Top 5 | Fictional Friendships

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about my Top 5 Fictional Siblings, and in that post I said I wanted to write more like it to celebrate the relationships in fiction which are often forgotten in favour of romance. So today I'm going to share with you my Top 5 Fictional Friendships!

Harry, Ron and Hermione, from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

"Why is it, when something happens, it is always you three?"

No list like this would be complete without the inclusion of the Golden Trio. A lot of the time in books our protagonist will have just the one best friend, and in a lot of these books that friendship is often forgotten and brushed over so our protagonist can concentrate on their love life. Harry, however, has two best friends, and they're both fantastic.

What I love about the Harry Potter books is that friendship is so much more important than romance. There's such an emphasis on friendship and loyalty and comradery; even though it could mean the death of them, Ron and Hermione pack up their bags, leave Hogwarts and follow Harry into the big bad world so that he doesn't have to face Voldemort alone. What are friends for?

Lirael and the Disreputable Dog, from The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix

"I am the Disreputable Dog. Or Disreputable Bitch, if you want to get technical. When are we going for a walk?"

Here we have another book in which romance is forgotten entirely, resulting in one of my all time favourite fictional friendships. Most of us, at some point in our lives, will have wanted a pet, and the only thing better than a pet is a pet than can talk.

Of course the Disreputable Dog isn't a pet, but she is a talking dog. A hilarious talking dog. Her relationship with Lirael is one of the most beautiful things in The Old Kingdom series, and that's saying something because this series as a whole is amazing. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend it; Nix is a master at writing female-led fantasy that doesn't focus on romance for a second.

Cinder and Iko, from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

"See? Injustice. Here we are, risking our lives to rescue Kai and this whole planet, and Adri and Pearl get to go to the royal wedding. I'm disgusted. I hope they spill soy sauce on their fancy dresses."

I knew I wanted to include The Lunar Chronicles in this selection, but I have to be honest it took me a while before I decided who to mention because I love them all. I love Cinder's relationship with Thorne - male/female relationships that stay purely platonic make me incredibly happy - and I love her relationships with Scarlet and Wolf, too. In the end, however, I just had to include Cinder and Iko, though to be honest Cinder, Iko and Thorne also make a fabulous little trio.

Iko is there for Cinder most when no one else is; in fact she's been with Cinder since the latter was just a little girl, and despite the fact that they're very different (not only in personality, but also in what they actually are) they make a great duo. Iko might be an android, but she's incredibly loyal and there's genuine affection between the two of them. Considering the amount of crap Cinder goes through, she needs a friend like Iko.

Legolas and Gimli, from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

"Forty-two? Oh, that's not bad for a pointy-eared elvish princeling. Hmph! I myself am sitting pretty on forty-THREE!"

Legolas and Gimli: the ultimate bromance. All joking aside, however, I love the friendship that blossoms between these two for many reasons (even if I am cheating a little because I haven't actually read The Lord of the Rings yet). I think most of us are probably friends with someone now who, years ago, we never thought we'd be friends with - it's funny when things work out that way. These two are a beautiful example of overcoming prejudice; they both come from a race of people who despise the other, and yet by the end of their adventure they are willing to die side by side. I love these two.

Katniss Everdeen and Johanna Mason, from The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

"I don't care if you're knocked up. I'll rip your throat out."

If that doesn't scream best friends forever, then frankly I don't know what does. Katniss and Johanna are my favourite characters from The Hunger Games trilogy, and I've always been slightly disappointed that we didn't get to see more of them together; in fact by the end of Mockingjay Johanna seems to just... disappear. 

Everyone in the trilogy was impressed with Katniss, as, of course, they should be, but I love how Johanna doesn't give her any special treatment. She treats her exactly how she treats everyone else, and I think that's something Katniss needs - she never wanted to be a 'celebrity' in the first place.

Do you have any favourite friendships?

J.

Top Ten Tuesday | Books About Friendship

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list consisting of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find out everything you need to know about joining in here!

I only discovered this feature this morning and as soon as I saw it I just knew I had to join in! I must give an honourable mention to the lovely Erin, who I first discovered on Tumblr and whose blog introduced me to this feature.

This week's theme is 'Ten Books About Friendship', and as someone who loves friendship in fiction (and who thinks it's somewhat underrated when compared with romance) I'm very excited about this theme! So, without further ado, here's my list:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Let's face it, a list concerning fictional friendships just wouldn't be complete without the inclusion of the book that first introduced us to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

One of the great things about the Harry Potter series as a whole is its focus on love outside of romantic love, which so many stories seem to focus on nowadays. I love how highly this series favours friendship.

