Hi friends! We’re getting close to the end of the year now, and even closer to all of the recaps about what we read, which book characters we fell in love with and which ones we dreamed of throwing off a cliff. To do, so… I found out about Cait @ Paper Fury’s amazing book tag, called the Smashing and Dashing Characters Awards and, well, I thought it’d be a great way to talk about my favorite characters and to scream about great young adult books before 2019 starts and I start screaming about new books.
That endless circle.
These answers took me a tiny little while to come up with, because… well, they’re not that easy, let me tell you. So naturally, I had to invite my sister / punctual co-blogger to answer these with me, because I’m curious and… kind of cruel, too. Oops.
Here I go, screaming about book characters again.
1. Most Relatable Character
Marie: I have to go with Eliza, from Eliza & Her Monsters for that one. If you’ve followed my blog since the start of this year, you most likely heard me screaming about this one. I just loved Eliza so much, the anxiety rep was on point and just so. relatable.
Nyx: Audrey from It Only Happens in the Movies. She is over cheesy clichés, she wants her partner to see her exactly for who she is. She’s flawed but she also knows her own mind. She feels SO real!
2. Most Pure Animal Companion
Marie: Let’s go with Nellie from Heartstopper, Alice Oseman’s webcomic, because well I can and Nellie has to be the most adorable dog in the entire earth okay.
Nyx: Same here! Nellie from Heartstopper. How cute was this dog?! Give me one!
3. Fiercest Fighter
Marie: I’m thinking of Lira, from To Kill A Kingdom right now, because that one was such a badass and I loved her!
Nyx: Zélie from Children of Blood and Bone. Girl power please! I loved watching her strength grow while still preserving her innocence and vulnerability.
4. Am Surprised That I Loved You??
Marie: I want to say, every character from All Of This Is True, because even if I despised some of them while reading, I don’t know, I found Penny endearing by the end of it all especially.
Nyx: Penny from All of This Is True. But damn, what a though question! She seems like the materialistic party girl but I discovered that she’s more than that. She’s a bit naïve and a little bland but I found myself starting to actually sympathize.
5. Best Sassmaster
Marie: Hmmm maybe Séverin from The Gilded Wolves? I got lucky enough to read that book already and, well, I loved it and the characters SO much and Séverin was awesome.
Nyx: Kenji from Restore Me. I LOVE him! He’s just the best supporting character ever. He’s funny, spirited and bold. Can we become best friends pretty please?
6. Best Antihero
Marie: definitely Kaz from the Six of Crows duology. Couldn’t go with anyone else for that one. Also, WHAT . A . BOOK.
Nyx : Xifeng from Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. It would be easy to dislike Xifeng with her jealousy and obsession over her own beauty, and yet I truly feel her pain, being a woman in a man’s world.
7. The Best Friends Of All
Marie: Luca and Grace from How To Make A Wish are going on the top-3 of friendships in books. It’s a f/m friendship without any ambiguity whatsoever and they’re friends goals, I love them!
Nyx: Steffi and Tem from A Quiet Kind Of Thunder. Finally a good female friendship who doesn’t get poisonous! They have been close forever and of course their relationship isn’t perfect, they have some issues but they’re always here to support each other. They’re really different so they try their best to be understanding, I loved that.
8. Best Villain To HATE
Marie: I just have to go with the Commandant in A Torch Against the Night because REASONS and I AM SO MAD AND AHHHHH.
Nyx: The mother from Starfish. She makes her daughter feel totally unremarkable. She’s a manipulative person who hurts others with her selfish choices. Just ughh.
9. Award For Best vs Worst YA Parents
Marie: I might cheat a little bit here, because I want to mention Dia in This Is What It Feels Like. She’s one of the main characters and she is also a mom and she is overall fantastic. For the worst parents…is anyone surprised if I pick A Thousand Perfect Notes and the Maestro. Because I kind of have to because she is THE ULTIMATE WORST.
Nyx: Dia’s parents from This It What It Feels Like for the best. They seem understanding and helpful. The parents from Accidental Bad Girl for the worst parents because I don’t know but with everything happening to their daughter, they just turn a blind eye?? She’s involved in drug dealing for god’s sake.
10. Ship Of All Ships In 2018
Marie: oh oh oh that’s a hard question…. since I’m a marshmallow I have read my share of adorable ships this year?! Damn it. Who am I supposed to pick…..I’m going to go with Mati and Elise from The Impossibility of Us, because I rooted for them and their relationship so much.
