I like to read about interesting characters. In Inexcusable, the protagonist is a rapist, but he sure is compelling. And the girl he raped, though not the main character, is so sympathetic that I turned the pages to see if she'd be all right and if the protagonist would get his comeuppance. I love that book.
I've been reading a lot of first person YAs lately where the female main character is perky and funny and kind of neurotic. The problem is they all seem perky and funny and uncertain in the exact same ways. I'm tired of that perky YA female!
The adult novel The Corrections won a bunch of awards and I thought the writing was really clever. But I didn't really like the book because the main characters were all so nasty and self-centered and weak-willed. I wasn't rooting for anyone.
There's a popular, award-winning YA author whose books I don't like that much because the main characters seem so pleased with their own cleverness.
Some books with main characters that really intrigued me are Speak, Absolute Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junie B. Jones, and Notes from a Liar and Her Dog.