Memes

Top Ten Tuesday (5): Trading Places

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they have a new topic for bloggers to make a Top Ten list out of. I’m a huge fan of lists, so this meme is right up my alley! 

This week’s Top Ten list is:  Top Ten Characters I’d Like To Switch Places With For 24 Hours.  But the only one I could come up with was basically any character from Harry Potter so that I could go to Hogwarts for a day.  
 
So…  I’ve decided to do the opposite.  Here they are, in no particular order, my Top Ten Characters I Wouldn’t Want to Switch Places With:
 
Harry Potter
Seriously.  I LOVE this series and I’d love to be a part of that magical world, but man, who would want to go through all the shiz he goes through?  Who would want to live knowing that some psychopath WHO CAN FLY AND DO ALL THE MAGIC wants you dead?  No, thanks. Don’t get me wrong–I’m still going to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and get my wand and pretend to be a part of that world, and continue to wish it was all real until the day I die.  But since I’m actually like 6 months older than Harry Potter, I probably would have been smack dab in the middle of all that stuff when I was 18. Um, no thanks! (Oh, and BTW, today is Harry Potter’s 32nd birthday!  Yes, I am that big of a HP dork!) ;)
 
Katniss Everdeen
Another series I love, but who would want to live in Panem?  Not me.  And who would want to go through those Games and then win only to become a pawn in some kind of war?  You won’t see me volunteering any time soon.
 
Linh Cinder
This is my favorite read so far this year and yes, who doesn’t want to go to the ball with the handsome prince? But–who would want to be an outcast cyborg who is treated as a second-class citizen by everyone including her family?  And who would want to be anywhere near that Queen Levana????  I would not want to be in her glass slippers. (My review of Cinder.)
 
Tris Prior
Along the lines of the others I’ve listed, Tris has to deal with WAY too much stuff at her young age.  Yeah, it would be cool to be as brave as she is and it would be super fun to go down that humongous zip line if I wasn’t so scared of heights, but I’d never want to be in the middle of that crazy war. (My reviews of Divergent and Insurgent.)
Lena Holoway
I wouldn’t survive in a world without love.  That’s just something I couldn’t do.  So of course I’d be one of the Invalids and their life isn’t very pretty.  And it seems like a war’s a-brewin’ so yeah, count me out. (My reviews of Delirium and Pandemonium.)
 
Bella Swan
Some of my friends LOVED the Twilight series.  Some of them hated them.  And some of them were like me–we found them entertaining but we neither hated them nor loved them.  And yeah, it would be kinda cool to be a Cullen-kind of vampire, but I would NEVER want to be Bella Swan.  First of all, she really annoyed me, especially in New Moon.  And second of all, I wouldn’t want this wolf guy hanging around, not getting the picture that I’m not ever going to choose him.  And I definitely wouldn’t want some guy to sneak into my room at night and watch me sleep.  No creepy stalkers here, please!
 
Sookie Stackhouse
This girl has the worst luck.  I mean, really, how many people die around her?  And yeah, she gets lots of hot guys but they all seem to screw her over.  So even though I’d want to be around to see Amelia’s ectoplasmic reconstruction spell (which I really hope they put in True Blood), I wouldn’t really want to be Sookie.  
Rhine Ellery
Just like I wouldn’t be able to survive in a world without love, I don’t think I’d be able to handle having an arranged marriage.  And I also wouldn’t be able to handle living in a world where girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages.  Plus there’s that whole dying-in-your-twenties thing in this world.  No, thank you. (My reviews of Wither and Fever.)
 
Winston Smith
This is perhaps the only character on my list that I would never even entertain the thought of trading places with.  Sure, some of the other characters would be cool to change places with when they’re having good days, but Winston Smith never really has any good days.  A lot of people spout off that they think our government in the US is turning into the government in 1984, but if you simply read this book you’ll realize that our government is nowhere near Big Brother.  Thank God.
 
Louie Zamperini
This is kind of a cheat because Louie Zamperini isn’t just a character–he’s a real man.  He has lived one hell of a life but I wouldn’t have wanted to trade places with him. Well, maybe it would have been fun to trade places with him when he was a rebellious kid but I’ll gladly stay away from living through wars, being stranded in the Pacific with sharks swimming underneath your raft, and being physically and emotionally tortured in a POW camp. (My review of Unbroken.)
 
