Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Platonic Relationships In Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! While romances may get the swoons, some of my favorite relationships between characters in books are families and friends. So without further ado, here are ten of my favorite platonic relationships I've read on the page!



Vasya and Dunya (The Bear and the Nightingale): The bond between the old nurse and her wild young charge is so warm and loving that it makes the horror of what happens near the end even worse.

Lyra and Iorek (The Golden Compass): The strange, sober bear king and the clever, high-spirited girl make a great team and develop a geniune closeness.

Elinor and Marianne (Sense and Sensibility): As the older sister myself, I identify with the steady Elinor, and I love her connection with her open-hearted little sister.

Mariam and Laila (A Thousand Splendid Suns): These "sister wives" suffer through an awful husband together and become each other's rock.

Siskel and Ebert (Life Itself): The real love Ebert felt for the co-anchor who was in many ways his opposite and with whom he sparred regularly just shines through the pages of his memoir.

Madeline, Celeste, and Jane (Big Little Lies): The way the friendships between the main women are built, the realism underlying even the more over-the-top aspects of the plot, really make this book work.

Sabriel and Mogget (Sabriel): The tension between these uneasy allies, the way they vacillate between mistrust and fondness, is an enjoyable aspect of this book and its sequels.

Meg and Charles Wallace (A Wrinkle in Time): The fierce, protective love Meg has for her otherworldly little brother, and his love for her, are the emotional core of this whole series.

Matilda and Miss Honey (Matilda): Obviously this book is wonderful, and this relationship is what makes it so great. Two kind-hearted, cruelly treated people who find in each other someone to care for!

Wilbur and Homer (The Cider House Rules): If this surrogate father and son relationship doesn't get you in the feels, you don't have any.

14 comments:

  1. I love Matilda and Miss Honey's relationship, and I love them individually. I keep meaning to read 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', definitely putting it on my list now :)

    My TTT: https://basedonthebook.blogspot.com/2018/11/top-ten-tuesday-favourite-siblings-in.html

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    1. A Thousand Splendid Suns is good, but it's a heavy read, so make sure you're in the mood for a downer before you pick it up!

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  2. Yesss! Love me some Cider House and Matilda!

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    1. A good surrogate parent is guaranteed heart-warming!

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  3. Boy, I haven't read any of the books on this list *lowers head in shame*, but I really want to read Matilda and Ciderhouse Rules. This looks like a really cool list :)

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    1. Matilda is wonderful! As is Cider House, but it's much longer (and the movie's quite good!)

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  4. This is such a great list! I especially love your inclusion of Vasya and Dunya, and Matilda and Miss Honey.

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  5. I liked Elinor and Marianne in the sense & Sensibility movie I saw, but I haven't read the book. And I loved Madeline/ Celeste/Jane in big Little Lies!

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    1. The book of S&S is great, but so is the Ang Lee-directed movie! Can't go wrong with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet

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  6. Cider House Rules and A Wrinkle in Time are two of my favorites as well. I very seldom like the movies made from books, but Cider House Rules was done very well.

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    1. Cider House is one of my favorite-ever adaptations!

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  7. The comments on Vasya and Dunya had me all warm and fuzzy, until that last little bit. LOL it took a turn quickly! I really want to read The Bear and the Nightingale, hopefully in 2019.

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    1. I absolutely love The Bear of the Nightingale and hope you do too when you read it!

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