Top Ten Tuesday used to be a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This is definitely something I can understand and want to participate in.

This week’s prompt is ten characters authors surprisingly redeemed, and it was submitted by Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse. You should definitely check out her blog if you haven’t yet! Now, I must admit this isn’t really my favorite of topics. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good redemption arc, but not every character deserves redemption. Some are just so bad that I can’t get behind a redemption for them. Hopefully you know what I’m talking about since I’m writing this kind of late. Anyway, here are ten characters whose redemption arcs didn’t make me salty:

1. Luciana from The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean. She came off as flat and annoying in the beginning of the book, but she was a completely different character by the end. I love watching someone go from an enemy, or at least an antagonist, to a lover.
2. Elisabeth from Lilith by Erik Rickstad. This powerful book had a redemption arc in the opposite direction from what’s expected. After surviving a school shooting where her son was seriously injured, leaving him with special needs for life, Elisabeth goes from regular teacher to feral mama bear when the school tragedy is shifted towards political posturing and a refusal to address the need for gun control. 
3. Jamie Fraser from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I mean, when we first meet Jamie, he’s a total douchecanoe to Claire, but so are all the other men. There were some things that he did which raised red flags, but then again, he was also operating on 18th century societal expectations, while Claire was firmly a feminist and used to social norms that are 200 years apart from his. But he was firmly a dreamboat by the time I got to the middle of the book.
4. Zoya Nazyalensky from Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I really disliked Zoya for so much of this book, and I honestly can’t really tell you when she started growing on me, but she had such a major redemption arc over the course of the series and the related books.
5. Alex Stern from Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. From an addict to the sole survivor of a massacre, she had the biggest glow-up I’ve ever seen, once she gets a free ride to Yale and joins a secret society that makes use of her paranormal abilities.
6. Cardan from The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. This one was more surprising to me than anything, especially once I got to actually know more about what his character was like.
7. Locke from The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. How could I not get attached to this morally gray thief who has a code of morals that he abides by firmly. And part of this is keeping his friends and himself safe from the consequences of their schemes.
8. Amir from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I read this story many years ago, and it’s stayed with me all this time, mainly because of the huge redemption arc and character growth that Amir experiences. It’s a difficult book to read, but it’s a shining example of the redemption arc done beautifully.
9. Cassius in Morning Star by Pierce Brown. Earlier books had my emotions on a rollercoaster, but I was actually happy that Cassius got a redemption arc, and it was done really well. There’s nothing worse than a poorly executed redemption arc.
10. Lin from Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. Okay, I’m cheating a little here, since I only watched the show, but it made me even more intrigued about the book (and the sequel). Lin, at least one the show, had one of the most amazing redemption arcs that I’ve ever seen, and hopefully that wasn’t changed much from the book.

Have you read any of these? Drop your link below so I can check out your list!