Top 5 Tuesday: Top TEN Side Characters

Top 5 Tuesday is a meme by the fantastic Bionic Book Worm, and it explores a different bookish topic each week! And this week we got to choose TEN instead of five. :O

I feel like with every Tuesday when I make these lists, something is revealed to me. This week I realized that I like my side characters very, very loyal, the males tenderhearted and the ladies fierce and sassy (and fashionistas, apparently). This list was surprisingly easy to make, but I’m sure some character from another book I didn’t even think of will occur to me later and I’ll curse myself, but for now these are some of my all time fave side characters, not in any particular order.

Neville from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Good, brave Neville. I love Neville so very much, and his development over the course of the Harry Potter books is A+. I love how he really comes into his bravery from a rather timid, clumsy kid, and how he gets things that need to be done, done. Definitely a favorite Gryffindor ❤

Genya from the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Listen, I love Genya. She was my favorite in The Grisha Trilogy, and I loved her little camio in Crooked Kingdom. I love her sense of humor, her loyalty, and her willingness to take chances and risk everything – like her beauty. She’s so sweet and funny and relentless, and I loved her character development over the course of The Grisha Trilogy.

Hearthstone from the Magnus Chase series by Rick Riordan

The Magnus Chase books by Rick Riordan are also ones I don’t mention often, but I love them, and my favorite character in them is Hearthstone. I love his stubbornness and seriousness and sassiness, and the plot surrounding him in the second book is basically my favorite thing in those books so far. Not to mention, I’ve learned some sign language from him. Thanks, Hearth.

Benvolio from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

I feel like this is kind of a weird one because, like, out of all the characters and Romeo and Juliet, why did my heart choose Benvolio?? But when I first read R&J in high school, he was instantly my fave because I admired him for attempting to be a peacekeeper amidst all the fighting going down in Verona between the Montagues and the Capulets, even though he was still a part of it. And I feel bad that literally all his friends are dead by the end. My heart just went out to him and I’ve loved Benvolio ever since. He’s one of my favorite Shakespeare characters.

Noah from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Okay, I know I’m straddling the line between main character and side character and depending on where you began the story it was about Noah, but let me use this as an excuse to talk about him for a sec, okay? Because I love Noah and I’ve hardly talked about him on here. He’s so adorable and funny and odd and I loved every scene we got with him in The Raven Cycle. He took a little while to grow on me, because he is rather strange, but when we hit The Dream Thieves and he was looking at that snow globe in the dollar store, he melted right into my heart. I love the part he plays in the Raven Cycle crew and I love how he was written.

Herbert from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

I love Great Expectations, and I love amidst Pip’s messy adolescent selfishness there comes along Herbert, who is so cheerful, and sweet, and loyal. He’s like a ray of sunshine in all the cloudiness of this book, and I love him, and I love how loyal he is to Pip, even when Pip doesn’t deserve it.

Iko from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

I freakin’ love Iko. When I first started The Lunar Chronicles I was like…wait…she’s an android..that isn’t very android-ish? But it did not take long for me to love her. She’s sassy and girly and fierce and I love that no matter what kind of body she’s in, she’s no less fierce. I still have yet to read Wires and Nerve to see her featured a the main character, I really need to get on that! (do you ever wait to read something because you need the Perfect Reading Condition to start it in? I need to just move past that and start it)

Holland from the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab

I initially really disliked Holland, with reasonable cause, but he grew on me SO MUCH in A Conjuring of Light. He was my favorite thing about that book, and I loved loved loved getting to know his backstory and seeing him interact with Kell and Lila. Getting to know the desires of his heart pained me and I loved it.

Sage from Geekerella by Ashley Poston

I’ve talked about this recently in my review of Geekerella, but I loved Sage. I loved how tough and loyal and nice she is, and how she persisted in trying to be Elle’s friend even when Elle shied away from it. I loved their friendship and how Sage played a vital role in helping Elle come into herself. She was my favorite character in that book, and I also loved her colorful appearance.

Harold from A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

If I think about Harold for too long I’ll probably start to get teary-eyed, much like if I think about any character from A Little Life for too long. Harold is just….so good. He’s so patient and loving in a story full of a lot of terribleness. If you’ve read the book don’t go listen to Light in the Hallway by Pentatonix and think of him because you’ll bawl like I did.

So there you have it. I love these guys. Who are some of your favorite side characters? I’d love to know!