Match #12: Rose (Seed #7) vs Clara (Seed #26) Goes to Rose

And the winner is...

Rose

Welcome to the YA Sisterhood! 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 13th.

And now for the match....

Hey it’s Jaime and Patricia from Two Chicks On Books and we’re so happy to be a part of the Heroine Tourney! We had a blast doing the Crush tourney this past summer! You can check us out at our blog and on Facebook and make sure to follow us on twitter for all the #TeamRose updates Jaime  and Patricia.

1. About Her

Rose (Rosemarie) Hathaway is a 17 year old dhampir which basically means she’s half human-half vampire. She has all the good vampire traits agility, strength, and good health and none of the setbacks like having to drink blood or not being able to be out in direct sunlight. She is beautiful even in vampire standards and she has men vampire and dhampir alike vying for her attentions. She is 5 foot 7 and athletic but she has a curvy body that most of us would kill for! She has an exotic look with dark eyes, dark hair, and lightly tanned skin all that’s attributed to her father and, the strength and fighting skills come from her mother Janine who is a Guardian and all around butt kicking woman.

Here’s what Adrian thinks of Rose….

Adrian: "Rose Hathaway, I can't wait to see you again. If you're this charming while tired and annoyed and this gorgeous while
bruised and in ski clothes, you must be devastating at your peak."
Rose: If by 'devastating' you mean you should fear for your life, then yeah. You're right."
(Frostbite)

2. Best Attributes

Rose is fiercely loyal to those that she loves so loyal that sometimes it gets her into hot water but she always finds a way out. She is willing to sacrifice her life not only for her best friend Lissa (whom she has a psychic bond with), the man she loves, all of her friends, but any other innocent person who might find themselves in trouble. She has an inner strength and outer strength she has fought and killed many strigoi (bad vampires) which is a feat in itself. She’s killed more than most adult guardians.

3. What makes your girl a true heroine?

Rose is our heroine because she is a strong kick butt female who protects the world from evil. She is also intelligent with an amazing quick wit and sarcastic streak that makes us laugh. Her heart has been shattered and put back together again but through all of it she does not crawl in a hole and cry she stands up and fights for what she feels is right and for love.

Rose is a compassionate and true friend and will do whatever is necessary to defend those she's loves and has proved it again and again by ridding the world of the evil Strigoi as evidenced by the marks she bears on her neck which label her a true warrior and someone who can be counted on. 

We wanted to add a little something from Dimitri here to show what he see’s in Rose.

Dimitri: "No, it wont happen to you. You're too strong. You will fight it, just like you did this time"
Rose: "I only did it because you were here, I cant do it by myself"
Dimitri: "You can, you're strong--you're so, so strong. It's why I love you"
(Shadow Kiss)

4. Why should we vote for Rose instead of Clara?

We here at Two Chicks On Books absolutely adore Clara she is awesome so why should you vote for Rose instead? Here are a few reasons why we believe Rose to be a stronger heroine.

Clara had a purpose and she failed to complete it she actually chose to fight it. She lets her emotions get in the way of her goals and almost gets herself assaulted and or killed. She tries to hide her identity underneath hats and hair dye and can be pretty selfish. She also lacks self confidence.


Rose would never turn away from her destiny even if it means being apart from the love of her life. She's just that honorable and when she makes a promise she keeps it. 

 5. Anything else you’d like to add?

Why vote for Rose?? Because Dimitri Belikov and Adrian Ivashkov two of the most swoon worthy men in books say so! Also here’s a little poem by Adrian…

"I'm always crazy around you Rose. Here, I'm going to write an impromptu poem for you."
He tipped his head back and shouted to the sky:
"Rose is in red
But never in blue
Sharp as a thorn
Fights like one too."
(Shadow Kiss)

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Hi, my name is Amanda; I am from the blog Stuck in YA Books I love reading Young Adult books. You can follow me on twitter @apedulla.  I was in the Crush Tourney, and I am glad to represent Clara from Unearthly.

