Five Recommendations Based On My Favorite Female Characters

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I’ve had two recommendation posts planned for a while because I wanted to recommend some fantasy and contemporary novels based on my favorite female characters. However, when I realized that today is International Women’s Day I thought what better way to celebrate that than by combining my two post ideas into recommending five of my favorite books by women based on my favorite female characters.

    

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Paige Mahoney – The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

“That’s what humans do. We make. We remake. We build, we rebuild. And yes, sometimes we paint with blood, and we tear down our own civilizations, and it might never stop. But if we’re ever to unlearn our darker instincts, we have to be free to learn better ones. Take away the chance for us to change, and I promise you, we never will. I’m willing to fight for that chance.”

Paige is probably my top favorite female character. What I love about her is the fact that, unlike a lot of her fellow voyants, she doesn’t view the lower orders as being less than her. She sees them as her equal. And even though she creates a lot of enemies she refuses to let anyone in the syndicate stick their heads in the sand and ignore how terrible the world around them is getting. She’s willing to do anything to not only be the change but to make sure there is a day where being voyant doesn’t equal being a criminal or a death sentence. I just love her stubbornness, determination, and strength. And yeah she can be a bit impulsive or reckless which can cause some problems but I like that about her because she isn’t perfect which makes her realistic. You can check out my review of The Bone Season here.

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Feyre – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

“No one was my master— but I might be master of everything, if I wished. If I dared.”

Yes, I used a quote from A Court of Mist and Fury instead of the first book. Mainly because I feel like that quote perfectly showcases Feyre as a character. I love what Sarah J. Maas has done with her character. Feyre has this resilience and strength that I really admire. I feel like anything I want to say could be a spoiler for those who haven’t read the books. She’s one of my favorites for the fact that she manages to rise up from the ashes so to speak. Everything that happened still affects her but she’s able to find the strength in herself through that. You can check out my review for A Court of Thorns and Roses here.

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Inej Ghafa & Nina Zenik – Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

“Inej placed her hands on Nina’s shoulders. “We’ll see each other again.”
“Of course we will. You’ve saved my life. I’ve saved yours.”
“I think you’re ahead on that count.”
“No, I don’t mean in the big ways.” Nina’s eyes took them all in. “I mean the little rescues. Laughing at my jokes. Forgiving me when I was foolish. Never trying to make me feel small. It doesn’t matter if it’s next month, or next year, or ten years from now, those will be the things I remember when I see you again.”

These two right here, I love them. This is more than just recommending one of my favorite books through my favorite female characters but also through my favorite female friendship. Inej is someone who has been through a lot of terrible things in her life and yet she retains this hopeful outlook and this determination to one day make it so that no one else goes through what she went through. Nina is someone who is so outspoken and straightforward, she’s not afraid to speak her mind and I loved that about her. As Inej is more reserved than Nina I feel like the differences in their personalities is what made their friendship so great. You can check out my review for Six of Crows here.

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Sky – I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

“It occurred to me that we were the same, in a way. Both of us treading water, pushing against forces we couldn’t control.”

I’m pretty sure I recommend this book as much as I do The Bone Season. It’s just that it really is a fantastic book. Sky is one of my top favorite female characters as far as contemporaries go. She doesn’t have an easy life nor does she have a great relationship with her mother and throughout I’ll Meet You There a lot of uncertainty about her future creeps into her life. What I love most about her character is how much she cared for everyone, even her mother who wasn’t the best person. She feels like she has to take care of everyone and everything even at the expense of her future. And she starts to learn that sometimes it’s okay to put yourself first. The journey she goes through in this book is beautiful. You can check out my mini review for I’ll Meet You There here.

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Lily Bloom – It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

“I think about how sometimes, no matter how convinced you are that your life will turn out a certain way, all that certainty can be washed away with a simple change in tide.”

I’m going to say this before anything else, this book explores abusive relationships. Just a warning to anyone who isn’t comfortable with reading a book that explores that topic. That aside, It Ends With Us is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. It changed my outlook on a lot of things. I’ve read a lot of NA and out of every one that I’ve ever read Lily remains my top favorite female. What she goes through as a child and then as an adult only to come out of it with this strength and determination to break the cycle was incredible. The journey in this book is one that I’ve never experienced but Lily was such a realistic character and I admired her for the strength she had. You can check out my review for It Ends With Us here.

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Have you read any of the books I recommended? Are they on your TBR? What are some of your favorite female authors or characters?

 

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