Lirael by Garth Nix

I mentioned Lirael in my Top 5 YA Heroines list, and one of the things I mentioned loving most about her is that throughout the entirety of The Old Kingdom trilogy Lirael has no romantic entanglements. I enjoy reading romance as much as the next person, but as someone who's single it's nice to come across a book now and then which says 'you know what, it's okay to be alone and focus on your friendships'.

Lirael's main relationship is with the Disreputable Dog, one of my favourite fictional sidekicks, and their friendship is just gorgeous. If you haven't checked out this trilogy then you really should!

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

At first glance Year of Wonders probably doesn't seem like a book about friendship, it certainly isn't marketed as one. It's a wonderful piece of historical fiction set in 1666 in Eyam, Derbyshire, where the townspeople have elected to quarantine themselves to prevent the spread of the plague. It's such a powerful book, and well worth reading.

I've often seen it marketed with emphasis on a love story, but in all honesty the real love story in this book is the friendship that grows between Anna, our heroine, and Elinor, the pastor's wife. It really is a beautiful book.

(I reviewed Year of Wonders here if you're interested!)

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Okay so I'm probably cheating a little bit here because Cress is a novel about many things, but one of the things I love most about this book (and this series in general) is the friendships that develop between the characters. I particularly love the little trio that is Cinder, Iko and Thorne - they're so much fun!

(And I reviewed Cress here!)

The BFG by Roald Dahl

Who didn't love Roald Dahl's stories as a child? Growing up in Britain I was practically raised on every children's story Dahl wrote. The Magic Finger and Fantastic Mr Fox were always my favourites, but I've always had a soft spot for The BFG. It's an endearing little story, and the friendship between Sophie and The BFG is beautiful.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Here we have one of my favourite classics. The friendship that grows between Mary, Dickon and Colin in The Secret Garden is just exquisite. This is another gorgeous little book, and an ideal read if you're a little intimidated by classics and don't know where to start!

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Like Cress, Noughts & Crosses is a book about a lot of things, but friendship is certainly one of its biggest themes. The relationship between Sephy and Callum is one of the most stunningly heartwrenching relationships I've come across.

If you're a fan of YA and you haven't read this book yet please, please do, but I feel I should warn you that it will break your heart into a million pieces!

Secrets by Jacqueline Wilson

If you'd asked me who my favourite author was when I was a little girl I'm pretty sure I would have said Jacqueline Wilson. I devoured her books when I was younger - it didn't matter what they were about, I loved them all - and when I think about fictional friendships, Secrets always comes to mind.

When I was little I had four different primary schools because we moved around a lot with my Dad's work; I would have loved to have had a secret friend hiding in my attic.

Skellig by David Almond

Speaking of secret friends hidden around the house, I first read Skellig in school when I was around 11/12 years old and I've loved it ever since. 

The story follows Michael who, after moving to a new house, finds a peculiar man with wings in the back of his parents' new garage. It's an amazing, heartwarming story, and well worth a read if you haven't read it already!

Pirates! by Celia Rees

Last but not least, Pirates! is a piece of MG/YA historical fiction which follows Nancy, the daughter of a plantation owner, and Minerva, the daughter of a slave, who flee to the high seas so that Nancy can escape an arranged marriage.

I've loved Celia Rees's novels since I was an early teen - in fact I have a blog post about Witch Child here! - and Pirates! was the first novel of hers I ever read. The relationship between Nancy and Minerva is much more important than their romantic entanglements and I just love that. If you're interested in piracy but you're tired of reading about boys having all the fun, then you should definitely check this book out!

So there we have my top ten! What are yours?

Top 5 | YA Heroines

Last month, the month of love (ew), I gave you a list of my Top Five Fictional Boyfriends (and by boyfriends, I mean my boyfriends). 

March, on the other hand, is Women's History Month, so I thought I'd share with you my Top Five YA Heroines! The ladies mentioned here are just a small selection of some of my favourite heroines of all time, but I decided to only share with you my favourite heroines from YA today, otherwise this list would be huge!

So, in no particular order, here are a selection of my favourite heroines!

Linh Cinder

from The Lunar Chronicles

by Marissa Meyer

I love all the heroines on this list dearly, but if my life depended on picking an absolute favourite then right now it would be Cinder.

Going into this series I never expected to love it as much as I do - in fact now it's one of my favourite series, up there with Harry Potter and The Hunger Games - and I certainly never expected to love Cinder as much as I do. I love my fairy tales, and I love fairy tale retellings, but I never really had strong feelings either way when it came to Cinderella. Sure I felt sorry for her, but I just couldn't comprehend why she would let her stepmother and stepsisters treat her the way that they did, and I was always baffled that no one else in the kingdom shared her shoe size.

