Top 10 Characters in 2011

1) Juliette ("Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi): As has become evident over the last couple of days I adore Tahereh Mafi's "Shatter Me". It is very rare that I actually like a female YA character- I feel that in the large majority of cases there is little focus on them, that they are not well developed whatsoever and that they take the back seat to their male counterpart. That wasn't the case whatsoever for me with Juliette. As I said in my review of the book: "From the  first page of this book I was captivated- Juliette is unlike any character I have ever had the pleasure of reading about before, aside from being badass, resilient, and unyielding, she was, best of all, real."

2) Adam ("Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi): I think that I sum up my feelings for Adam best when I state: "As for Adam? All I can say is Edward Cullen Dimitri Belikov Jace Wayland who?" Aside from being utterly swoon-worthy he was just so gosh darn real and selfless. He is very much one of those male characters who will give you unrealistic expectations of how IRL males should act. 

3) Warner ("Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi): I don't like bad guys- Errrrr... Or at least I don't typically like them, but there is just something about Warner that is so gosh darn appealing (perhaps it is because he is just so hopeful? Legitimately thinking that Juliette is his soulmate and will complete his life? Or that he doesn't do things half-assed? He puts his everything into what his does- I mean, how many years did he spend researching Juliette?). I am expecting great (albeit terrible) things from him and I am quite excited to read all of the skeletons in his closet.

4) Jonathan ("City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare): Now that I think about it (forgive me, it's been a while since I last read this book)- did Jonathan legitimately talk in this book? I don't think that he did- I think that Jace and him just communicated via their minds. Regardless, I choose him because he has completely and utterly changed the direction of my favourite book series, TMI, forever. Plus, I am really intrigued by this spoiler/ teaser from CoLS (WTF is Jonathan/ Sebastian doing hanging out with Jace and Clary?):

“Do you want to go home? Or dance some more?” 
“Dance some more,” she said, breathlessly. “Is that all right?”
“Go ahead.” Sebastian leaned back, his hands braced behind him on the fountain’s edge, his smile like the edge of a straight razor. “I don’t mind watching.” 

5) Daemon ("Obsidian" by Jennifer L. Armentrout): I think that I perfectly summed up Daemon in yesterday's post- that he is a douchebag, albeit a smouldering douchebag who on occasion can exhibit actual emotions. He is very much one of those larger than life characters who will develop a cult following (a cult of YAs who will faint whenever "Daemon" and "kissing" or "objects shorting out around him" are mentioned in a single sentence).

6) Merit ("Chicagoland Vampires" series by Chloe McNeil): As I mentioned in yesterday's post I love the name Cricket, I also LOVE the name Merit (seriously, I think that if you were to name a little girl this she would be GUARANTEED to be badass when she grew up). Merit has basically everything going for her- intelligence, confidence, connections, strength (emotional and physical)- I cannot get enough of these books, nor of her (and yes, this is an adult series but I don't think that any older YAs will have any trouble reading it).

7) Dru ("Strange Angels" series by Lili St. Crow): Dru and I have been BFFs for ages so I obviously had to include her in this list (I tried so gosh darn hard to get her in the top 32 of the YA Sisterhood Heroine Tournament. Alas...). I can't recall seeing a YA character grow so much in a series as she did. She is by far the most kickass YA female in my opinion.

8) Cole ("Forever" by Maggie Stiefvater): Not going to lie, I didn't like Cole in "Linger". Whatsoever. But then I read this book (which is more so Cole and Isabel's story than Grace and Sam's) and I feel completely head-over-heels for him. I think that he brought a lot of much needed humor to this book. I demand a Cole spin-off right now!

9) Adrian ("Bloodlines" by Richelle Mead): Like Cole, Adrian didn't do much for me in Richelle's "Vampire Academy" series)- in fact, I couldn't stand him (I hated the fact that he stood between Dimitri and Rose AKA ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT YA COUPLES OF ALL TIME). Therefore, imagine my surprise when I read this book and fall for him! It was so refreshing (and unexpected) to see a different side of him- I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us in the next 5 books in this series.

