book characters i resonate with

hi guys! i wanted to make a shorter post this week but talk about all the book characters that i feel a personal connection to! these characters aren't all exactly like me, but they have traits that i relate to and they feel like very important characters to me. super simple topic but i've had a lot of fun reminiscing on these characters. 

1. addie larue from the invisible life of addie larue 

i talk about this book in literally every single one of my posts but addie larue is quite literally such a relatable character to me. at the start of the book, she's twenty-three, and all she wants is to see the world. so when her parents try to sell her off to be married, she makes the mistake of forming a deal with "the devil" or an evil spirit of some sort. addie is deeply flawed and impulsive, but she's very young so she hasn't reached full maturity at the beginning of the book. after several hundred years of being alive, she develops into a very interesting woman. she gets used to living in the shadows but she also appreciates every single part of life despite her difficult situation. i think that's my favorite thing about her, how much she enjoys and appreciates life, freedom, and independence. while she does feel a lot of loneliness and isolation, she learns to accept those feelings and continue pushing through. there are many points in the book when she could give up, but she chooses not to, and i love those moments so much. they are extremely important. 

2. carrie soto from carrie soto is back 

carrie is such an interesting and complex character, and we don't have a ton of similarities on the surface. like i don't think anyone would read this and be like "omg that is literally kaitlyn" (maybe they would though, i'm not sure) but she is so overwhelmingly relatable. especially as someone who prioritized sports and their athletic performance for several years, carrie is the epitome of a female athlete with a dominant, more aggressive, personality. i really loved her character a lot. she's cut-throat and arrogant (for good reason) with a hard exterior that is working to try and protect herself from pain. i think i related most to her view on relationships (both platonic and romantic). she's so fiercely independent that she's completely convinced herself she needs no one else in life, but that burden becomes extremely heavy quickly. she also is very emotional and has a lot of love in her heart, she just holds the love very tightly and gives it out sparingly. i've just never read about a female character like her and i saw myself in a lot of her traits. 

3. camila alvarez from daisy jones and the six

i love camila with literally my whole heart. she is the sweetest book character ever and i think i more aspire to be like her than i am actually like her. her character just lights up every room, is so positive and supportive of everyone, and has deep relationships with the entire band. she is wronged so many times in this book (don't even get me started) but she never let it harden her heart and she continued to live a life full of love. i loved how she was portrayed in the show too, i think the actress did a great job of capturing her essence and showcasing her inner beauty. like i said, i really do aspire to be more like her. i related to her because of her love of photography and unconditional love for her friends. while her life was chaotic, she remained the bigger person through it all, and i really want to emulate that in my own life as well. she made mistakes for sure but i just really think she was a beautiful character and she made this book so much better. 

3. percy jackson from the percy jackson series

when i read this series at the age of twelve, i think i just completely stole a lot of percy's personality and it formed who i am today. his humor and sarcasm are hilariously written and he is just such a well-rounded character. i think reading books at a young age helps you understand what traits, as you age, you will value. percy and i value a lot of the same traits: loyalty, friendship, humility, bravery, etc. his attitude on life and his ability to remain positive in dark times are traits i admire and want to emulate in my own life as well. when i first read this character i just saw a lot of myself in him and the choices he made throughout the entire series. he is a character that i hold near and dear to my heart as i've gone throughout life!

4. january andrews from beach read

i love january for many reasons but i also love the coincidence of her name. we share the same last name and i was born in february. when i first read this book, i couldn't believe it! and as i read, i discovered that we are very similar, and i just really loved her character even more. january is funny, awkward, passionate, and kind but she is also messy, outspoken, and competitive. i think we share a lot of these traits. i really loved reading about her in this book and the relationship to developed with gus. she was very realistic to me and it felt like we would probably be friends if she was real. it's been a long time since i read this book but she was always a character that stuck out to me as being "like me" in a lot of ways. again, we're not exactly the same but we have some pretty crazy similarities! i really wish emily henry would write another book about january just so i could read more about her because i loved her so much. 

5. inej ghafa from six of crows

another character i just love so much. inej is very complex but there were so many parts of her and things she did that i found extremely relatable. for starters, her morals and how she balances her religion with her life/"work" were very fascinating to me. as a religious person, i always find it interesting when authors incorporate that aspect into their books because it makes it more realistic to me. there is religion everywhere and it would definitely influence many people's decisions, so it makes sense for it to influence the characters. i love how much inej considers and prioritizes her religion in these books. i also like how she is a more quiet character, but it does not make her any less strong or opinionated. she is a powerful leader of the group without needing to raise her voice or force the hands of others. she has a silent power about her that i admire. she is very different from female leads in other books, but i like the traits that she embodies because i feel like they aren't represented very often. i have definitely have a special place in my heart for this girl. 

6. henry strauss in the invisible life of addie larue

another character from this book but when the book switched over to henry's pov i was shook. like his thoughts were just so overwhelmingly relatable and he had such a depth i wasn't expecting. from addie's pov, he seems like a very normal and happy guy, but it evident that there is a ton going on beneath the surface. i found the difference between his inner thoughts and outward appearance to be very relatable. i was also so intrigued (and spoiler alert here) by the deal he made with the devil. he wanted everyone to love him all the time. what a tempting idea. when i discovered this i was like "wait i would totally wish for this" and i realized how similar henry and i were in that moment. while his character is more depressed and has a bleaker outlook on life, i do believe that we share a lot of similarities and i totally understood his thoughts and decisions throughout the duration of the book. i was so shocked to discover just how relatable his character truly was. 

7. hermione granger from the harry potter series

guys i wanted to be her so badly when i was younger it's not even funny. like i was so obsessed with this character. i've never been the smartest girl or craved academic validation the way that she does, but i really related to the older version of her a lot. this girl stood on business which i admire. she was just everything i wanted to be in a character. she was powerful, intelligent, independent, compassionate, and unapologetically herself. watching the character grow and change over time was also really special too. looking back now, i think i have taken a lot of aspects of her that i liked and absorbed them into my personality. i would also say that i've taken some of her less desirable qualities. i'm very stubborn (like her), enjoy being right (like her), and spend pretty much all my money on books (like her). but i embrace these traits with open arms, just like her positive ones. this girl is the original blueprint of characters i resonated with for sure. 

8. nora stephens from book lovers

finally, our last character is from another emily henry book! i wouldn't say me and nora are superrr similar but i just really felt a connection to her with her prioritizing her career, her fierce independence, and intimidating demeanor. i've had people that i don't know very well tell me i'm intimidating (not sure why but okay) and i really related to her about that whole thing in the books. i admire the great success she has had in her career, but also her ability (as the story develops) to be vulnerable. she goes through a lot of growth but does not submit the parts of herself that make her, her. i love that. i just found a lot of her personality to be very relatable and it made the book so much more fun to read. she really is the reason this book is one my favorites. 

okay that's all the characters i could think of this week but maybe if i think of more i'll do a part 2! hope you enjoyed the shorter version of the blog and i'll talk to you guys again next week :)