It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the folks at the Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is the fun to think about “Top Ten Favorite Kick-Ass Heroines”
Let the kicking begin!
1. Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. Don’t mess with Katniss. She didn’t ask to be in the Hunger Games (okay, well, she kind of did), but once there, she managed to dispatch a few of her competitors with her bow-and-arrow (and tree limb cutting) skills.
2. Smilla Jaspersen, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, by Peter Hoeg. She may be small, but Smilla has got the ingenuity to get nasty and violent when she has to. One character tells her that even if her arms and legs were cut off, Smilla would find a way to kick back. She endures and doles out a lot while finding out who is responsible for a little boy’s murder.
3. Lisbeth Salander, The Millennium Trilogy, by Stieg Larssen. Hands down, Lisbeth is one of the most butt kickingest heroines out there. If she has a weapon, great; if she doesn’t…that’s fine, too. Ass is still getting kicked.
4-5. Offred and Moira The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Offred is defiant as she can be in the tyrannical system she lives in. There’s a scene when she runs into her old friend Moira at a “gentleman’s club” and it’s clear that Moira is a total rebel.
6. Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Series. Admittedly, Kinsey has also gotten her butt kicked on more than one occasion, but she can also hold her own.
7-8. Stephanie Plum and Lula in Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. They’re bumbling, and it helps that Lula is often packing heat, but Stephanie and Lula are able to inflict some damage!
9. Harriet Cleve, The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt. Not a book I enjoyed, but at 12 years old, Harriet is a pretty formidable foe who manages to tangle with some of the nastiest characters around.
10. I know it’s not a book…but I keep thinking that Buffy Summers from the Buffy the Vampire tv series really kicks ass…I keep picturing her as I write this so I’m gonna list her!
Who are your favorite ass-kicking heroines?
Great post. I’d definitely have to put Katniss and Buffy in my top ten. Along with Jane Rizzolli and Scarpetta.
Thanks. I’ve only read maybe one or two Scarpetta mysteries…none of the Rizzolis!
i’d put kinsey, stephanie and lula on my list for sure! esp since i am reading “u is for undertow” right now. i tend to read more novels where the heroine is either dealing with angst or going about her life (a bit more subdued than a$$-kicking, if you know what i mean!)
hope you are surviving the storm, zo! we’re to get huge winds today!!
Thanks…our power went out for 16 hours and came on an hour ago. We threw away the food in our fridge and freezer, but really it is no big deal compared to what I see a lot of others in NJ…the shore is devastated from what I understand.
I like your list, Zo! Still not sure I liked Smilla Senses Snow, but she was a great character and you’re right, she took no guff from anyone!
Ooops…Smilla’s Sense Of Snow…sheesh…
Heh…she was tiny, but you shouldn’t underestimate her!
I’ve not heard of a lot of these characters but they all sounds worthy or being top ten heroines
Definitely! They’ve kicked some ass in their days!
This reminds me I need to read the next hunger games or perhaps another stephanie plum!
I still have to read explosive 18 and catching fire/mockingjay
Ooh, you mentioned some of my favs! So awesome!