 
I guess, in all honesty, I could trade places with most of these people for a day and I probably wouldn’t have to deal with everything they dealt with.  But I think I’ll stick to living vicariously through the books.  
 
What about you guys?  Who would you want to trade places with, or who would you NOT want to trade places with?  Let me know, or leave a link to your TTT in the comments, and I’ll stop by your blog!

16 Comments

  1. Kimberly @ On the Wings of Books

    July 31, 2012 at 10:39 am

    I love your twist on your list, and all your witty reasons why you wouldn't want to be them. I completely agree that Bella is one of the most annoying characters ever, but I would totally be a Cullen. Think of all the reading you could do! For Tris, Lena and Sookie it's really about the guys. I would hate to deal with what they have to deal with (especially Sookie, the girl just can't catch a break!) but the guys are just too good to pass up. I wouldn't want to be Harry, but I totally want to be Hermoine. She has all the fun, but it smart enough to get past the danger.

    Excellent List

    1. Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase

      August 2, 2012 at 9:57 pm

      Thanks! Yes, Hermione would probably be one of the best to switch places with in the HP universe… Although I think I'd love to switch with George or Fred too! :D

  2. Jessie Marie

    July 31, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    So, I'm reading your list -skipping the Pandemonium and Cinder ones since I haven't read them – and was like.. wait, she's coming up with reasons NOT to switch places with them.

    GENIUS.

    Of course, how smart am to have not read the intro bit to realize that you said that. Anyway, totally love your list, especially Rhine Ellery and Katniss Everdeen – I'm would just not be capable of being them!

    1. Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase

      August 2, 2012 at 9:59 pm

      Heehee, thanks! But I think you're probably not the only one. I think a lot of people hop around to so many of these that they don't read all the print and I'm very guilty of writing a lot of stuff when I really don't need to! ;)

  3. Bittner

    July 31, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    I agree with all of your selections but especially with Wither. I haven't decided if I'm going to make a list today or not but if I do Wither and Glow would be on my list because, I mean Hello! Forget about the multiple marriages thing, both of those women were raised in worlds where they were looked at as baby making machines! No thank you!

    1. Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase

      August 2, 2012 at 9:59 pm

      Very true! The women are not treated equally at all in those worlds!

  4. callusedfingers

    July 31, 2012 at 4:10 pm

    I did the list both ways–I did a list of characters I'd never want to switch places with. Katniss was on my list, as well. Yeah, the series is great and Katniss is a wonderful character…but the stuff she has to endure? No thank you!!

    My top ten is here if you want to see my list of 10 characters wouldn't switch places with.

    1. Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase

      August 2, 2012 at 10:07 pm

      I thought about doing that, too, but I really could only think of a couple of characters that I really would want to switch places with. Thanks for stopping by–I'm off to check out your TTT!

  5. bookaddictsguide

    July 31, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    Thanks for stopping by!!
    I love your twist on this. I know it was a little difficult for me since I read so many dystopians! And some of my favorites are on your list too :)

    1. Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase

      August 2, 2012 at 10:11 pm

      And thanks for stopping by here! :D Yeah, those dystopians make it hard for me to really want to switch places with the characters!

  6. Sarah @ Y.A. Love

    July 31, 2012 at 11:08 pm

    I like your twist on this list! I know I wouldn't want to be in their places either. Great books, but tough situations to face.

    1. Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase

      August 2, 2012 at 10:13 pm

      Exactly! I love the books but I just know I couldn't be in their shoes! Thanks for stopping by! ;D

  7. Krystianna (Downright Dystopian)

    July 31, 2012 at 11:09 pm

    Great picks! I agree with your choices of Cinder, Lena, & Tris. :)

    Thanks for sharing. :)

  8. fakesteph

    August 1, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    I love your reversal! Great idea! And fun list. A lot of my favorite books are so crazy that I would never want to switch places with the main characters.

    1. Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase

      August 2, 2012 at 10:28 pm

      Thanks! Yeah, most of my favorites are dystopians so they're not really places I would want to actually go! ;)

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