Bookish Musings: Top Ten Female Characters from Books I Read in 2016

 
 

Yay, time for another character post! I do so love these, guys.

Except, unfortunately, I didn’t seem to find very many female characters I loved this year. I really don’t know why I struggle so much to find female characters I like. Well, I suppose part of the problem could be that I read a lot of M/M fiction and therefore read about females less, proportionally speaking, but never fear, I still managed to find at least a few!

So here they are, my favorite female characters from books I read this year!


Top Ten Seven Female Characters from Books I Read in 2016

The Key to Erebus by Emma V. Leech | reading, books
Untaken by J.E. Anckorn | books, reading, book covers
 

7. Jehenne Corbeaux – Les Corbeaux: The French Vampire Legend Series by Emma V. Leech

So… I haven’t read this yet this year, but I’m reading it next, and it’s a reread, so I’m guessing I’m still going to love Jehenne as much as I did the first time. She’s just one of my favorite female characters ever because she’s strong, funny, smart, the best kind of emotional, and overall likeable and relatable.

6. Gracie – Untaken by J.E. Anckorn

Gracie is actually a lot like me, and I do admit to sharing some of her flaws as well as her strengths. But it made her super relatable to me and gave me more insight into myself thus helping me grow as a person, just like she did.

House of Royals by Keary Taylor | books, reading, book covers
Chosen by Christine Pope | books, reading, book covers
Zoraida Grey and the Family Stones by Sorchia DuBois | reading, books
The Hypnotic City by Andrea Berthot | reading, books
The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason | reading, books
 

5. Alivia Ryan – House of Royals Series by Keary Taylor

I must admit I liked Alivia more in the earlier books, which I read in 2015, but I cannot deny that she showed so much growth throughout the series and was still a good person in the end.

4. Jessica Monroe – The Djinn Wars Series by Christine Pope

Jessica is intelligent, resourceful, funny, and down-to-earth. She had a lot of the same thoughts that I did throughout the book, and I liked that she kept her priorities straight in the midst of an apocalypse and was just thankful for everything she still had.

3. Zoraida Grey – Zoraida Grey and the Family Stones by Sorchia Dubois

Zoraida is relatable and likeable and stayed on task and kept her priorities straight throughout the book rather than succumbing to the sexy men around her, as female characters are so often wont to do.

2. Philomena Blackwell – The Hypnotic City by Andrea Berthot

It’s funny, I disliked Philomena in the first book of the series, but once she had her own book and I got to know her more, I loved her. She’s amazing and feminist and strong-willed and a great role model.

1. Victoria Gardella – The Gardella Vampire Hunters Series by Colleen Gleason

I didn’t connect with Victoria at all in Book 1, but starting in Book 2, she became one of my favorite characters ever. She’s so snarky and sarcastic and hilarious, but it’s the classiest type of snark I have ever seen, which only makes it even better. She’s also kickass, but she still has real emotions and vulnerabilities, making her great in every way.

 

Check Out the Rest of My 2016 Top Ten Posts!

Top Ten Male Characters from Books I Read in 2016
Top Ten Female Characters from Books I Read in 2016
Best Book Covers from Books I Read in 2016
Top Ten Books I Read in 2016

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

Who are your favorite female characters from books you've read this year?
Why do you love them so much?

 
 
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24 thoughts on “Bookish Musings: Top Ten Female Characters from Books I Read in 2016

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  1. Greg

    The French Vampire Legend looks great judging from that cover – love it with her green eyes and the leaves. Untaken looks like a fun read with that cover- dystopia love lol! Sounds like I’d like Gardella too- tough but vulnerable, that can be tough to pull off right, and classy snark- Gleason does it so well. 🙂

    As for my fave females, I’m not sure but offhand the protag of City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong comes to mind, she was tough but had some serious background issues I’m looking forward to reading more of her. Loved several of the POV’s from The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet, and the protag from Girl From The Sea wasn’t really anything special but once the twist hit, I was like damnnnn…. lol but she’s not really a favorite, it was just kind of a badass twist.

