Match 15: Daemon (11) vs. Augustus (22) goes to DAEMON!

And the winner is... Daemon!

Welcome to The YA Sisterhood's YA Crush Tourney 2.0! We hope that through this all you will meet a lot of book loving people, discover new books, and of course be introduced to many more dreamy crushes!

Be aware that we have tried to keep all the posts pretty general, but there might still be some spoilers. If the spoiler is big, it will be marked. However, still proceed with caution!

Matches will run for 24 hours, 12am to 12am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. For more information please check out our Tournament Page.

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'SUP!? Valerie from StuckInBooks here to give you the deets on my boy Daemon from the Lux series (Shadows, Obsidian, Onyx, Opal and more).

Yeah, my FAV author is JLA and I'm totes obsessed with this guy but I may not be the blogger with the best insights on this boy, no that would be Katy (Lux Series) from Katy's Krazy Book Obsession!!!  Okay, I know she's fictional but that girl KNOWS Daemon, so I've asked for her help with this.  I give you Katy!

Wow, I can't believe that Daemon is in this tourney!  As if his ego isn't big enough?  But seriously, and don't tell Daemon I said this, if anyone is crush worthy enough (and okay, a little stab-worthy) and a true hero when it counts, it's Daemon.

Okay, so Daemon has the looks thing down.  The first time I saw him, I think I might have drooled a little.  Hey, it happens to most females of all ages when they see him.  And some guys, too.

"Heavy footsteps came from the other side, and then the door was swinging open and I was staring at a very broad, tan, well-muscled chest.  A naked chest.  My gaze dropped and my breath sort of...stalled.  Jeans hung low on his hips, revealing a thin line of dark hair that formed below his navel and disappeared under the band of the jeans." (Obsidian page 7)

"My gaze finally traveling north again, I noted thick, sooty lashes fanning the tips of his high cheeks and hiding the color of his eyes as he looked down at me." (Obsidian page 7)

Did I mention his "full, kissable lips".  And I did get to see those eyes - "so green and brilliant they couldn't be real".

Hot is a weak word when it comes to describing Daemon.

"Beautiful face.  

Beautiful body.  

Horrible attitude.

It was the holy trinity of hot boys." (Obsidian page 19)

Sometimes when Daemon opens his mouth, he sort of ruins things. But he has his reasons.  For an eighteen year old, he's shouldering a lot of responsibility.  Keeping a galaxy size secret, while protecting his family.  And nothing means more to him besides his family...and well, there is someone else.  But anyway, he was horrible to me for a while there.  He may have earned some bonus points here. I've never felt stronger than after putting that boy in his place.  And then there's the whole pen poking thing. Le sigh.

Yeah, I got hold of this chapter from his POV.  How that happened, I have no idea but this kinda did surprise me.

"Kate met my stare and held it.  Not backing down--never backing down.  Reluctant respect continued to grow inside me, but underneath that, something else was developing.  I was two seconds from kissing that pissed off look right off her face.  I wondered what she'd do.  Hit me?  Kiss me back?" (Obsidian - Uh-oh speghetti-o's)

"I smiled, and her lips twitched.  Dammit, if I didn't know better, I'd think she liked our little fights, too."  (Obsidian - Uh-oh speghetti-o's)

Maybe what he told me later is true.  "I always liked you. From the moment you first flipped me off." (Onyx)

I know he resisted it and tried to keep me away to protect his family and me too, really.

"This was wrong.  Think of Dawson.  Look at what happened to him.  Did I want to take the same risk?  Leave Dee all alone?  But even now I could feel her skin, taste it--sweet and sugary like candy.  Hear that wonderful sound she made over and over again, haunting every mile I put between us." (Obsidian - The Morning After) 

I think I finally got him, though.

"A smile pulled at his lips as he looked away.  'I had more fun that day than I can remember.  I know it sounds stupid, but--'  '

It's not stupid.' My heart lurched.  At once, I sort of understood him better.  Underneath it all, I think he wanted to be normal." (Obsidian page 151) 

"And there was the real Daemon.  Still a total badass, but there was pain in him, a vulnerability in the lines of his face that I doubted anyone ever got to see." (Obsidian page 159)

I can tell you, he's saved my life more than once with his serious alien mojo.  And he tirelessly protects countless others (human and alien), sacrificing sleep and even having a life to patrol the town and the colony of Luxen.  He does this without even being asked.  It's not a job to him or a duty.  He does it because he wants to.

