Top Ten Tuesday (4)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted every week by The Broke and The Bookish and combines a love a lists with a love of books. This week's topic is a really tough one: Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters In Books. It's difficult for me because I tend to fall easily for characters while reading a book and because I have such a terrible memory I can't recall them later. For these reasons, most of my picks are from books I've read within the last year. I already feel guilty for forgetting so many.

1) Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series. Could there be any other? He is truly my favorite. I enjoyed following Harry as he grew, made friends, feel in love, and defeated the greatest dark wizard of all time. What could be better than that?

2) I'm going to list of the rest of my favorite Harry Potter characters here so because otherwise my list would be only Harry Potter characters: Hermione, Hagrid, Ron, Professor McGonagall, Neville, Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Fred and George, Ginny, Lupin, Sirius, Snape, Luna, and everyone else. Has anyone created characters as great as J.K. Rowling did for Harry Potter? Or did we just love them so much because we were able to spend so much time with them and learn so much about them? Sometimes I wonder which is true.

The rest are listed in no particular order but I still love them all.

3) Haymitch from The Hunger Games. I just love Haymitch. He has far more depth to him than we were allowed to see in the beginning and I love that about him. He wasn't just a drunk. He had lived a hard life. Not just as a tribute, but as a mentor and a survivor. And as much as he hated Katniss in the beginning, he really just couldn't stand to lose her like he had everyone else.

4) Scarlet from Scarlet. Scarlet is truly a kick-butt character. She far outshines Robin Hood (which I'm not quite sure how I feel about yet) but I admire her ability to do anything she wants. She's flawed, for sure, but strong and loyal and just wants to take care of people.

5) Alex from Delirium. Alex taught Lena how to love and that love could be good. He saved her and loved her and showed her an entirely new world that she never knew existed. He made her happy.

6) Magnus from The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices series. Magnus is a wonderful character. He's loyal, even to those he maybe shouldn't be, he knows how to love, and he's got much more depth than I originally thought. I enjoy the scenes in all of these books more when Magnus is in them.

7) Shogo from Battle Royale. He was calm and quiet throughout his story line but always strong and never willing to give in. He is a character that truly surprised me and that's pretty rare.

8) Abraham Lincoln from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Not only is he one of our most beloved presidents who reunited our nation and freed the slaves, but he could kick some serious vampire ass. It doesn't get any better than that.

9) Ana from Incarnate. Ana's story is incredibly unique but what truly impressed me about Ana was that even though she had been through so much and even though some people didn't think she deserved to exist, she still believed in herself. She left behind a mother who hated and abused her to find out who she is, why she was born, and what her birth means for the rest of the souls. She is brave, strong, smart, and a great female lead.

10) Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games. I couldn't choose one over the other and I couldn't have a list of favorites without them being on it. I know some people are "Team Gale" but Katniss and Peeta belong together. They save each other over and over again and remind each other that there is some good in the world even after what they've been through.

Okay, that was seriously painful. Did anyone else have a hard time choosing ten favorites? I know I cheated here, but it was still hard. Here are a few of my runners-up: Cinna from The Hunger Games, Jem from The Infernal Devices, Sam from Incarnate, Jace and Isabelle from The Mortal Instruments, and Tris and Four from Divergent.