Read-Along With Me discussion

Do you like reading a book where your main character tells the story from their point of view and uses personal pronouns or are you a person who loves reading a story from an unknown narrator, telling and describing the events from an imaginary witness' point of view?

I am honestly on the fence with this one and that's why I wanted to hear you guys' opinion because I'm stumped. I feel as if first-person really gets you inside the characters head, but sometimes, with first person, the writing gets a bit meh...if you know what I mean, whereas third person is more formal and in my opinion is usually better written, however you might not connect with the characters as much because it's not told by their point of view.

WOW! This questions hard!

I think it normally depends on the book in my opinion. If it's a book with one really interesting character, then I'd prefer it to be from their point of view, but if all the characters seem equally interesting, a third person point of view would be better.

It's a hard question that comes with a hard and confusing answer so, I'm not all to sure.

@Kaitlyn I agree. It ultimately depends on the book. Sometimes you'll read a book told in third person and realize that if it was told in first person it wouldn't be anywhere near as good! Or you could possibly argue that if it was told in first person that it would have been better!

I agree with Kaitlyn! It really depends on the book. But first person is amazing because you get to feel what the character feels and you become more attached to the characters that's you have that connection with. So that would be the only reason id pick 1st over 3rd but if it doesn't fit the story then is choose 3rd(:

I like reading in first person but if the book is really good and is in third person then I'll keep on reading it.

As everyone else has said, it definitely depends on the book, so what I'm about to say next obviously won't apply everywhere, but some general things I've noticed whilst reading:
If there are multiple really important characters (especially in a fantasy or dystopian), I prefer third person. The author can write from different character's "points of view" (sort of hard to explain...but for example, in Heroes of Olympus, all of the writing is third-person but Rick Riordan alternates chapters to show everyone's thoughts). Third person is also nice because it makes you feel like you're actually there, watching everyone. First person is more like listening to someone else's recount of what happened.

I've found that I like first person better in those cute contemporary light romances. I love reading how the narrator feels about everything, as well as the relatable mystery of what your girlfriend/boyfriend is thinking, since in real life thoughts like this cross through a lot of people's minds.

That's exactly what I was thinking Connie! I definitely think in novels such as fantasy, third person is preferred, whereas genres such as contemporary suits first person more.

I feel like first person is so overused now and is what really lousy authors choose to write in because it's "the thing", but it works well in books which are told from the point of view of, for example, a mentally disabled person or, you know, if there's something about the person that's really special and their voice will only be heard well if it's in first person. I did learn to like third person, too, although I used to consider it juvenile, but it works very very well in most novels it's used in (like Daughter of Smoke & Bone). I think it also requires more skill to write well in third person, so yeah.
In short - first person is for creative writers and third for skilled ones. At least that's how I view it.
(view spoiler)[personally, I've tried writing in both and I'm DEFINITELY not skilled enough yet to make third person work. I like using first person to portray the characters personality better, especially in multiple POVs. Multiple POVs are a great way to use first person to vary the characters' voices. (hide spoiler)]

Connie, I think you perfectly described how both point of views can be great. I totally agree with you. Well done :)

@Amee, I agree, multiple POVs help bring the characters to life and really differentiate them. The only issue I have with that is I once read a book where every character sounded almost the exact same, and I actually had to flip back the beginning of the chapter to see who was narrating. As long as the author makes the characters have personalities, multiple POV is great.

Ahh yes! I just saw @Connie's comment, and I agree. Third person in fantasy just makes it sound more... you know, fantasy-ish and fairy-tale-ish... I can't find good words to express what I mean but, yeah, same.

Connie wrote: "@Amee, I agree, multiple POVs help bring the characters to life and really differentiate them. The only issue I have with that is I once read a book where every character sounded almost the exact s..."

Yes! If the author is going to use first person in multiple POVs, they have to be just as skilled as when writing third person for one POV. Otherwise the characters sound the same and just confuse the heck out of me. What's the point of multiple POV, then?

I absolutely HATE it when they have multiple POV's in 1st person and all the character's "voice" sounds the same! *cough* Allegiant *cough*

hahaha..thats what my sister thought about allegiant as well.
and yeah i agree with what kaitlyn said and i really like first person if the characters are soo interesting

Ɲαʈαsɦα ♕ wrote: "I absolutely HATE it when they have multiple POV's in 1st person and all the character's "voice" sounds the same! *cough* Allegiant *cough*"

100% agreed, that's an example of when I don't like 1st person multiple POV. When it's third person multiple POV, the author usually has an easier time making the characters seem different.

I like it when they have 1st Person POV but I don't like it when it has multiple POVs in 1st Person. Especially when they don't tell you who's POV it is and you have to read it all over again once you've figured out who's POV it is. Does that make sense?

Yes, that does! Usually they'll title the chapters with the name of whoever's narrating, but when that doesn't happen, it's a nightmare.

I remember reading a book which didn't title its chapters as the characters, but just titled them with normal chapter titles, and it was halfway through the book that I realized the different POV's were marked with different illustrations (which I didn't really pay attention to since they were small and just looked like something fancy to add in) and then I had to go over what I've read so far to verify the current plot. It was a good book, but that was just... bad...

Haha, that is pretty bad. Even if the characters are clearly differentiated, I think the chapters should be marked for convenience xD Out of curiosity, do you remember the title of the book?

I think it was Raiders' Ransom; I read a different edition in Serbian, though, so maybe the English one is different. Or not. But I remember enjoying it!