Saturday 22 April 2017

They'll Take On The World - My Favourite Female Friendships in YA

Saturday 22 April 2017


Hiya. I've just come here straight after finishing Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard, it was a book I had many thoughts on, and you can check out my goodreads review of it here. I wanted to do a post dedicated to this book, but mostly dedicated to the fact that it was, in it's entirety, based upon female friendships. Funnily enough, it's not something that I come across often in YA fiction, and considering my very nearly 20 years of life on this planet have been filled with female friendships, and hardly any romance, it's shocking that it's taken me this long to find a book about the ups, downs and raw emotion behind teenage friendships. So, here I am: writing a post dedicated to Beautiful Broken Things, about my favourite female friendships in YA.

Girl Online: On Tour - Penny and Leah.
Now, we only saw the beginning stages of their friendship in this book, but I truly believe that Penny and Leah already have the foundation of a beautiful, supportive and pure friendship. Leah helped Penny to feel better after a panic attack, and even showed her around Rome, offering Penny advice and friendship along the way even though they hardly knew each other at this point. Along with that, Penny gave Leah the chance to be herself - and not Super Famous Leah - if only for a few hours. Leah let Penny know that it's okay to step away from Noah and do her own thing, her happiness shouldn't be put on hold because her boyfriend is living his dream, and then even helped Penny to realise what it is that she wanted to do: Photography. I haven't read the third book but I hope that it continues to explore this budding friendship, and lives up to its potential.

The Upside of Unrequited - Molly and Cassie.
I loved this book an awful lot, and I've already written and posted a review on it, but one thing that I didn't touch on enough is the wonderful friendship that the twins have. Despite the fact that they're so different from each other, and yes they argue quite a lot (they're sisters! what sisters don't argue?), they're always so supportive of each other, and know exactly what the other is thinking. I could talk forever about how much I love the friendship (as well as sisterhood) that these two have, but I don't have that much time.

Fangirl - Cath and Reagan.
Would it even be a post on this blog if I didn't talk about Fangirl? I don't see a lot of people talking about the friendship between Cath and Reagan, even though it's a huge part of the reason as to why I love the book so much. It's not the standard fluffy, sit around and braid each others hair, we do everything together kind of friendship. Reagan is bristly, and the complete opposite of Cath and yet they just fit so well together. Reagan helps Cath to come out of her shell a bit, showing her the ropes of the cafeteria and making sure that she's looking after herself. In fact, Reagan even swallows her pride and jealousy when it comes to Cath's relationship with Levi and is one of their biggest supporters. Cath isn't afraid to put Reagan in her place either, and their banter together is just hilarious to read. Their friendship reminds me of a pair of friends that I know - their love for one another isn't always at the surface of their friendship, but everyone knows that they'd do anything for the other.

Gallagher Girls Series - The Squad.
All of these girls, separately, are kick ass. But when they're together, they're unstoppable. I love the friendship between these girls so much. SO MUCH, I TELL YOU. They're not afraid to tell the others when they think they're being stupid, and they'll continue to voice that opinion all the while they're doing that stupid thing, because there is no way in hell they're letting their friends do something stupid and dangerous on their own. They're spies, but they're still girls and hearing them talk about their crushes and boyfriends and yet still having discussions about taking part in secret government missions, is one of the best things you'll ever do. Not to mention how supportive they are of one another, and even when they're in an argument, no one else is allowed to hurt their friends. It's incredible. I love them.

There are probably so many more than just these, but for some reason, the YA I'm reading keeps favouring romance plot over friendship plots, which I'm getting semi-tired of. If you have any recommendations about great, supportive, strong friendships please let me know in the comments, I'd love to check them out!

7 comments :

  1. Out of these I've only read Fangirl, and I love everything about that book.

    As for recommendations for YA books with great female friendships... I don't even know if I have one? I'm going to to GR right now and try and find at least ONE because it's terrible that I can't think of one off the top of my head.

    Okay, so they're sisters but they're supportive AF of each other, and that's Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier. This book made me wish I had sisters.

    As for great guy friendships PLEASE READ Because You'll Never Meet Me, and its sequel Nowhere Near You. The friendship between the two boys in that series is SUBLIME <3

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    1. This was my thing, it was so difficult for me to even think of four books with female friendships, because somehow they're difficult to come by? What is with that?

      Ooh, I haven't heard of that book but I'm definitely going to check it out on goodreads!

      YES. YES. Because You'll Never Meet Me is SO high on my TBR, I've heard nothing but great things about it!!!

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  2. Yes! Cath and Reagan had such a great friendship. I really love the whole opposites sort of thing so they were right up my alley. Molly and Cassie were also gorgeous. I really admired the amount of love they have for each other. Lovely post!

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    1. I'm glad someone else is out there who can appreciate Cath and Reagan like I do! Thank you, love <3

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  3. Nina Zenik and Inej in the Six of Crows duology is one of my favourite female friendships portrayed in YA! I definitely need to read more YA with strong female friendships though, because atm they're the only one I can think of..

    Zoe @ Readabilitea

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    1. Everyone has been recommending Six of Crows to me lately, it's definitely being bumped way up my TBR!

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