YA Superlative Blogfest 2013: Popularity Contest

Welcome to Day 2 of the 2013 YA Superlatives Blogfest!

About the blogfest: The Class of 2013: YA Superlative Blogfest will run Monday, December 16th – Thursday, December 19th and will highlight our favorite books of 2013. This year, the lovely hosts Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, Alison Miller, and Katy Upperman will also be giving away books to bloggers who participate in all 4 days of the fest. Click the banner for more info!

If you join in, don't forget to link up at one of the host blogs! There's a prize for participating every day!

*Disclaimer: We tried to choose books published in 2013, but as we didn't read that many 2013 releases and today's topic allows us to pick characters from ANY YA book we read this year.

The topic is Popularity Contest!


Most Likely to Become a Rock Star

Krispy's Pick: June from The Summer Prince. She's not a musician, but she's a budding artist who wants to make a difference, and in the course of her journey, she does become something of a Palmares Três celebrity for her activist art.

Alz's Pick: Lena Mattacascar from The Peculiars. Lena's not exactly what you'd immediately think of as a rock star, figuratively or literally, but this girl has the willpower, the brains, and a certain Victorian drama that enable her to get a great many things accomplished and figured out, when push comes to shove.


Most Likely to Start a Riot: Ronan from The Dream Thieves / Alina from Siege & Storm

We always knew Ronan was the troublemaker in the Raven Boys, and with the increased focus on him in The Dream Thieves, we definitely saw more of that reckless streak in him. Though he has much hidden depth, his devil-may-care badass exterior certainly suggests he's capable of starting a riot.

Alina by Ardawling [Source: ardawling.deviantart.com]

Alina from Siege & Storm (Book 2 of the Grisha Trilogy) has always been a controversial figure, but she is more so in this book than in the former. Her actions in Shadow & Bone have made her into something of a national idol, complete with a fanatic following. In fact, at one point in Siege & Storm, we think she does (accidentally) start a riot!


Biggest Flirt: Willem De Ruiter from Just One Day

I think anyone who has read the Just One Day and Just One Year duology would agree with this - Willem is a lady's man. Even when he's not purposefully flirting, he's flirting. That's just his thing. He's freaking charming.

Back cover art for CoM.
[Source: Sarah Maas' LJ]

Fashion King and/or Queen: Celaena from Crown of Midnight

We're pretty sure Celaena took the crown for this category last year too. So it's no surprise she is still reigning fashion queen, especially in this follow-up book to Throne of Glass. Since then, Celaena has been out shopping, and we are spared no detail when it comes to some of her more fabulous frocks.

But seriously, this girl should probably have a couture fashion runway installed in her closet.

Honorable mention: Violet from Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea because she's an artsy, cool, vintage-dressing girl. It also helps that she had a cool, socialite grandmother who left an attic full of chic clothes.


Girl You’d Most Want For Your BFF: Tana from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

I admire Tana because she is a normal girl thrust into the worst circumstances (and I mean, the worst) and not only does she manage to make the best of it, she sort of kicks those circumstances in the teeth. She is arguably the least powerful character in the main cast, but she is tough as nails and smart. She cares about her friends and family and has empathy for even those society has deemed monstrous.

Basically, if I were infected and in danger of going Cold, I'd want her to be by my side because with her, I'd have a chance of coming out of it alive.

Honorable Mention: Vera from Lydia Kang's upcoming Control. Control will be out later this month, but we were lucky enough to borrow an ARC to read. We don't want to give anything away, but Vera is kind of great, though she comes off prickly in the beginning. Confident, loyal girls, ftw!


Boy You Wish You’d Dated in High School:

Krispy's pick: Sturmhond from Siege & Storm, and I really can't say much more than that because of spoilers. As much as I love the Darkling, I'm not sure I would want to date him, especially since he seems pre-occupied with his grandiose political plans and um, more volatile than usual in this book. Sturmhond has ambitions too, but he seems much more, uh, emotionally stable. Plus, it helps that he's charming and handsome as well.