10) Will/ Jem ("Clockwork Prince" by Cassandra Clare): Okay, so this is kinda cheating by having two boys occupy the same spot (but I am okay with it)- seriously, how can you choose between these two boys? I sure as heck can't! As if one DSBS wasn't enough, we get two of them (the Dirty Sexy Balcony Scene and the Dirty Sexy Bedroom Scene). This book (and these boys) made me so happy.

Top 10 Book Boyfriends in 2011

1) Jace Wayland ("City of Fallen Angels" by Casssandra Clare): Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Jace Wayland- in my opinion he is one of the greatest things to happen to the world of YA. I loved that in this book we saw an entirely different side of Jace- a softer/ bordering on gushy (from being in love side)- rather than the brooding, angsty side that we have all become so familiar with in the first three books of TMI books.

2) Adam ("Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi): I cannot tell you the number of times while I read this book Adam's actions brought tears to my eyes- what he did for Juliette well before he "knew" her, it is unfathomable. He was just so good (and bonus! Swoon-worthy). 

3) Reese ("Here" by Denise Grover Swank): While Reese was actually only a secondary character in this book I couldn't help but fall for him. The best comparison that I can make to Reese is "The Vampire Diaries" (the TV show, not the books). Evan, the main character of this book is like Stefan- very much a hopeless romantic, sappy, and the likes of, whereas Reese, like Damon Salvatore, very much has a 'devil-may-care' attitude (and he gets bonus points for being a computer geek).

4) Jay ("Desires of the Dead" by Kimberly Derting): The way in which Jay and Violet's relationship develops is probably my most favourite out of every YA book I have ever read. Jay is the epitome of selfless YA male character. These books made me squeal so much while reading them (and I admit that while reading them I shed quite a few happy tears)- almost exclusively because of Jay.

5) Daemon ("Obsidian" by Jennifer L. Armentrout): I am going to be honest with you, when I first read this book I thought that Daemon was a douchebag, albeit a totally smoldering hot douchebag. But then I read the little snippet of "Obsidian" that Jennifer wrote in Daemon's POV for the YA Sisterhood Heroine Tournament (you haven't read it yet? OMG! Go HERE and do so ASAP) and I read it and realized that there is a lot more to Daemon- that he actually has feelings. I didn't think it possible for me to fall in love with him even more than I already do. I learned that it is in fact possible.

6) Cricket ("Lola and the Boy Next Door" by Stephanie Perkins): First off I gotta say, Cricket is the cutest name of all time- if I don't end up being a crazy cat lady for all of my days and actually have kids, I am going to name one of them (preferably a son) Cricket. Cricket was just so awkward and innocent that you couldn't help but love him and root for him the entire book.

7) Tod ("If I Die" by Rachel Vincent): Like Cassie Clare, most people who know me know how much I love Rachel Vincent- therefore it should come as no surprise that I included the latest installment of her "Soul Screamers" is on this list. From the get-go I have been Team Tod (Nash who?), so as you can imagine I was SO FLIPPING HAPPY about the outcome of this book. Tod is by far the bestest dead character of all time.

8) Dev (Altered by Kimberly Montague): I think that if you were to take all of the best characteristics from all of the male characters on this list and mash them together you would get Dev. As I said in my review of the book, "I think that Dev possess all of the best characteristics of all of my favourite book boys- Jay Heaton's super caring nature (from Kimberly Derting's "The Body Finder" series), Marc Ramos' over-protectiveness (from Rachel Vincent's "Shifters" series), and Jace Lightwood's arrogance/ cockiness (from Cassie Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series)."

