You’re Not Good Enough Book Tag (2019)

When I last did this book tag back in 2017, I commented that I’d avoided these kinds of character-pairs tags because I didn’t feel like I had read enough books to get the variety of characters needed to really make this fun. Two years later, with more than 200 more books read, I felt like it was about time to try this tag again. It was a lot of fun last time, and I think it would be great to do it again with new characters! This tag was created by  ReadLikeWildfire and Beccathebookreviewer. To participate, you have to make a list of 30 character names, and choose two at random for every question. After you have picked your two names, you decide which character is a better fit for that question, and which one is “not good enough.” I tend to add my own restrictions to it as well, such as having an equal number of male and female characters, and no more than one character per book or series. I also tried to avoid repeating any characters or books that I had used for this tag previously. Since this tag has been around for a long time, and I’m not sure who has already done it, anyone who wants to give it a try, consider yourself tagged!

1) You have only one more spot on your spelling bee team. Who would you pick to complete your team?

My options are: Dr. Jekyll (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde) or Anna (My Sister’s Keeper)

Tough choice. On the one hand, Anna is quite intelligent for her age, but she is still only 13. On the other hand, Dr. Jekyll is supposed to be a genius (if I recall correctly) and I’m sure he’d be great at spelling, but I’m not sure I can guarantee that he won’t transform in the middle of the competition. If I knew for sure he wouldn’t become Mr. Hyde midway through, then I’d pick Dr. Jekyll, but otherwise I’ll take Anna at least for the sake of reliability.

2) Both characters want to kill you. Which one do you kill first so you have a better chance of surviving?

My options are: Merricat Blackwood (We Have Always Lived in the Castle) or Joe Goldberg (You)

Of course I would get the two people on my list who actually could successfully kill someone. Actually, this is the complete opposite of the last time when I had Anne of Green Gables or Atticus Finch as my choices, neither of whom seemed like killers. I think in this case I would have to get rid of Joe Goldberg first. Merricat is creepier, but Joe scares me a lot more.

3) You’re on The Bachelor/Bachelorette and you’re down to these two characters. Which one are you going to give your rose to?

My options are: Eleanor Oliphant (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine) or Starr Carter (The Hate U Give)

Definitely Starr. Eleanor is an incredibly interesting character, but she is not necessarily someone that I would want to live with. Starr is someone that I could actually see hanging out with.

4) You’ve been chosen for The Hunger Games. Who would most likely volunteer in your place?

My options are: Winnie the Pooh (Winnie the Pooh) or Gansey (The Raven Cycle)

I have to go with Gansey on this one. Winnie the Pooh wouldn’t last two minutes in the Hunger Games. I’m not sure how Gansey would do either, to be honest, but I definitely can see him being self-sacrificing enough to take someone else’s place.

5) You’re stranded on an island. Which character would you sacrifice to engage in cannibalism?

My options are: Elizabeth Bennett (Pride & Prejudice) or Rhysand (A Court of Thorns and Roses)

Is it safe to assume that Rhys still has all of his High Fae abilities? In that case, I think I would have a much better chance of survival with him. It’s a tough choice though, since these are both favourites of mine. I think just based solely on the fact that Rhys would be a much better help in terms of survival and potential escape, I’d have to pick him as the one to keep alive.

6) You’re the next DC/Marvel superhero (with your own TV show of course). Who is your sidekick?

My options are: Mina Harker (Dracula) or Inej (Six of Crows)

Again, both very interesting characters, but as much as I liked Mina, I would love to have Inej as my sidekick. It was very interesting to see how strong of a character Mina was when I read Dracula, but I think Inej’s skills are much better suited to being a superhero’s sidekick. Her ability to scale buildings, for example, would be incredibly useful. Inej is also trained to use weapons and stealth, and incredibly loyal to those she trusts.

7) You’re a manager at the Avocado Admiring Company. Who would you fire for lack of communication skills?

