Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d Love an Update On

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

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Have you ever connected so much with certain characters that you felt like they were people you not only could be friends with, but also was your friend? No? Or is that just me?

Either way, this week’s TTT only makes sense if you’ve developed strong feelings for certain characters in books that make you feel invested in them long after their story (and the last pages of the book) has closed.

While I couldn’t quite reach 10, unless you count the different groups/couplings of characters as individuals, I hope if you’ve read these books, these people have impacted you in some way, shape or form as well.

Let’s begin!

1. Brendan & Cameron

I read this book this year and I absolutely fell in love with this “mean” girl and the geeky loner boy she unwittingly fell for even though he had every right to hate her for the horrid nickname she gave him that unfortunately stuck throughout the years. I loved their chemistry, how they made each other better in some ways by challenging one another while allowing them to each grow and be themselves. I would’ve totally loved to see how they could make their relationship work as they are such different people on paper.

2. Isla & Josh

As this is the third and last book in the series, unlike the other two books, we don’t get an update (albeit small, minor one) on this last couple pairing after their story ended. I like how the book didn’t centre on whether they would get together, but what challenges they faced after starting a relationship. While it’s a HEA kinda romance story, I am dying to see any more snippets of their romance because it’s just so cute and I’m sure their college years would bring just as interesting hurdles to face in their relationship.

3. Abby & Cooper

One of my all-time favourite contemporaries, I love the best friends to lovers trope, which is rather rare in YA. This novel did wonders exploring both Abby’s yearning to feel more in order to craft her art and her changing relationship with best friend Cooper – not always for the better. There was a lot of romantic angst in this one (some of my favourite!) and I wish I had more time to dwell on the aftermath. While companion novels have been written, the snapshots of their life together are so few and far between that it’s barely satisfying.

4. Cinder & Kai

Technically these characters make appearances in the following books in the series, but I absolutely fell in love with Cinder as a character from the start. Not only is she someone I felt so much empathy for, she also carries such strength in her character for someone who is looked down upon by society as a cyborg. I loved that the prince would fell for her, but obviously things go wrong and their relationship isn’t settled for a long time that I barely feel like I was satisfied with how things played out. I just want my girl to be happy and loved the way she deserves.

5. Alex & Damian

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This series does a fairly good job of rounding out the growth and relationship arc between these two characters, but what I wish for an update on is how they’d settle in their new roles in the kingdom and the impact that has on them individually and as a couple. I loved the Twelfth Night/She’s the Man meet cute between these two as Alex pretends to be Damian’s male guard for the longest time. What a way to meet someone you’d eventually fall in love with.

6. Pip & Ravi

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Pip and Ravi were my absolute favourite non-problematic couple. By that I mean, none of the drama exists due to issues in their relationship. But where I really wish is how the series ended which left things too open-ended for my tastes, and I just want to know more things about these two than what the author gave us. If you read this series, you’ll know what I’m talking about!

7. All the Night World characters

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Notorious for never writing the supposed tenth and last book in this series, there is a literal cliffhanger for all these characters I’ve grown to love individually and together as they prepare to face the big bad that never seems to come since the conclusion was never officially (re)published! At this point in time, maybe I’m more satisfied it wasn’t written because there were huge rumours some major characters we’ve grown to love may die in the final battle. My heart probably wouldn’t have been able to take it.

8. Mandie Shaw

A wonderful mystery series following an adventurous young girl and her family and friends she meets, I loved seeing the growth in the titular character, Mandie, from young girl to young woman. The series actually kicked off with the first book in a series where Mandie goes to college, but unfortunately the rest of the books planned were never written because the author passed away after that first book came out. I remember being really excited when it was published only to feel saddened that it ended kind of on a cliffhanger and we’ll never know what the author had in store for her.

So yes, that’s it from me this week. As you may have noticed, a lot of romantic relationships I want updates on, because let’s be real, I became way too heavily invested in them. But of course, there were some characters I loved for who they were themselves and I just wished there was more closure for their story that was official instead of open for anyone’s imagination or interpretation for what came next.

Have you read any of these books and connected with these characters as much as I have? Or do you have a different character you wished you had an update on?

Let’s chat below!

Xx