    1. Kristen Burns

      I’m excited for my French Vampire Legend reread because I really liked those books when I first read them early last year. Untaken is more post-apoc, but close enough lol. And yep! I love a lot of things about the Gardella series, especially Victoria’s snark! It is tough to pull off tough but vulnerable, but Gleason did it pretty well.

      The City of the Lost character sounds interesting, and now you have me curious about the twist in Girl from the Sea!

  2. chucklesthescot

    I love the cover for Untaken and Zoraida Grey…I like something with vivid colours and landscapes. My top female characters in books I read are Layla in The Harvesting series, Anna in the Alpha and Omega series, The Morrigan in The Iron Druid series, Lillian in Sorceress Awakening, Mika in Magic of the Gargoyles, Rosie in Bug Out…I did read more books with male Mcs this year!

    1. Kristen Burns

      I love the Untaken cover! Wow, it sounds like you found lots of good female characters, maybe I need to read those books since I always have trouble finding them lol. I do plan to try the Harvesting series!

  3. Barb (boxermommyreads)

    Isn’t it funny how we sometimes seem to gravitate more to one gender as faves than other. I always had more guy friends in high school, but the books I read often have female MC’s. Except the ones that really stand out in my head are almost always male. Hmmm…nice thought-provoking post that probably wasn’t meant to be – that’s how my week is going!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Actually I just made a stats post, and I’m in the same boat. I end up reading about female protags more often, but I generally prefer male protags because I seem to like them better and yeah the most memorable ones are usually males.

  4. Bookworm Brandee

    Well, you know I’m absolutely going to agree with you on Victoria Gardella! And I haven’t read more than the first book. But man, I love her!! There are other heroines on your list that I *know* are on my Kristen’s Recommended TBR list but I haven’t made it to actually meeting them yet. I’ll get there though. I will! 🙂

    1. Kristen Burns

      That’s awesome that you already love her just from the first book! And lol, I can’t wait to see what you think of the other characters when you read some books from my shelf!

  5. Dragonfly

    Sooo even though she glitters in the sun I’d have to go with Victoria Gardella because snarky, sarcastic and hilarious characters are my weakness 🙂
    UGH! I wish I had read all these books!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Victoria is a human who is a vampire hunter, hun, so you don’t have to worry about that lol. Also, I’ve read roughly 40 books with vampires this year and not a single one of them sparkled. So you just never have to worry about that with me period 😛 Actually, you might enjoy the Gardella series!

  6. Keionda @Keionda Hearts Books

    I LOVE that rare moment of finding female heroines that I can not only fall in love with but also RELATE to! I can’t tell you how important that is to me! So, I’m glad that you liked these heroines in these books because that at least gives me some hope that they DO exist! <3 teehee! Awesome post, love!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yes! It’s so hard for me to find great female characters, so I agree that sometimes I start to wonder if they really exist! It’s especially great when they’re relatable 😀

  7. Jessica

    I have been reading the Anita Blake series and I do like Anita Blake. She’s tough and a softie sometimes.
    I also read some of the Mortal Instruments, but Clary does get on my nerves sometimes. And I read Shatter Me series. I loved Juliette. I also read some of the Left Behind series and Chole kinda got on my nerves.

  8. Lola

    It’s a fun topic for a top ten post! The few 5 star reads I had this year al had a great female main character. Oh and Mei from Pajonas her Daydreamer Detective series was a great character too. And I recently read The Trouble with the Mistletoe that had a very sweet and realistic female main characters. Besides that I had a lot of good characters, but not sure which ones would make my top ten if I would make one.

    Characters that are likeable or relatable are always good. And realistic characters are ones I usually like as well. And I like seeing characters change or grow throughout a series and it often makes me like a character more if that’s the case. I also like characters who have emotions and flaws. It often makes them easier to like and they feel more real. Great list! these all sound like a great characters.

    1. Kristen Burns

      That’s awesome you also found some books with great female characters 🙂

      It seems I have different things that make me like female vs male characters (I think I’m gonna write a post about it). But yeah, I like when they’re relatable and when they have emotions and flaws because it definitely makes them more real!

  9. AngelErin

    Nice list! I feel like I have less female characters that I like as well. I don’t know why. These all sound like they would be great though and I love the House of Royals cover. 😀