Favourite Fictional Female Friendships

Following on from our recent post featuring diverse reads, we thought we'd delve into another favourite of ours - favourite fictional female friendships (that's a lot of Fs.) We've chosen some that, in canon, are platonic and between women who have healthy friendships, especially not based upon their relationship with a man. Let's just say these all pass the Bechdel Test and are the epitome of squad goals. We hate seeing female characters who only exist to belittle each other and see each other as nothing more than competition. Here's to many more women finding comfort in each other, both in fiction and reality.

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Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

'Verity' and Maddie

This book is a historical fiction novel set during World War II and it follows two best friends as they crash land in a Nazi-occupied France. Maddie was the pilot who must now do what it takes to survive and 'Verity' is taken prisoner, knowing that her fate is sealed and all she can do is tell her story. Their friendship was a bright light in this heartbreaking novel as Verity tells us the story of how they met all the way to the last time they see each other. Until the end, they are two girls with a strong bond whose only aim is to save each other. 

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Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

Manon Blackbeak & Asterin Blackbeak

We first meet Manon and Asterin in the third book of the Throne of Glass series, Heir of Fire, and they definitely became fast favourites of mine. Manon is the heir to the Blackbeak witch clan and leader of the Thirteen, and Asterin is her cousin and second in command. The two have their differences and arguments, but Asterin's loyalty to and belief in Manon cannot be shaken, and when Manon realises the extent that Asterin has protected her over the years, she literally sacrifices everything for her cousin. These two will do anything for the other, no matter what personal sacrifices it takes. 100% family goals.

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Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Nina Zenik & Inej Ghafa

Not only are these girls amazing in their own way, they also have the cutest and most beautiful friendship. Throughout both books, they look out for each other, tend to each other's wounds and protect each other. Being the only two females in the Dregs, they often stand up for each other against the boys and take zero shit from them which lifts me up where I belong. I can just picture these girls meeting up regularly for waffles and moaning about Kaz but although they're cute, they could kill you in a blink. Literally.

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Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin

Yael & 'Comrade Mnogolikiy' 

I won't say much about these two (and am purposefully using an army code name from the book) to avoid spoilers, but let's just say that Comrade Mnogolikiy has been watching over Yael for a long time, and Yael doesn't quite realise just everything that she's gone through to protect her. When these two are reunited, they are an unstoppable force, and have the most perfect sister-like friendship. These girls could destroy the Third Reich of this duology together, their bond is so strong.

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The Spinster Club Series by Holly Bourne

The Spinster Girls

This series features three main books (and more recently, a 3.5) focusing on three girls - Evie, Lottie and Amber. These three women are the queens of friendship, feminism and cheesy snacks. Each book is centred around their stories - Evie struggling with mental illness, Amber struggling with family problems and Lottie starting a war against sexism.  They help each other through everything, they support each other and they're bloody hilarious. They still manage to have romantic relationships on the side but it never gets in the way of their friendship which they always put first. We still need a petition for this series to be compulsory reading in secondary schools.

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The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

The Women of 300 Fox Way

We can definitely say that the main friendship in this series is the Gangsey, however, the relationship between the psychics in 300 Fox Way is just as important. Blue, Maura, Calla, Persephone, Jimi and Orla. Some of my favourite scenes in this series was the moments of domesticity between these women - they all had their little oddities and their little skills and of course there was bickering but there is a huge respect for one another. It made me so happy that Blue grew up in a house full of women and you can definitely see how they have influenced her.

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A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Owl & Pepper

A beautiful friendship turned mother-daughter bond between Jayne 23/Pepper, a young girl raised by AIs with no idea of real life and Owl, a computer-programmed AI who becomes a guide, friend and mother to a little girl who stumbles upon her ship. The two form a bond that lasts a lifetime and even when Owl is seemingly lost, Pepper doesn't stop to find and restore her. Owl teaches Pepper everything, from how to eat and how to speak and essentially raises her and in return, Pepper shows Owl love no AI is used to. They save each other.