****spoiler's for Obsidian**** 

"His sloppy, wet lips cut off my words.  His tongue slipped into my mouth, and I wanted to puke.  My heart rate tripled, and in an instant, I wished I'd listened to Daemon...I managed to get my head free. 'Simon, stop!' And then Simon did stop.  I sagged against the tree, dazed and breathless.  There was the sound of someone hitting the ground and then a wounded cry.  Someone was bending over a sprawled Simon, reaching down and picking him up by the scruff of his neck. 'Do you have a problem understanding simple English?'" (Obsidian page 201)


"Daemon threw up his hands and a great roar started under the car, shaking the road, and the trees thrashed outside.  A loud crack sounded, like a blast of thunder, quickly followed by several more in succession.  The earth seemed to shake and rumble....Trees were being ripped from out of the ground, their thick and gnarled roots dripping clumps of moist dirt...Oh my God, Daemon was uprooting trees." (Obsidian page 207)

"Daemon's light flickered but continued climbing up my arm, wrapping me in his intense heat.  Like the day of the first Arum attack, in the wake of his warmth, my body began knitting itself back together." (Obsidian page 254) 

Yeah I have feeling for him.  Don't be telling him or anything, but I'm voting for Daemon Black.  You should too!  His heart is right and when it comes down to it,you want someone like him on your side.  And yeah, Daemon Black puts the "W" in HAWT.

Thanks Katy.  Appreciate the inside scoop on Daemon.  It's for sure he has MY VOTE.

I'd also like to thank Traci at The Reading Geek for all the help organizing Daemon's Street team.

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Hello there, fellow fictional boy lovers! I’m Brooke from over at Brooke Reports and I seriously couldn’t be any more excited or honored to tell you all about the amazingly spectacular Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green! And if you feel the same, be sure to rock any of the following hashtags on twitter with the voting link! #TeamAugustus #OneLeggedPonyFTW

☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁

  So, where shall we start with Mr. Waters? Perhaps his adorably sexy looks? Yes, I do say, that’s probably a splendid place to start!

Augustus Waters has short, rich dark brown hair and sharp blue eyes that contrast oh so seductively. He’s lean yet muscular and just tall enough for tip-toe kisses. And behind those luscious lips? He keeps a set of smiles. His crooked smile for when he’s trying to be sexy and his real one, the one that’s too big for his face and makes him look adorable.  Oh, also. His voice has a look of it’s own, described as, “low, smoky and dead sexy.” *THUD* Read me a bedtime story PUH-LEASE! (I think he looks a little shumfin' like this ↓ YUM.)

    “He’s not that smart.”

“She’s right,” Augustus says. “It’s just that most really good-looking people are stupid, so I exceed expectations.”

“Right, it’s primarily his hotness.”

“It can be sort of blinding,” he said.

“It actually did blind our friend Isaac.”

“Terrible tragedy, that. But can I help my own deadly beauty?”

“You cannot.”

“It is my burden, this beautiful face.”

“Not to mention your body.”

“Seriously, don’t even get me started on my hot bod. You don’t want to see me naked, Dave. Seeing me naked actually took Hazel Grace’s breath away,” he said, nodding toward the oxygen tank.

☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁

And sure, Gus is a horrible driver and he makes terribly dry cheese sandwiches. And yeah, he’s addicted to the video game Counterinsurgence and possibly encourages delinquent behavior * cough, egging Isaac’s ex girlfriend’s car, cough*

But Gus is someone who will be there for you no matter what--through your ups and downs and your highs and lowest lows. He’s that kind of guy. He’s witty and sarcastic and can make you laugh so hard it hurts: 

“It’s difficult to ascertain whether he is trying to arouse her or perform a breast exam.”

And he’s intelligent and magnificent and makes you wonder how he’s a 17 year old boy:

“They don’t kill you unless you light them,” he said. “And I’ve never lit one. It’s a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do it’s killing.”

And he’s thoughtful and caring and makes you pray so hard that he was real and you could be with him for just one day:

“I didn’t save my wish.”

“Ah, but I saved mine.”

"Augustus, really. You don’t have to do this.”

“Sure I do,” he said. “I found my wish."

 He’s basically everything you could ever want in a boy.

☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁☁ ☁

Augustus Waters may be a self aggrandizing bastard, but it’s honestly impossible to walk away from him without developing some kind of Augustus Waters Fetish. Trust me, I know! 

He may cause you to do this:

        But I assure you, he is worth all of the tears.

So vote for Gus, okay? Okay.