For me Marissa Meyer's take on the fairy tale gave Cinderella the personality I'd always wanted her to have when I was a little girl. Cinder is a gorgeous lead character. I love that she hasn't been interpreted as this stunningly beautiful young girl, but as a growing teenager who is incredibly independent but still full of so much fear. She feels like a real girl, and I love that she's a cyborg.

I just love her.

Katniss Everdeen

from The Hunger Games trilogy

by Suzanne Collins

Forget Team Peeta vs. Team Gale, I'm a proud member of Team Katniss!

If there's one thing I hate about The Hunger Games franchise, it's the way the media has tried to turn it into more of a love triangle than a statement about the sacrifices that come hand in hand with war. A lot of people don't seem to realise that fans of the books, or the films, aren't fans because they're rooting for Peeta or Gale to 'win', but because they're rooting for Katniss.

She's a stunning character. She's fantastically flawed, something most of us can relate to, and fiercely brave. And yet even though she goes through so much, even though she kills others, even though she is permanantly changed by what she sees, everything she does comes from a place of love. Like I said, forget Team Peeta or Team Gale, the love I'm most fond of in this trilogy is the love between Katniss and Prim.

I could write an entire post about this woman - maybe one day I will! - and she will always be one of my favourite heroines.

Saba

from the Dust Lands trilogy

by Moira Young

I love Saba because she's angry. There's something deliciously raw and honest about her that I absolutely adored when I read Blood Red Road last year.

One of the things I love most about her is just how vulnerable she is underneath the layers of strength she's built up around herself. Throughout Blood Red Road she is constantly changing; in searching for her brother she ends up finding herself, too, and realises that she's a person worthy of account with or without her brother beside her.

I love her, and I can't wait to read the rest of her story. I haven't read Rebel Heart yet; I'm waiting until the release of Raging Star so I can marathon the rest of the trilogy!

Nymphadora Tonks

from the Harry Potter series

by J. K. Rowling

One of the ladies from Harry Potter just had to be on this list, and honestly I had a hard time choosing only one of them. I love Hermione, Ginny and Luna, all in different ways, but there's always been a special place in my heart for Tonks, and I don't think she gets enough credit as a character.

Perhaps she doesn't belong on a YA Heroine list, but when we first meet her in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix she's only around 22 years old. She might not be a teenager, but she's hardly old either.

Although we don't see as much of her, I think Tonks is just as much of a role model as the other HP ladies. Tonks was born with a gift that means she can change her appearance, and rather than make herself ridiculously thin or stunningly beautiful, she gives herself short, bright pink hair, and even uses her gift to give herself a pig's nose or a duck's beak to entertain her friends. She has a gift a lot of insecure young girls, and boys, would kill for, and she uses it to accentuate her own individuality, rather than change her body to meet the expectations society and the media place upon young girls and women. That, in my opinion, makes her a wonderful role model.

Not to mention her relationship with Lupin, a man who is stigmatised for what he is, and who she falls in love with anyway because she literally doesn't care. And if that's not enough she also has a brilliant sense of humour.

Tonks was always one of my favourites, and I think she needs more love than she gets!

Lirael

from The Old Kingdom trilogy

by Garth Nix

I think anyone who, like me, became familiar with The Old Kingdom trilogy (also known as the Abhorsen trilogy) during adolescence felt some form of kinship with Lirael.

The poor girl was desperate to be a seer, desperate to be like the other girls around her, but her name was never called. Add to that that she even looks different from everyone else, and severely feels that this matters, and you have a heroine young people from all over the world can relate to.

What I love most about Lirael is that she's a real champion for friendship and independence. She doesn't have a love interest, though I think there's the beginning of something hinted at between her and Nicholas Sayre later in the series, and in fact the idea of romance appears to make her uncomfortable. She even rebukes Sameth's attempts at flirtation (which is for the best, considering he later turns out to be her nephew) and I appreciate that Nix didn't decide to make her have a sudden change of heart in which she realised romance is wonderful. She's still finding herself and she enjoys her independence, and I don't think we see enough of this in YA.

Really the main love story in Lirael is the friendship that grows between Lirael and the 'Disreputable Dog', who also happens to be one of my favourite sidekicks in YA. The two of them make a wonderful duo, and the Disreputable Dog becomes the kind of mentor Lirael always needed.

I love Lirael, and I think I might have to reread this trilogy some time this year.

So there's my list! Who would be on yours?