       About Her:

Clara is a part angel and has a purpose to fulfill on Earth.  Clara's hybrid status grants her various superhuman abilities, and also gives her an undiscovered purpose to fulfill. After dreaming of a young man and a forest fire, Clara eventually meets and watches over Christian, the boy in her visions. She also befriends a brooding angel-blood named Angela, a spunky girl named Wendy, and Wendy's brother Tucker.  Clara becomes romantically drawn to both Christian and Tucker, learns of a conflict with fallen angels, and tries to discover her purpose on Earth. She has blond hair but is later changed to red (dyed) because her mother didn’t want her to stand out

Best Attributes:

Clara is awesome because she can Glory !! Glory is something at which angels can use to defend themselves against their enemies. She isn’t perfect, but she is kind to others, can fly with her wings, and has premonitions of her main goal.

What makes your girl a true Heroine?

Clara is a true heroine, because she has the ability to see what she has to do in order to fulfill her purpose.  

*SPOILER*

In the book she saves the lives of the ones she loves (Tucker) in the fire. She is in love with a cowboy!! She helps defeat her mother enemy of the Black Wings who work in Hell.

*SPOILER OVER*

Why should people vote for Clara over Rose?

People should vote for Clara over Rose from Vampire Academy because 1. She is beautiful, she is dating TUCKER!! Tucker is the sweetest boy ever!  She can fly away from her enemies; she can have visions of her future and what the purpose of it is. Clara does move quite a bit, so she is able to travel around the world!  Clara is unique, funny and one awesome heroine!!

Anything else to add?

 “I love how he sometimes gets embarrassed by the mushy stuff between us and then his voice gets all gruff and he tickles me or kisses me to shut us both up. Boy, do we ever kiss. We make out like champions.”

Tucker <3

“Fine.” He smirks at me. “Nice to meet you, Carrots,” he says, looking directly at my hair. “Oh, I mean Clara.”
My face flames.
“Same to you, Rusty,” I shoot back, but he’s already striding away.”


**voting is now closed**

Match #11: Nora (Seed #10) vs Alex (Seed #23) Goes to Alex

And the winner is...

Alex

Welcome to the YA Sisterhood! 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. Logical refutations of a defense or character are, of course, allowed, but if we believe it crosses over 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 13th.

And now for the match....

Hello This is Kimberly I own  Outhouse Reviews and here in the Outhouse we are Team Nora all the way.
Please feel free to follow us here on the blog, @outhousereviews @Kimberlybrasher or on Facebook. Come Join all the fun as we compete to beat our competitor. Let me tell you a bit about Miss Nora Grey...

About her:  

Life for this over achieving high school student has been acceptable, with her best friend Vee beside her she lives a decent exsistance Even as she learns to cope with the death of her father she manages to accept that things are not as they once were. Nora grows as a person with each book. The quiet reserved girl in Hush Hush does a complete 180 and is a strong out spoken fighter in Silence!!

Best Attributes:  

Nora's best attribute is her brain, she has the ability to talk herself out of any situation. She is also not affraid to go out and get the answers she needs to solve her problems.

What Makes Nora a true heroine:  

She is the Queen of snarkiness with an attitude!!!  She's fiesty and independant.  She can get herself out of trouble just as easily as she gets into it.

Why should we vote for Nora instead of Alex:

Our competitor is Alex from Half Blood... unfortunately I have yet to read Half Blood so this is where I get my advantage, I think Nora should ultimately win this round simply cause to me it takes a true heronie to use her brain to gain power over the people who are intending to do her or the people she loves harm.

We urge to Vote!! Help keep The angels happy!!!

This message was approved by: PATCH 

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My name's Momo and I'm the blogger behind Books Over Boys. I got the honor of being the advocate for the awesome Alexandria Andros from Jennifer L. Armentrout's Covenant series for this tournament. You can connect with me via twitter and facebook to stay up to date with the #HalfBloodLegion as we support our girl, Alex!
About Alex Andros:


First off, according to Aiden, this is what he thought of Alex when he first saw her...after those three years:

Long, thick chestnut colored hair fell past a chest that had grown in the last three years. Her face was oval shape; lips full like a pure-blood’s. Cheekbones high and eyebrows delicately arched over two wide, brown eyes. Even with the faint purplish bruises marring an otherwise flawless complexion, she was… unbelievable.
Beautiful.