*Voting is now closed*

Match #15: Mara (Seed #11) vs Karou (Seed #22) Goes to Karou

And the winner is...


KAROU


Welcome to the YA Sisterhood! Today We are holding the last matches in the first round! Thank you in advance for your participation in our Tournament of Heroines! We hope you make some friends (and not too many enemies), discover some fantastic books, and have a lot of fun! 

Some general rules before we begin:

There may be some spoilers in the following post. We've tried to keep it fairly general, but overall, this Tourney will not be spoiler-free. So beware.

Secondly, You are welcome to write your own comments about either character in the comments section, but we will not tolerate rudeness. The minute it crosses over from logical argument into character bashing, your comments will be deleted and your vote canceled.  POLLS WILL BE OPEN FOR 24 HOURS AND WILL CLOSE AT 12:01AM EST ON DECEMBER 17th.

And now for the match....

Hi everyone! I'm Casey from The Bookish Type, and I'm so excited to be advocating for Mara Dyer in the Heroine Tourney! If we've ever talked -- whether on Twitter or Facebook or in person -- you've probably heard me gush all over the place about the awesomesauce that is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and author Michelle Hodkin. Keep an eye on the Twitter hashtag #TeamMara and weekly Mara Mondays on my blog for updates throughout the tournament!

Who is Mara Dyer?

My name is not Mara Dyer, but my lawyer told me I had to choose something. a pseudonym. a nom de plume, for all of us studying for the SATs. I know that having a fake name is strange, but trust me—it’s the most normal thing about my life right now. Even telling you this much probably isn’t smart. But without my big mouth, no one would know that a seventeen-year-old who likes Death Cab for Cutie was responsible for the murders. No one would know that somewhere out there is a B student with a body count. And it’s important that you know, so you’re not next.

Writing under a pseudonym, 17-year-old Mara Dyer has to be fairly anonymous. She's described as having brown hair and "a patrician nose and jaw". Her eye color is never mentioned. Mara's life changed forever the day she woke up from a coma after an accident that left her best friends and boyfriend dead. She has no memories of that fateful night, and she's no longer sure what's real and what's a hallucination brought on by PTSD. All Mara knows is that something strange is happening to her -- and it all started the night her friends died.

Why She's The Best

Mara is smart. She reads books and thinks about the world and always has a witty comeback ready.

She's a survivor. Mara's been through a lot -- losing her best friends and her boyfriend in a tragic accident, suffering from PTSD, losing her memories and maybe her mind -- but she keeps going, keeps living, keeps looking for answers. She's determined to find the truth about why her friends died that night and how she survived.

She's independent. Mara doesn't let anyone push her around -- whether it's the nasty popular crowd, stubborn English boys or abusive pet owners. She doesn't sit idly by and let injustice prevail. She risks her life to rescue a horribly abused dog, and braves a swamp full of alligators to save someone she loves.

To quote Noah Shaw:

You’re the girl who called me an asshole the first time we spoke. The girl who tried to pay for lunch even after you learned I had more money than God. You’re the girl who risked her ass to save a dying dog, who makes my chest ache whether you’re wearing green silk or ripped jeans.

She's fiercely loyal. She stands by her friends and stands up for the harassed and abused. She finds a kindred spirit in Jamie, the school outsider with a twisted sense of humor, and sticks by his side till the bitter end. She defends him from the bullies, even when it means calling down their wrath on herself.

Mara would do anything to protect the people she loves -- even if that means protecting them from herself. Even if that means taking justice into her own hands. She's willing to do whatever it takes, even if it might cost her everything.

Most of all, Mara's real. She's not perfect -- not by a long shot. No one is. She doesn't pretend to be something she's not, but she keeps trying. She learns from her mistakes. Yeah, she'll probably make more -- she's human, after all. But all Mara wants is the truth, to see justice served and to be strong and fearless -- and really, isn't that what we all want? What we all struggle with and strive for?

Why She's a True Heroine

Mara is a true heroine because she's determined. She's determined to protect people and animals from cruelty and danger, even if that danger is herself. She's determined to find the truth, even if that truth might tear her apart. Because that's the only way she can make sure nothing like this -- like the accident that killed her friends or the crimes that left several children dead -- ever happens again.

