Faves of TwentyEleven: the Characters

You may recall Nomes from Inkcrush created several lists of her favourite 2011 books halfway through this year, and invited everyone to join her. I did so here, and since the time has come now for the final end-of-the-year lists, I'm participating once more! I love the categories she's created.

1. Favourite female main character

Wanderer of The Host by Stephenie Meyer, for her transformation from detached "soul" to emotive being with a distinct identity.

2. Favourite male main character

Oh, I really loved Lochan of Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. Admirable, honourable, and struggling under the weight of burdens he shouldn't have had to carry. 

3. Best couple <3

Loved Clara and Tucker from Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, and Anna and Étienne from Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Clara and Tucker are just plain adorable, and as a reader it was both frustrating and wonderful to watch Anna and Étienne's journey to being together.

4. Who I so want to be best friends with

I think it'd be fun to be friends with Kat from Heist Society by Ally Carter! She's totally different from me in personality, and while I think it would take a while for her to let her guard down and trust me with anything, once we were friends I think she'd be extremely loyal. 

5. Who I fell completely in love with (new literary crush)


Étienne St. Clair! (Seriously, who *didn't* fall for him?!) 

Also, Ian from The Host and Tod from If I Die by Rachel Vincent are both pretty swoon-worthy :D

 
6. Worst (best & baddest) villain


Cole from Bitter End by Jennifer Brown....I really loathed him, he was despicable. Grrrrrrrrr.

7. Best character twist (who you loved then hated or vice versa)


Isabel from Mistwood by Leah Cypess — While I certainly never hated her, I did find her difficult to understand and connect with at the beginning. It was very enjoyable to see her develop her emotional side and I ended up really liking the character she came to be. 

Also, honourable mention to Cecily from Wither and Fever by Lauren DeStefano, for being a character much more complex than she appears on the surface.

 
8. Best kick-arse female


Deuce from Enclave by Ann Aguirre! She was totally awesome, very tough physically and mentally but still learning to be vulnerable emotionally.

 
9. Best kick-arse male

Gideon from Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, for his mad fencing skillz. (Okay, Fade from Enclave could take him down in a fight in a minute, but I wanted Ruby Red to get a mention, LOL.)

 

10. Broke your heart the most

Lochan... :(

  11. Favourite pet/animal character award


I don't have a really strong contender for this one, but I guess I'll go with the horse Midnight from Jackie Morse Kessler's Hunger. Honourable mention to the unusually conscientious wolf in "The Little Red Headache" story from Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde.

12. Best YA parents award


Many of the YA books I read this year have the parents conspicuously absent or causing problems for the protagonist. If it were the WORST YA parents award, I'd definitely have some nominees, but as it is I'll have to leave this one a blank.

13. Favourite sibling relationship


Frankie and her younger brother from Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta. I just wish we'd seen more of them together!

Also, for extremely complicated relationships: Lizzie and Tess from Without Tess by Marcella Pixley, and Lochan and Maya from Forbidden. 

14. Favourite best friends/friendship award

The quartet of Frankie, Tara, Justine, and Siobhan from Saving Francesca. I loved watching them bond!

15. Best/worst character names


Terrible character names always strike me much more than excellent ones, so I'm just going to list the worst: "Four" from Divergent by Veronica Roth (okay, so it's more of a nickname...but still), "Nordica" from Popular by Alissa Grosso, and "Sandinista" from The Sharp Time by Mary O'Connell. "Deuce," "Fade," and "Lochan" are also questionable.

Bonus: Best love triangle


It's more of a love rectangle or something, but the Jared-Melanie-Ian-Wanderer conundrum in The Host. In a love triangle competition, one involving two personalities sharing a body can't be beat.

What are some of your choices for these character categories from the books you've read this year? And if you would like to join in the merriment (and why wouldn't you?!) head on over to Nomes' blog here for the details.