10 Reasons I Love Thrillers

This week's Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl is 10 Reasons Why You Love...
So mine is: 
10 Reasons I Love Thrillers!!

1.  The Characters - The characters in most thrillers are tormented souls.  Their lives have not gone the way that planned... and they continue not to do so throughout the story.  How much can I relate to that? And yet!  And yet!  They demonstrate hordes of perseverance and resilience in the face of these troubles.  Sometimes they are clawing for their lives by the end!  And maybe sometimes they are unsuccessful, but they always give it the old college try.

2. Hard Lives - Not to mention their lives are often harder than mine - which makes me feel better.  I know the fluffy feel-good novels can cheer you up, but at the end when the happily ever after comes, you're still stuck in your regular old not always happy life.  In contrast, when I close a thriller I can think to myself - well, there ya go, at least I don't have an ax murderer stalking me, could be worse!

3. Relatable and Realistic - Speaking of these characters and their hard-knock lives... this and the imperfection of their stories, love lives, money situations, mental health situations, etc. make Thrillers uniquely realistic and relatable.  They deal with hard issues and the dark side of life.  I cannot stand for things to be sugar coated.  Thrillers are definitely not.

4.  Anti-heroes - Anti-heroes are my FAVORITE type of character.  Harry Hole (don't giggle that's his name! And it's pronounced Hoo-leh) from Jo Nesbo's novels is a perfect example.  He is a terrible person in most ways, but he's still the hero.  Giving us hope that we can all be the heroes of our own stories, even though we suck sometimes.

5.  Escapism - I read to escape.  To avoid my housework.  To avoid my problems.  To travel where I otherwise could not.  Nothing can quite help you practice escapism like a thriller!  In a good thriller, you lose hold of your life.  You are so deeply captivated and hooked by the mind numbing, page flipping, terrifying story unfolding that you may forget where you are and what you are supposed to be doing. Not to mention, most of the time, you're entertained from start to finish.  Thrillers enthrall and transport me with their urgency.

6.  The Endings - The endings (USUALLY) are highly satisfying.  The guy definitely doesn't always get the girl, but the mystery is solved!  ...Again, usually. Even when the mystery isn't solved there is always some kind of BIG ending or - better yet - big TWIST!  That leave me feeling satisfied when the book ends.

7.  English authors - I am an anglophile and there are a lot of English authors in the genre.  They write with a British tone and create a British setting that at least minutely satisfies my longing to travel to the UK.

8.  Female authors - I know there's probably just as many female romance writers and historical fiction writers and literary fiction writers... or maybe not? I couldn't tell you.  But there are a lot of female mystery/thriller writers.  So another point for thrillers!

9.  Female MCs - Tons of female main characters (not to mention villains).  AGAIN, I know that there are female main characters in romance, historical fiction, etc.  BUT none of those MCs are quite as badass as the female main characters in a thriller!  We are talkin' burn your house down, stalk you, stab you, kill your new girlfriend, save the day, find the missing child,  escape the bad guys, rock the police badge, do what she's gotta kind of women! 

10. Heartbreak - It may not be normal, but I enjoy a good tragedy.  Sad books, sad movies, sad songs... (I swear I'm a happy person!).  I want my books to break my heart over and over again.  I want to FEEL something.  I want a wide range of emotion! Thrillers do that for me.  They make my heart beat faster, they make me dread and cry and celebrate.  But mostly they break my heart.  They "kill my darlings"!  They rip my heart right out of my chest and toss it to the dogs.

Welp, that's it!! And yes, I realize I stretched "characters" out into like 4 different categories - so sue me! 😂. This is harder than I thought it would be!  Should have gone with 10 reasons why I love Stephen King, lol.

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PS!! If you love thrillers too please come back and participate in my blog link-up every week on Thursdays - THRILLING THURSDAY!! All you have to do is link up a book review :) Click link below.
THRILLING THURSDAY