The Smashing and Dashing Character Awards

Hey everyone!!

Happy blogmas and welcome to day 20!!

Fun fact: This day 11 years ago I got my dog!! *yay*

Today I have another tag which I have chosen to do because….

1. It has a great name. Smashing and dashing are words that aren’t used enough.
2. It gives me a chance to scream about my favourite characters which is very exciting.

THE RULES

1. You have to nominate characters to fit the categories
2. The characters just has to be from books you READ in 2019 (the books don’t have to have been published this year!)
3. Link back to Cait @ Paperfury (amazing blogger and author)
4. Also if you are reading this and eating a Christmas cookie….share (I sadly don’t have a Christmas cookie but I’ll buy 10 to make up for it)

MOST RELATABLE CHARACTER

Isaak from King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Isaak from King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo because he gave me iconic lines like this…

“At night, Isaak fell into bed and lay staring at the ceiling, heart pounding, thinking of the many things he’d wrong and the many more things he was bound to do wrong tomorrow.”

and honestly that could be a quote from my life and I’m pretty sure I think things like this every day so yes Isaak is very relatable.

Also… (Warning: Includes King of Scars spoiler)

Issak dies after like 5 or 6 of his chapters and if I was in a YA fantasy I would probably only last a few chapters as well because as much as I would like to say I would be a badass genius fighter, I get out of breath running up the stairs and spelled my own name wrong so I would probably last as long as a him.

MOST PURE ANIMAL COMPANION

Reichis from Shadowblack by Sebastien De Castell

I only read one animal companion but he was pure in a murderous way. Reichis is the squirrel cat from Shadowblack who loves tearing eyes out and is always up for initiating a fight but he also loves baths with biscuits and he who would protect his friends so he is pure in his own deadly way.

FIERCEST FIGHTER

Alex ‘Galaxy’ Stern from Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Here is a quote from Alex Stern that really says why she has this category ‘I want to survive this world that keeps trying to destroy me.’ So that proves my point. Job done.

But she had a really rough life but in the book she is given this opportunity to let things go which would be easier for her but she constantly decides to fight for things that are right and keeps getting back up. She keeps fighting despite the odds so she gets this category.

AM SURPRISED THAT I LOVED YOU??

Dad from Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

I’m not sure I would literally say I loved Darius’s father but I think he fits the category quite well for me. You are introduced to him through Darius’s eyes and they have a complex relationship as his dad can be disapproving and they don’t have an easy connection. But throughout the book they go on a journey and you learn certain things and I really appreciated his character and how he was written. He was full of emotions and opened up to his son so in the end I think he character was so important and I liked him in a way I wasn’t expecting.

BEST SASSMASTER

Altair from We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

One of my favourite things about reading We Hunt the Flame was the banter and Altair was one of the main characters responsible for this. In particular Altair and Nasir had great banter and it was so effortless to read as it felt so natural. Altair has definitely earned this award as he throws sass everywhere, including murderers, in fact to murderers exclusively. Here is an example from the incorrect WHTF twitter account just to show you the type of sass characters he is….

Nasir: this type of idiocy will not be tolerated

Altair: is there another type of idiocy you'd be more comfortable with?

— Incorrect WHTF (@incorrect_whtf) November 1, 2019

BEST ANTIHERO

Isabelle from Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly 

This is an under-hyped book and deserves more love. It is one of my favourite retelling ever and I love it. Isabelle is the stepsister (what? That is madness you say. She is the stepsister in the book called Stepsister) to Cinderella so I imagine you are familiar with the story and how the stepsisters and stepmother were the villain of the story. But we get to hear from Isabelle in this book and see her story. So she almost was the antihero as she still played the role of the ‘villain’ to Cinderella but it wasn’t black and white and she had a story to tell. She was an empowering character who learnt to break free of what everyone was telling her to be and learning from her mistake. IT WAS MARVELLOUS.

THE BEST FRIENDS OF ALL

Many characters are getting this award….

Ajita from The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

Ajita is an amazing best friend to Izzy. Ajita was just great and always there for Izzy though this hard time. She always believed in Izzy by supporting her and asking for nothing in return. She is a friend we all should have.

Harry from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Harry was an amazing friend who was always there for Evelyn and was so sweet and caring. Harry and Evelyn built such a strong bond in the book and Evelyn could always rely on him. One of my favourite parts was how he never wanted Evelyn to change and he really appreciated her which was just beautiful.