9) Beck (The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver): I don't know if I have ever wanted two characters in a book to get together as much as I did Beck and Riley. Seriously, the age gap between them is nothing compared to some other YA books (or heck, even MG books- anyone recall Numair and Diane in Tamora Pierce's "The Immortals" series? There was like a 7203496023860183 year age gap between the two of them and they still ended up together- so why can't Beck and Riley?).

10) Tamani (Illusions by Aprilynne Pike): Much like I have been Team Tod since the beginning of Rachel Vincent's "Soul Screamers" series I have been Team Tamani since the beginning of this series by Aprilynne Pike. Let's be honest, TAMANI IS THE ONE FOR LAUREL AND DAVID IS JUST KIDDING HIMSELF BY THINKING THAT HE IS. In the previous books I was so annoyed by Laurel continuously running back to David so I was obviously pleased by the outcome of this book.

Top 10 Book Covers of 2011

 

1) "Exiled" by RaShelle Workman: I haven't read this book yet but I soooooo want to- look at that cover? Isn't it the most gorgeous thing EVER? I didn't think that anything could top Andrea Cremer's "Nightshade". I was wrong. So, so wrong. And hey! This book is about aliens so it is guaranteed to be awesome (since the other alien book that I read this year, "Obsidian" by Jennifer L. Armentrout, was amazing).


2) "Smokeless Fire" by Samantha Young: This is one of the few books on this list that I have actually had the chance to read. Let me tell you, not only is the cover amazing, but so is the story! Because of this cover I stalk the artist's (Claudia at Phatpuppy Art) gallery ALL THE TIME.  And I love the fact that the author, Samantha, was able to find the stock image used on her book cover on a t-shirt! How awesome is that?

3) "Entangled" by Cat Clarke: I actually have no idea what this book is about- but what I do know is that this cover is absolutely breathtaking. I can;t look at it too long because I know that if I do so I will convince myself that it would be a good idea to dye my hair fire-engine red (red has been my least favourite color for basically forever, this book makes me actually like the color).

4) "Bad Taste in Boys" by Carrie Harris: Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not a girly-girl whatsoever, but for some reason whenever there are sparkles on a book cover I am sold. And this cover has a whole lot of 'em! I also really love the font on the cover- I can't recall ever seeing a font like it used on a YA book.

5) "Die For Me" by Amy Plum: Like sparkles, I am totally sold on a book if it has curlicues on it (for some reason whenever I stop paying attention to whatever is happening in class I start drawing curlicues in the margins of all of my pages?). Typically I am not a fan of when books are re-released with a new cover, but I totally prefer this cover over the original.



6) "Darkest Mercy" by Melissa Marr: See my little speel about sparkles. I love ALL of the covers in Melissa's book series, but this is BY FAR my most favourite of all of her covers.

7) "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver: For some crazy reason I held off on buying this book for a long time. When I finally decided to buy it I got the original cover (the robin egg blue one with "Delirium" written in the cover, with a female's face being in the font) and then a month later this beauty was released. I really, really, really, REALLY wish that I had held off even longer to have bought the book. I much prefer this cover over the original (even though it admittedly has little to do with the plot of the book). Anyone else think that the model on the cover looks like a younger version of Anne Hathaway?

8) "Shattered Souls" by Mary Lindsey: I recently won a copy of this book (thanks to Rachel over at Fiktshun) and while I have yet to read it (I am hoping to be able to do so sometime over this break from school) and don't know how the cover plays into the storyline of the book I know that I love it! It is the epitome of haunting beauty.

9) "Teeth" by Ellen Datlow: So I didn't pick this book for the sole fact that it contains short stories written by some of my most favourite authors- I picked it for the cover. Isn't she so innocent looking- even though you know that she is a killer (and as such probably SUPER kick-ass)?  If I became a vampire, I would want to look like her.

10) "Eden" by Keary Taylor: I don't even know what to say about this cover. I am speechless. I honest to goodness cannot say enough good things about this cover. It almost makes me want to live in this dystopian world. Errrrr...  Robot zombies? Maybe not...