Top 10 YA Reads That Feature Badass Female Characters

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Books That Feature Characters ____________: Examples: Ten books that feature black main characters, characters who hold interesting jobs, characters who have a mental illness, characters that are adopted, characters that play sports, etc, etc. Can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

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Okay, so I kind of cheated on this week’s topic.  Every other topic I could think of, I could only come up with 3 or 4 characters that fit the description.  I’m pretty sure I’ve done a post on strong female characters before so this time I decided to focus specifically on YA books.  The one cool thing is that since I’m constantly reading, I’m always coming across new badass female characters so my list of favorites is always changing.  My list this time contains a couple of long-time favorites but then also a lot of new favorites in the 2017 releases I’ve read.

 

Top 10 YA Reads That Feature Badass Female Characters

 

1. HERMIONE GRANGER from the HARRY POTTER series

 

Hermione is one of my long-time favorite badass female characters.  She’s smart, feisty, fierce, loyal, kicks butt when it comes to using her magic, and she loves books so of course I adore her.

 

 

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2. DELILAH BARD from the SHADES OF MAGIC series

 

She’s a knife-wielding thief who dreams of commanding her own pirate ship.  What could be more badass than that?  I’m really hoping Lila makes an appearance in Schwab’s new series.  I just finished Shades of Magic a few months ago and I’m already desperate for more Bard.

 

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3 and 4.  FEYRE & MOR from the A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES series

 

Some of the fighting scenes that features these ladies were my favorite moments from this series.  Both Feyre and Mor are forces to be reckoned with, each in their own way.  Feyre, in particular, achieved badass status not just because of the powers that she learned to wield throughout the series, but also because of the difficult sacrifices that she was willing to make for the greater good.

 

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5 and 6. INEJ and NINA from the SIX OF CROWS series

 

So far I’ve only read the first book of this series, so I’m hoping the second book holds true in that Inej and Nina are two of the most fabulously badass ladies I’ve come across in my reading this year.  Loved them both!

 

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7. EMIKA from WARCROSS

 

I fell in love with Emika from the very first scenes of Warcross. Not only is she a badass bounty hunter, but she is also a gifted hacker.  Her character is like an action hero in a video game setting. So exciting to watch her in action!

 

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8. XIFENG from FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS

 

Xifeng is a recent favorite of mine and she’s a bit different from the other female characters on my list because she’s technically a villain.  What elevates Xifeng to badass status for me is her willingness to do whatever it takes to remove all obstacles from her path to the throne.  She knows what she wants and goes for it, no matter what.  She can be a little scary at times, but I couldn’t help but cheer her on because of her fierce determination.

 

 

This book is one of my favorite 2017 releases so far and it’s primarily because I adored Vasya, the main character of the book, so much. Brave, fiercely protective of her family, and often quite wild and even defiant at times, Vasya has all of the qualities I look for in a heroine and I think everyone who reads the book will fall in love with her.

I loved Kady in this book because she’s what I would call a reluctant badass.  She is forced to become a badass in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds when the ship she is on is overrun by plague-infested zombies.  It’s truly thrilling to watch Kady in action in this book.

Question:  Who are some of your favorite YA badass female characters?