My options are: Lada (And I Darken) or AIDAN (Illuminae)

I think this rivals Merricat vs. Joe as the best possible pairing so far. I’m not sure either character has great communication skills. Lada tends to be ruthlessly aggressive but she is not afraid to speak up for herself. On the other hand, AIDAN is more likely to seem charming but I can’t guarantee that he won’t be pushing his own agenda behind the scenes. For some reason, I’m leaning toward firing Lada because I feel like the aggression would cause the bigger problem, or at least the more overt problems.

8) You’ve just finished a book in which your favourite character dies. Which character is most likely to comfort you?

My options are: Victor Vale (Vicious) or Dante (Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe)

No question here, it would definitely be Dante. I do think Victor has enough of a softer side that he might be willing to comfort someone if he cared about them, but Dante is definitely much more likely to take on that role.

9) Ugh, it’s high school. Who would most likely be part of the popular clique?

My options are: Evelyn Hugo (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo) or Ebeneezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol)

There’s no competition here. Somehow, I knew Evelyn would come up for this question and she is hands-down the one who would be part of the popular clique. Even if she wasn’t automatically there by fame alone, she would be able to make her own way in, if that was where she wanted to be. Scrooge would have no interest at all in being popular, nor do I think he would be accepted even if he tried because of his negative attitude.

10) The day has arrived: You’re finally one year older! Who would have the nerve to forget your birthday?

My options are: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles) or Agniezska (Uprooted)

On the one hand, I can’t see either of these characters forgetting a friend’s birthday because they are such great friends to the people they care about. On the other hand though, I can also see both of them (unintentionally) forgetting because they might be preoccupied. I think of the two of them, Cress is slightly more likely to forget because she’s lived in isolation for so long, that I’m not sure how much significance birthdays really have for her.

11) You’ve just found an upcoming Booktube star. Who would it most likely be?

My options are: Amy Dunne (Gone Girl) or August Flynn (This Savage Song)

Definitely August! I can’t see Amy wanting to waste her time on something like Booktube, and I think August would really like to have a platform to talk and share ideas with others. The only thing Amy might like about it is the chance to try and control what others read or manipulate their opinions, but I doubt she’d care much about that.

12) Sleepover time! Unfortunately, you can only invite one person. Who would you invite?

My options are: Simon (City of Bones) or Karou (Daughter of Smoke & Bone)

I really liked both characters, but I think Karou would be a lot more fun to hang out with. Actually, Simon wouldn’t be too bad for a sleepover because he seems like someone who’d be okay with just hanging out at home and watching movies, which is exactly what I’d want for a sleepover. I just think that Karou would have much more interesting conversation, so I’d pick her.

13) Bam, you’re pregnant. Who is the father or mother?

My options are: Warner (Shatter Me) or Celaena Sardothien (Throne of Glass)

Another tough choice. Both are very interesting characters but neither are people I’d necessarily see as great parents. I think I would have to give a slight preference to Celaena, because Warner even admits himself that he doesn’t know how to be anything but cold and cruel since that is how he was raised. To be fair though, I’ve only read one book as of now in the Throne of Glass series so I’m not sure how Celaena is later on in the series. Although Celaena can also be violent, I somehow see her as a better parent than Warner, so I guess I will choose her.

14) You’ve just written a super important text. Who would see it but not reply?

My options are: Lincoln O’Neill (Attachments) or Cath (Fangirl)

I just have to laugh at the fact that Lincoln came up for this one, when the entire premise of the book he was in is about him reading other people’s messages without replying. I think, however, Cath would probably be less likely to reply to a text in general because she might feel anxious about constructing a good response, or else she’d be so caught up in writing her fanfiction that she’d forget to reply. I think Lincoln would make an effort to respond, assuming we had the kind of friendship/relationship where we were texting each other, and not a one-sided thing like in the book.

15) You’ve just woken up for breakfast. Your mom has been replaced by…?

My options are: Sherlock Holmes (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) or Tanner (Autoboyography)

A genius detective or a high school senior? Neither of these are great choices to find in my kitchen, but if I had to choose, I would pick Tanner. I think he would be much easier and more fun to get along with than Sherlock.

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