Alz's pick: Liam from The Darkest Minds - I've said it before and I'll say it again.  This boy is a nice boy, decent and trusting and conscientious and courteous and caring.  Like, for real, if I were going to be facing a dystopian apocalypse, I'd rather have Liam as my love interest than 90% of the other YA love interests in his genre--I mean, he's such a great guy, I'd choose him apocalypse or not.

ALSO: Sangris from The Girl with Borrowed Wings ties in this category because he's just such a delightfully different and free guy who incidentally is a shapeshifting world traveler and can be quite devoted and quite mischievous at the same time.  Gotta love 'im.

Honorable Mention: The Raven Boys from The Dream Thieves for obvious reasons.

Fanart of The Raven Boys by Cassandra Jean [Source: Cassandra Jean's tumblr]

• River from Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea because he is soooooo swoon-worthy but sooooo shady. Like Violet, I know I should stay away, but I just can't.

• Gavriel from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown needs to be mentioned here too because I just loved him, even though he's not exactly someone you can or should trust. He's a monster, and he knows it. It's just hard to keep that in mind because he's so endearing too.

Most Likely to Become President:

Krispy's pick: The Darkling from The Grisha Trilogy - political ambitions, charisma, and crazy powers? He's got them.

Also, I have a secondary pick of Evanjalin from The Lumatere Chronicles. I won't say more in case there's anyone new to the trilogy, but this is a girl with a will of steel and a clear sense of purpose. She is one of my favorite heroines.

Alz's pick: June from Prodigy because, well, I think we chose her last year too, because this girl is on a fast-track to political power with with her prodigy-ness, family background, and government/rebel ties.  No matter which side she's on, it's more than likely that she'll end up in a seat of power, though honestly speaking I see her more as the power behind the throne.


Villain You Love to Hate:

Krispy's pick: The Darkling from the Grisha Trilogy - and actually, it's more like I love to love him. I think I said this last year too... Darkness never dies (and neither does my Team Darkling allegiance)!

Fan-favorite casting of Sean O'Pry as the Darkling.
[Source: The Fashionisto /Armani Jeans FW 2012]

Alz's pick (and Krispy agrees): A certain guy from Control.  Can't say because of spoilers, but this guy is really bastard-level evil and manipulative.  Like, it's not even like "love" to hate, it's I fricking hate this guy.  He's not the type of antagonist whose appearance you relish and hope continues to pop up throughout the story; he's the type of antagonist you want killed utterly, permanently dead forever.

Honorable Mention: (Krispy's pick) I had to include Gillian Flynn's characters, even though her books are not YA, because Flynn has managed to make me invested in the outcome of characters I almost entirely dislike. I read both Sharp Objects and Gone Girl this year, and I can honestly say, I didn't really like any of the people populating those pages. But were they complex and compelling? YES. I couldn't put these books down.


Favorite Parental Figure:

Krispy's pick (and Alz agrees): Blue's family in The Dream Thieves. We love the psychic women of Henrietta and were glad to see them take a bigger role in this 2nd Raven Cycle book. They're weird and quirky, but they obviously care deeply about each other and about Blue.

Alz's pick: Canny's mom in Mortal Fire.  I had a lot of issues and mixed feelings about Mortal Fire as a novel, but Canny's mom (whose name escapes me at the moment) is extremely badass.  In her youth, she was a civilian war hero; currently she is a very grand and rather haughty woman who loves her daughter very much and knows her extremely well, even if her methods of expression occasionally leave something to be desired.  Theirs is a somewhat unconventional mother-daughter relationship, but it was well-done and heartfelt.

Honorable mention: (Krispy's pick) There are so many characters in The Lumatere Chronicles that I want to tell you about, but you should just read this amazing trilogy. Of the many parental figures, I loved Trevanion & his Guard because not only were they parental figures to Finnikin (Trevanion's actual son), they acted as guardians to so many of the trilogy's main characters. They were a part of one of many created families.


Coolest Nerd: Gansey from The Dream Thieves.

His loft and his journal is what we hope our nerding out would look like if we had a ginormous fortune, a flock of similarly-minded cohorts, and all the time in the world.

Who would you put in these categories?  Join us again for Day 3!

YA Superlative Blogfest recap:
Head Of Class