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Best of 2011:
PART 1: The best of everything
PART 2: Random awards

Best handled love triangle: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly was one of the few paranormal novels that I really enjoyed in 2011 (despite some nagging flaws) but what I appreciated the most was the best love triangle I’ve read all year. Usually I despise this trope, but I have to say that Hand did a great job handling all sorts of ups and downs, from fate and paranormal powers to reluctant friendship and eventually, romance.

Worst handled love triangle: In the Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap

**spoilers** Ohhhhhh dear. Our heroine, Molly, is in inner turmoil over two guys (a childhood friend-sort of nice guy turned soldier, and a swoony WWI doctor) and while the storyline was decent, the way the love triangle was resolved was… well, if you don’t mind some spoilers, the doctor dies in her arms while she proclaims that she always loved him and he was The One, then a few pages later she finds the soldier, apologizes for rejecting him and then declares how much she had always loved him and how foolish she was for not seeing it before. What. -_-

Cutest romance: Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony Jon

Of course you’ve probably heard of the sheer adorable-ness that is Anna, and it’s definitely my favorite romance novel of the year. But Five Flavors of Dumb also surprised me by having an awww-worthy romantic plotline that was also realistic. In a book that I wouldn’t at all describe as fluffy. ;)

Best couple: Mia & Adam (Where She Went by Gayle Foreman)

When I was reading it, Adam was just the perfect boyfriend in If I Stay, hardly a three-dimensional character, but more of a device to cause conflict in the story. Where She Went took that opinion and smashed it to bits, and you’d have to read it to understand the kind of character development that this sequel manages to portray.

Biggest douchebag: Josh (Five Flavors of Dumb)

I thought that Josh would turn out like one of those jerks that have a hidden soft side (psssh) but thankfully he just played the attention-hogging jerk straight up and got what he deserved in the end ;P

Best best friends: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

At the beginning of Saving Francesca, the titular Francesca is basically friendless at what used to be an all-boys school. She makes it easy for her (and the reader) to dismiss the few girls at the school because they simply don’t seem like friend material. And then the book just takes these simple characters and creates friendships that are as unexpected as they are in real life, but no less rewarding.

Best animal (lulz): Mammoth-Sized Furry Fire-Breathing Turtles (A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin), Gigantic Sandworms (Blood Red Road by Moira Young)

I seriously didn’t even believe what I was reading when I got to that part in George R.R. Martin’s series. I wonder how the tv show is going to manage that…

” alt=”" width=”150″ border=”0″ />Favorite male character: Ned (The Piper’s Son)

There weren’t many main characters that happened to be male that left a significant impression in my mind last year, but somehow Ned the cook, a guy who was mostly in the background in the beginning of The Piper’s Son, managed to create some of the most brilliant, funny, and touching scenes in the entire book. (It helped that he got all the best lines.)

Favorite female character: Charlie Duskin (A Little Wanting Song)

For more reasons that I can name; Charlie is just one of those quiet, unassuming characters that you slowly warm up to until you start wishing that you could know them in real life because they’re that awesome.

Best villain: Mayor Prentiss (Chaos Walking)

I think that Mayor Prentiss will always be the most well-written villain I’ll ever meet. In some ways, he’s more terrible than the most despicable being on the planet, but I can’t help but admit that I kept making room for doubts about his evilness. Evil isn’t nearly the right word for the kind of villain he is– it’s too cartoonishly simple to describe the complexity of his actions. He also scares the living bejeezus out of me and that’s why I’m giving him this award.

Best cast all-round: The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

I thought long and hard about this category, but in the end I have to say that the cast in The Cardturner belongs in a grade of its own. Although I love Melina Marchetta’s bands of friends and Crowley can do wonders with individuals, this book wouldn’t be the same without each and every one of its unique faces. From our reluctant and snarky but well-meaning teenage protagonist, to his eighty-year old grandfather, his surprisingly savvy little sister, his hilarious best friend, each and every one has hidden depths, and each scene makes the best of their personalities. By the end of the book I loved all of them.

There’s just one more part after this. But first, a week full of tests T_T And btw I really want you to read The Cardturner. It didn’t look like my type of book at all, but it’s hilarious and very surprisingly amazing. I will endorse it TO THE END OF THE WORLD

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