Hey there! This week I’m participating in Six for Sunday, a meme hosted by Steph at A Little But a Lot. The March theme is “Around the World in 80 Books” and the prompt this week is:
Characters You Think Deserve a Holiday
I’m going to focus on young adult fantasies for this prompt, and I feel like most of the characters in the YA fantasies that I read are very deserving of an extended holiday! lol With epic and dangerous journeys, horrific antagonists, insurmountable obstacles, and so many other conflicts, these protagonists are certainly in need of some rest and relaxation. I mean, if I were thrown into any of the situations these fictional characters are faced with, I’d buckle under the pressure. They all have so much to deal with, and most carry their burdens alone.
The first characters I though of were the main characters in Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology, but would they really take a vacation? I think they’d get bored in about five minutes and start planning some kind of heist. lol Here are some other characters that totally deserve a bit of rest and relaxation:
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1. Katniss Everdeen – The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games
Page Length: 374
Publication Date: Sept. 14, 2008
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Synopsis: Could you survive on your own in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning?
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
2. Cerys – Among the Beasts and Briars
Author: Ashley Poston
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: Oct. 20, 2020
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Synopsis: Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.
Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.
As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
3. Isaura & Leonel – Beneath Cruel Fathoms
Author: Anela Deen
Series: The Bitter Sea Trilogy (Book 1)
Page Length: 386
Publication Date: May 2019
Publisher: Fine Fables Press
Synopsis: After a violent storm destroys her ship, Isaura Johansdottir knows better than to hope she’ll be rescued from Eisland’s vast Failock Sea. Adrift and alone, her plans to start over lost, it’s a tragic conclusion after the disastrous end of her marriage—until she’s saved by Leonel, one of the merfolk, a creature long believed extinct. In repayment for her life, Leonel enlists her help to investigate the Failock’s mysterious and deadly plague of squalls. But when Isaura discovers Eisland’s ruthless new Lord commands the storms, her life will be in more danger on land than it ever was at sea.
As guardian of the Fathoms, Leonel must find the cause of unnatural storms ravaging the tidal currents and destroying the sea life. There are rumors of dark magic stirring in the Orom Abyss, the resting place of old, vanquished gods who tried to submerge the land millennia ago. Yet without proof, no one in King Ægir’s court will listen to him. And if it’s discovered he broke the Blue Laws to save a shipwrecked landweller, he might not survive the consequences.
As storms spread, Leonel and Isaura uncover secrets as forbidden as the bond that grows between them. Betrayal lurks in the restless sea, and when ancient powers lay siege to Eisland’s coast, the truth may be drowned along with everything else.
4. Soraya – Girl, Serpent, Thorn
Author: Melissa Basherdoust
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Synopsis: There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
5. Adraa & Jatin – Cast in Firelight
Author: Dana Swift
Series: Wickery (Book 1)
Page Length: 448
Publication Date: Jan. 19, 2020
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Synopsis: Adraa is the royal heir of Belwar, a talented witch on the cusp of taking her royal ceremony test, and a girl who just wants to prove her worth to her people.
Jatin is the royal heir to Naupure, a competitive wizard who’s mastered all nine colors of magic, and a boy anxious to return home for the first time since he was a child.
Together, their arranged marriage will unite two of Wickery’s most powerful kingdoms. But after years of rivalry from afar, Adraa and Jatin only agree on one thing: their reunion will be anything but sweet.
Only, destiny has other plans and with the criminal underbelly of Belwar suddenly making a move for control, their paths cross…and neither realizes who the other is, adopting separate secret identities instead.
Between dodging deathly spells and keeping their true selves hidden, the pair must learn to put their trust in the other if either is to uncover the real threat. Now Wickery’s fate is in the hands of rivals..? Fiancées..? Partners..? Whatever they are, it’s complicated and bound for greatness or destruction.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
6. Elodie & Tal – Mercurial
Author: Naomi Hughes
Page Length: 412
Publication Date: March 16, 2021
Synopsis: Snow, blood, and magic: this story is perfect for fans of the Grishaverse and The Winner’s Kiss series.
—
Everyone in the Alloyed Empire fears the Destroyer. The metal in her blood gives her incendiary powers, and the coldness in her heart makes her the empress’s perfect weapon…until a rebel attack leaves her with no magic and no memories.
Her bodyguard, Tal, has long since regretted his idealistic hope of saving the Destroyer. Now that she’s powerless he can finally end her reign of terror—if he can stop himself from falling for the wicked, funny, utterly unfamiliar girl she’s become.
Nyx was furious when her brother, Tal, abandoned her to protect a tyrant. Now, she hones herself as a rebel assassin until she can kill the Destroyer and rescue Tal. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes the entire empire hinges on the decisions the three of them will make…
Runners Up:
- Nesta – A Court of Silver Flames
- Fable – The Fable Duology
- Leigh & Dredarion – The Dark & Otherworldly Series
- Alina – The Shadow and Bone Series
Do you agree with any of my choices? Which literary characters do you think deserve a holiday? Comment below!!
Yes, Six Of Crows characters were what came to my mind immediately too, but I totally agree with your reasoning. Can you imagine Kaz sitting under a beach umbrella and watching the sea?😂
Hahaha – my thoughts exactly!
Love this! I’ve been listening to Girl, Serpent, Thorn lately (slowly because I only listen before bed, between other books) and even though I’m not far into it I 100% agree, Soraya does need a break!!
Lol – she really does! 🙂
I so agree, and not just for YA fantasy. All authors who write fantasy seem to love putting their characters through the wringer.
True – I was just thinking about Lord of the Rings – those characters definitely need a holiday! lol
Totally agree with Katniss!!
Poor Katniss! She so needs a nice relaxing vacation!
LOL this is a great prompt! I can immediately think of a few characters that could definitely do with some hols! I haven’t read most of the books you’ve mentioned but Katniss, Alina and Fable I can defo agree with! I thought of Squad 312 from Aurora Rising, Cinder and the crew from Lunar Chronicles, the Kaul family from Jade City… Actually, there are so many characters that could do with a break I reckon 😂
Yes – Squad 312 totally needs a holiday!! Cinder too. I haven’t read the other books you mentioned, but I’ve heard a lot about Jade City. I’ll have to check it out. 🙂
I’ve not read any of these but you are right about the overwhelming number of YA character who definitely need and deserve a vacation.
Right! I’m exhausted just reading them! lol
Totally agree with your number one. Poor Katniss just kept getting dragged back into things when all she wanted to do was survive.
I know, right! She definitely needs an extended holiday! lol