Mara vs. Karou

Mara and Karou actually have a lot in common. They're both in desperate need of answers, and neither one is entirely sure who she really is. However, I think Mara is more active in pursuit of the truth. Karou seems content to live the life she's always known, frustrated by vague answers from her strange, otherworldly family, yet never striking out on her own. Mara, on the other hand, refuses to let her life be dictated by cruel twists of fate or the lies of those around her. Mara lays it all on the line, refusing to accept what she's been told or to believe her own jumbled memories. She wants to know who she really is, what she's capable of --  even if the answer might hurt. She'll do whatever it takes to be in control of her own life, in control of her own abilities, in control of her own destiny.



And if all of that didn't convince you, all I can say is...

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Hey y’all! I’m Enna Isilee from Squeaky Books and Karou and I are ready to ROCK the Heroine Tourney! From the moment I finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone I knew it was going to be one of my favorite books OF ALL TIME and I’m so excited to be supporting Karou. Check out my blog and twitter to get all the latest Karou updates!

About her

Karou has blue hair (and it grows out of her head that way) and lives in an apartment in Prague. Not Prague Nebraska or Oklahoma, Prague the gorgeous capital of the Czech Republic. She’s an art student by trade and likes to spend time with her best friend Zuzana, but takes a lot of time searching for teeth for Brimstone. Oh, did I fail to mention that she was raised by CHIMERAS?! These demons are far from evil, though. Sure Issa’s snakes can kill you, but only if you try to steal from the shop. And Brimstone’s rams horns may look scary, but he’s relatively harmless… relatively. Karou trades the teeth she finds for wishes.  The scars on her stomach were probably made by bullets.

An artist, teeth smuggler, and protective best friend, Karou is no pushover.

Best Attributes

Karou is kick-butt. She knows her way around quite a few weapons (curved ancient knives being her specialty) and even when she doesn’t have one, she can stop a sword-wielding angel with a plank of wood (or the energy-blasting eyes tattooed on her palms). When she needs help, Karou has a necklace of wishes and all she has to do is rub it and wish for any [small] thing and it will come true. But if she needs a bigger wish she's got to do a favor or two for Brimstone. She speaks a ton of languages (not all of them human). But above all that, Karou is a true friend. She can see past any beautiful or ugly exterior and those she loves she loves forever. She’d do anything for her chimaera family, even if she has to (and often does) go out on a limb. And even with her wild personal life, she’s always there for her friends.

What makes Karou a true heroine?

Karou never wavers. She is strong and true. With the training of a warrior, she isn’t above violence, but she doesn’t revel in it. She will literally go to the ends of the earth to protect her family and friends. She’s incredibly brave. When she thought she was being hunted she didn’t cower in the shadows. She became power, not prey.

Like all the best heroines,Karou isn’t perfect. And she recognizes this. She’s made plenty of mistakes in her life, and her curiosity sometimes gets the better of her. What makes her a true heroine is that she embraces her mistakes and learns from them. She's also passionate and strong enough to know when she’s right even if the rest of the world tells her she’s wrong.

Another great thing about Karou, is even when she's falling in love she's not some damsel in distress. Her love-interest is as swoony as they come, but Karou keeps her head and doesn't become obsessed. The needs of her family and friends always come first.

In the Chimaera language, Karou literally means "hope," and she is a symbol of hope to everyone around her. If I ever needed a heroine to help me fight monsters, finish a giant marionette, or just someone to talk to, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose Karou.

Why should you vote for Karou instead of Mara?

Okay. I’ll admit that Mara’s a cool heroine with some wild abilities. But here’s the thing: she’s a little… unstable (to put it mildly). She’s definitely interesting, but she’s not quite the heroine Karou is. Yes, Mara doesn’t like the things she does, but the fact that she can’t control her life makes a better case of why you should vote for Karou. Mara’s hallucinating all the time, suffers from PTSD; and is she schizophrenic or just depressed? All in all, compared to Karou, she's pretty unreliable.

Karou will always be there for you. She's seen the entire world and knows how to survive. She knows exactly what she needs to do and how she’s going to do it. She isn’t perfect, but she's a selfless, brilliant young woman who never shies away from even the most dangerous of missions if it means saving someone she loves. She’s driven, strong, and loyal, and I can't think of a better new YA heroine of 2011.

Additional Info

Just like to add that Karou’s author, Laini Taylor, is pretty much as amazing as Karou herself. And not just because she has hot-pink hair (though it unfortunately doesn’t grow out of her head that way) or because she runs a super-awesome blog. Laini is one of the most literary and wonderful authors I've ever had a chance to read. You should to check her out. And read all her other books (which feature fairies, goblins, curses, demons, and more).

If you voted for Karou, and would like a chance to win a copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone head on over to my blog today!


**polls are now closed**