Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and each week they give us a Top Ten theme to blog about. This week it’s heroines! We all love our heroines, right? It seems there are so many great heroines these days, that it was hard to narrow this list down to only ten. But I did, and here are my choices (in no particular order):
1. Yukiko from The Lotus War series by
Jay Kristoff
I mean, just look at her! She’s a small girl with a big sword, not to mention a big heart. Yukiko stole my heart in Stormdancer, and she never lost her charm throughout the entire series.
2. Sydney from Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Vicious is a very special book, it’s probably one of my all-time favorites, and Sydney was one of those characters that you hope you’ll find again someday, in a different book. I just adore her. I don’t want to tell you too much about her, if you haven’t read Vicious yet (and why haven’t you??), but let’s just say she has a dog she loves, and her special power is bringing back the dead.
3. Nora & Skelly from The Blue Blazes by
Chuck Wendig
Chuck Wendig always writes strong and interesting female characters, and The Blue Blazes has two of my favorite heroines ever. Nora is an angry, unpleasant woman and has a very complicated relationship with her father, Mookie Pearl. But I fell in love with her anyway. (Wendig seems to have a talent for that!) Skelly belongs to a girl-gang called the Get-Em-Girls, gets around on roller skates, and was an all around fun character to read about.
4. Elizabeth Barnabus from The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter by Rod Duncan
This book was such an unexpected surprise! If you love steampunk and characters with moxie, you should read this if you haven’t already. Elizabeth leads a secret dual life that I can’t tell you about here, so you’ll just have to pick up the book! She’s a mistress of illusion and carries a battered suitcase around with her. I mentioned in my review that Duncan has perfectly captured a female protagonist’s voice, unlike any male writer I’ve ever come across.
5. Maude from the Golgotha series by R.S. Belcher
I loved Maude for her Buffy-esque characterization. She’s a warrior with a great burden who will eventually pass her knowledge and skills on to her daughter. Such a great series, I hope Belcher is working on Book #3!
6. Widdershins from the Widdershins Adventures by Ari Marmell
I just recently read my first Widdershins book, and I fell in love with her! Of course, I didn’t start at the beginning of the series like I was supposed to, but that didn’t really matter. Widdershins has a charming sense of humor, not to mention she uses some very quirky swear words, and I loved her relationship with her own personal god, Olgun.
7. Lila from A Darker Shade of Magic by
V.E. Schwab
I just finished this and reviewed this yesterday, and I couldn’t leave the wonderful character of Lila out of this top ten list! Lila is a thief who wants to be a pirate and live a life of freedom, a life full of adventure. She’s sarcastic (all my favorite heroines are!), a terrific fighter, and she doesn’t take crap from anyone. Plus she’s got a soft spot for fashion!
8. Persimmon Gaunt from Gaunt and Bone series by Chris Willrich
Willrich’s entertaining and wonderfully written fantasy is about a married couple, Persimmon Gaunt and her husband Imago Bone, but Gaunt is certainly not the type of wife to let her husband do all the dirty work. In the first book she’s pregnant, but still manages to hold her own during a perilous journey.
9. Cass from The Legends of the Duskwalker series by Jay Posey
Cass is a mother to Wren and is determined to protect him, in Posey’s post-apocalyptic world. She’s also a drug addict, which makes her a refreshingly human character. I loved the way she grew throughout the two books, becoming increasingly stronger and able to defend the people she loves.
10. Atlanta Burns from the Atlanta Burns series by Chuck Wendig
I just couldn’t leave Atlanta off this list, even though I had so many other heroines to fill this last spot. Atlanta truly is the definition of “heroine,” and even though this book was tough to read, and made me all kinds of mad at times, Atlanta is a character you’ll never forget.
How about you? Who are your favorite heroines in fiction?
Such a good call on Nora, I totally forgot about her! Can’t wait for my copy of ADSOM to arrive as I’ve seen Lila popping up on a few TTTs this week. x
Rhoda K recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #3: Favourite Heroines From Books
I’m glad other bloggers are featuring Lila!