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The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

Alex & Peekay

This was one of my favourite reads of 2016 and a real stand-out was the friendship between Alex, a girl with murderous tendencies and Peekay, nicknamed for being the Preacher's Kid. They meet volunteering at an animal shelter and despite being very different people, immediately form a close bond. Peekay brings out the softer side to Alex and in return, Alex teaches Peekay confidence, especially in standing up to the opposite sex. Definitely one of my favourite female friendships in contemporary fiction. 

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A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
Daenerys & Missandei

When making this list, we thought there must be a lot of female friendships in such a big series but unfortunately, there is not apart from these girls. Daenerys struggled to find and keep allies throughout the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but the one person she can always rely on is Missandei. The two first meet in A Storm of Swords, when Missandei is gifted to Daenerys by a slave trader. Daenerys immediately offers Missandei her freedom, which I suppose is a good way to begin a friendship. Although Missandei is no longer a slave, she chooses to stay with Daenerys as a close adviser to her, and soon becomes one of her closest confidantes. "All men must die, but we are not men."

Are there any female friendships in fiction that really stood out to you? 
Let us know in the comments!
Love,

Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin

In the conclusion to Wolf by Wolf, set in an alternate 1956 where Germany won WWII, Yael must deal with the consequences of her mission to assassinate the Führer, Adolf Hitler. After racing over 20,000 miles across Europe, Africa and Asia whilst wearing a face that isn't hers, she must return to Germania without being caught by the SS and discovered as the skinshifter they are searching for. With resistance groups starting revolutions across the continent and SS members determined to keep control of the Third Reich, Yael must fight to see her mission through to the end, at whatever cost.

Since finishing Wolf By Wolf with it's ever so slightly evil cliffhanger, I always knew Blood For Blood would be a heartbreaker. How right I was. 

Blood For Blood kicks off immediately where Wolf By Wolf left off, with Yael attempting to flee Japan and return to Germania (the Berlin of this alternate Europe). I fould Wolf By Wolf to be a very fast paced, plot based book, and Blood For Blood is quite the opposite - the plot is much slower for the majority of the book, and focuses a lot more on character and relationship building. However, this definitely isn't a bad thing! 

Yael has always been a mysterious character, and remained so throughout Blood For Blood - I do feel as though I got to know her a lot better than I did in Wolf By Wolf though, and learning more and more details about her backstory in the labour camp was just heartbreaking. Not only did you learn more about Yael in this book, but she matured so much and learned how to control her emotions more. I adored her rash braveness in Wolf By Wolf, but the way she behaved in this book seemed much more fitting with everything that she went through in it. Although Yael faced so many challenges in Wolf By Wolf, none of them were really her facing her true fears, and in Blood For Blood she is confronted with challenges that are so much closer to her heart. Yael opens up to people so much and slowly starts to learn how to trust and love again and hey, even though she's fictional, I am so proud of her.

There isn't all that much of an authentic romance in Wolf By Wolf (considering that Yael is impersonating someone else for the majority of it) but there is one in Blood For Blood, which after the events of Wolf By Wolf, does just seem to make sense. I'm so grateful that the romance was slow-burning, as well - it wasn't forced or rushed into, and it developed at the right pace considering the events going on around the characters. 

Some new alliances are made in Yael's quest to overthrow the Nazi's, and new characters are introduced. I won't say much about them so I don't slip into spoiler territory, but I love Comrade Mnogolikiy. You'll get to know them by other names once you read the book ;) 

As well as new characters, we've still got point of view chapters from characters from the previous book - Luka, everyone's favourite badboy, and Felix, the grumpy German teddy bear. Both are fighting their own moral battles throughout and I just love how each character's story played out and the way in which they all intertwined. 

I won't say much about the ending apart from this - it broke me in more than just a couple of ways. This book just wouldn't stop playing with my emotions, and I know that that ending will stick with me for a long time.

If you've read Wolf By Wolf, you need to go and read this sequel right this second - and if you haven't read Wolf By Wolf yet, what are you waiting for?

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What do you think of the Wolf By Wolf series? Let us know in the comments!

Love,