And in Alex's own words:

With all the dirt and overall grossness gone, I looked just like my mom. Long dark hair fell down my back; I had those high cheekbones and full lips most pures did. I was a bit curvier than Mom's willowy frame and I didn't have her amazing eyes. Mine were brown, homely old brown.

Alex is irrational, unstable, out of control, wild, crazy, rash, and stubborn but that makes her everything that she is, which is a fighter. She is unpredictable and very quick to act but she believes strongly in what is right versus what is wrong. She hardly ever lets anything faze her and that makes her high lariously funny. She says the darnest things at the most inappropriate times, lol, but what's life without some humor? She's uber sarcastic and tough and edgy and all-out fierce. She lives in this world where all that matters are the pures and their safety. She doesn't want to be forced into servitude so she is in the process of training to be a Sentinel - one who fights and kills daimons → the scary, looking things that will suck the life out of you. Alex isn't a fighter just physically, but she's also a fighter internally...if you get what I mean. She won't take anyone's B. S and she won't ever give up, you can count on that.
Alex's Best Attributes:
Alex stands out to me among all the other female characters because she's funny. I know, anyone can be funny. Okay, not anyone but it doesn't take a mad scientist to crack a joke here and there. Alex is such a smart mouth; she speaks without thinking and that totally comes with its consequences, haha, but you can't help but think, "Omg, I was so thinking that!" She says stuff that you wouldn't say out loud or stuff that you would bite back. She's definitely hard to forget because she has such a character; that's why when the nominations for this tourney began, Alex immediately came to mind. You won't be able to forget her if you tried. Also, she stands out to me because she can definitely hold her own. She'll take things into her own hands when needed; she won't back down and she indubitably won't take no for an answer. Alex is rebellious and at times, that might sound like a bad thing but like I've mentioned, she believes in what's right and if a little rebellious-ness is needed, where's the harm in that?!

What makes Alex a true heroine?


As defined by...dictionary dot com, a heroine is:

1. a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. the principal female character in a story, play, film, etc.

In my opinion, a true heroine is someone who isn't afraid to be heard, someone who speaks up and fights back when they see something that is unjust; someone who isn't afraid to dive head first into a difficult situation. Also, a true heroine is courageous and brave and strong; someone who will step up when needed. And according to that, Alex is all of the above. Alex is a fighter, she's resilient and always bounces back after a horrible tragedy occurs. Like they say, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Because of what she's been through, it has shaped her into the kind of character that she is. You can count on her to save your butt whenever you're in a dire situation, that's for sure. Alex is a true heroine to me because she doesn't need a man to get her out of a ditch when she falls into one. She'll tire out all possible chances of saving herself before she'll resort to a man. Did I forget to mention that Alex can stab stuff? Oh yes, absolutely! She's a feisty little thing! Heck, she don't need no dagger or blade, she'll take you down with a garden spade! (OH WHAT?! That rhymed right there! I'm a genius! ;))

Why should we vote for Alex instead of Nora?

Just kidding, well...not completely. I mean, if Aiden would, I totally would because I don't want no gods or Furies screaming at me, "I SMITE THEE!" ;) You and you and you should all vote for Alex because:

• she's funny
• she's smart
• she's tough
• she's fierce
• she's strong
• she's determined

and last but not least, she can kick some daimon booty...so you know, if you had one of those after you, Alex would know what to do! Lastly, you should vote for Alex because I mean, who doesn't wanna see the underdog rise?! #underdogsFTW

Anything else you'd like to add?


Today, on my blog, along with several others, we have revealed the cover to Deity (Covenant, #3) so...you should totally head on over to my blog to see it in all its amazing glory! And lastly, if after reading my defense, you're totally rooting for Alex Andros, you should totally rock a button. Here, I'll make it easy for you and provide the code and everything. ;)





<br /> <center><a href="http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll255/mollymxiong/Icons/half-blood-2-1.jpg"/></a></center><br />
See, how easy was that?! Oh shoot, I almost forgot! *facepalm* Here, check this out, from the author herself: 

 
 
 Did you see that?!
 
