Summer Lovin’ Read-a-Thon :: Day Three

Summer Lovin’ runs from July 1-7. This is a no-pressure Read-a-Thon – the point is to have fun and to tackle your summer TBR list. Set your own goals and enjoy participating in posts, challenges, and giveaways! It will all culminate in a 24-hr marathon read-a-thon, from Saturday July 6th at 10am EST, to Sunday July 7th at 10am EST. Sign ups are open through July 6th!

Today’s topic is our Favorite Fictional Female Characters! I have quite a few of these, so below I’m going to rhapsodize about a couple of them in order to encourage all of you to read the books they appear in. My motives, they are quite obvious, yes? I’m afraid I’m not terribly creative, so there won’t be any pictures or anything like that – I’m not one of those readers who come up with celebrity look-alikes for the characters in the books they read, preferring instead to just imagine what they’re descriptions mean. But I will tell you why I think they’re awesome, plus link you to an old Top Ten Tuesday post in which I posted about my top ten favorite heroines (at that particular time) if you’d like to check that out.

• Annabeth Chase, from the Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus books by Rick Riordan

Um, okay, I ADORE Annabeth. Like, seriously love her. She is smart, stubborn and tough. She’s a daughter of Athena, which means she’s got massive brains. She’s supportive of her friends, really good with a knife, and has an amazing boyfriend who adores her. She is quick-witted, funny and full of sarcasm, which just makes her a joy to read about. She’s also not afraid to admit to her faults, and confront her fears head-on. I just find her incredibly realistic; I would love to meet Annabeth in real life!

• Rose Zarelli, from the Confessions series by Louise Rozett

Oh, Rose. Rose breaks my heart; her father was killed in Afghanistan, she feels out of touch and out of place in her high school, and has to deal with some really real and truly terrible things, not the least of which are bullying and peer pressure and the loss of friendships. She is SO sad, and yet, there’s a stubborn streak to her that makes her not want to give up. She does what she feels is right – even when she’s afraid doing so will cause her to lose others she cares about – and is just starting to come into her own and figure out what she wants and who she is. I just think she’s amazing, although I wouldn’t say no to her and Jamie Forta finally sorting themselves out.

• Scarlet Benoit from Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

I thought about putting Cinder on here, but honestly I think Scarlet has that little bit of something extra that makes her a tad more awesome than Cinder. Of course, that could just be because one of the final times we see her in the book is while she’s toting around a shotgun, which obviously skews things just a bit (I mean, seriously: Mademoiselle Benoit retrieved? How awesome is that line?). However, I also love Scarlet’s devotion to her grandmother, her desperation to find her and save her, and the way she sort of ignores danger as much as possible in order to do what she needs to do. There’s a stubbornness to her that I can’t help but admire, and while she’s tough, she’s also fragile in some respects, which provides a nice contrast and keeps her well-balanced. Plus she’s smart and has a great sense of humor, which is always a good thing in my book!

So there are three female characters I adore! You can see more of my favorite fictional female characters HERE if you’re interested.