Angela from Release by Patrick Ness

Angela was another best friend who was amazing as a person and by being there for Adam. She was strong and is one of those characters who you know would fiercely fight for her friends. She had passionate opinions and I think she would always be there to give great advice or to just be with you. She gave Adam room to make his own decisions and didn’t push him but was still a helping hand.

BEST VILLAIN TO HATE

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Now this should be the point where I name a villain and exclaim what an honour it was to hate them so fiercely but I’m not going to do that. There were kind of 2 villains in this book (or was everyone a villain in some way?) and I really liked them for how they were written as it made Locke Lamora very vulnerable and didn’t make his journey easy which I really appreciate and why I think that I loved them so much. It made Locke very human so it didn’t feel like he was heavily protected with plot armour which protagonist can often feel like so that is why they were the best villains to hate. They were smart and had their own ambitions which challenged Locke very well.

AWARD FOR BEST VS WORST YA PARENTS

Best: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz 

They are awesome and caring and both Ari’s and Dante’s parents want to be there for their sons and it is just beautiful. All 4 of them are the dream team.

Worst: The Boy Who Steals Houses by C G Drews

We get to see the Dad who is horrible and treats his sons awfully. It is really sad to read about and I REALLY don’t like him so he definitely gets the award for worst parent. The grandma is awful too. These boys just need a hug, seriously!!

SHIP OF ALL SHIPS IN 2019

Aristotle and Dante from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Aristotle and Dante are adorable and I love them both as individual and they are even better together. Just everything about them is perfect, their families together, how they treat each other and how caring they are. It is great to see their relationship develop from friends to more and to see how they personally grow across the expanse of the book. I also love how they bring out different things in each other. At the core of their relationship they just care and appreciate each other. And this book is written so beautiful how could I not love the two of them.

MOST PRECIOUS MUST BE PROTECTED

Caleb (and Adam) from The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen

I absolutely love the podcast for this called ‘The Bright Sessions’ and both of these characters are precious. Caleb is the main character of this book and he is really kind and definitely precious. Caleb is a footballer in high school who is also an empath and I love that Lauren made the ‘jock’ widely known for being cool with no emotions, have so much emotion. He just wants to be happy and get through high school. Adam is so nice as well and their relationship is just ‘aww..’, I would definitely protect them both.

 

HONESTLY SURPRISED YOU’RE STILL ALIVE

Simon from Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

I’m going to say Simon as being surprised that he is still alive feels like the plot premise. Also the fact that he is convinced his roommate is a vampire but continues to push him. I mean if I knew a vampire who I thought wanted to kill me I would very much stay away. Also he doesn’t have the best control over his magic yet but still runs into a lot of situations which are dangerous. I am surprised Simon is still alive but at the same time I’m not surprised…. he has Agatha after all.

AWARD FOR MAKING THE WORST DECISIONS

Neil Josten from All For The Game Series by Nora Sakavic

Neil Josten definitely gets this award (he could have got the award before about being surprised that he is still alive) but Neil makes a bunch of bad decisions and it really is the basis of the plot but I love him for it really and I appreciate what he was aiming for. Neil decides to put everything on the line to play exy and a home. Also he honestly likes to antagonise dangerous people to fight him all the time. So congratulations Neil, you get this award.

MOST IN NEED OF A NAP

Rin from The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

Rin definitely needs a nap. I mean she stopped herself from sleeping to study by dropping hot wax on her arms. That is plain dangerous and screams that she is in need of a nap. She is very motivated but Rin does need to have a break. She continues to need breaks in the book from the training, the people and the war. It is very constant. She just really needs a nap for like 10 years. I feel exhausted for her really.

WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT YOU

Hermes from Circe by Madeline Miller

I really like Greek mythology and although Hermes wasn’t a great character in this story, (well it is Greek mythology no one is nice, let’s be honest) I think he would be an interesting character to read about. He would experience so much of the world being the messenger of the God, guide to the underworld and the God of trade, roads, thieves and trickery (and many other things). He certainly gets around the world which means he would have an interesting life. I think the stories about him outwitting the Gods would be great. Plus in Circe he was a mischievous character and funny making him likeable in a weird way so I think it would be great to see more from him.

Daniel from Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

I loved the characters and the writing in Radio Silence so naturally I want more from them. I think Daniel would be a really interesting character as he is going to university so it would be fun to experience that from someone who wants to go. Radio Silence showed us that you shouldn’t go to university because everyone wants you to but hearing from Daniel would show what it would be like. Also I think the relationship with his parents would be interesting to explore. Also he is sarcastic so I need more sarcasm.

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Who has been your favourite character you’ve read about this year? What traits make you fall in love with a character?

Who is the most precious character you’ve read about?