 SooOooOooOooOoooO, you know wassup! ;)ALEX FOR THE WIN, FTW!
**voting is now closed**

Cinder by Marissa Meyer ARC & Audiobook Giveaway

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Release date: January 3rd, 2012
Feiwel & Friends
Macmillan Audio

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . 
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

A big thanks to Bethany from our blog for providing the ARC of Cinder and to Macmillan Audio for the Audiobook.  We will pick 2 winners and the 1st winner will get the choice between the arc or the audiobook.  Here's a sample of the audiobook provided by Macmillan Audio.

Click to Listen to Cinder

Match #9: Katniss (Seed #2) vs Fire (Seed #31) goes to Katniss!

After two excellent advocate defenses, the winner of this match is...

KATNISS!



Welcome to the YA Sisterhood! 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 10th.

And now for the match....

My name is Penelope, and I run the book review blog: The Reading Fever. I am honored to be Katniss’ advocate, and will be blogging and tweeting about Katniss’ progress throughout the tournament. You can follow me using the links below for #TeamKatniss updates.

Blog / Twitter / Facebook

1. About Her

The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the Mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol's plans. The symbol of the rebellion.

-Katniss, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (pg. 386-387)

Credit: Entertainment Weekly

Katniss is the main character in The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. She is described as having long, straight black hair, which she usually pulls back into a tight braid. She has olive skin and gray eyes. She is an amazing hunter who has deadly aim with a bow, and has been using these skills to put food on her family's table--keeping them from the starvation that is so widespread in their district.



She is fiercely protective of those she loves, and has proven she will go to any lengths to ensure their safety. Not one to be easily swayed or broken, she proves to the Capitol that no matter their methods, they can't control everyone.



Also known as: Catnip, the Mockingjay, and The Girl On Fire.

2. Best Attributes

A mockingjay is a creature the capitol never intended to exist. They hadn’t counted on the highly controlled jabberjay having the brains to adapt to the wild...They hadn’t anticipated its will to live.

-Katniss, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (pg. 92)

As tempting as it is to name Katniss' hunting skills and her innate sense of survival as her best attributes, that just wouldn't be completely true. Everything Katniss does in the series can be attributed to one of these: love, compassion, fear.



Her first act--entering the Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Prim--was done out of her incredible love for Prim, and fear for Prim's safety. She is pushed to survive by fear of dying and leaving her family without a provider; called into action by compassion for Rue and Peeta (competitors in the hunger games); compelled to accept the title of The Mockingjay (symbol of the rebellion) by compassion for those enduring the destruction the Capitol brings. She takes what the world gives her and reacts to it in a way that benefits those around her; letting love, compassion, and fear guide her. These are her best attributes.

3. What makes your girl a true heroine?

I’m moving in toward the camera now, carried forward by my rage. “President Snow says he’s sending us a message? Well, I have one for him. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground, but do you see that?” One of the cameras follows as I point to the planes burning on the roof of the warehouse across from us. The Capitol seal on a wing glows clearly through the flames. “Fire is catching!” I am shouting now, determined that he will not miss a word. “And if we burn, you burn with us!”

-Katniss, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (pg. 99-100)

The quote above is from Katniss. At this point in the story, Katniss has already been through the hunger games, has witnessed the pain, torture, and death, of loved ones, has been forced to kill, seen her home destroyed, and has witnessed the extreme lengths the Capitol will go to in order to have total control--and yet these things only empower her to act.



To me a true heroine is someone who rises above her circumstances, who keeps going despite being knocked down, and most importantly: a heroine inspires others to keep going as well. Katniss is a true heroine.

4. What makes your girl better than her competitor?

Credit: kara-lija on DeviantArt

Fire is definitely a tough opponent. She possesses great powers, yet she refuses to use them against the innocent. I admire that. She's a girl who knows her strengths, and when to use them. She is called Fire for a reason.



But let's not forget that Katniss is also called Fire--The Girl On Fire--and she, too, is called that for a reason. She may not have had supernatural powers to help her, but from the moment she came out dressed in an outfit of flames, her every act from then on would continue to light the fire that fueled the rebellion.



If Fire had no supernatural powers, would she still be as influential?

5. Anything else you’d like to add?

Show your support for Team Katniss! Grab a button and post it on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else you think of. More button options can be found here.

