Here we go, Day 2 of the Sharing the Awesome awards hosted @ inkcrush is all about the characters.  (P.S. This is a fairly open and relaxed set of awards. I don’t see a deadline, nor any real rules other than whatever books you choose for your awards be books you read this year. I urge you to join in on the fun if you’re thinking about it)!  🙂

1. Best female POV – Bianca Piper from The Duff for sounding like a real teenager. Sarcastic, smart, and a little buttkicked by Life (but learning how to deal with it).

2. Best male POV – Eugenides from The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. I really loved the first person point of view of this book. Just the right bit of cheeky. A close runner up was R from Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion.

3. Best couple ❤ – After all my obsessing over Grace and Vaughn from Unsticky, it really would be strange not to see them win this one from me, wouldn’t it? Yes, they win. I love this couple for being individually quite dysfunctional, but together, quite amazing.

4. Who i so want to be best friends with – Hmm, this is one that took some thought. There are a lot of tough, cool ladies, but I think my choice is going to be Cat from Cold Magic, who can be counted on when someone she loves is in trouble.  A very important trait in a friend.

5. Who I fell completely in love with (new literary crush) – Oh please. Eugenides of course.

6. Worst (best) villain – the villain from Double Cross by Carolyn Crane. To tell you more may spoil it.

7. Best character twist (who you loved then hated or vice versa) -See above.

8. Best kick-arse female – Irene from The Queen of Attolia. An overlooked, underestimated female who seizes power and rules with a will of iron? Shiver me timbers.

9. Best kick-arse male – For his sheer crazysauce and preternatural fighting skills (never wearing any kind of armor), this goes to Whirrun of Bligh, also known as Cracknut, a secondary character in Joe Abercrombie’s The Heroes. In the beta male category, this goes  Eldric (from Chime by Franny Billingsley) who kicks butt for saying something when Briony is wrong (like when she says she’d be better if she was someone else), and for also recognizing (and regretting) when he’s an idiot.

10. Broke your heart the most – I would have to say Rowan Mackenzie from Spellcast by Barbara Ashford. He broke it in a way it needed to be broken though. It felt right. I know that sounds strange, but it makes sense, really.

11. Best/worst character names – Best character name is a toss-up. It’s either Atticus O’Sullivan from Hounded by Kevin Hearne (Atticus is a great name), or Dreadnought Stanton from The Native Star by M.K. Hobson. DREADNOUGHT! Love it.

As for Worst character name.. sigh, I’m afraid I have to go with Deuce from Enclave by Ann Aguirre.  I like it within the context of the book, but it does not have the best colloquial meaning.