Adam and Carly relatable?

[ccundall2130]

I don't think either Adam or Carly are relatable, but they don't have to be, because this is a fantasy. But they absolutely do have to be believable, and I think they are. Each acts, thinks, and communicates in a way that is reasonably consistent as the story moves along. Their characters/personalities develop, but they don't jump wildly around and become a different person from one chapter to another.

You have a good point. The character flow of the story is definitely quite valuable in comparison to other elements in a story. It is very distracting if a character changes from one chapter or event to another.

[Nym182]

I don't think either Adam or Carly are relatable, but they don't have to be, because this is a fantasy. But they absolutely do have to be believable, and I think they are. Each acts, thinks, and communicates in a way that is reasonably consistent as the story moves along. Their characters/personalities develop, but they don't jump wildly around and become a different person from one chapter to another.

You have a good point. The character flow of the story is definitely quite valuable in comparison to other elements in a story. It is very distracting if a character changes from one chapter or event to another.

With Carly, she's supposed to be a super-strong female character. But when she covers up Adams den, she's not being consistent with that persona. That's a choice she makes and that makes her character weaker. And relatability to a character has nothing to do with the genre. I've read sci-fi books about aliens that I have found relatable. I would even argue that making a character relatable to an audience is one of the most important jobs an author has. When you can relate to a character, you care more about them.

[Drakka Reader]

I don't think they are that relatable on the basis that arguments are forgiven quickly and the strange lusting after relatives Adam has. It just feels the author wanted them to be as extreme as possible but also "perfect".

[gilliansisley]

I so agree with you...I think too much emphasis is put on people's ages, and societies expectations of certain ages. Yet the reality is that people go through different experiences, illnesses set backs and all at different times in their life from infancy to old age, so we can't say what is relatable to people just based on their age

You are absolutely right that being a certain age doesn't mean maturity or relatability. Still, maybe the reason why I couldn't relate is that I just didn't care about them.

I didn't care about any of the characters either. The point of view this book is told in made me feel very detached from the story and characters.

Entirely agreed. How can be expected to resonate and connect with a psychopath who wants to bang his own mom, kidnaps and chloroforms a girl, owns a damn sex dungeon and perhaps is emotionally abusive to his girlfriend. I thought he was such a little child who treated people in his life like total crap, and yet was never held accountable for his actions, and throws temper tantrums all the damn time. He annoyed the hell out of me, he's so exhausting and infuriating to read about.

[gilliansisley]

You are absolutely right that being a certain age doesn't mean maturity or relatability. Still, maybe the reason why I couldn't relate is that I just didn't care about them.

I didn't care about any of the characters either. The point of view this book is told in made me feel very detached from the story and characters.

Ditto! I didn't really care what happened to any of them... Well, actually the only character I cared about was Terry haha but that obviously didn't turn out so well...

YES! Terry! Justice for Terry! And her poor parents-- find out Adam basically committed manslaughter, and throw that piece of trash in JAIL. He's awful and has too many issues, and love will not fix him, so Carly needs to get the hell out of dodge and save herself!

[gilliansisley]

I think they are relatable in a sense of saving their kind. On a non-mutant standpoint, it's hard to belief that teenagers would have such proper grammar and cook elaborate meals.

As a parent of two teenagers, I completely agree with this view! And it makes me chuckle because I think my teenagers are pretty normal. I guess it is a fantasy and some allowances need to be made for that. But, when it's their night to cook, they mix hamburger with mac'n cheese and that's after they both took cooking in high school.

Alos hard to relate with a dude who has a sex/torture den in the woods and wants to bang his mom... I really could not deal with the fact that Carly was like, "Yeah sure, ain't no thing". GIRL, RUN. Get yourself out of there! Don't destroy the evidence of the murder, take that sh*t to the police!

[Howlan]

I definately didn't cook anything more elaborate than mac and cheese or spegettio-s haha and I had to cook for myself from a young whenever I was with my dad.

Seems like you are experienced enough. I can cook odd dishes, not an expert though!

The only thing I can cook expertly (although, I'm a little biased hahah) is bacon bruschetta

Sounds fabulous! I can cook well only proper chicken.

[Howlan]

Of course, people focus on different things when they are reading, so others my age could very easily find Adam and Cary to be unrealistic or unrelatable because of one reason or another. I prefer focusing on the character's personality rather than age. If it fits, doesn't result in chaos with every decision, and doesn't make me feel like chucking the book across the room out of embarrassment or anger, I'll accept a lot from a book. Sorry for the long reply. I saw your post and wanted to try to address it...