<center><a href="http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/strawbaeri/Blogs/TRF/HT_KatnissButton2-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Team Katniss"></a></center>

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Hi y'all, I'm Grace. I'm from the blog Words Like Silver, which I have been maintaining for around eight months now. If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, my handle is @beachtwin110 and my Facebook page is here. For each round that Fire advances through, I'll be giving away a copy of either Fire or Graceling. This is my first time being an advocate in the tournament. To be honest, when I first heard I was going up against Katniss, my first thoughts were injected with pure fear. Katniss is amazing and she has a bigger fan base, but today I'm here to talk about how much better Fire is.

About Her

Forget the girl who was on fire; remember the girl who IS Fire.

Not as many people have heard of Fire as the ones who have heard about Katniss. I know this, and I was afraid of it. But Fire is so much better if you would just give her the chance. She is much more modest, but much more extraordinary. She is subtle, but the strongest character that you could imagine.

Fire is a monster. She knows she is. But can anybody truly help who their parents are? She couldn't help that she was born with brilliant, pure hair the color of flame. Striking eyes, and a curvaceous body making her the envy of many women and the subject of leers from the men. It would be enough for anybody to deal with, right?

And yet Fire has to go through worse. Because she is a monster. Everybody hates her, and doesn't even give her a chance to prove herself. From the moment she was born, she was cursed to always be an outsider. She's dangerous and powerful, but she's quiet. She doesn't shy away from her fear, however. She embraces it, and uses that fear to grow.

Not to mention that she is a musical genius. Her fiddle is like an extension of her soul that she molds the music to, and uses it to make the world more beautiful. She plays the fiddle for everybody all the time, and it is with it under her chin that she is the happiest. Did I mention that she is also great with a bow and arrow? In fact, "great" is an understatement. She's just as good as Katniss, but nobody seems to give her credit for it. She's modest about her talents.

Fire has to tuck her hair into a drab headscarf every day, and when she's approached to consider helping the kingdom, she immediately decides to help. It is there that she starts to grow even more into herself and she is able to use her skills to the fullest.

Because although people hate her, she secretly does incredible things for them. She protects them without their knowledge, and killed her own father (who she loved dearly) so that people would be safe from him. She sacrifices everything for them and doesn't even accept any credit. Instead she is silent among their filthy jeers and heart-wrenching deeds. She is modest, but just as brilliant as flame herself.

Best Attributes

She has been given the gift of changing people's minds, and seeing their thoughts. Now this trait has popped up in many other books, but the problem is that it isn't treated like a special power, and people know that she has it. When you're around her, you can't help but ask yourself whether she's using it on you? So even the people that she's closest to are clouded in thick doubts and uncertainties. Her problem is that nobody will give her the simple courtesy of belief.

The best qualities about Fire are that she makes her own way in the world. Something about her that has been a huge part of the novel is Fire struggling to live her father's legacy of coldness and abuse down. Being a twin, I can identify her because WE ARE NOT OUR FAMILIES. We have the power to change lives and the world with ourselves, and Fire goes straight on her way trying to carve herself a new path aside from the one that people expect her to take - that of her father's.

Not only is she killer with her fiddle and bow and arrow, but she is empathetic. Whether it's because she's expert at reading minds or simply in tune because of her own disastrous experiences with people who judge her without knowing her. She is able to help people sort through problems. Although people may run screaming, she shows them comfort. No matter how many times they hurt her, she will always be willing to help them. She is incredibly loyal, and she's modest about it.

Fire is simply brilliant. From her physical appearance to her demeanor, there are too many amazing traits to name.

What makes your heroine a TRUE heroine?

This is the wrong question. The right question is, what doesn't? The official definition of heroine is, "a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities." Fire has courage. She is the most courageous person for not taking credit for her work. If she had, she wouldn't be going through the hate and awful surroundings that she does every day. Instead, she chooses to bear individual hardships and make her life hell so that it wouldn't be hell for other people.

It's a known fact that each person generally considers themselves the most important person in the world. The amazing part? Fire doesn't. She's the one person in perhaps all of history that has truly put others before herself in order to make the quality of life better for them.

Fire is simply brilliant. She takes things in stride, but reflects back on what she could have done better. She doesn't let regrets or selfish thoughts cloud her judgement, but instead uses these to her advantage. She learns to grow with it, and with every word about Fire, we learn more about her and see her grow. She is mature, and gets even more like an adult throughout the book.

