Why is my head full of Charlie Lastra and not Gus Everett? Is it because Book Lovers edges out Beach Read for my favorite Emily Henry novel, or is there something more to it? And what about Alex Nilsen, for whom I pined along with Poppy for all 364 pages of People We Meet On Vacation? Where is he in all this? Why does Eve Brown occasionally show up unbidden in my thoughts, but I haven’t heard a peep from either of her sisters? My favorite of their books is Take a Hint, Dani Brown, and I met Chloe Brown first — and yet, there’s Eve, skipping around like she owns the joint. On the other hand, why do I often find myself wondering about Korede and her steadfast loyalty, and rarely think about Ayoola and her murderous ways? Korede is quiet and unassertive for the most part, while Ayoola is loud and brash — characteristics often found in people who take up residence and declare squatter’s rights — and yet I wonder often about Korede. Perhaps I will have to revisit My Sister, The Serial Killer and attempt to suss it out. It could be the writing, of course. I am always inclined to give authors the credit for my lasting impressions of their work. But the characters in these books who don’t live in my hippocampus are no less well-written, so perhaps there is something else that gives my temporal lobe dwellers the edge. Maybe it’s timing. There have certainly been entire books that have worked for me at a certain time in my life but not at another, so why not a character? Maybe it’s personal taste. Maybe it’s simply a certain je ne sais quoi. I asked a few of my fellow Rioters what characters live rent-free in their heads, hoping to find a commonality among us. Here’s what they said. Well, that was thoroughly inconclusive, but it did add a few titles to my TBR; I’ve only read Lord of the Rings so far! The only conclusion I am able to reach is that some characters get into our heads, and ours not to reason why, ours just to hang out with them while they’re in there.
