Top Ten Characters I Want to Check in on

I don’t know about you all, but this checking in thing is something I do ALL THE TIME. I’m constantly wondering about characters from books I’ve loved as if they were real people–How are they now? What are they up to? Are things still the way they were when I last saw them? Are they still together? (The answer to this is OBVS always yes.) So this Top Ten Tuesday is exciting for me. It’s also mostly couples. Can’t help myself. But the truth is, it’s mostly couples because I love them both and want them both to be OK. Better than OK.

Elisa & Hector | Girl of Fire and Thorns | If you’ve read this series–and if you haven’t, I can’t recommend it enough–you’re probably wondering how things are going for Elisa and Hector. They’re two of my favorite characters who’ve dealt with so much: war, death, love, responsibility, priorities. The evolution of their romance is really special, and their loyalty to one another is solid.

Isla & Josh | Isla and the Happily Ever After | I just reread this book and rediscovered that I LOVE IT SO MUCH. These two. They’re so passionate and intense. Different from Anna and Etienne, who are such AMAZING friends that their love burns slowly. Isla and Josh burn quickly and HOPEFULLY FOREVER. I just want to make sure they’re still in love and living their dreams together up in New Hampshire.

Sean & Puck | The Scorpio Races | DUH. I want to see Sean and Puck, I want to see Corr and Dove, I want to see Thisby, I want to see Sean’s house that they’re inevitably living in. I wish I lived in Thisby so that I could see these two every day.

Lennie & Joe | The Sky Is Everywhere | Another DUH. Talk about two people saving each other from grief and stress with an all-consuming connection. I think we left these two in a really great place, but I still want to see how they are. I want to make sure Lennie is doing what she wants for herself, playing her clarinet or not. I hope she finds some trace of her mother. I hope Joe’s dad isn’t such a tool, and maybe that he’s in a well-respected and awesome indie band with his brothers. I hope they’re happy, together. I’d love to see them again.

Karou & Akiva | Daughter of Smoke and Bone | I got the distinct feeling that this series was over but not OVER, you know? Like there’s maybe more to be told about this world and these people. Because I know that there was so much to repair between the angels and the chimera, I wonder if Karou and Akiva have been able to bridge the hatred a little more.

Eleanor & Park | Eleanor & Park | I heard a rumor that was hopefully not a rumor that Rainbow Rowell was writing a book about Eleanor and Park in their 30s. YES. YES A MILLION TIMES. Their story, even though it’s sad sometimes, is always a little brighter in those moments when their troubles are taking a back seat to THEM.

Josh & Sky | I’ll Meet You There | Ever since I finished this book, and then since I got the special letter from Heather Demetrios, I’ve been ever more convinced that I need to live in a world where these two are real. How is Sky doing at school? How is Josh doing with his puppy? These are really important things. I want to know them.

Violet Markey | All the Bright Places | Oh, Violet. I don’t worry about Violet because I think Finch saved her from her grief. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t want to make sure she’s ok, that she’s learning and moving forward and cherishing all the times she visited unassuming spots across Indiana with a boy she loved.

Michael Merrick | The Elementals | I still haven’t worked up the nerve/desire to write my review of this book because it let me down pretty majorly. Which is devastating because Michael Merrick was my favorite brother. I want to go back and see what’s going on with him and Hannah and his brothers. I also want more kissing this time.

Day & June | Legend | UGH the ending of this series was OUTSTANDING. I loved that Day and June found each other again and that everything was filled with such promise. So even though the ending was pretty perfect, I’d never turn away the opportunity to see how things are with them now.

Top Ten Character-Driven Books

Friends, I always struggle when people say things like “character-driven” because I feel like all books are character-driven in some way, but I think I’ve come up with a pretty good list of books that really focus on the people instead of the plot. For me, books that are character-driven are inherently about relationships, so these 10 books feature some intense, real (and therefore difficult and sometimes flawed) ones. I’ve definitely read and LOVED all of these books–legit some of them are forever favorites–so YAY! YAY FOR CHARACTERS!

I haven’t had a chance to post my review of this book yet, but it was a really poignant, wonderful look at sibling relationships, specifically sisters. Sister relationships always appeal to me hugely, and Josie and Kate have a typical sister relationship: good, but not perfect, and it’s changing now that Kate is engaged to be married. I thought their rough patch was totally believable and just a little heartbreaking. Funny, too.

Any book by Morgan Matson is, I think, more about the characters than the things they are doing or that are going on around them, but SECOND CHANCE SUMMER perfectly depicted the relationship between a father and a daughter, Robin and Taylor. Without their understated but very strong connection, the emotional heft of this story would’ve been negligible. Well, maybe not negligible because cancer, but still.

I LOOOVE reading about soldiers, friends, and Travis is dealing with some intense demons and a frightening case of PTSD when he arrives back home. Watching Travis come to grips with the death of his friend while on tour in the Middle East and with his family makes SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL amazingly satisfying and moving. Also, HELLO, HARPER. Their relationship is outstanding.

The fact that LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD is written entirely in letter format doesn’t impact the way Laurel’s grief over her sister May’s death drives the whole story. This book is about sisters and parents and friends and more-than-friends, and Laurel wades through all of these relationships admirably.

I think I’m going to reread LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP very soon. It’s been almost two years since I read it last and I think of it all the time to this day, no lie. That’s because Wren and Cal are complex and wounded, and the two of them finding each other and growing is really special.

You guys, Jandy Nelson knows how to write exceptionally real characters. Noah and Jude are amazingly well-realized. Their sibling relationship is broken, and neither of them seem in the right place to fix it. But they aren’t the only characters who make I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN brilliant: Brian, Oscar, and Guillermo all impact the story in their own indelible ways, and together they make this book fabulous.

Umm, OF COURSE a book about Tiger Lily and Peter Pan is going to be character-driven, especially when it’s this book. Tiger Lily is an outstanding character. She’s fierce and strong and imperfect, and her relationship with Peter is not all fluffy clouds and rainbows and hearts for eyes. When a book is named after a character like TIGER LILY is, you expect it to delve deeply into who that character is, and we get all up in Tiger Lily’s business. But even when we do, she’s still a mystery in a lot of ways. I love her.

So, ok, Marie Lu’s Legend series is pretty plot-driven. I’ll give you that. But who would care one whit about the plot if Day and June weren’t a part of it? Not me. They are so different: charming, confident Day and steady, determined June. Despite their differences, they work together, and the story is better because of them.

Really, both of the books in this series would belong on this list, but I liked JUST ONE DAY a little better, so that’s the one I’m highlighting here. Allyson is one of those characters that draws you in because so many of her troubles are the same kinds of things we deal or dealt with ourselves. And her day with Willem is so not just about the traveling. At all. It’s about them and what they grown to mean to each other in such a short time and how Allyson grows from that one day. Perfect character-driven stuff going on.

The ultimate, in my opinion. Every week when I’m thinking of my Top Ten Tuesday list, there’s one book that always comes to mind immediately, and ELEANOR & PARK was that book for me this week. Eleanor and Park obviously not only MAKE the story in ELEANOR & PARK, they ARE the story, and not just because the book is so clearly about them. They are the story because of who Rainbow Rowell made them and the way they slowly become friends and more, and the way they support each other. I’m going to reread this one soon, too. Because I miss them.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Characters I Want to Adopt and Shower With Love

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!

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