Unpopular opinion: "The characters were unlikeable" is a lazy criticism for book club discussions

I was in my book club two weeks ago and someone said they hated the book because every character was unlikeable. That was it, that was their whole take. I sat there thinking about how we use that phrase to shut down a conversation instead of starting one. Like, okay, the protagonist in our last read was a cheating workaholic who ignored her kid. But that doesn't make her a bad character, it makes her a difficult person in a realistic situation. We spent the next 20 minutes arguing about whether we needed to like someone to care about their story. I think we miss a lot by treating fiction like a friend group where everyone needs to be nice. Has anyone else noticed this habit in your club where a single label kills the whole discussion?

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jana_miller319d ago

Did they actually explain why the unlikeable part bothered them, or did they just drop it and move on?