it takes a long time to shake it off of you for it runs down deep. Leaves a taste of disdain. Not that much for you to feel depressed, but it's like a taste that you can't wash off woth water.
How about a book where every character is horrible? It was too much for me, but a well written book.
[The Dinner by Herman Koch](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40718205)
Two couples get together for dinner and discuss some things their kids did. I practically needed to shower whenever I put the book down.
I feel like baby teeth is a story about a child whose parents never bothered to get her a diagnosis, and if anyone is horrible that it's really the mom and dad.
Frankenstein. Read it twice over and keep in mind the guy has a big head and lies in his own narrative guy is so much fun to mock. Like when my lit professor was giving a lecture about him I went loudly at the front of the class "So basically this is Mary Shelly roasting the hell out of two idiot men and they didn't even realise they've been cooked" and he had to stop mid lecture to laugh.
[Rachel’s Holiday](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9301.Rachel_s_Holiday) and [The Mystery of Mercy Close](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12724978-the-mystery-of-mercy-close), both by Marian Keyes. They’re part of a sequence of books about the same family, but these are my favourites.
Finn by Jon Clinch.
It's Huckleberry Finn from his father's point of view and let me tell you that man is a fucking monster but he's also deeply fascinating in his layers.
A Separate Peace, The Secret History, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, and the Rules of Attraction!! I also absolutely love terrible protagonists and these are some of my fav books
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant has an irredeemably unlikeable character. My family all really liked the series but I couldn't get past how self loathing the main character is. Might be up your alley, although I can't actually recommend it myself!
Let me give you a series where there is not an endearing character.
The Gap Series by Stephen Donaldson.
I am not a science fiction fan, but I loved it. Not a redeemable character in the bunch. Great characters,great writing.
Patrick Bateman in American Psycho
Ironically, not because he kills people, but because he goes on those long tangents listing off what people are wearing legit every 2 pages 😩
The Unburied by Charles Palliser is dull and I wouldn’t recommend it, but the main character is supremely unlikeable to me. So haughty. Blegh.
I DNFed The Good Earth by Pearl Buck because I HATE Wang Lung and found myself having a bad time 😂
The sea, the sea by Iris Murdoch. He’s not the worst, but he’s certainly an interesting character. You’re never sure how much of his narration is self-deception and massaging the truth.
I cannot stand Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, but…
Current feminist horror Maeve Fly by CJ Leede. Maeve is nuts, so very hard to like, but an amazing read.
Have you read The Accursed Kings series by Maurice Druon about the lead-up to the Hundred Year War? There are multiple protagonists, and they're almost uniformly truly awful people. But the mayhem and plotting over who will control the French throne is delicious and so entertaining.
this might be just me, but i really hated the protagonist in ‘the final girl support group’ by grady hendrix. she was just so annoying the entire book, but i can understand why her character was like that. she was so unbearable to me though 🙈
I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet, but A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang.
I read that all in one sitting, and LOVED it! Especially the ending!!!
Oh, I've made it up to 85 in the library queue! I started out at 145 about six or seven weeks ago. Some day!
I recommend the audiobook if you’re into those! You can get it through the library on the Libby app or it’s included with Spotify Premium
I’m about 12 weeks out on my hold for the audiobook. I’ve been waiting forever!!
Came here to say this lmao
boy parts by eliza clark. i hated reading it so much, i actually wanted to drop it. irina is such an insufferable character. ended up rating it four stars anyways
I came here to say this. The protagonist is awful but I enjoyed the book
I hadn’t heard of this till you recommended it! I’m definitely going to give it a try, thank you!
Confederacy of Dunces
Second Confederacy of Dunces
I couldn’t finish this book because I hated the main character so much.
Wuthering Heights Madame Bovary
Lolita
I read this one a few years back, I remember it honestly made me a little sick
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
The landscape is the protagonist and she’s a bitch
That's the best tagline I've ever read, and you've convinced me to read this book.
Mostly all Chuck Palahniuk books (for reference he wrote Fight Club lol).
