Welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday! This meme was created by The Broke and the Bookish and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in 2018. Today’s prompt is: characters that remind me of myself. This week’s prompt is actually quite tough for me to answer and I wasn’t sure I could come up with a list. It’s not uncommon for me to stumble upon bookish characters I relate to but I am now struggling to remember exactly which books and characters I felt that way about! I’ve decided to loosely interpret this prompt, so here’s what I’ve come up with…
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Roxane Gay, Hunger: A Memoir of My Body by Roxane Gay. Do real people count in this list? Because I’m counting Roxane Gay. I didn’t have the same harrowing experience as her as a child, but it’s like she plucked the thoughts and emotions right out of me in regards to how she sees, thinks and feels about her body and more importantly, how society sees and thinks we should feel about our bodies.
Hannah Martin, Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I recognized and connected to Hannah’s character from the moment she’s introduced. We’re roughly the same age and her confusion about what she wants to do in life and trying to find the place to call home really resonated with me as someone who has moved around a lot in my life.
Unnamed Narrator, Chemistry by Wieke Wang. As an Asian girl, I related so much to how the unnamed narrator navigated her way through parental expectations, and letting herself choose her own path, rather the one expected of her. This experience is something I went through as well.
Nina Zenik, The Shadow & Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. Basically, her love for food and how unabashed she was about it. I love food so much and I don’t care who knows it!
Belle, In Bed With the Beast (The Naughty Princess Club #2) by Tara Sivec. I saw myself in the quiet, nerdy book girl who has a close relationship with her family and who is so eager to please them, while also trying to find a way to step out and discover herself. I also related to how she transforms from this quiet girl to someone who takes no crap from anyone, especially when standing up for the ones she loves most.
Ariel Waters, Kiss the Girl (The Naughty Princess Club #3) by Tara Sivec. She uses her brash and bold persona to cover up her insecurities that actually really run deep, which really reminds me a lot of how I can act sometimes (okay, a lot of the times).
Daniel Gold, The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. Daniel has a deep love for his family but he is also unable to appropriately express himself and his feelings, which is something I struggle with too sometimes. I saw myself in his quiet, serious character whose family sees as very put together.
Griffin, History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera. I saw myself in Griffin’s sentimental character, and his experience of heartbreak and loss, as well as his fear of change and letting go of the past to move forward.
Quinn, All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover. I can’t relate to what Quinn experienced in her marriage, but I did relate very much to her internal processing of her experience. It’s so easy to fake being happy and to dance the “everything-is-okay” dance, rather than to be open about your thoughts and emotions. It’s not the most positive trait but how she kept everything she was going through inside of her really reminded me of how I used to deal with my mental health.
Lois Clary, Sourdough by Robin Sloan. I could really relate to her thoughts in terms of wondering at being a part of something more; something significant and important. I think that’s what we all go through in our 20s, 30s (and well, some even longer), especially as we finish university and start looking for a job and try to find more meaning in our lives.
Wow, this was a tough one to answer! What characters remind you of yourself? If you’ve done a TTT post for today’s prompt drop your link in the comments!
dinipandareads 
Great list.
Maybe I’m being dumb, I don’t actually remember Nina from Shadow and Bone 😂
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HAHA noo, I’M the one who’s dumb! I can’t believe I wrote the wrong book 🙈 This is what happens when I churn out a post in 30 mins when I’m delirious with sleep deprivation. She’s in the SoC duology 🙈 #forshame haha thanks for pointing that out, I wouldn’t have even noticed otherwise!
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Ohhh! I didn’t even know that either. I still have to read it 😂
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Haha well, I hope that you enjoy the duology if/when you get to them! No surprise characters 😂
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Real people absolutely count. I hadn’t heard of Roxane Gay, but she sounds like an interesting person. Your relation with Nina made me laugh. Yes, food is good. Own it. Especially bacon. And cake. And anything made with chocolate.
Here’s my TTT post.
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Roxane Gay is tough, brutally honest and has been through so much. She’s very inspiring! I really hope to meet her one day 🙂 Also, YAAS to ALL THE FOOD! I’ve got no shame at all when it comes to my love of it lol mmm bacon.
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Yes, I totally think real people should count for this prompt. Wish I’d thought of that!
My TTT.
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I think so too, and I saw so much of myself in her that it’s kind of crazy. I really enjoyed your list 😀
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Nina’s love for waffles rivals my own.
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Yas to all the waffles! 🤤
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Oooo this list is very interesting! I have not yet read Shadow and Bone yet but Nina’s character is awesome! Having a love for food definitely resembles me lol I really need to pick up this series one day! 🙂
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Thank you! All this talk about Nina and food makes me want to reread the series while eating waffles right now 😂 Hope you enjoy it if/when you get to it!
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Nina’s one of my favorites as well. 🙂
Lauren @ Always Me
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She’s such a great character 🙂
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I haven’t gotten to read any of these yet, but several are on my wishlist! Great picks!
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I love Colleen Hoover, but haven’t read All Your Perfects yet. After reading your description of Quinn, though, I’m dying to!
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It was my first CoHo in years and I’m glad that I picked it up. Hope you enjoy it when you get to it 🙂
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Food and Nina are the best~
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[…] #TopTenTuesday: Characters that Remind Me of MyselfSince May 2019 I’ve read more books with characters that do remind me of myself–not wholly but at least bits and pieces of myself, including Nina Hill from The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Deja AND Josie from Pumpkinheads, Jessica Pan (who isn’t a character but we’ll ignore that) from Sorry I’m Late I Didn’t Want to Come, and Elisabeth Scrivener from Sorcery of Thorns, to name a few. […]
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