The prize for best villain goes to...

Well, Reader, I'm late to the ACOTAR party.

That's the short form for the book "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas.

I've heard A LOT about this book, both positive, negative, and indifferent, but I'm only on chapter five, so I don't have an independent opinion yet.

Yesterday, however, I stumbled on a Reddit discussion of the villains in the ACOTAR series. Contributors were discussing what they loved, hated, and wished Maas had done differently. which prompted me to consider my personal favourite literary villains.

My favourite fantasy TV show is Once Upon a Time because no single character is 100% good or evil. In fact, the evil Queen Regina (my favourite) might be the villain in many plotlines, but she's also a victim in some and the hero in several others. On the flipside, the innocent Snow White who is most often the heroine in the show, sometimes has plotlines where she does sinister and evil things.

In many ways it's philosophical TV, like The Good Place, just with magic, dragons, and curses.

I realize that I love a villain with a redemption arc, like Regina or Loki in the Marvel Comic Universe.

What about you, Reader? What's your favourite type of literary villain?

> Pure evil like Sauron in Lord of the Rings?

> Redemptive, like Queen Regina?

> Deranged, like Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter?

Hit reply and share your faves. I'd really like to know!

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