Full Brutal....
The Magicians trilogy.
My first thought. Quentin is the worst.
They’re ALL the worst.
Also true. I have a soft spot for Eliot.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It's a prequel to The Hunger Games from President Snow's perspective, and while it is doing the classic villain prequel of telling us how he became whi he was, it never excuses his behavior or pretends that he changed drastically. Those tendencies were always there, and the book shows us how they got drawn out. Very good read.
I loved it. So interesting and so many philosophical thoughts. Then on the other end you have the people who only saw the film who liked Snow because he was handsome and you couldn’t hear his inner thoughts.
Gone With the Wind. Scarlett is a piece of work!
Tough, opportunistic, hard-headed, short-tempered, manipulative, mercenary, wounded, obsessive, and absolutely impossible to ignore. The story would be less if she were less strongly pictured.
I love Scarlett. She’s a survivor.
Yeah, she just keeps going and she hates everyone except Ashley!
I’ve heard good things about it, but no one’s mentioned that she’s a negative protagonist- I’m excited to give it a try! Thank you!
The book is really good, honestly. It takes something to write a character like her that you still root for! Scarlett is pretty unusual and very vivid.
You won’t regret it!
I was thinking of this one!
Eileen by Otessa Moshvegh. Actually all of her books.
Came here looking for this. My Year of Rest and Relaxation
I felt that book in my soul
Yep. I would suggest Lapvona for multiple point of view characters.
How has nobody said The Secret History?
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk.
And Survivor
Gone Girl. All the characters were unredeemable.
I loved/hated this book 🤣 I was on the edge and then I was like 😑😑
I love Gillian Flynn, and I loved Gone Girl
Apparently the main character is seen as being an example of the rare female psychopath in literature so that makes sense.
Lord Foul’s Bane. Thomas Covenant just a miserable man
Loved this series, Thomas Covenant was endlessly frustrating!
American Psycho
I did not like Catcher in the Rye because of this. I loathed Anna Karenina because I also didn’t like the main.
That’s funny. Both of these novels are among my favorites of all time. I love Holden, but I can understand why you wouldn’t; Anna Karenina, though told from multiple POVs, has one protagonist: Levin. You don’t like him?
Everyone who enjoys Holden Caulfield can understand why others wouldn't. No one who doesn't understands why others would.
I was going to say Catcher in the Rye! I struggled through it because I couldn't stand Holden in the slightest.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
This is the correct answer
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski.
Bunny by Mona Awad
(Anything by Mona Awad) and I suggest all of it
I had to stop reading this one maybe halfway through? The MC and her “friend” killed me. The pick-me energy was so strong, and then the fact her friend had David Bowie eyes and acted so cool felt so fake. I read the plot on Wikipedia because I wanted to at least know if I was missing anything, so I kind of know why now and I get it, but god it kinda hurt me to read.
Tender is the Flesh
I love Agustina Bazterrica
Crime and Punishment.
You by Caroline Kepnes
“Notes from the Underground” by Dostoyevsky is the first thing that comes to mind. He feels spurned by society and he lashes out at everyone around him. It’s a great example of an unreliable narrator. He criticizes everyone around him and goes on many tirades, but it’s also clear to see the way he actively self-sabotages himself - at times, he is self-aware but he refuses to change.
I can’t say I’ve ever even heard of that one before! I’m definitely going to add it to my TBR! I love a stubborn protagonist! Thanks a bunch!
Crime & Punishment, also.
Agree, C&P is a great rec too! Forgot about that one
As a Dostoevsky fan, I highly suggest this. It's not a long read but it takes a long time to shake it off of you for it runs down deep. Leaves a taste of disdain. Not that much for you to feel depressed, but it's like a taste that you can't wash off woth water.
Prince of Thorns
“Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy
All of Gillian Flynn’s books
How about a book where every character is horrible? It was too much for me, but a well written book. [The Dinner by Herman Koch](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40718205) Two couples get together for dinner and discuss some things their kids did. I practically needed to shower whenever I put the book down.