Nyx: Maguire & Jordy from Girl Against the Universe. Jordy falls for Maguire pretty quickly whereas Maguire spends most of her time pushing him away. It’s no love at first sight, they get to know each other over time. They find ways to help each other, they’re really sweet together.
11. Most Precious Must Be Protected
Marie: I don’t know why, but I want to talk about The Beauty That Remains and all of its characters. This book IS precious as a whole and everyone just needs to be protected and loved and hugged a whole lot. Also, please read this book?
Nyx : Beck from A Thousand Perfect Notes. He hates his life and his violent mother. He’s too scared to stand up to her and I really really wish I could just hug him tight and make all of his problems go away.
12. Honestly Surprised You’re Still Alive
Marie: I already picked him before, but… I’m sorry, I have to go with Elias from A Torch Against The Night, because well, wow.
Nyx: Elias, from A Torch Against The Night. With those twists and turns and plot twists, how on Earth is he still alive?? But I’m glad and I guess it wouldn’t make much sense to go on without him right?!
13. Award For Making The Worst Decisions
Marie: Avery, from The Thousandth Floor, makes a lot of questionable decisions and… well, so does everyone else in this book and that’s why everything is a mess and so dramatic overall and… why I like it so much?!
Nyx: Stop stealing my answers!! Avery from The Thousandth Floor also. She’s pretty much insufferable and makes really poor decisions. She slutshames and talk behind her friend’s backs. And should we talk about the fact that she’s in love and actually sleeping with her brother and that she wants to leave everything behind to live on a island with him??!
14. Most In Need Of A Nap
Marie: Charlie, from Save The Date, could use a little more sleep to deal with her gigantic, messy family, that’s for sure. Go to sleep Charlie.
Nyx: April May from An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. With her sudden fame and all eyes now staring at her, I bet she would enjoy a nice peaceful nap. Don’t you think?
15. Want To Read More About You
Marie: I’d actually really love to read more about Angie, from In Search Of Us, because I loved this book so, so much and she was such a great character and I hope she’s okay. OH and the ones from I Was Born For This, because this book is my life.
Nyx: Megan from Always Never Yours. I really enjoyed reading her story and absolutely loved her bold character. I wish I could follow her next step into adulthood.
I’m not going to tag a whole lot of people here, because the end of the year is already so soon and I don’t know if anyone wants to do this, but if you do, PLEASE feel free to join in! I’d love to see your answers and hear you scream about your favorite characters, too.
What do you think of our answers? Are there any characters you could really relate to, this year? Marshmallow in me have to ask: what was your favorite ship this year? Let me know everything in comments!
Oh wow I don’t know so many of these books! Probably because I’m not really a contemporary reader lately.
Oh I get that, well, when you’re feeling in the mood for contemporaries… you’ll have a list of suggestions right here haha 🙂
Thank you for your comment! <3
Wow! This was so fun! I completely agree with The Beauty That Remains. I read it earlier in the year and still think about it. I can’t believe it didn’t receive more attention!
Oh Kristin, feel free to take part in it if you want to, I’d love to see your answers 🙂
I’m so sad that this book didn’t get more hype, it deserves it, it is such a wonderful read <3
This is the third time I’m hearing of Heartstopper and I have finally been convinced to download Tapas (ongoing) and read the book. I’ve heard so many amazing things about it, I hope I love it.
Ok but Lira is literally such a badass siren, I adored her character.
No joke, the Commandant is my number 1 favorite villain. Sabaa Tahir just nailed her character. Even though I hate her, I can’t help but admire her? I really need help lol.
Ahhh Charlie from Save The Date is SUCH a perfect answer. Hell, she deserves a spa treatment + 5 Star hotel deluxe suite after the wedding.
Great post, Marie! Love both of your answers. <3
I really hope you’ll love Heartstopper, Nimika, it is an incredible read and these characters, ahhh, I just love them SO much <3
Oh I get what you mean strangely, haha, she is sort of a badass. I love to hate her haha. I'm so scared to read A Reaper At The Gates….
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment! <3
Ha, I love that you had so many similar answers. This may be one of my favorite tags of all times, because I simply love listening to people talking about their favorite characters.
