My Top 10 Book Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is REWIND! (Pick from previous topics that you want to do again or may have missed) After looking over the list of past TTT topics, I decided on top 10 heroines. This week’s list is in no particular order.

1. Jo, Little Women

jo-readingI read Little Women in high school and I feel she was really the first character I just really clicked with in a big way. I had liked several other characters before her, but I felt if I lived in Jo’s time and with her family, I would be a lot like her, with her love for writing, reading, and theatre. She is often the rock for her sisters and I think she is a very strong character and a good role model for young ladies.

2. Katniss, The Hunger Games

katniss-archerI think most of us will agree that Katniss is a strong character, and not just because she manages to get out of The Hunger Games alive twice and stick it to President Snow, but because of how she takes care of the people she loves. Just the fact that she volunteers for Prim shows her character and bravery. She goes through a lot and goes through a lot of emotional turmoil because of it, but I think she comes out even stronger in the end, because she is finally able to allow herself to truly love someone to the point of being completely vulnerable with him.

3. Liesel, The Book Thief

liesel-bookthiefLiesel goes through a lot as a foster child living in Nazi-occupied Germany during WWII. She loses so much but also gains so much, and while her story is largely tragic, it also ends in hope, as she learns how to express herself through the words she has grown to love, and she is able to move forward in her life.

4. Cinder, The Lunar Chronicles

CinderWhen I started reading Cinder, it amazed me how quickly I connected with a cyborg character. She is strong and independent, and though there were times when she was uncertain how she was going to be able to move forward, she never truly gave up. And I love getting to see her throughout the rest of The Lunar Chronicles!

5. Elliot, For Darkness Shows the Stars

fordarknessshowsI love Elliot, and I’m just going to copy and paste what I said about her in my review of For Darkness Shows the Stars: “She was independent but still loved and leaned on others. She was smart and stood her ground. She was fiercely loyal and self-motivated. I related to her a lot, at least personality-wise. But instead of irritating me (except when she wouldn’t give Kai a chance to talk to her, but more on that later), she inspired me. But she was not perfect. She constantly struggled over the beliefs of what she was raised to believe versus the changes she was seeing in her world. Sometimes others had to guide her and remind her that they were there for her and that she didn’t have to fight her demons alone.”

6. Persis, Across a Star-Swept Sea

star-sweptI adore Persis… She is smart, cunning, determined, loyal, and independent. She’s not perfect, but she is so interesting and dynamic and I loved every moment I was reading about her.

7. Lucy, The Chronicles of Narnia

dawntreader-lucyLucy was the one to discover Narnia and to first truly believe in it. Though the youngest of her siblings, she was able to lead them to Narnia and to Aslan. In Prince Caspian, she is the one that sees Aslan before anyone else, and by the time of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, though she still has her struggles, she has also grown up so much since her first time there.

8. Elizabeth, Pride and Prejudice

elizabeth-p&pPerhaps as the main character of a romance classic Elizabeth does not seem like an obvious heroine, but she was willing to stand her ground against her mother’s wishes for matrimony, as well as against a match with a very wealthy man (though we all know how that ends up changing), in a time where she most certainly was considered foolish for doing so. She is too prejudiced to see beyond Darcy at first, but she at least she does not blindly accept what her society would want her too.

9. & 10. Maddie and Queenie, Code Name Verity

codenameverity2If you’ve read this book, I don’t think I have to explain this one. And if you haven’t, I don’t know how I can. These girls are extremely brave. I feel that’s about all I can say!

BONUS! Two Favorite Heroines from Film & TV!

heroinesBasically, I could fangirl about Olivia Dunham (Fringe) and Peggy Carter (Captain America) all day, especially Peggy. I love them both. They’re strong and independent, yet feminine and kind. We need more ladies like these in our stories.

Who are your favorite heroines?

20 Responses to My Top 10 Book Heroines

  1. I just finished Code Name: Verity last night and I totally agree. Both characters were amazing and I loved this book! Though I wish I hadn’t read certain scenes in the train. Must have looked like a blubbering idiot!

  2. I would have never thought about Liesel, but she’s definitely one of my favorite heroines! Whenever I think of The Book Thief, I always think of the beautiful words and story and Death as the narrator and I easily forget that I love the main character(which sounds weird when I type it, but hey, it’s true).
    I love Elizabeth from Pride & Prejudice. I’ve always loved Elizabeth’s strong will and determination.
    Ah, and Lucy! She’s always been my favorite Pevensie (with Edmund a close second).

  3. This was such a great idea for a TTT list! I haven’t read all of these books, but I love your choices (especially Jo from Little Women, Liesel from The Book Thief, and Lucy from Chronicles of Narnia).

    I also loved Olivia Dunham from Fringe and pretty much everything about that show, especially Walter (which I could go on and on about forever, but that’s a topic for another day).

    Great list!
    My TTT- http://amandasnoseinabook.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/top-ten-secondary-characters/

  4. I NEED to read Code Name Verity and Cinder asap! Every time you post about them I make a mental note. They look incredible!

    I would have to throw in Hermione Granger and Tessa Gray (The Infernal Devices) in there too 🙂

  5. Such a cool topic! 😀 Cinder and Persis are two of my favorites too, and I just have so much love for Katniss I’ve been debating about writing an entire blog post about her.

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT,

    Alice @ Alice in Readerland

  6. As soon as I finished Cinder, I was like, she better be in the other books! Thank goodness we get her POV in all the books because she is a great main character. Lucy is a favorite of mine too. I love the Chronicles of Narnia series!

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