embisk

In Oathbringer when she finds out about kalladin and Amoram and her brother, she willfully buries it in her mind instead of actually confiding her feelings in her literal bethrothed. I get she still tells him but she doesn't address how it makes her feel until way later.

I blame her because I feel she doesn't try. She just basks in her depression not confronting the problems, in fact, multiple times she tries to "bury" these painful things to just come back later, and she knows this.

I see your points about Sanderson and mental brokenness and illness. I guess my perception of the story is a little more objective in terms of priority, but your points are valid very much so. And your right also, whether or not the characters are able to put aside their problems isn't the main issue. I guess a better way to express my frustration with the situation (kaladin and Shallan), is they're on a journey of self discovery and trying to repair what was broken. I honestly don't feel like shallan is trying to do that. She just sits there and wallows in her sadness and grief, while the fate of the world rests on her shoulders. Kaladin, though at the end of oathbringer it seems he's on the path of becoming a man of honor and oaths, doesn't even try to make himself better and repair the wounds done to him by authority until he was forced to accept the healing process and work by Syl holding his powers hostage. I just don't even get the slightest sense of realistic problem solving and assessment from Shallan. As someone looking from the outside (trying not to let my own struggles interfere with my assessment), the lack of initiative by both characters, mainly Shallan is perhaps the point I was trying to make. I still stand by the point that despite your own personal demons, when one has the fate of the world resting in their hands one should definitely not be selfish about their own problems because then it's at the expense of everyone else's existence. Shallan's inability to try to confront her own demons coupled with her intolerable personallity is why I despise her. Perhaps in the ladder 6 books to be written she figures things out but as of right now her struggles are only made worse by her. I don't mean to demean mental illness, I myself take a cocktail of meds each day. It is a real problem but I've discovered self-pity gets you nowhere. These problems don't fix themselves, its something one must do personally. While this may sound too demanding of these broken characters, I want to remind you that while what broke them wasn't normal events, these two also have had extremely lucky and beneficial things happen to them as well. Things akin to gaining peak athletic ability, or suddenly being promoted to a fortune 500 CEO. While this too might cause a burden, the benefits from these far outweigh the negatives. P.S. Dalinar is by far my favorite character in the series so far. He is extremely well written and his personality plays off of Nirvani's (probably my favorite supporting cast member) splendidly. P.P.S. Despite her mental challenges Shallan is still unfunny and annoying and exremely irksome with her perspective on occuring situations

As far as telling kaladin to suck it up I totally agree he should. His own self-righeous ideals about shardblades and eye color really hindered his progress throughout his life. And yes childhood trauma is very tough to overcome but she's had the world handed to her on a silver platter the least she could do is not get her salty ass tears on the plate. Like I said, Kaladin too. Being broken is only a reason to not find a purpose. If one is thrust upon you like these two have had put your petty problems and quarrels aside and sad times and do your duty. Stop making it harder on everyon else. Also the character discovery and self journey are important, yes. I just feel like the points that are emphasized are very irksome points and stuff that anyone else that has gone through similar problems as Kaladin and Shallan wouldn't falter where they do, instead finding more purpose than problems in the current events.

Ok so opening up I just want to say I recognize the 'appeal' Brandon was going for with her character. Her feminine strength is something that is lacking in a lot of female protags over the years, and she does have a traumatic backstory. Her naivete and lightheartedness are both testaments to her character's mental strength and fortitude to remain through all her hardships. That being said, both those traits also make her the most ignorant, detestable, and unbearably annoying character in the entire Archive. Despite how smart she's supposed to be, and no matter how many times she points out a problem she might run into she still messes up and makes the story miserable. Most of her problems so far (I just finished Oathbringer), are completely caused by her and her own ineptitude to deal with her problems without whining about her daddy and mommy issues. I don't care if she killed everyone in her hometown with a knife, Hatred itself is invading the world while all the gods are gone and there's a massive power struggle between the major nations of the world. Suck it up, and quit masking your insecurity with crappy quips. God don't get me started on the quips. Every time this woman opens her mouth, whether its to say something to Pattern privately or to any Brightlord publicly, I wish she never did. I get it, she's 'clever.' That shouldn't mean slontzey though. A smart, clever character can and be written so much better. To those who still wanna play the "woman strong" card, I'd advise looking at Navani or Jasnah. Both are extremely clever, strong, and independent despite it being in different ways. Jasnah's quips are crappy digs but intellectual pokes, tailored to the conversation perfectly. Navani is perhaps the most powerful woman in Alethkar. Despite her status as the Queen Regent, she was able to maintain a very powerful position in the Alethi court through her intellectual prowess. I'd highly advise Shallan to gather her thoughts and return to the story once she quits her crying and slontzeing every second. TL;DR - Shallan is a loser; I wish she wasn't so important to the story; The other women in the story are so much better and should be more important.