Mandy’s Easter Eggs aka Mandy’s Top Ten Favorite Characters

Recently, I just finished up the These Vicious Masks series, and I was reminded just how much I love a certain character in the series. I mean, I literally have so many heart eyes over him, and I was thinking, have I ever just straight up fangirled over a list of my favorite loves from YA fiction? Because I’m thinking it’s about time I did!

There are quite a few similarities between all of my favorite characters. Most of them are the hilarious side character or main character that just brings all the wit and funnies. Some of them are the strong, super smart girls who I adore. Some of the characters are just random ones that just struck a cord with me and I could easily relate to. Some of them are just plain epic??? Let’s take a looksies at my top ten!

Ten: Keely

 

I’m pretty sure no one has ever heard of this series, but I absolutely loved it from the first moment that I read it. I first got it on accident in a Book Outlet purchase like ten years ago, and it was kind of weird but also super epic at the same time. While some of my opinions of the characters changed over the series, I absolutely loved Keely from the start. She was strong, smart, and she took on big things without any hesitation. She fought for what she believed in, and thought she might not have physical strength, she was forever outsmarting the evil forces. She had some fantastic storylines, and both of the ships she had in the series forever had me crying. Sadly, I so don’t remember her last name. OOPS. THIS WILL BE A THEME HERE TODAY.

The covers are horrid, though. XD Such a fantastic series, though, with The Big Empty being the first. You can read more of me fangirling about the series here.

Nine: Kaz Brekker

 

Oddly enough, Kaz is quite low on the list when he used to be like number two or three? The man is a total antihero in the best possible way. He’s so twisty good and his darkness always can be chipped away to find some light in him. He’s witty, his a heart of gold for those that he loves, and he always has his team’s back. He may be a bit selfish, but who cares when he’s as epic as he is. He has some of the best lines, and the way he cares so deeply for Inej JUST GETS ME. MY HEART. THE FEELS. *swooning for this deeply dark man*

Eight: Dan

I don’t remember Dan’s last name either, but I know his dad is Taxidermy Todd? Doesn’t help? OOPS. I love so many of the characters in this duology and Maddie and Logan is one of my ultimate OTPs. However, sidekick Dan just brings so many funnies. He is just so manic cheerleader on the sidelines with trying to force these two together and then in the second book, he gets his full time to shine with so much brilliance. He’s basically every loyal sidekick in YA with the funnies, but he’s just really well done and his fake cursewords and deep commitment to friendship, the fandom life, and more just make me forever hearteyes on this little contemporary shining star.

Seven: Ismae

Okay, so, Ismae is probably Special Girl YA central, but I love her dearly. She has had a rough life with scars that are physical and emotional, but yet she has such strength. She’s definitely one of the strongest YA heroines that I’ve read and I love how she just takes charge and shows everyone epic girl power. She empowers so many other females and she helps anyone she can. She’s death’s assassin, but she also asks questions and not just kills willy nilly. When she meets Duval (um, the other half of yet ANOTHER epic OTP), she shows yet another side to her that makes me love her even more. I JUST CAN’T DEAL WITH THAT SHIP AND THE EPIC GIRL POWER ISMAE BRINGS. ALSO, SHE MIGHT NOT HAVE A LAST NAME SO I MIGHT BE OFF THE HOOK WITH THIS ONE.

Six: Inej Ghafa

My love for Inej is a bit like my love for Ismae. She’s insanely fierce, she shows so much strength in multiple regards, she knows what she wants and will do anything she can to get there. She won’t tell anything less than what she deserves. She is just the epitome of girl power, and I just love her so much. I fangirled about her for March Madness last year and you can find it here.

Five: Coach Hedge

 

If you have been following my reviews for The Heroes of Olympus, this should be no shocker. I love me some Coach Hedge. He’s just this random sidekick who is kind of murderous and super hyper, but I JUST LOVE HIM DEARLY. HE’S MY BABY SATYR THAT JUST WANTS TO BEAT PEOPLE UP WITH BASEBALL BATS, AND I’M HERE FOR IT. Back when I first started writing, I always used to make these insane characters, and I feel like Riordan saw into my brain and pulled him out of there.

Four: Leo Valdez

 

…and here comes my epic love part two from that series. That’s right – all the ladies truly do love Leo Valdez, Mandy is no different, and I CAN’T DEAL. People have been dropping hints that my little lovebug is coming back in following series, and my heart, THE FEELS, I AM NOT OKAY. He’s just hilarious, adorable, and so intelligent. I imagine him as a young Carswell Thorne with more attitude and spunk.

Three: Mr. Kent

 

MR KENT MR KENT MR KENT. I swear this man walked straight out of an Oscar Wilde and into my heart. He is so much love. He’s one of the wittiest characters that I’ve ever met, and there isn’t a line in his stories that doesn’t make me crack up and go, ooh, that’s genius. His special power leads to so much mischief and fun and I can’t even explain this amazingness to you AND JUST HAS MY ABSOLUTE HEART.

Two: Cress Darnel

If you have been following this blog for any length of time, you know that Cresswell from the Lunar Chronicles is literally my life/OTP/favorite ship of all time. However, I actually love them both as individual. Rapunzel is one of my favorite Disney princesses of all time, and I feel like Meyer made Cress super similar. I relate so much to Cress since she has such a massive fangirl heart, lives through the worlds she creates in her imagination, and fights with her heart. She’s got these epic hacking powers, and she feels so deeply. She never loses what makes her her, and her voice is one that forever sticks out to me. I JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH.

One: Carswell Thorne

Well, if Cress is my second favorite, we all know who the first favorite is. CARSWELL THORNE. *forever swooning* *swooning again* *more and more swooning* He’s funny. He’s street smart. He sees his faults and he strives to be a better person. He’s forever loyal to his crew and ship. He may be a ladies’ man, but once he finds the perfect girl, HE JUST GETS TO BE SO EPIC AND ADORABLE AND SWEET AND I’M LOOKING AT YOU LAST CHAPTERS IN WINTER BECAUSE MY HEART. THE FEELS. I AM CRYING. He is just so much fun and he just has these epic lines that speak to my SOUL. I don’t think there will ever be enough heart eye emojis to sum up the love in my heart.

Honorable Mentions: Scarlet from TLC, Iko from TLC, lol everyone from TLC, the cast from Speak Easy, Speak Love, Zach from the Gallagher Girl series, and much more!

What do you think? Who are some of your favorite characters? Do we have any of the same? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

UN Human Right #1

1. We Are All Born Free & Equal. We are all born free. We all have our own thoughts and ideas. We should all be treated in the same way.

Well, I’m not entirely sure how this works since I didn’t treat these characters all the same since I literally RANKED them from best to worst kind of thing??? Erm, day 1 is apparently not getting off to the greatest start. Lesson for the day: don’t rank characters when you’re trying to tell people that ranking people isn’t good and we’re all equal. But we do all have our own thoughts and ideas, so I mean, this is just mine on the best characters, and I’m eager to hear about yours!

Join Book Princess Reviews in the April #30daysofHumanRightsBPR Blog Challenge! Participate with blog posts inspired by the UN Human Rights or Insta/Twitter pics and quotes w/ human rights themes. Find out more here!