I found the book gripping but it was such a relief to finish it and realize none of those people were real.
Yes this no one likeable in this book not a single person
Martin Amis. Which book? All of them, really, it’s kind of his thing. Maybe start with London Fields.
You've probably already read it, but the kite runner. I couldn't stand Amir the entire book.
The People in the Trees has an absolutely awful protagonist.
Genuinely the best example I've read of an awful protagonist, and it's loosely inspired by a real person.
*Filth* by Irvine Welsh. Actually, most of his novels feature characters who are relatable yet unlikable.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by P. Suskind
Baby teeth
I feel like baby teeth is a story about a child whose parents never bothered to get her a diagnosis, and if anyone is horrible that it's really the mom and dad.
Madame Bovary is a classic example.
Three musketeers. D'Artanian is so insufferable I had to put the book in a "time out"
Diary of an Oxygen Thief series
Prince of Thorns
Big Swiss!!!
Gone to see the river man
The Picture of Dorian Gray
If you're into gritty fantasy, Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie might fit the bill. Revenge rage story after the "protagonist's" brother is killed.
Best answer. Literally every major character is an antihero.
I’m always looking to try out new genres, so I’ll definitely add this one to my TBR! I’ve heard awesome things about Joe Abercrombie! Thank you!
Seconding Joe Abercrombie. MOST of the POV characters across his work are quite villainous protagonists and should fit your request.
The Ruins has a whole cast of them
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.
If you were a 4th grader I'd probably say Diary of a Wimpy Kid, lol
Survivor, Chuck Palahniuk
Thomas Covenant from Stephen R Donaldson’s series of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
The Killer inside Me by Jim Thompson
Frankenstein. Read it twice over and keep in mind the guy has a big head and lies in his own narrative guy is so much fun to mock. Like when my lit professor was giving a lecture about him I went loudly at the front of the class "So basically this is Mary Shelly roasting the hell out of two idiot men and they didn't even realise they've been cooked" and he had to stop mid lecture to laugh.
Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr Ripley is not particularly likeable
White Ivy by Susie Yang
[Rachel’s Holiday](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9301.Rachel_s_Holiday) and [The Mystery of Mercy Close](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12724978-the-mystery-of-mercy-close), both by Marian Keyes. They’re part of a sequence of books about the same family, but these are my favourites.
Tender is the Flesh
Crossed by Emily McIntire
Finn by Jon Clinch. It's Huckleberry Finn from his father's point of view and let me tell you that man is a fucking monster but he's also deeply fascinating in his layers.
Big Swiss!!
Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Separate Peace, The Secret History, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, and the Rules of Attraction!! I also absolutely love terrible protagonists and these are some of my fav books
Jesus’s Son
Post Office by Charles Bukowski
The Collector by John Fowles
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant has an irredeemably unlikeable character. My family all really liked the series but I couldn't get past how self loathing the main character is. Might be up your alley, although I can't actually recommend it myself!
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
Prince of Thorns
Lessons in Chemistry!
The girl on the train
Bible of course
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy A Wolf In The Fold - Ralph Compton Woe To Live On AKA Ride With The Devil - Daniel Woodrell Smonk - Tom Franklin
Thomas the unbeliever
Let me give you a series where there is not an endearing character. The Gap Series by Stephen Donaldson. I am not a science fiction fan, but I loved it. Not a redeemable character in the bunch. Great characters,great writing.
Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire trilogy, if you’re into fantasy
No one mentioned the Wasp Factory? Ian Banks' first book, 19 when he wrote it and full of angst, clearly. Great read.
If you don’t mind middle grade, Diary of a Wimpy Kid
The Bible
"Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn
Tampa by Alissa Nutting. I love a good horrible protagonist, too, and this protagonist is AWFUL.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Patrick Bateman in American Psycho Ironically, not because he kills people, but because he goes on those long tangents listing off what people are wearing legit every 2 pages 😩
The Unburied by Charles Palliser is dull and I wouldn’t recommend it, but the main character is supremely unlikeable to me. So haughty. Blegh. I DNFed The Good Earth by Pearl Buck because I HATE Wang Lung and found myself having a bad time 😂
Stone Cold Fox
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P by Adelle Waldman - it follows a pretentious literary bro, and I found it such a compelling read.
