Character of the Year Award 2021

Hello readers! This is Kamama, your host and judge, of the 2021 Character of the Year Awards! (in my opinion) Out of all the books I read this year, the characters below are my favorites (or least favorites, depending on the prompt). Please note that this all for fun and the decisions that were made were all from my personal opinion. I would also like to point out that these books didn’t necessarily come out in 2021, it was just the year that I read them. The rules are simple: you can’t pick the same character twice, and you can only pick two characters from the same book. With that, let’s get onto the award!

Favorite Male Character- Corrick from Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

In this book, Corrick is not a good person. At first, you kind of hate him because it doesn’t take much to see how cruel he is. But as you read on, you discover that there are more complexities to his character than meets the eye. He may have been a bad person, but by the end of the book he was trying to change. I liked the early plot twist regarding him, and the moments where we got to see the real him under the horrible mask he hid himself under.

Favorite Female Character- Spensa from Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

I enjoy reading from Spensa’s perspective because she has a very strong and confident personality externally, and some of that is internal as well, but she has insecurities and fears that she covers up and as we read from her point of view they emerge and we begin to really understand her. I love how she never gives up and keeps going no matter how crazy the situation is, and (mostly) doesn’t care what other people think of her or the things she loves. I am excited to continue the Skyward series, and am enjoying Cytonic (the third book) as I write this.

Most Relatable Character- Amy from The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser

The Book Jumper was by far my favorite standalone of 2021. It has made it to my top five favorite books, having one of the best plot twists I have ever witnessed, so a character from that book has to make it on this list. Amy is a teenage girl who is dealing with insecurities because of betrayal of trust from people she thought of as friends. She goes on a vacation to her mother’s childhood home and begins to learn family secrets. I can’t say too much more without spoiling some things (everything is a secret in this book) but I can say that Amy is very relatable in many ways, at least to me. I mean, she is a total book lover. How is that not relatable?

Favorite Couple- Wolf and Scarlet from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

I can’t say much about these two without spoiling literally the entire series, but if you’ve read this series, you know. They are so cute! Wolf is the embodiment of a cinnamon roll character and Scarlet has the most fiery personality you will ever see in a book character. Together, they make a really cute couple. I know that’s vague, but I can’t really go into detail because like I said, spoilers.

Favorite Villain- Odium from Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

This is another instance where I can’t go into much detail without spoiling everything, but for those who have read the series, I’m talking about Odium at the very end of Rhythm of War. If you’ve read it, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I apologize to those who have no idea what is going on right now. The reason that this is my favorite villain of this year, is because when I read the last scenes with Odium in it, I literally got chills. It’s scary. And I think that he’s going to make a really good villain in the upcoming books.

Most Disliked Character- Jack from The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer

There were a lot of things I didn’t like about this book. Jack being one of them. At first, he was just annoying and I ignored him. But then, he decided to become more than a side character and I was not okay with it. I don’t like him. And by the end of the book, neither did the main character.

Favorite Royal- Raoden from Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

I almost put Raoden as my favorite male character and Corrick as my favorite royal, but then remembered how awful a royal Corrick was and decided to do it this way. Raoden is the prince of a kingdom that is overshadowed by history’s greatest fall: the city of Elantris. Raoden ends up getting thrown into the wretched city when he becomes an Elantrain, which means that his skin turns gray and patchy, his hair falls out, his heart stops beating, and he is considered dead. Even though he isn’t. Despite being in this awful position, he stays optimistic and gathers other Elantrians and attempts to make all of their lives better. He takes on the role as leader, even though it is a great burden for him to bear, and overall he makes a fun POV to read from.

Favorite Sidekick- Quint from Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

Ah, Quint. He was a small role in the book, but I loved him anyway. He had such an outgoing and an almost carefree personality, when he should have been strict and closed off because of his job. The two main characters trusted him more than they did each other, and he knew it, but didn’t take advantage of them. In fact, he helped them out when he could. Any scene he was in felt more lighthearted, which was refreshing in the dire situation the characters were in. Also, I love his hair.

Favorite Siblings- Shiori and her Brothers from Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

I love sibling relationships in books, and I think more books should have them. That said, there are some books where the sibling relationship is unrealistic and/or annoying. This book did not have that. I felt like the interactions and relationship between Shiori and her brothers was not only realistic but also fun to read about. All of them were loyal to each other, but not annoyingly so. We read from Shiori’s perspective, and she admits that she is closer to certain siblings than she is to others. There’s even a sibling “rivalry” where Shiroi has trouble getting along with one particular brother and I find that both of those things are very accurate, especially for a larger family. At least in my experience.

Free Choice!

Favorite Pet/Animal Sidekick- Doomslug from Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

If you do not like Doomslug, then I don’t know if we can be friends. That might be a bit dramatic, but I love this spiky slug SO MUCH. The fan art of her is absolutely adorable, and she stays with her chosen human even when she is in pain at times. Any animal in a book that has those two things has me instantly in love with them. Whenever Doomslug is in a scene, my mood is immediately lifted and it makes me feel so happy that I find myself smiling at the page. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.

That’s it for the 2021 Character of the Year Awards! Hope y'all enjoyed reading my very biased opinions, and we’ll see who makes the cut next year!

Until Next Time,

~Kamama Deere