Our Favorite Characters Who Tell It Like It Is

[Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels]

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It’s National Honesty Day, friends! Here at Quirk Books, we love a character who’s delightfully (or painfully) honest. You can keep your long-buried family secrets and climactic reveals. We’ll take radical honesty any day of the week.

Sage Graven in Geekerella by Ashley Poston

We love an honest supporting character, someone who can tell it like it is and keep our protagonist out of trouble. Well, Elle is happy to stir up enough trouble on her own, but we’re so grateful that she has the delightfully honest Sage in her corner to keep things in perspective for all of us. And she works for the best food truck in town: The Magic Pumpkin, even going as far as driving the food truck to Elle’s house to pick her up for work. Because let’s be real: Elle’s never going to be on time and Sage isn’t afraid to draw attention to that detail.

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Shay Goldstein in The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Shay Goldstein of The Ex Talk is a very interesting enemies to lovers protagonist. For one thing, she’s so wildly vocal about how much she hates her coworker Dominic. So by the time she realizes that she’s totally and completely falling for him, it takes everything she has not to share this unfiltered honesty with everyone she knows. Because Shay and Dominic have to pretend to be exes while they’re at work – for the sake of their public radio show, of course – and being honest about her feelings could cost them both their jobs. It’s a sticky situation, to say the least!

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Bri in On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

We love all of the complex teen characters that Angie Thomas creates, but Bri is one of our absolute favorites for her honesty alone. We love how she channels her own stories and experiences into the rap songs she writes and performs. Her songs spark controversy, both online and in her community. But Bri knows that it’s more important to be honest than to be universally liked.

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Mel Vaught in The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

If you like your characters honest at all costs, you’ll love Mel Vaught in The Animators. Mel’s not interested in making any new friends, and she doesn’t seem too concerned about losing the ones she has – especially her collaborator Sharon Kisses. Mel’s philosophy on honesty is simple: if someone isn’t already saying it, she will. And she doesn’t care if she hurts anyone’s feelings in the process.

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Emira in Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

It’s infuriating when an honest character is lied to and betrayed by everyone in their orbit. And Emira from Kiley Reid’s debut novel Such a Fun Age is, unfortunately, all too familiar with that brand of deception. We’re being cagey about specifics because we don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say that Emira is honest, but private. And, of course, someone just has to betray her privacy and trust. Come on, y’all!

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