The Terror of Knowing

‘But Emma,’ I hear you say in earnest, ‘#MiserablesMay is over, you can stop trying to make it a thing!’ But I am nothing, dear readers, if not insistent. (Plus when I wasn’t frantically reading the book I was thinking about what other fun posts I could write other than my recaps. I just didn’t get around to it before the month was out.)

I’ve wanted to create my own book tag for a while and today I thought, hey, whilst I’m nursing my wounds from the battle that was reading Les Misérables, why not make it even harder to let go and/or move on by posting up a book tag inspired by the book that I’ve just been fighting? (All this fighting talk, the barricade would be proud.)

So, I present to you: The Les Misérables Book Tag!

Rules

Unlike the book itself, the rules of this book tag are very simple:

• There are 13 questions, each of which ask you to pick either a character or a pick a book (answer whichever you’d rather) based on a prompt which is related to the characters from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. (There’s also one based on the book itself because I couldn’t resist!)
• Please credit me as the creator of this book tag by linking back to this post when you do the tag yourself.
• Tag your friends!

Questions

Jean Valjean: We all know Jean Valjean’s crime was only stealing a loaf of bread (and breaking a window pane) to feed his starving family but 24601 is still a convict in the eyes of the law.
Pick a criminal character or a book involving a crime.

Bishop Myriel: Monseigneur Bienvenu is just TOO good, even for a man of the cloth. He succeeds in sheltering a criminal when others have shunned him and helps give him the tools and morality to become a better man.
Choose a character who helps others or a book that helped you/changed your perspective.

Javert: Say what you will about Inspector Javert, he always appears when trouble’s afoot and he does not deviate from his duty to the law.
Pick a character who is steadfast in their goals and doesn’t give up or a book that was trope-heavy within its genre.

Fantine: Fantine is tricked into a miserable life after the boy she loves doesn’t feel quite as strongly as she does and abandons her and their child. She lives a tragic and short life filled with hardship and sickness.
Pick a side character you wished was more prevalent in a story or a book that you wished was longer.

The Thénardiers: Like their counterparts in the musical of the same name, the Thénardiers of the book are sneaky, underhanded criminals trying to fleece honest people. But those songs are just SO DAMN CATCHY and they are hilarious to read about.
Choose a character or a book that’s a problematic fave

Cosette: Sweet little Cosette is rescued from a sorry life of servitude to her cruel carers and whisked away by a mysterious benefactor to a life unlike anything she has known before.
Pick a character or book that goes on quite the journey.

M. Madeleine / M. Fauchelevent: With so many aliases and cover stories, it hard to keep all these characters straight. Valjean is THE WORST for assuming different identities.
Pick a character who uses a different name/disguises themselves OR a book that turned out differently than you thought it would.

Marius: Marius Pontmercy goes on quite the political, emotional, and physical journey throughout the book, all of which is instigated by him seeing a pretty girl out walking one day.
Choose a character who is a hopeless romantic OR a book with a satisfyingly soppy ending.

Gavroche: The stereotypical gamin of Paris, young Gavroche may be little but that doesn’t stop him from having quite the bite on him.
Choose a young character who is The Best OR a children’s book that packed a punch.

Eponine: The Thénardiers’ elder daughter, it’s no wonder Eponine ends up participating in their crimes and schemes. She also falls in love with Marius, somehow. (I love the guy but COME ON.)
Pick a character who deserved better or a book whose ending you wish you could change.

Enjolras: Dubbed the marble lover of liberty, Enjolras is never swayed from his ~revolutionary ideals~ and says his one true love is ‘patria’.
Choose an inspirational character or a book that doesn’t revolve around a love story.

Les amis: Les amis de l’ABC are a strange assortment of young men coming together in the name of fighting for what they believe in.
Choose a group of unlikely friends or a book with found family. 

The Brick: The reason we’re here: Victor Hugo’s book is often lovingly (and not so lovingly) dubbed ‘The Brick’ by its readers, owing to its high page count and long narrative which make for a chunky read no matter what edition you have.
Pick a long book that is worth its length OR a book that was a struggle to get through. (Though the two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive!)

There we have it, that was the Les Misérables Book Tag. I hope you all have fun answering this tag, I’ll put my own answers up separately, and I hope to see people get involved. If you haven’t read the book, please do still join in anyway and have fun answering the themed questions!

And for those who can’t get enough of the Les Misérables related book tags, check out this one by Eve from A Twist in the Tale who created one based on the songs in the musicals, a tag I will certainly be doing myself in the near future!

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