Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!
This week’s theme is ‘Characters That Remind Me of Myself’, which I actually found fairly tricky before I realised I could be fairly loose here. A character doesn’t have to be exactly like me (thank goodness) for me to see something in them that I can relate to, in fact pretty much all of these characters are braver and kinder and better than I am, so below are ten characters who remind me (vaguely) of myself!
Connie from The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe: Connie is a History student studying the history of witchcraft, and if I’d been a History student at university I feel like I could have been her in another life.
Molly from The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: I’ve struggled with my weight and how I view my body since… probably before my teens, to be honest, and that’s really fucked up. No child should be equating their worth to how much they weigh. Molly is one of the first heroines I’ve encountered in YA who encapsulated how I felt about myself as a teenager.
Meche from Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Signal to Noise is one of my favourite novels of all time, and a lot of that is down to Meche who just spoke to me. At first glance we have nothing in common – she’s a teenager in Mexico City in the ’80s and I was a teenager in North Yorkshire in the ’00s – but this was one of the first books I’ve read that really reminded me of what being a teenager felt like, of feeling like a misfit at school, at home and in your own skin.
Felicity from The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee: A lot of Felicity’s story in this book is about overcoming her own internalised misogyny, and that’s something I had to do, too. Some of the things I thought as a teenager were horrific, all from absolute ignorance, and I’m glad I had the sense to learn.
Ellie from Girls Under Pressure by Jacqueline Wilson: Jacqueline Wilson was my favourite childhood author and I loved her Girls series because it was the first time I ever encountered a plus size girl at the centre of a story. I struggled a lot with my weight as a teenager, so having Ellie around was a comfort.
Lirael from Lirael by Garth Nix: Lirael grows up feeling like she doesn’t fit in and takes comfort by hiding away in the library. Same, Lirael, same.
Lazlo from Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor: Another child raised by a library, but what I saw of myself in Lazlo is his refusal to leave fairy tales and myths in his childhood. He continues to read them and learn from them as an adult, and I can relate.
Isabella from The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan: Isabella speaks to the little girl in me who grew up obsessed with dinosaurs. She’s like the fantasy equivalent of Mary Anning, who’s always been one of my heroes.
Hermione from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: I have a feeling Hermione’s going to be on a lot of lists this week, but that’s because she showed us know-it-all bookworms that we didn’t have to sit on the sidelines – we have every right to take part in the adventures going on around us, and being bookish isn’t a bad thing. I’m definitely not as smart as her, though!
Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis: This isn’t what I think, but something my older sister once told me when the 2005 adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released – apparently Lucy reminded her of me when I was a little girl.
Jessticulates 
I really want to read Lirael and Strange the Dreamer now!
My TTT post!
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I hope you enjoy them both if you do! 😊
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Great list! I love Molly from The Upside of Unrequited and Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia.
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Thank you! Molly’s definitely one of my favourites and I’ll always have a soft spot for Lucy, too. 🙂
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I love how we can relate to characters and they help us see ourselves as not just alone. One of the great things about books. 🙂 Signal to Noise sounds so good. And Lucy was awesome!
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So true! Signal to Noise is wonderful, I recommend checking it out. 🙂
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I love this post, and you’ve reminded me that I still need to read Signal to Noise:-)
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Thank you! Signal to Noise is SO GOOD, I definitely recommend picking it up. 🙂
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I haven’t read The Upside of Unrequited, but I’ve always had a love-hate (ok, mostly hate) relationship with my body, so I think I’d probably relate to Molly, too.
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I’m sorry to hear that, I hope you have nothing but love for your body in future (but I know how hard that can be)! The Upside of Unrequited is so good, I’d really recommend it if you’ve ever been body conscious – it was a very validating read for me, and I hadn’t realised how much I’d needed to hear everything that Albertalli has to say in it. 🙂
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I found it tricky for the reasons you mentioned as well. Love your reasoning behind Lazlo, I definitely feel that way as well. Hermione is a popular one for sure, but it’s so true how much a lot of us are like her. Great list!
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Thanks! This topic was definitely difficult at first. I’m not surprised Hermione ended up on so many lists, though!
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I haven’t read The Lady’s Guide yet, but I loved Felicity in The Gentleman’s Guide. 🙂
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I think I enjoyed The Lady’s Guide even more – I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! 🙂
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When they made the Girls TV series and Ellie was so thin, with no glasses… urgh. I can relate to Hermione in a lot of ways but I would give anything to be as organised as her!
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I know! 😦 I did enjoy the TV series and I do like that actress, but I’ll never be able to forgive them for making Ellie slim. I related to Ellie so much in the books and then suddenly it was like she’d left me behind.
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Hermione and Lucy! Such good choices. 🙂
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Thanks Chrissi!
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I love the Narnia series. I’ll be reading Strange the Dreamer this month (I’m behind!!). Great list!
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I hope you enjoy it! 😀
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I’ve seen a lot of Hermione, but you’re the first I’ve seen to list Lucy. I love it!
My ttt
http://www.thehauntedgravebooks.com/2019/05/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-characters-that.html
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Thanks! 😊
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Aww, Lazlo is so wonderful. I also appreciate that he never changed in spite of the circumstances.
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He’s such a good egg, isn’t he? 😊
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Hermione definitely reminds me of my younger self. I was so bossy! I need to finally pick up Signal to Noise. Great list!
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Do! Signal to Noise is so good. 😁
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I hear you on the weight issues. I wasn’t a HEAVY child, but since I was heavier than my sister, it was constantly brought up in conversation. If it was that hard for me in the 80’s, I absolutely cannot imagine how much pressure is on young girls now.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
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I know, with the rise of social media girls must be feeling more and more pressure to look perfect! Thankfully, social media also means there’s more opportunity for those of us who are older to let them know that none of it matters. 🙂
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The Memoirs of Lady Trent is on my TBR (and has been for ages…). This makes me want to read it even more! 😊
My TTT.
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I loved it! The audiobooks are amazing, and it’s a series that improves with each book. 🙂
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Lirael from Lirael By Garth Nix sounds like someone I’d want to know! Libraries are little pieces of paradise in the midst of all this harsh so-called reality 🙂
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The Old Kingdom series is wonderful, I definitely recommend checking it out. 🙂
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Oh yes, Hermione definitely reminds me of me!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/top-ten-tuesday-210/
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Hermione seems to be on a lot of lists this week!
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She does!
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Lucy is a great answer. It’s so cool that the character reminded your sister of you.
My TTT.
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I’m not 100% sure why – I think Lucy is much nicer than I am!
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