I also read A Torch Against The Night this year, and I’m still surprised that Elias made out alive. This series is way too cruel with their characters, but that may be one of the reasons why I love it so much. I don’t know if I’ll be able to read A Reaper at The Gates this 2019 (God knows when it will be translated to my language), but my heart hurts already for these characters.
I hope to finish Crooked Kingdom soon, and though I don’t adore Kaz, I really enjoy Leigh Bardugo’s writing style and the way she makes lovable even the most unlikable of the characters, hahah.
Great list, Marie & Nyx!
Haha, yes we do have similar taste! We did this tag separately and when we put our answers together it was kind of funny to see so many similar answers ? Great minds think alike right? ? Characters are so awesome, they are the heart of the story ? Oh god yes…A Torch Against The Night was brutal! But I was hooked from page one! You’re so right about Leigh Bardugo’s writing style, I’m actually reading Crooked Kingdom right now and it’s just so so good! Thank you so much, happy you enjoyed it ??
Haha, April May does need a nap. I still have Eliza and Her Monsters sitting on my TBR shelf. I’ll for-sure read it next year.
Yeees, she really does! ? You should read Eliza and Her Monsters very very soon, it’s a really great story, hope you’ll like it as much as we did wih my sister ? Thanks for stopping by ??
The Impossibility of Us and Girl Against the Universe sounds SO CUTE! I MUST READ.
They both are SO cute, you definitely should give them a try 😀
Thank you so much Kyra! <3
I only read a few of these books, but agree on 1000 perfect notes mum being the most awful parent i’ve read this year as well.
And Avery in 1000th floor. Ugh. Not a wise girl for sure. I just bought book #2, so i’m curious how her story will continue.
Yeees, she was just AWFUL! Hahaha, not a wise girl that’s the word! I’m really impatient to get the second book and see how everything is going to turn out. HELLO DRAMA! ?
I loved all the characters in This Is What It Feels Like, and both Dia and her parents were a refreshing portrayal of parents in YA that was really needed, especially in a book that also deals with parents that aren’t that great (Hannah’s). I almost never see anyone talk about this book but I loved everything about it and I’m so glad you liked it too!
My favorite romance this year was probably Yên/Vu Côn from In the Vanishers’ Palace. I love Beauty and the Beast retellings, especially when agency and consent are important in the narrative.
And I can’t wait for The Gilded Wolves!
Yeees, I totally agree with you! So refreshing to see a great set of parents! Sometimes, parents aren’t even part of the story, that’s kinda weird since we’e talking about teenagers. ? This Is What It Feels Like is SO underrated, I really loved that story ? Haven’t read Vanishers’ Palace, I’ll need to check it out ?
I love your choices! Some of the books you mentioned are my absolute faves and I’m so excited to see them get hyped up on end of the tags and posts! What’s even better is that some of the ones you mentioned are on my TBR, and have now shot up to the very top as MUST READ IMMEDIATELY!
Aww thank you! I’m so happy you like our answers! I hope you’ll get to read the books you haven’t just yet soon, they’re all amazing 😀
I love this post, Marie! 🙂 Book characters are the best (well, most of the time XD). I want to read Eliza and Her Monsters, and have wanted to for a while, I just haven’t gotten around to it! You have thoroughly convinced me to try harder to find it, though.
I LOVED Luca and Grace! Their relationship was a major reason I loved that book so much. Ahh, and Beck from ATPN is so completely precious. *cries*
Oh thank you so much Olivia! This makes me so happy and I really hope you’ll get to Eliza and Her monsters soon, I love it SO much <3
Agree, Luca and Grace were TOO amazing, I loved them together <3 <3
Charlie totally needs a nap. She stressed me out just by reading about everything going on with her and her family. Great pick!
I know right? haha, poor her 🙂
Thank you so much! 🙂
YES KENJI. I love him so much and he’s probably the only reason why I may consider continuing the Shatter Me series, lol. On the condition he gets more page time, of course.
Also yes to Kaz and Xifeng (although I enjoyed Six of Crows much better). Xifeng is beautifully evil and dark and wow, she is quite gruesome. Kaz is just too precious for the world.
YEEES! Kenji is my absolute favorite! ?? Same here, Six of Crows is SO much better! I’m actually reading Crooked Kingdom right now ? Yeees, Xifeng is beautifully evil, that’s exactly it!