This is the type of girl that people want to look up to. The type of girl that you would want your child, or your younger sister, or you when you were younger to look at with inspiration. Fire in their eyes as they think of the pure strength, dignity, and class that comes with being Fire.

Why is FIRE better than KATNISS?

Who is braver? The person who defies forces and fights back physically, taking credit for her work and flaunting it? Or the girl who works behind the scenes, and doesn't take credit for her incredible deeds? The girl who puts herself on a pedestal, or the girl who chooses to put others before herself, and works to make everybody else's lives better?

One of the reasons I was terrified to go up against Katniss was that everybody knows about her. Not as many people know about Fire. But think about it. There's the girl who was famous because she was on Fire. And then there's the girl who isn't famous, but is the actual fire.

Fire is selfless. Katniss is not. There's a quote from the first book - the original Hunger Games - at the time of the reaping. The only thought racing through Katniss's head is that it shouldn't be her, praying that it wasn't her. Then, when it's her younger sister, she steps forward to volunteer. Although that was her second action. Fire goes with her first actions, because they are always the right ones. There are no second chances in life.

Perhaps the quality of Katniss's that brands her the most is her talent with a bow and arrow. This quality isn't particularly unique. Fire is just as good with a bow and arrow, and uses it for more than meat. Not only this, but Fire can play the fiddle. She strives to create beauty, not violence.

Fire in both books symbolizes strength, power, and passion. Fire is the personification of all of those qualities and that's the reason that Fire is...fire.

Fire learns from her mistakes and grows throughout them. Katniss tends to stick with her gut, and that can backfire. She doesn't truly reflect on what she does, and usually ends up living with regrets (there are examples throughout the book of this). Katniss is a great character, but if you truly look, you'll find that Fire has the true passion and strength.

There's a reason that in stories, the heroine is always a certain type of girl. The girl who yearns for something more to the world, something barely palpable that only she can feel, that feeling just beyond her reach of understanding and the thing that she always strives for. It could be that feeling that comes with the possibility of being famous. But stronger still is the girl who doesn't care about fame or creating chaos in mass doses. One will find that the more effective way is by changing the world one piece at a time. One person at the time.

Anything else you'd like to add:

I know that some people may skip these arguments, and go straight to the polls. You may not have read Fire, but most people have read The Hunger Games and will vote for the person that they are familiar with. But I think that you'll find that if you take the time to read this post, or even take the time to reflect back on the qualities that make a true heroine. Take a chance. Read the book. Forget about the girl who was on fire; remember the girl who is fire, and all the stunning qualities that go with it.

As they say, it only takes a spark to get a fire going.

*VOTING IS NOW CLOSED*

Match #10: Luna (Seed #15) vs Sophie (Seed #18) goes to SOPHIE!

After an incredibly close race, the winner is...

SOPHIE!

Welcome to the YA Sisterhood! 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 10th.

And now for the match....

Hello! I'm Cassi from the The Galavanting Girl Scout or veela_valoom on twitter. I hope everyone will join me in supporting our favorite Hogwarts student Luna Lovegood in the #HeroineTournament

About Luna Lovegood

We first meet Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix She's describe as "loony" and teased by her classmates. She's got wild blonde hair, a unique sense of style and trademark radish earrings. She's the oddball Ravenclaw who reads the Quibbler, believes in nargles and just doesn't seem to fit anywhere. (And this is a school of wizards, so to be the class freak is kind of a big deal).

She shrugged. "I think they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me 'Loony' Lovegood, actually."

Best Attributes

Luna is always ALWAYS Luna. She doesn't let anyone change her. Even though she's being teased she never wavers from being herself. Luna is aware that she's the outcast and there are heartbreaking mentions of how she wants friends, but she's not willing change herself to be accepted by other people.

What makes Luna a true heroine?

She's smart, loyal to her friends, loves her father, is unflinchingly honest, stands up for what's right, believes in herself, fights evil...do I even need to continue? She does it ALL. You're unlikely to find a heroine quite as well-rounded as Luna Lovegood. One of the things that impresses me most about Luna is that all the teasing doesn't seem to phase her. She shrugs it off with a smiles. To me that's amazing.