I love the point you are making. I don't think I normally focus on the age of the protagonists, but for some reason, I did in this book. The big picture is definitely worth more than age-related concerns.

Yes, the characters are really odd in terms of their age!

[Howlan]

I don't think either Adam or Carly are relatable, but they don't have to be, because this is a fantasy. But they absolutely do have to be believable, and I think they are. Each acts, thinks, and communicates in a way that is reasonably consistent as the story moves along. Their characters/personalities develop, but they don't jump wildly around and become a different person from one chapter to another.

You have a good point. The character flow of the story is definitely quite valuable in comparison to other elements in a story. It is very distracting if a character changes from one chapter or event to another.

Yes, I definitely understand the distracting aspect. Adam and Carly do sound less believable. Adam is really a rebellious kid gone on steroids and Carly sounds like a model student who feels odd and mentally and emotionally.

[Howlan]

I don't think they are that relatable on the basis that arguments are forgiven quickly and the strange lusting after relatives Adam has. It just feels the author wanted them to be as extreme as possible but also "perfect".

Yes, not a story to be proud of..

[Howlan]

I don't think either Adam or Carly are relatable, but they don't have to be, because this is a fantasy. But they absolutely do have to be believable, and I think they are. Each acts, thinks, and communicates in a way that is reasonably consistent as the story moves along. Their characters/personalities develop, but they don't jump wildly around and become a different person from one chapter to another.

You have a good point. The character flow of the story is definitely quite valuable in comparison to other elements in a story. It is very distracting if a character changes from one chapter or event to another.

With Carly, she's supposed to be a super-strong female character. But when she covers up Adams den, she's not being consistent with that persona. That's a choice she makes and that makes her character weaker. And relatability to a character has nothing to do with the genre. I've read sci-fi books about aliens that I have found relatable. I would even argue that making a character relatable to an audience is one of the most important jobs an author has. When you can relate to a character, you care more about them.

Yes those characters are definitely hard to relate too.

[Howlan]

You are absolutely right that being a certain age doesn't mean maturity or relatability. Still, maybe the reason why I couldn't relate is that I just didn't care about them.

I didn't care about any of the characters either. The point of view this book is told in made me feel very detached from the story and characters.

Entirely agreed. How can be expected to resonate and connect with a psychopath who wants to bang his own mom, kidnaps and chloroforms a girl, owns a damn sex dungeon and perhaps is emotionally abusive to his girlfriend. I thought he was such a little child who treated people in his life like total crap, and yet was never held accountable for his actions, and throws temper tantrums all the damn time. He annoyed the hell out of me, he's so exhausting and infuriating to read about.

Yeah, the author really overdid he job on Adam.

[Howlan]

I didn't care about any of the characters either. The point of view this book is told in made me feel very detached from the story and characters.

Ditto! I didn't really care what happened to any of them... Well, actually the only character I cared about was Terry haha but that obviously didn't turn out so well...

YES! Terry! Justice for Terry! And her poor parents-- find out Adam basically committed manslaughter, and throw that piece of trash in JAIL. He's awful and has too many issues, and love will not fix him, so Carly needs to get the hell out of dodge and save herself!

The character of Adam is very badly handled. Its half-assed. It is neither full dark and or sparky. It does not make a good character.

[Howlan]

I think they are relatable in a sense of saving their kind. On a non-mutant standpoint, it's hard to belief that teenagers would have such proper grammar and cook elaborate meals.

As a parent of two teenagers, I completely agree with this view! And it makes me chuckle because I think my teenagers are pretty normal. I guess it is a fantasy and some allowances need to be made for that. But, when it's their night to cook, they mix hamburger with mac'n cheese and that's after they both took cooking in high school.

Alos hard to relate with a dude who has a sex/torture den in the woods and wants to bang his mom... I really could not deal with the fact that Carly was like, "Yeah sure, ain't no thing". GIRL, RUN. Get yourself out of there! Don't destroy the evidence of the murder, take that sh*t to the police!

Yes, Carly should not have burned the evidence. how could she remain sane after discovering Adam's sex den??

[leiabutler]

Yes I do find it a little outside of reality, but as you say because it is a fantasy genre, I can allow some of it to slide. I with they had have been a little more relatable and felt more real as young people but in the grand scheme of how it affects the novel, I don't think this is too major an issue