Recently I read “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang and I’m part way through “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunens. Obviously in these books the characters are meant to be unlikable since they are racist/anti-Semitic and it would be problematic if they were written in a better light. So is it wrong to give the book a lower rating if you didn’t like a protagonist who was supposed to be unlikable?
To me, it depends. I love books with unlikable characters- but it’s not as easy as saying “but the author intended for them to be disliked”. There still has to be something enjoyable and engaging about the story to make people want to read.
It also depends on what way you disliked the characters. Did you just think they were unlikable for the intended reasons, or did you think they were unrealistic or poorly written? That kind of thing.