The key to Luna is that she has that unbelievably rare quality of actually not giving a damn what anyone else thinks of her. Now, if we as adults say honestly how many people we've known like that I think very many of us would say uh none! And Luna's like that. She doesn't actually care. She's so comfortable with being different. She's fearless.

-JK Rowling 

What makes Luna better than Sophie?

I'm not going to say anything bad about Sophie. Luna wouldn't, and as her representative why should I? I think Luna and Sophie would get along, could be fictional BFFs and Luna wouldn't even care about Sophie's...um...species (if that's even the proper word). What makes Luna better is that she's more comfortable in her own skin than Sophie. Luna is fearless and that is so unbelievably rare even among heroines.

Also I want to say that Luna is the heroine that most teenagers NEED to read. She can give them courage to be themselves. Luna shows that it's okay to be different and eventually no matter how odd, you'll find friends who accept you as you are. That's what stands out about her above ALL the other heroines in the tournament. Luna says "you don't have to fit in," and in a world that seems increasingly plagued by bullying thats an important message. Luna is a message of hope.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I really wish I were more like Luna Lovegood. I also want to include this lovely quote about Luna Lovegood's bedroom. Shows how much she truly loves her friends.

"Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same: Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains wove around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realized that the chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends...friends...friends."

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Hello everyone its Mindy (Bookluvr Mindy) with Magical Urban Fantasy Reads! You should stay tuned to my blog for an amazing character Q&Awith Sophie coming soon! If you want to chat with me on twitter, I am @bookluvrmindy. And to support The Amazing Sophie, make sure you include #VoteTeamSophie in all of your tweets!

☆All About Sophie☆

Sophie Alice Mercer is the 16-year old, snarky, freckle-faced girl next door type that you NEVER want to mess with! Her brown hair, blue eyes and innocent freckles hide powers that are second to none in all of wizarding history, including in that famous galaxy far, far away!!! That’s right! Even Darth Vader is no match for Sophie Mercer!

But until now (until she turned 16), Sophie “Soo-fee-yuh” has been sheltered her entire life from what she truly is . . . the most powerful witch ever! She’s constantly been moved around the country by her mother, from one school to the next, just because she sometimes (innocently!) exposes her powers to other humans! And then it’s always time to pack up and leave?! Sheesh! How unfair is that?

Yup, the last spell she cast was the last straw; A TOTALLY AWESOME spell at the Senior Prom for the most popular guy at school, making him want to be with the biggest loser at school! And if you haven’t read Hex Hall, then you have got to read the prologue, it’s hilarious! But now she’s done it! With that last, totally wicked spell, she’s been sentenced to Hecate Hall (or as Jenna, her roommate and best friend would say, “Hex Hall”), the school of magical misfits who must be isolated to prevent them from exposing themselves to humans. And that’s where her totally AWESOME powers are developed, along with her crush for two very HOT love interests named Archer and Cal, who, by the way . . . want you all to #VoteTeamSophie!

☆Why Sophie ROCKS!☆

Snarkiness! Yeah, that may not be a magical power, but it powers her interactions with everyone! And it’s probably what helps make her so fiercely independent and loyal . . . and not easily swayed by the popular (MEAN) girls . . . or even easily discouraged in the face of adversity! It’s also what powers her connection to her other, magical powers!

Speaking of which, those magical powers are second to none! On a scale of 1-10 . . . HELLO!!! . . . her powers rate a solid 100! Here’s just a little of what she can do . . .

The unstoppable Sophie doesn’t need any magical instrument to focus her powers! She only needs to think about what she wants to do and her powers take care of the rest! The only problem? Sometimes her accomplishments are heightened so massively by her powers that she far exceeds her goal! For example, when Sophie’s father tells her to break a mirror, she looks at one and simply thinks “break.” The only problem is that she doesn’t just break one mirror, she breaks EVERY mirror in the room! Another time Sophie and her friends are hanging out in a Prodigium club and “The Eye” (religious killers of all things magical) unexpectedly shows up! But while trying to escape, the crowd is hysterically running around so Sophie thinks in her mind, “Move” and then a force field surrounds herself and her friends, but the force field tramples everyone in their path! And let’s not talk again about that wicked love spell she cast on Kevin Bridges! But the full extent of her true powers always comes out when she’s caught up in the toughest situations . . . and then you REALLY see how powerful she is and what she is capable of . . . AND then you truly know that you never want to mess with her!!!