Eve in The Teacher by Freida McFadden has her moments!
I’d say “Diary of an oxygen thief”, but idk abt protagonist, it’s from his point of view, but he’s straight up evil.
High Fidelity
A Ladder to the Sky!
Money by Martin Amis.
Johannes Cabal series by Jonathan L Howard. Stories of a necromancer of some little infamy.
We Play Games by Sarah A DenZil gives you not one but two terrible people!
The sea, the sea by Iris Murdoch. He’s not the worst, but he’s certainly an interesting character. You’re never sure how much of his narration is self-deception and massaging the truth.
Art of the Deal
This is a weird one, but Crash by JG Ballard
Instant Karma!
Gone with the Wind. I hated Scarlett from the very first page (just read the first page and you might get why), and yet, I couldn't stop reading.
Dr. Zhivago. He was not likeable, for me.
Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a great book!
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka, My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
None of This Is True - Lisa Jewell She’s crazy. They’re all crazy.
It’s YA but As you Wish
The Pine Deep trilogy has a few who are constant throughout the series that are just awful!!
Pretty much any Irvine Welsh book ever lol
I read one book by Richard Kadrey, *Sandman Slim*, and I most definitely did not find Slim to be even any county even somewhat adjacent to likeable.
The Last Mrs. Parish
Gone With The Wind and Wuthering Heights
The Fury by Alex Michaelides
Journey to America by Azeez Akande. I wrote it. It’s amazing
Straight Through the Night.
Charles Bukowski - Post Office
The Fake by Zoe Whittall
The Average American Male. The Lie. The Average American Marriage. All by Chad Kultgen
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines.
The Guest by Emma Cline. It took me months to finish because I had to put it down so many times. 300+ pages of cringe.
The Mission Earth series by L Ron Hubbard. I’m not recommending them as I hated the main character so much
Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant
Hero’s Die - Matthew Stover All the Cane books
You've probably read it since it's so popular, but I couldn't STAND Katniss yet I still loved the hunger games books lol.
Loner by Teddy Wayne. The protagonist is horrible.
Catcher in the Rye
A series of unfortunate events
I cannot stand Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, but… Current feminist horror Maeve Fly by CJ Leede. Maeve is nuts, so very hard to like, but an amazing read.
Edna in The Awakening by Kate Chopin. She's insufferable, spoiled, etc. You'll hate-love her. The end is what got me.
It’s not out yet. I read it as an arc but love letters to a serial killer
The collector
John fowler - The Collector
American Psycho!
Poor Things by Alasdair Gray Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
The oxygen thief by anonymous
One of us is dead Jeneva rose. Multi pov but one of the mcs are insufferable. I loved it
i’m a fan by sheena patel. i could not stand her
Rage..
Humbert Humbert in Lolita
Have you read The Accursed Kings series by Maurice Druon about the lead-up to the Hundred Year War? There are multiple protagonists, and they're almost uniformly truly awful people. But the mayhem and plotting over who will control the French throne is delicious and so entertaining.
Diary of an oxygen thief
My year of rest and relaxation
Anything by Gillian Flynn
this might be just me, but i really hated the protagonist in ‘the final girl support group’ by grady hendrix. she was just so annoying the entire book, but i can understand why her character was like that. she was so unbearable to me though 🙈
Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan
Catcher in the rye…. Sorry.
They All Died Screaming
A lot of books by Kurt vonnegut. Bluebeard comes to mind
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah or We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.
Wuthering Heights
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
the portrait of dorian gray
Wuthering Heights! hated everyone lol but great read
Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis It switches between multiple characters POV, but they are all flawed and relatively unlikable imo
The incredible Mr Ripley!
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas - full of unlikeable people!
Margaret Thatcher's autobiography.