Love this list so much! Totally agree with Kaz, Elias, and the Commandant! You’ve reminded me once more how much I need to read A Thousand Perfect Notes! ❤️
Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed our post ? Yeees, you really should read it! Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did with my sister ? Thanks for stopping by ??
This post is so cute and it made me want to read a bunch of books, especially The Heartstopper since that adorable puppy stole my heart ???
I love how you kept giving the same answers ?? that means you have very similar bookish tastes.
And YESSS, Lira is very badass, I almost want to reread the beauty that is To Kill a Kingdom.
Lovely post! ?
Aww I’m glad, I hope you’ll read Heartstopper at some point, it is a wonderful, adorable story overall <3
We are twins when it comes to books and a lot more things too ??
thank you so, so much!! <3
Ooh that was a fun tag to read !!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Feel free to take part in it if you feel inspired, it’s really fun to do, too 😀
omg you mentioned ATPN, ajfdsklad I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH! And loved reading your version of the answers ? Eliza was so amazing and I LOVE everything Alice Oseman writes. I still need to read Heartstopper but I’m so glad it’s getting published and we can hold it in physical form too soon eep. And so much rage at Kiko’s mum in Starfish. How…could she even??? (Says me who wrote a horrible parent for ATPN, but sTILL. Kiko deserves better ajdkfsla.)
Ahhh you’re so, so welcome, ATPN kind of broke my heart in every way and I loved it SO much, it was my pleasure to mention it??
I hope you’ll get to read Heartstopper soon, I’m so happy it is getting a physical copy as well, it deserves it because it looks absolutely STUNNING.
Agree! Poor Kiko deserved way better, she deserves the world, reading about everything with her mom just made me SO sad.
Thank you so, so much!! <3
I’m really happy because I’ve actually read/heard of a lot of these books! And I think I will try to do this tag… love a good tag 🙂 😉 I think a book about Megan from Always Never Yours later could have been even better than Always Never Yours?? And OMG I love Nellie so much! And I thought the characters from IWBFT were super duper interesting!! I found Audrey a really interesting and realistic character, even though she is very different from me. I also found Angel really relatable but not as much as Frances, and Lirael from Goldenhand. Great post you both–I love sister collars and I loved how you had so many similar answers. <3
OH yay! Please feel free to do this, I’d love to see your answers 😀
That is such a fantastic idea, actually? I would LOVE to read more of Megan’s story, she is one of my favorite characters for sure <3
I agree, I think I liked Frances a little more than Angel, but I really loved Angel, too 🙂 I love everything Alice Oseman writes and all of her characters so much, though, haha 🙂
Thank you so much Shar!! <3 <3 <3
Awww I love this list and I agree about Séverin being the best Sassmaster! I can’t wait to re-read the book when I receive my finished copy.
Oh thank you so much, so happy you like it! <3 I so get your feeling, I loved him SO much 😀
Ohhh I’m excited to pick up Heartstopper because the dog looks adorable! I completely agree with Zelie from COBB being badass. YASSS FOR KAZ, that makes me happy. This is such a fun tag!
Oh I can’t wait for you to read it, hope you’ll love it as much as I did 🙂
Thank you so much, Jeann! <3 <3
Hey Marie and Nyx 🙂
I can definitely agree with some of you guys’s answers! Kaz is an awesome anti-hero and Zelie is such an amazing and strong female MC. I heard lots of great things about I Was Born For This and this post makes me want to read it even more haha 🙂 It’s so hard to pick my favourite ship from this year! Off the top of my head, I’m thinking Jesper and Wylan (SOC), Sam and Penny (Emergency Contact), and Ben and Arthur (What if it’s Us!) 😀
I’m so glad you liked our answers Sophie! 🙂
I hope you’ll get to read I Was Born For This, I adore it SO much <3
And yay, I loved Sam and Penny SO much ahhhh. <3
Eliza was such a relatable character and I loved Lira!! And Kaz is an amazing character. Oh yeah I really agree with you about the mother in starfish. Awesome answers! 🙂
YAY! I’m so glad to hear you liked these characters too 😀 Thank you so much! <3
Love these, and I agree with every single one of the ones I’ve read. I especially love that A Thousand Perfect Notes is in here twice. Have to agree that the Maestro takes the cake when it comes to horrible parenting.
Oh thank you so, so much Nicole! <3 I agree haha, she is so terrible.