fave reads of 2011 ~ the characters

[please forgive (or righteously shake your fist at) bloggers wonky formatting. argh.]

1. best female POV
i can't really choose here (what was i thinking, inventing this category !!?!). anyways, i am going with one girl who was just so authentic to the teen voice, utterly flawed but still heart-breakingly lovable and completely got under my skin:

Sydney from EVERY LITTLE THING IN THE WORLD. i found her utterly engaging and all her little sentiments about the world just gorgeous and quietly sigh-worthy.

(although i love my hilarious narrators too)

2. best male POV

this was hard (understatement). but i completely LOVE Mason from C K Kelly Martin's book. every thing about him is just gorgeous ~ i also found him refreshing, just so effortlessly likeable, and quite distinct in his personality and vibe. my (very very close) runners-up were Jace from SPLIT (in 2nd place) and Adam from WHERE SHE WENT.

3. Best couple <3 

• for soul mates and history (regardless of their ending ~ no spoilers): Adam and Mia in WHERE SHE WENT
• for loving watching these two together: Clara and Tucker in UNEARTHLY
• for antagonistic slow-burning attraction & chemistry ;) Jake and Harper in SAVING JUNE

(these aren't necessarily my fave couples, just undeniably done well couples ;)

4. who i so want to be best friends with

Chelsea from PAST PERFECT love her like mad. 

(three shout-outs):  

• Leigh from PSYCH MAJOR SYNDROME (although she is perhaps a little too similar to me, LOL). 
• I would definitely LOVE to hang out with Kyra from THE CHOSEN ONE. she needs a friend 
• and Georgia from ANGUS THONGS, (etc) I heart you xx Nomes

5. who i fell completely in love with (new literary crush)
okay ~ so there's been plenty of fine boys between the pages this year. so sticking to my absolute absolute faves and i have it down to my top two (oh, i know, impressive!)

Nathan from PSYCH MAJOR SYNDROME and Jake from SAVING JUNE

one good boy and one (maybe not so) bad boy. both particularly swoon-worthy
(weirdly, they both sing, play guitar and run around shirtless... i'm sensing a theme here ... *cough* nic *cough*)

i was going to list my runners-up but things were getting COMPLETELY (sheepishly, foolishly) out of hand. so i'll just leave it there for now ;)

6. worst (best) villian

Brand from BURN BRIGHT (eeeevil and smart)

the elders from THE CHOSEN ONE ~ completely foreboding and genuinely fear-inducing. also, layered. 

AND the villains (?) in NEVER LET ME GO. it's hard to work out who they are the whole way through. and even harder to see them all black and white. so many shades of grey ~ which is perfect for villains. in the end, they are a blend of the villainous and also, weirdly, saviour-like beings (from the other perspective) expertly done, IMO.

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

Christian in SPLIT (Jace's older bro). i mean, i never hated him, but he swung ambiguously on that pendulum of like/dislike, get over yourself/man-up/you're breaking my heart/aww, man ... etc (not so much a character twist ~ more just flawed and ambiguous and realistic)

8. best kick-arse female

Elsha from WINTER OF FIRE and Gabi from WATERFALL ~ they are both feisty and determined and courageous.

9 best kick-arse male

i'll be honest ~ i don't have a STRONG obvious pick for this BUT i really do like Carrie Ryan's flawed boys ~ and they certainly have their knight in shining armour moments.

so i pick both Eli and Catcher from THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES.

10. broke your heart the most

Jace from SPLIT. aww :'(

 11. best/worst character names
(this is the part where i hope i don't offend anyone who has these names in real life. or, awkwardly, someone who chooses these names as 'best' haha

worst: those kids in FORBIDDEN. lochan, maya, willa, kit and tiffin. argh. it's just too "daytime drama". not for me (especially lochan, it's like the awkward version of lochlan)

also, not overly fond of Mclean (WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE). it just gets me thinking of my Macleans toothpaste, you know, haha

and Milo from FALL FOR ANYTHING. i did get past it, but there's no denying that Milo really is a dog kind of name ;)

best: i am not fazed about best names, i guess i get more attached to the character and then the name becomes synonymous with the awesome. when i was thinking about my fave character names, they all just ended up (sheepishly) being the names that belong to my fave characters.

I like Leigh (who has a secret real first name that you find out later in the book, which made me like her even more. her real first name is kind of awesome) from PSYCH MAJOR SYNDROME. 

and Sydney from EVERY LITTLE THING IN THE WORLD ~ i already liked Sydney from ALIAS though ;)

OH! and Harper from SAVING JUNE <3 (v v cool)

and it should be mentioned that the name Patrick (FIXING DELILAH) has never let me down ;)

and randomly, i really ended up liking the name No (from the gorgeous, sublime French YA: NO AND ME) even though at first it seemed like an odd name, No? LOL


* I wish I had also had a few categories for best siblings, best parents, best friends ~ i didn't think of it until later (and to be honest i was getting carried away with categories anyways. i think i could endlessly think up awards, LOL. i'll add in these when i do it again at the end of the year ;)

BONUS: 5 fave covers (from books i have read)

SLICE: so summery and blue and smiley and vibrant. with lovely title font

EVERY LITTLE THING IN THE WORLD: i unabashedly LOVE this cover. it's full of life, and just screams out at me to be picked up. i also LOVE the cover model for Sydney <3

PAST PERFECT: so this cover has NOTHING to do with the actual book (!?) but it's still undeniably awesome <3

THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES: LOVE our Aussie edition. it's dark and textured and kind of haunting. matches the tone and atmosphere of the whole series

ALASKA: much more gorgeous in person, it's bronzey and shimmery and has a wrap-around dust jacket picture.

BURN BRIGHT: it's only after reading the book that i love the cover so. it's dynamic and vibrant and dark and a little bit unusual = perfect.

here's a linky to link-up (and WOW thanks to everyone who has joined in so far O.o ~ it's been unreal reading all your nominations.) am a bit flat out today but will pop over in the next couple of days to check out any posts i haven't seen yet :D)

I'm posting part three on Thursday, the last day of June (click on sidebar icon for categories for #3)