☆Why Sophie is MY HERO!☆

Sophie has AWESOME magical abilities. But that’s not what makes Sophie a true heroine. What makes Sophie a true heroine is that she doesn’t think about the dangers to herself while fighting for what she believes in. So, not only does she fight for what’s right (even when abused by the meanest girls in school), but she’ll even go out of her way (and put herself in danger!) to protect and save the mean girls! EVEN if saving them means killing someone very important to her. Yeah, just like the night The Eye swarmed the Prodigium club . . . in the middle of all that pure craziness, when her friends were only thinking about how to get the heck out, Sophie just wanted to help out the rest of the Prodigium. BUT even then, she knew she had to get her friends out first!

☆Why is Sophie more of a heroine than Luna?☆

All I gotta say is that I LOVE Luna Lovegood! She’s a fiercely trustworthy, loyal friend . . . and she’s courageous too!

But if I needed someone to protect me from Lord Voldemort, I’d pick Sophie EVERY time!! Heck, I think the reason Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter as a baby in the first place is because he first ran into Sophie as a baby . . . and he wanted NO PART of that!!! Like I said, Sophie is the freckle-faced girl next door you NEVER want to mess with . . . and I guess Lord Voldemort feels the same way!!! Heck, even the Dementors want NO PART of Sophie Mercer!!

☆☆☆#VoteTeamSophie☆☆☆

So there you have it! Obviously Sophie TOTALLY ROCKS!!! And if you want to have Sophie alongside you up against Lord Voldemort…then #VoteTeamSophie NOW!!!




*VOTING IS NOW CLOSED*

Relatively Honest by Molly Ringle Review & Giveaway

Relatively Honest
By Molly Ringle
Published by ireadiwrite
Reviewed by: Sis-in-law Sarah

Eighteen year-old womanizer Daniel Revelstoke leaves his native London to study at the University of Oregon, dreaming of seducing one American girl after another. But he soon meets a new kind of woman in classmate Julie French. Her cleverness and resistance land Daniel in love for the first time in his life, to his deep confusion. 
However, Julie's long-distance boyfriend and a bizarre family secret stand in Daniel's way to winning her. Since he can't quit obsessing over her, he decides to hide a few truths in order to draw closer to her, hoping that maybe she'll return his love and, when she finds out his devious path, forgive him. It's a gamble, but all's fair in love and college. -goodreads

It's fun to get a break from all the paranormal and check out a new YA contemporary novel...and this baby does not disappoint!

First of all, this is not your average high school drama.  This book comes from this new awesome emerging genre where the characters are a little older and doing the whole college thing.  This makes for an exciting read, especially for older audiences that really enjoy all that YA fiction entails, but are ready for a little more mature characters.  I really enjoyed this aspect of the book.

Also, this story is presented from the guys point of view....I mean...HELLO! That like...hardly ever happens!  It was fun to get Daniel's perspective on life, love, and happiness...I mean, after all, I already know what a girl thinks about those things!  Plus, who doesn't love it when it's the guy that falls hard for the girl! On the other hand, the author doesn't really hold back when it comes to what guys generally think about girls...on the physical side if you get what I mean. So, I was taken a little off guard a couple times, thinking, "Yeah...thanks, Daniel, I really didn't want to know that." But, if that won't offend you, I overall really enjoyed getting things from his perspective.

When it comes to the characters in this book, there's a little something for everyone. The sweet, innocent Julie, the British not-so-great-a-reputation Daniel, the gothic Sinter, and the hardcore Clare.  Plus, if you're a theater nut, you get to experience all the awesome drama on and off stage in the university spring production.

Though on my own personal book scale, this one probably sits on average, I really think this book could be a hit with a lot of readers.  It has a lot to offer in the way of plot, characters, and setting....as well as a steamy romance that will keep you turning pages until the very end!

**A big thank you to Molly Ringle for donating an ebook copy of Relatively Honest to giveaway!**