Top Ten Tuesday – Spring Means Growth

Happy Top Ten Tuesday everyone! It’s a very rainy and dark day today. Perfect for reading! If only I didn’t have to do groceries later today…

Anyway, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and you can find all past and future prompts on her blog! This week the prompt is: spring cleaning freebie!growth

I was thinking about what to write for this topic. I don’t really do spring cleaning, and I also don’t feel like yeeting books off my TBR. So, I started thinking about what comes to mind when I think of spring. And the answer is growth! So I’m going to disregard the “cleaning” part of this freebie, and talk to you about some books that in my opinion had some amazing character growth!

A Court of Silver Flames

By Sarah J. Maas

For me, this is a very obvious choice. Mostly because I finished it barely a week ago and it’s still fresh in my mind. I always think that Maas does character arcs really well, and I love going back to the beginning of the series to see how much a character has grown. I especially love Nesta’s growth, because she really became better, without giving up the core of who she is. To be honest I would’ve chucked this book in the ocean if Maas had made her fluffy and docile.

A Court of Wings and Ruin

By Sarah J. Maas

Can’t have ACOSF without ACOTAR. In ACOTAR, Feyre at one point remarked that she and Nesta are essentially the same, and I think that really became apparent after I reread ACOTAR after finishing ACOSF. But anyway, I love Feyre’s growth, too! In the beginning of the series she as honestly very one-dimensional, and her life and world were very small. I loved rereading this series the past days, because the difference between Feyre in ACOTAR and Feyre in ACOWAR is quite large.

The Final Empire

By Brandon Sanderson

I love Vin’s character growth because I think it’s quite subtle. Her world was also very narrow and basically came down to just surviving day by day. After her life got uprooted by Kelsier, I think she was just extra lost. But the Vin at the end of the series definitely wasn’t. I loved reading about how she grew into her powers and her purpose. Also, if anyone wants to cry about the ending of the series with me, feel free.

Skyward

By Brandon Sanderson

I know I’m repeating myself here, but I had to add Skyward. Spensa’s character growth was just so unusual. Normally, and especially in YA, female characters are so lost and unsure about themselves. Except Spensa was the direct opposite and only became unsure about herself later in the series. I really hope we get some news about Skyward 3’s release date soon, because I can’t wait!

The Empire of Gold

By S.A. Chakraborty

I feel like all characters in this book deserve a shoutout, but I think I like Nahri and Ali’s arcs best. I can’t even give any real examples of why I have this opinion, because literally all knowledge of these books have fled my mind while writing this post. But, I know for sure I liked their arcs. I think I just really enjoy it when characters get to expand their world view and change their perspectives.

Foundryside

By Robert Jackson Bennett

It’s been a while since I pushed this book in your faces. I couldn’t leave it out of this list. I loved Sancia’s growth in this book, and also in the sequel; Shorefall. Again, her world was tiny and her biggest concerns were doing her job and not dying in the process. She went from actively trying to stay out of trouble, to basically causing it. But I think my favorite part of her journey was when she caught feelings and she didn’t know what the heck they were.

Tower of Dawn

By Sarah J. Maas

I know, I know.. another Maas book. This’ll be the last one on this list, I swear. But, I had to add Chaol! I never really disliked him in the first two TOG books, but thinking back on it, he was kind of a bigot, wasn’t he? I really enjoyed reading about him in Tower of Dawn though. Actually I think his character arc is my favorite in the whole TOG series, because it’s huge, and kind of went from 0 to 100 real quick.

Red Rising

By Pierce Brown

Have I ever told you guys how much I love this series? Yes?? Well, lemme tell you again. I love Darrow’s arc, like, a lot. But more than that, I love how this series tackles questions of society, and how it illustrated that people aren’t solidly divided by class, but rather are individually nuanced. Plus it’s also brutal, and I like that. I hope to finally start reading Iron Gold this year!

Okay that’s all I could think of, so this is a top eight. I hope to read many more books with characters arcs as well done as the ones on this list! What are some of your favorite character arcs? Let me know!

Find my past Top Ten Tuesday posts here!