Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
I would like to confess that I was not actually expecting Jana to choose this prompt, so now I must try to recall which characters I had in mind when I submitted it months ago. Consider this a friendly warning if you’ve also been sending her ideas for future Top Ten Tuesday posts to her. She just might listen to you! 😂
The last few books on this list were mentioned in my Top Ten Tuesday post last week as well.
When I came up with this idea, I was thinking of characters I might like to be friends with as I’m happily married and never dated much even back when I was single. Romance worked so much better for me if I could start off as friends first with someone and get to know them really well before deciding if we should escalate things.
It’s 100% fine if your selections were for romantic partners, though! We all have different needs and interests in life.
So who would I want to be friends with?
1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Matthew Cuthbert. He was such an underrated character in this series in my opinion. I loved seeing how this shy and passive man learned to stand up for himself and get to know others better through his friendship with Anne while still remaining true to who he was as a deeply kind and compassionate human being.
2. The Lost Girls: A Vampire Revenge Story by Sonia Hartl
Holly. She is one of those unfortunate characters who stuck around in my brain long after I finished reading about her because she was manipulated into becoming a vampire in the 1980s by her much-older vampiric boyfriend, and it took years for her to realize how much he had stolen from her. Like Kristina who is mentioned below, she was deeply traumatized, but she was a lot further in her healing journey when the audience first met her. I admired her survival skills and thought she was a fascinating person.
3 & 4. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Sibling Dex and Mosscap.
Several of the characters on this list are dealing with intense personal circumstances (through no fault of their own, of course!), so I’d want to balance them out with two characters who are peaceful, curious, and (generally) quite happy.
5. The Deep by Rivers Solomon
Yetu. She is another character who I think about a lot. She was courageous and had a firm moral compass, both of which are excellent traits to find in a friend.
6. Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
Sister Evangelina. While this is a memoir, apparently some of the characters in it were either partially made up or composites of more than one real person The author knew when she was a midwife.
Therefore, I don’t know if Sister Evangelina was a real nun or not! I loved her assertive and hardworking personality, though. She was the sort of person who would make sure everything was done properly the first time which made a lot of sense once the books and TV series referenced the neglect (and possible abuse?) she experienced as a child. I think she’d make a great friend once you got past her gruff exterior as she did have a heart of gold.
7. Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Fatima. She was a complex and interesting character that I’d love to invite over for dinner (once she gained better control of her powers, of course!)
8. Grief Eater by Emma Osborne
Kristina. She survived a horrible childhood and was just beginning to heal when this tale began. It takes so much emotional strength to choose to fix something that was never your fault, and I’d love to cheer her on as she became a healthier version of herself if she lived in our universe.
9 & 10. The Case of Elmwood Ranch by Deanna Grey
Rae and Octavia. I appreciated how kind and sweet these protagonists were to each other as their romance slowly blossomed. You can learn a lot about someone by paying close attention to how they treat a potential romantic interest, and I’d love to be friends with both for other.