
Hi everyone! Happy International Women’s Day all, I hope you’ve all been able to celebrate the amazing women in your life today (and every day of course). I’ve put up my annual thread of women-led, women written 2022 releases up on my Twitter, so if you’re looking for your TBR to grow even longer (which why wouldn’t you be?) then head over to @iloveheartlandX on Twitter and you’ll find the thread pinned to the top of my profile.
Anyway, it’s Tuesday, so that means another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is Books With Your Favourite Trope/Theme, so naturally I’m going to be talking about my Favourite Found Family Books because if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know how much of a soft spot I have for found families. So here we go, some of my favourite found family books:
- Six of Crows-Leigh Bardugo
Ah the Dregs! My favourite gang of fictional criminals of all time. They just have such a great dynamic as a group, it’s so fun to read about and they definitely have the whole “I’d die for you, but sometimes I just want to kill you” vibe that I love in found families.
2. The Raven Cycle-Maggie Stiefvater
I love the Gangsey so much, theirs is one of my favourite fictional friendship groups ever. I love the dynamics between the group as a whole, but also the individual pairings, both romantic and platonic because they all have such different relationships with each other, and they’re all very different people but somehow work perfectly as a group.
3. Ballet Shoes-Noel Streatfeild
The epitome of found family, Noel Streatfeild’s classic follows three sisters, not blood related but brought together by an eccentric fossil collector who took them in following the deaths of their parents whom he had come across on his travels. It was one of my favourite books as a child because I loved the relationship between the three sisters and I’ve always loved performing books (probably because I’ve always loved the performing arts but never been skilled at them myself, so it’s a kind of wish fulfilment for me!).
4. The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants-Ann Brashares
Another staple of my teenage years, I loved this one because of the positive female friendship at its centre, Lena, Carmen, Tibby and Bridget consider the others family, and even when they argue, they’re always there for each other no matter what.
5. The Gilded Wolves Trilogy-Roshani Chokshi
I love Severin’s crew so much, they have my whole heart. Laila is 10000% the mum friend of the group, Hypnos is the friend who is there so often that he’s just become part of the family and no one can remember a time when he wasn’t there. Tristan is the younger brother that everyone is overprotective of. Severin is the dad who is constantly exasperated that the kids won’t do as they’re told. Enrique is the overachieving sibling, and Zofia is the one who is both entertained but also incredibly confused by the antics of her siblings.
6. The Diviners Series-Libba Bray
The Diviners has one of my absolute favourite group casts, and it’s a shame that they’re only really all together as a group in Before The Devil Breaks You, as the other books largely has them split up into smaller groups. The whole group has such a great dynamic, and they all bring something different to the group which makes them really interesting to follow. Plus they have awesome banter!
7. Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series-Rick Riordan
Yes, I’m talking original series here, not Heroes of Olympus, because Percy, Annabeth and Grover being a better group than the Seven is a hill I will die on. Their dynamic kind of reminds me of Ron, Harry and Hermione in Harry Potter, which is probably why I love it so much. They’ve got such great banter as a group and they all bring something different to the table.
8. Vicious-VE Schwab
Victor, Sydney and Mitch have one of my favourite kinds of found family dynamics, as Sydney and Mitch have basically decided that Victor is their family without consulting Victor and Victor is the begrudging dad who doesn’t really want to have to deal with other people and would much rather be alone but cares too much about Sydney and Mitch to let them go, and would ultimately kill for them even though he didn’t want them around in the first place.
9. The Rose Code-Kate Quinn
Female friendship is the central focus of this book and oh how I loved it so much. Osla and Mab basically decide quite early on that they’re going to take Beth under their wing, and from that point on, they form this little sisterhood. Seeing their friendship blossom to the point where they are basically each other’s family, makes it even more devastating when it all falls apart (not a spoiler, you see that they are no longer friends within the first few chapters of the book).
10. The Book Thief-Markus Zusak
Hans and Liesel’s father-daughter relationship is one of most heart-warming family relationships that I think I’ve ever read. The way he takes her under his wing and teaches her read and slowly gains her trust is just so heart-warming. Even Rosa, who is more abrasive, is actually a very warm and loving person at heart and clearly cares for Liesel like she was her own, it’s so lovely to see the these three people who started as strangers, form their own little family.
So there we go, those are some of my favourite books with found families! Have you read any of these? Did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments!
Next week’s topic is our annual Spring TBR topic, which is always a fun one, I actually did slightly better than I was expecting on my Winter TBR, so here’s hoping that carries forward to the next one!
Great topic choice, I love the Crows, the Sisterhood and The Fossils!
Thank you!
I love the found family trope and youve chosen some great stories!
Thank you!
I love the trope you chose and I love that you included The Book Thief and The Diviner series. I love both of those. Many of the others books on your list are on my TBR. Hopefully, I’ll like them just as much. π
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the others too π
Great choices. I love Six of Crows and Gilded Wolves!
Thank you! Me too π
Found family is such a great trope. Gilded Wolves would definitely make my own list.
Yes it is π
Such a good trope! I love a good found family β€ Six of Crows is -amazing- at this.
Thank you! Yes it is π
I absolutely adore a found family trope! I hadnβt thought of Rose Code in this light until you mentioned it!
Me too (obviously ha ha!). Yeah it was one of the things I loved most about it, that Beth, Osla and Mab basically became their own little family.
Women supporting women ππππ
Oh, I forgot about the Fossils! Time for a reread.
Ooh I’ve not reread Ballet Shoes in years…..
I love this trope as well, although I haven’t read most of the books you listed. Several of them are on my TBR list, so I’ll get to them someday hopefully…
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I hope you enjoy them if you do!
I loved Percy Jackson and The Book Thief! And Found Family is one of my favorites!
Here’s my TTT post
They’re favourites of mine too!
Great way to take this week’s topic. I’ve heard of several of these books, but have only partially read The Book Thief and not the others. My daughter loved the Percy Jackson series.
Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog today.
Thank you!
Found family is an amazing choice! I love seeing that family doesnβt have to be by blood alone
Thank you! Me too π
Ballet Shoes, yes!! Noel Streatfeild has a number of variations on the “found family” and blended family theme. I love her books about child performers.
Yeah she definitely did do that well, I think her books were probably some of my first with that theme!
Family books is also a great topic. Love it. And I’ve read “Ballet Shoes” and “The Book Thief”, both of them are especially nice.
Thanks for visiting my TTT this week which is about epistolary novels.
Thank you!
Found family is such a fun trope π
It is π
Awww! I love families in books as well. What a great list idea! I love so many books on your list.
Thank you!
I love the Found Family trope. Great choices.
Thank you!
Great list and take on this week’s prompt. I love Six of Crows and couldn’t agree more with this pick π
Here is my post: https://herseriallife.com/top-12-romances-with-my-favorite-tropes/
Thank you!
Found family is a favorite trope of mine too!
π
Found family is my favorite trope. I’m nearly finished with the final Diviners book. I’ll be sad when it’s over.
Mine too! Ah so was I, I really hope she comes back to those characters one day.
I LOVE found families so much! This is such a great list β₯
Thank you!