All of these are on my tbr list – thanks for sharing!
Check out my TTT.
Lauren recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Heroines From Books, TV, and Movies
We read many of the same books. Yet Gaunt and Maude are the only two on your list I know. Because apparently Schwab is everyone’s favorite author and no one told me I should be getting in on this .
Well, I’m telling you, I suggest you start with VICIOUS, only because it’s wonderful and amazing.
Whoa… I haven’t read any of those books! *lol* Although I have Stormdancer at home. Just haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.
Here’s my informal list. I came up with it off the top of my head after seeing a few other blogs post their TTT topics today:
Yelena Zaltana from Maria V. Snyder’s Study series
Katsa from Kristin Cashore’s Graceling
Fire from Kristin Cashore’s Fire
Nefertari from Michelle Moran’s The Heretic Queen
Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games trilogy
Hermoine Granger from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series
Bright Dawn from Scott O’Dell’s Black Star, Bright Dawn
Karana from Scott O’Dell’s Island Of The Blue Dolphins
Liesel Meminger from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief
Jane Eyre (the book needs no intro…)
Lyla Belacqua from Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy
Sara L. recently posted…Recent Reads: “Shadow Study” by Maria V. Snyder
Great list, Sara! I completely forgot about Fire and Katsa, they are definitely two of my favorite heroines!
Oh, Tammy, all these books are on my TBR and now you’re making it even harder to decide the next read! 😉
I can’t wait to get in on all the great heroine action (wait…)
Camilla recently posted…A short story a day keeps the…
Ha ha, I didn’t mean to make your life harder!! Does that mean you’re making a list?
What a great list!
I love the covers for the Stormdancer series – I know it’s a bit off topic but I just really do!
Also, I’ve not read any Schwab – I’ll have to go and take a look.
Thanks
Lynn 😀
Lynn recently posted…‘I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king’
Do read Schwab when you have time, she’s amazing! And I completely agree, the books for the Lotus War are gorgeous!
Oh, not sure I can read Vicious now seeing one of the characters has a dog. Just, can’t do it. If there is any chance that dog is going to die or be abused, I’m noping my way out of that book. Of course, feel free to disabuse me from that if it is simply not the case. I just don’t take chance with that in fiction. I’m a bit dog-obsessed.
And I do want to get to Gaunt and Bone, thanks for the nifty reminder to push that up the old TBR.
Anne @ Lovely Literature recently posted…These ladies are the tops
I’ve only read Blue Blazes. I obviously have a lot of reading to do!,
Lisa @TenaciousReader recently posted…Review: Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells
So happy to see some of your more recent reads make this list, like Widdershins and Atlanta. Same here, I’m totally with you on those two!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Tiara’s 2015 Audiobook Challenge
great post! in all honesty, i haven’t read any of these books the heroines are from, but i might have to add a few of them to my TBR!
Emily Alfano recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday (80)
I haven’t read any of these books yet, but I’m particularly tempted to pick up V.E. Schwab’s books again. (I’ve only read her first one!) Jay Kristoff is another one I’ve been meaning to read. Fun list!
I can’t wait to read a Darker Shade of Magic! YES all the characters in Vicious, especially Sydney were awesome! I would love to re-read it again. I did get the joy of meeting Yukiko, I think I need to read the rest of the series to know her better.
Jeann @ Happy Indulgence recently posted…The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead Review: A Perfect Goodbye
Heroines must have been hard! I haven’t done it yet, but I probably will when I don’t like one of the upcoming topics. Sydney was great! I loved how she knew Victor wasn’t a good person, but didn’t care. I’m so glad Lila even made your top heroines list! I wasn’t sure about her at first. (well the first 30% doesn’t say much) I’ll have to check out some of these other books.
Molly Mortensen recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Best books I’ve read in the last three years